SCblur
Enlightened
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2005
- Messages
- 818
DISCLAIMER: I know there have been innumerable posts about the SF A2, so I apologize for beating a dead horse. But hey, it's late, I've been using my A2 all night, and I felt inspired to share. You have been warned...
I have to say, I was a little disappointed with my A2 when I first got it. I traded my L2 in to get one, and that was a definite downgrade in perceived level of light. The L2 had such a "WOOOOOWWWWW!!!!" factor upon first turning it on, that I didn't seem to feel when I got my A2 for the first time and turned it on. Maybe my expectations were too high after reading a few of the large posts on here while researching my purchase. Also, I had bought an E2e a few weeks before I got my A2, and had grown accustomed to it's 'initially' bright beam, and perfect beam pattern.
So, I pull out my A2, and do what most worthy CPF'ers do when they get a brand new toy: Go white wall hunting! I was not impressed with the beam pattern (I was three feet from the wall). An oval hotspot??!!? What was that about? And my spillbeam was not uniform and smooth like my E2e, rather it got bright around the outside. Baahhhh! What's more, the high beam simply lacked that Wow factor I had gotten so accustomed to with my L2. So what was this $200 mistake I just bought good for? Not much I decided, my heart was breaking for the letdown I had received, and I had soon decided that my expectations had been too high, and I should be happy with the A2 because it was functional and sturdy.
For a while, I would reach for my G2 or E2e when I needed a light, simply because it hurt too much inside to use my A2, and be reminded of my shattered hopes of a flashlight I had settled for.
Then, so slowly that it was almost unnoticed, I began to grab my A2 for tasks that were previously reserved for my other lights. Wow, I thought, the low level flood LED option is kinda nice, especially when I get up in the middle of the night and don't want to wake my wife. Before long, I find I've used the A2 for about an hour's worth of runtime, and lo and behold, it drops out of regulation instantly, leaving me with a little yellow beam. I can say, at that moment, I giggled like a twitterpated schoolgirl, at the realization that for the entire hour of runtime aforementioned, I had enjoyed blazingly white incan light, driven to it's limits as long as the batteries could possibly bear it (save the exception of a little extra juice to keep those little LED's going for a while longer). Now, I HHHAAATTTTEEE the bitter fact that incan lights dim with burntime, and I always am hesitant to use my incans, because I hate to see the beam begin to yellow ten minutes into fresh batteries. On the other hand, I can't very well afford to swap out batteries every ten minutes of use either, so I'm screwed there.
All this to say, now you can understand why I giggled. A perfectly regulated white as snow incan beam, for almost an hour. The beauty of this didn't really hit me for the first time until the old girl dropped out of regulation and I saw what I had been enjoying: 100% brightness on a nearly dead set of batteries. WOW! It is something that can't really be appreciated to its fullest until experienced firsthand as far as I'm concerned.
Then came the camping trip, when I got some extended time in the great outdoors with my lights. I came away from that trip once again in awe of my A2. That thing throws great for it's size. I began realizing that while it may not win a white wall test, this light (for what I need) KILLS in everyday use. More and more, I am finding it to be a nearly perfect blend of flood and throw, dim and bright, incan color rendition and LED stability. I think it was tonight though, that I finally noticed: I am now grabbing my A2 for every job requiring a light. It is my favorite light, hands down. I love using it, I love seeing it dropping out of regulation to once again be reminded of the white bright light that I am able to enjoy for the life of the batteries. That's weird I guess. I'm not sure why I'm writing this, if just to share my experience, or to encourage those of you riding the fence on the A2. Like I said, it's late, I'm inspired, and It's just a cool feeling to like something more, the more I use it. That's so rare. I can't think of many other things I have or have had, that appreciate their value with time. Wow, that was way more long winded than I intended, sorry. I'm sorry if there's any bad spelling or grammar, I don't feel like proofing all of this now.
I have to say, I was a little disappointed with my A2 when I first got it. I traded my L2 in to get one, and that was a definite downgrade in perceived level of light. The L2 had such a "WOOOOOWWWWW!!!!" factor upon first turning it on, that I didn't seem to feel when I got my A2 for the first time and turned it on. Maybe my expectations were too high after reading a few of the large posts on here while researching my purchase. Also, I had bought an E2e a few weeks before I got my A2, and had grown accustomed to it's 'initially' bright beam, and perfect beam pattern.
So, I pull out my A2, and do what most worthy CPF'ers do when they get a brand new toy: Go white wall hunting! I was not impressed with the beam pattern (I was three feet from the wall). An oval hotspot??!!? What was that about? And my spillbeam was not uniform and smooth like my E2e, rather it got bright around the outside. Baahhhh! What's more, the high beam simply lacked that Wow factor I had gotten so accustomed to with my L2. So what was this $200 mistake I just bought good for? Not much I decided, my heart was breaking for the letdown I had received, and I had soon decided that my expectations had been too high, and I should be happy with the A2 because it was functional and sturdy.
For a while, I would reach for my G2 or E2e when I needed a light, simply because it hurt too much inside to use my A2, and be reminded of my shattered hopes of a flashlight I had settled for.
Then, so slowly that it was almost unnoticed, I began to grab my A2 for tasks that were previously reserved for my other lights. Wow, I thought, the low level flood LED option is kinda nice, especially when I get up in the middle of the night and don't want to wake my wife. Before long, I find I've used the A2 for about an hour's worth of runtime, and lo and behold, it drops out of regulation instantly, leaving me with a little yellow beam. I can say, at that moment, I giggled like a twitterpated schoolgirl, at the realization that for the entire hour of runtime aforementioned, I had enjoyed blazingly white incan light, driven to it's limits as long as the batteries could possibly bear it (save the exception of a little extra juice to keep those little LED's going for a while longer). Now, I HHHAAATTTTEEE the bitter fact that incan lights dim with burntime, and I always am hesitant to use my incans, because I hate to see the beam begin to yellow ten minutes into fresh batteries. On the other hand, I can't very well afford to swap out batteries every ten minutes of use either, so I'm screwed there.
All this to say, now you can understand why I giggled. A perfectly regulated white as snow incan beam, for almost an hour. The beauty of this didn't really hit me for the first time until the old girl dropped out of regulation and I saw what I had been enjoying: 100% brightness on a nearly dead set of batteries. WOW! It is something that can't really be appreciated to its fullest until experienced firsthand as far as I'm concerned.
Then came the camping trip, when I got some extended time in the great outdoors with my lights. I came away from that trip once again in awe of my A2. That thing throws great for it's size. I began realizing that while it may not win a white wall test, this light (for what I need) KILLS in everyday use. More and more, I am finding it to be a nearly perfect blend of flood and throw, dim and bright, incan color rendition and LED stability. I think it was tonight though, that I finally noticed: I am now grabbing my A2 for every job requiring a light. It is my favorite light, hands down. I love using it, I love seeing it dropping out of regulation to once again be reminded of the white bright light that I am able to enjoy for the life of the batteries. That's weird I guess. I'm not sure why I'm writing this, if just to share my experience, or to encourage those of you riding the fence on the A2. Like I said, it's late, I'm inspired, and It's just a cool feeling to like something more, the more I use it. That's so rare. I can't think of many other things I have or have had, that appreciate their value with time. Wow, that was way more long winded than I intended, sorry. I'm sorry if there's any bad spelling or grammar, I don't feel like proofing all of this now.
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