Aviator Incandescent vs LED

Hi, new to this forum, a buddy of mine knows I love flashlights and sent me here.

Anyway, I am looking for a new EDC light and am looking at the Aviator.

I am looking at Surefire's website and they only list the light as a LED, from searching here I see they also used to make the light with a Incandescent bulb.

At first I was just going to be getting the all LED model, but after reading older posts about the Incan bulb I am thinking I will keep my eyes open for one of those models.

But, obviously Surefire thought it would be good to do a change to it, but what would it be?


Thanks
Big G

lost of people here love their incan A2. There is also a mod that will smooth out the uneven beam of the LEDs
I don't really care for the look of the A2, I much prefer that of the A2L. I have the red one and love it.

Advantages of the LED:
- Longer battery life. Incandescent bulbs eat batteries faster than LEDs.
- Longer 'bulb' life - the LED will not need to be changed within the light's lifetime. The A2's bulb is user replaceable and you'll probably need to replace it depending on how much you use it, of course.
- More rugged - the LED will need quite a tough impact to be affected by shock. The bulb, with its thin filament, will not fare so well. Especially if the filament is hot and soft, it'll easily be ruined.
- As the next poster said, the A2L has the new clip which clips both ways. I almost forgot this - can't stand the bezel-up clip on my A2s.

Advantages of the incandescent bulb:
- Higher CRI (color rendition index) - an incandescent bulb emits the entire visible spectrum (and a hefty proportion of infrared - waste heat unfortunately), whereas LEDs have sharp peaks of blue and yellow light and not much else. Some people highly prefer this light output, others don't care and just want the LED efficiency.
- More throw. The incandescent bulb, with its thin filament, has higher surface brightness (that is, light emitted per mm^2), and hence its light is better focused by the reflector. Size for size, incandescent lights usually have better throw than their LED equivalents. My A2 consistently surprises me relative to my LED lights in the same size category.

There are also replacement lamps from LumensFactory with clear glass instead of frosted glass, giving you even better throw, and a little more output. I use the LF bulb in all my A2s.

Surefire has elected to change their lineup to LED due to its advantages listed above. You'll have to decide for yourself what you consider more and less important for your use case.

I have the A2 LED Aviator in White and like everything about it. Took my time getting one and have no regrets. I was worried the 4 White LEDs would have a blue tint but was surprised to see a nice whitish tint. The main beam is pretty floody as well with plenty of throw. A perfect EDC and about time they added a Bezel Down Clip. Yep, I'm happy with mine

I'm an incan Aviator guy myself; I've never owned/used an A2L but I don't really have any desire to either. I'm willing to sacrifice some efficiency and output for the gorgeous 100CRI 3300k pure white incandescent beam that the A2 puts out.

Keep in mind that when it was released, it was cutting edge - the designer created a "regulated" incandescent driver which kept the output perfectly level right up until the batteries were close to dying, at which point it would start to dim. A normal incandescent light starts dimming the second you put the batteries in and turn it on; usually by the end it's a dim yellowish color. Not so with the A2.

In the A2, when the batteries start to die and your main bulb refuses to light (it requires 5V to operate) you still have a quarter charge left in your cells. This allows your secondary LED's (which require 3.2V) to operate for hours afterwards. The primary LED in an A2L runs at the same voltage as your secondaries, so when the power's gone, you're in the dark.

If you decide to try an A2, keep an eye on the Marketplace; they pop up with some regularity there. If you pick one up, grab a Strion kit from FiveMega so that you can run it on Streamlight Strion bulbs (cheap, easily available, brighter) and put yourself on koala's Onion Ring list so you can swap your secondary LED colors.

Hope that helps!

A few personal observations on the LED SF Aviators:

I've got red, blue and green A2L's. They are nice lights but the SSC emitters are a little long in the tooth for 2011 in my opinion. For real world preflight inspection of a large aircraft the new 200+ lumen class of lights make a difference to me.

Oddly enough, the A2L's colored LED's stay on and mix with the white beam, I would consider this a flaw in a lesser brand of light. It's been explained to me here that this is a legacy of the incandescent A2 design to keep you from going dark when the main bulb burns out.

As others have observed, the red and green LED's are almost too bright to preserve night vision. The blue LED's have a lot of UV and are dimmer in visible light to my eye.

Just as most Kroma Milspecs are probably not bought by snake eaters, very few professional pilots use A2's or A2L's from what I've seen. Red lighting has been gone from most airliner cockpits for decades now, maybe some mechanics do use blue lights to look for hydraulic leaks. Or, to track a wounded deer. Not sure what I'd use green light for but it does look neat and seems to give me the best acuity at night.

Welcome to CPF B-G-29!

The incan A2's also have a soft start feature that Surefire no longer advertises. It ramps up the current to the lamp and this greatly extends service life. Everytime I turn mine on I realize why I keep it. IMHO it easily performs as well as an E2DL and that pumps out 200 LED lumens.

Vox Clamatis in Deserto said:

...Not sure what I'd use green light for but it does look neat and seems to give me the best acuity at night.

Click to expand...

I got a Tommyknocker green one too. It was fun during St Patty's day but I too am perplexed as to what use it will serve. Maybe to illuminate a jackolantern this Halloween?

I was late to the Aviator party and my first one was a white LED. It is a great light, but later on I got a red Incan and everything changed.... now I have red, green, Y/G, white and two white flat bodied Incans. The green is just plain fun, as far as night vision retention, the Y/G works really well because it is pretty dim. I had put them all on the shelf for a little while because I caught Malkoff fever, but bought a couple of the LumensFactory unfrosted bulbs when I had heard they discontinued the Incans (just in case) and when I fired up my white round body for the first time in a few months I remembered how much I liked that warm beam.

That being said, the LED version is a workhorse... it is a great light, but I prefer the Incan.

Dang, you guys are making me want one again...CURSE YOU ALL!! ;-)

fresh eddie fresh said:

...the LED version is a workhorse... it is a great light, but I prefer the Incan.

Click to expand...

Well put and welcome to CPF!

Holy crap the A2L's now cost a small fortune...

Well...

After a few hours of searching and reading past posts I had my heart set on a A2. But I know they are discontinued from Surefire, so finding a NIB one I am guessing will be difficult.

I am wanting one with a red LED. Seeing I spend alot of time in our woods, and in the summer I seem to have alot of kids that like to park on my property, so a red light will fit my bill for catching them.

So I am at our local gun shop tonight and am looking at their Surefire displays and low and behold, there are two A2's sitting there, and one is a red and one is a blue. I ask the guy if I can check the red one out, and only the LED's are lighting up, dead battery's. I figured this light was old, for one, it was the square body, for two the package was a very very faded red, like it has been sitting on the shelf for years, and three, the battery's that were in it had a expiration date of 03-13.

The blue LED one had a round body, but I really have no use for the blue LED's.



Two questions, is there any difference in model upgrades from the square body compared to the round body? Also, the one thing I know that I do not like about this light is the pocket clip. Seeing this will be a EDC light, I do not like the bezel pointing up. I see the new A2L's have a clip that can be worn both ways, bezel up, or down. Can I buy a A2L clip from Surefire and put it on a A2?

Thanks

Big G


BTW, if I start hanging around here will I develop a sickness? I have been active on a few different sites in the past and bad things happen:naughty:

I'm keeping my Y/G incan A2... not available in A2L flavor and it's by far the best LED color. Check out my A2 LED colors review thread for details.

Also, being new to this community, were is a good online store to start to look at (one that still has A2's available)?

I prefer buying locally, but, I know know that is out of the question.

GR8GEAR.com has new Surefire A2s (red,green,blue,yellow-green) on closeout for $138.99. They are listed under "Specials". Shipping was quoted at a whopping $14 to Massachusetts, but it is a discontinued light at a fair price. They also have a brick and mortar store in Seattle Washington where you may pick-up orders. I have no connection to this website, nor have I ever ordered from them before, so I have no knowledge of how good their service is.

They also have many other Surefire lights on closeout at somewhat reduced prices.

Well, today I went back to the store and talked to the manager. He looked up the light and said that they had this light on the shelf for quite a few years.

Well.,... he gave me a good deal, and now I own a A2!!

The serial number is A21303. Is this a early model, or were does it fall in the lineup?

Also, is the clip interchangeable with the new style clip? I really dont like carrying a light with the bezel up.

I also guess when it rains it pours, I also have a line on one with green LED's

biggenius29 said:

I also guess when it rains it pours, I also have a line on one with green LED's

Click to expand...

It really does. I started out with one used A2, now I have 8, and a bunch of parts and bulbs.

I have not tried removing the new-style clip from my LX2 to see if it fits, as I have removed a clip from an A2 already and getting it back was nearly impossible due to the little plastic wedge retainer they've used. It's like a puzzle made for an octopus with fingers. Strong fingers.

It does, however, look like it would fit. If you can find such a clip available by itself, I'd try it if I were you. Also, once you do find that, tell me so I can buy about 8 of them

I recommend the following items:

http://www.jsburlys.com/index.php?app=ecom&ns=prodshow&ref=valiantdelrin-ashroud
http://www.lumensfactory.com/product_details.php?id=58&cid=8&sid=&page=1

biggenius29 said:

Well, today I went back to the store and talked to the manager. He looked up the light and said that they had this light on the shelf for quite a few years.

Well.,... he gave me a good deal, and now I own a A2!!

The serial number is A21303. Is this a early model, or were does it fall in the lineup?

Also, is the clip interchangeable with the new style clip? I really dont like carrying a light with the bezel up.

I also guess when it rains it pours, I also have a line on one with green LED's

Click to expand...

Good choice. The model you have is the original '4 flats' model which many here find more comfortable to hold than the newer round body version. Some say that the LEDs of the new A2 Incan are brighter but I'm not sure on that one.

The 4 flats A2s definately are more desirable on the second hand market.

Have fun,

James....:thumbsup:

Regarding the head-up clip on the Aviator, the new head-down clip fits the A2, and I've been using one on mine for over a year now with great results; the new clips seem to be less prone to shearing off than the old ones - my A2 got a few dings that way when I hip-checked something or the clip loosened up and slipped.

Do you know if rechargables batteries 2* 16340 are ok in a A2 LED ?

Bolek said:

Do you know if rechargables batteries 2* 16340 are ok in a A2 LED ?

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They overdrive the stock LED's by a large margin, but a lot of CPF'ers run this setup and have reported no ill effects. Just be conscious that you're putting ~90ma through an LED designed for 25ma.