Speaking as an owner of a P1a Mick, my qualm with it is if the tail cap loosens slightly the light is prone to have trouble lighting sometimes. Otherwise a great flashlight with a good combo of spread and spot. Now the 1a is not as bright as the P2a though so I cannot comment on the 50 yards need. I had considered gifting the 1a to a few folks but changed my mind after taking not of the tailcap issue. Consider a couple of pipe thread tape wraps to ensure it stays tight.
I had a p1a for a while till i lost it(got found but the guy did not tell me...................till 3 weeks later, told him to keep it). Other than the clip failing almost straight away, i got quite attached to it, it was my works pocket EDC for a good while. Head tight high, head loose low(always head tight for my uses) and loved the simplicity and feel. The light had lots of feel, gripy and felt/sat right in my hand. Compact enough to not really notice, yet not tiny enough to forget.............if makes sense(basically a good EDC size for me). I had pretty much forgot about this light...............goes off to dig an old pic out! Which incidentally is a brave thing to do, go back years on the almost unusable photobucket site!!! Now downloaded to laptop, uploaded back to imgur as bucket is playing up some of my images..........i degrees. Pic anyway
A recent cheap purchases now reminds me of this AA fed p1a, the lumapower AA fed(well mine has a 14500in). Its a little more finicky than the p1a with the head, head tight can not actually be tight, needs to be just nipped . It also has 3 modes on head loose with memory. Its having a 219c 5000k implant anyway, so its more usable on my eyes.
LED nicely centred
Built like a brick lavatory, it feels just as tough as the p1a..................its got a horrid ringy cold beam, but i like it :laughing: In use its not too bad(thats the important part), but its too cold for me as is. Back in the day, the 300+ lumens was crazy................years on its still a bright little thing.
For less than the equiv of $20 new inc delivery , its not too bad.