Good News Everybody... Anyway, Surly have finally decided to respond to my emails.. got lost in the system or something, refunding the defective tire (already happened) and supplying a new one through my LBS apparently. So they obviously agree there is something going on. I've offered to send them a section of the faulty tire so they can go back to Innova and tell them to pull their socks up.
In terms of alternatives to the ET, the only thing I've found in approximately the same size are the various pavement type BMX tires. Schwalbe Crazy Bob (2.35), Maxxis Holy Roller (2.4), Kenda K-Rad K905 (2.5), that kind of thing, but none of them have any puncture protection. Probably not a huge issue running them tubeless though. I've ordered a set of Holy Rollers to trial anyway, mostly because I couldn't easily get any cheap K-Rads in a 2.5".