A2 Still Worth It?

First things first, I have no real preference for lights. I like functional useful lights, and I only like using rechargeable batteries. That being said, I am having a break down again. I have gone through dozens of flashlights in the past two years and have kept only those that I truly love. A quick list follows:

HDS Rotary
HDS Rotary HCRI (waiting)

E1L
C2 Bored & Coated w/L1N
6P Bored & Coated w/M60
C3/A19 Bored & Coated w/M61LL

MD2 w/M61
MD3/A19 w/M91W

Quark AA2XML Neutral
Revo

SR-51

Now given that those are my lights I seem to have just about all of my bases covered. Have the long lasting bomb lights, the AA light, the thrower, the camping light, and for EDC the Rotary or AA body Quark XML Neutral.

I've gone through an L4, L2, A2L-WH, E2E, L1, 6PX, E1b, etc for Surefire lights. For some reason I just feel compelled to get an A2.

I typically only use rechargeables so this would be a concern. I suppose I would have to have the body bored to fit a 17670 because I only feel comfortable using lights with AW's in them. Hate hate hate using primaries. I don't particularly have a need for any light. I hardly have a need for the lights I already have.

That being said, should I get an A2? Doing it up right I would need a set of rings for it, probably some NW's and maybe a Red or YG just to really fill it out. At this rate, we are looking at a $100 for a used A2, $50 ring +bore costs for a light that is ~6 years old. Can I justify it?

A pair of AW's Blue Label LiFe 16340 cells should work fine without a bore-job. I used LiFe cells of lesser quality for a while until I wrecked them in an unrelated accident.

The argument boils down to this: if you like functional useful lights, then that pretty perfectly describes the A2. It's not (terribly) showy, and it's not an OMG LUMEN MONSTER, but I keep EDCing it despite having theoretically better lights. Often while carrying those theoretically better lights. And I keep reaching for it. Part of me wants to blame the user interface -- not only is the two-stage pushbutton great on its own merits, but it seems to lend itself very well to the low-flood and punchy-incan combination.

I wouldn't get one if I were you, based on your requirements. The only reason I have one is so I can say I have one of the only ever mass produced regulated incandescent flashlights ever made. That, and it works well when I'm grilling and need the color rendition to see how well the meat is done.

I don't see why the E2DL doesn't fit the same bill -- two modes, very useful and long running low, with an extremely focused and potent high beam. It also runs longer on a pair of cells.

Chrontius said:

A pair of AW's Blue Label LiFe 16340 cells should work fine without a bore-job. I used LiFe cells of lesser quality for a while until I wrecked them in an unrelated accident.

The argument boils down to this: if you like functional useful lights, then that pretty perfectly describes the A2. It's not (terribly) showy, and it's not an OMG LUMEN MONSTER, but I keep EDCing it despite having theoretically better lights. Often while carrying those theoretically better lights. And I keep reaching for it. Part of me wants to blame the user interface -- not only is the two-stage pushbutton great on its own merits, but it seems to lend itself very well to the low-flood and punchy-incan combination.

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Won't these batteries burn out the A2 incan? Maybe I am looking at the wrong batteries.

Jeffa said:

Won't these batteries burn out the A2 incan? Maybe I am looking at the wrong batteries.

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I believe the LVR limits the voltage to lamp to around 4 volts. But there is definitely a concern for the LEDs when using higher voltage batteries, a simple resistor swap should fix this.