I accidently bought a Surefire A2 Aviator

[Epic Win]

I made a bid on ebay, and I was the only bidder The light cost me 100.00 + shipping. I'm a 100 dollars down now, but a comforting thought is that this light seems very well received on CPF. I'm getting the incandescent version with white LED (new, as the seller says). Thanks to CPF....I at least don't have buyer's remorse.

 

[Chrontius]

Good deal for a new Aviator. Very good deal.

It may not become your EDC, but if you realize that it's made to be used relying on the LEDs and using the incandescent main gun intermittently (and it has soft-start and regulation to encourage that use; you won't go through bulbs quickly) you will come to respect it very quickly.

 

[Epic Win]

Good deal for a new Aviator. Very good deal.

It may not become your EDC, but if you realize that it's made to be used relying on the LEDs and using the incandescent main gun intermittently (and it has soft-start and regulation to encourage that use; you won't go through bulbs quickly) you will come to respect it very quickly.

Thanks for the info. Actually when I bid on it I had no clue what I was buying. In the morning, ebay sent me a message saying I won...then I had a moment of "what did I just buy?". After some reading on CPF I realized it was a good light. Originally however, my sight was fixed on a E2L Outdoorsman.

 

[Outdoors Fanatic]

You're going to LOVE that light! Congrats on a super sweet deal...

 

[carrot]

That's no accident, the light seduced you! It's one of the best there is... and for the longest time it was my favorite EDC.

 

[saabgoblin]

Definitely a winner in my book and the incandescent bulb's output is regulated as well much like many LED lights. I have begun carrying mine again in my backpack and it is an acceptable size for EDC pocket carry whereas the 6P, G2 and lights of similar size would need a holster for me to EDC.

Great beam with pretty amazing throw.:twothumbs

 

[kramer5150]

Its a KILLER light.
People are hocking them for next to nothing now that the LED version is out. I scored mine for $79 a couple weeks ago!!!:thumbsup:

Its a great nightstand light, for those light sleepers like me who get up often at night. Mines been bored for a 17670 cell, I cant run the incan at this low Vin, but still the low Vf red LEDs work great. Its a great night time task-light. BC measured mine at 90 Lumens OTF with non-IMR RCR123 cells

 

[csshih]

I accidently bought a Surefire A2 Aviator

is that the excuse you're using now?

 

[Epic Win]

Its a KILLER light.
People are hocking them for next to nothing now that the LED version is out. I scored mine for $79 a couple weeks ago!!!:thumbsup:

Its a great nightstand light, for those light sleepers like me who get up often at night. Mines been bored for a 17670 cell, I cant run the incan at this low Vin, but still the low Vf red LEDs work great. Its a great night time task-light. BC measured mine at 90 Lumens OTF with non-IMR RCR123 cells

HI, about your pic, it seems the reviews I read for A2 were for lights that had a few flat surfaces on their body. Yours is round, and I suspect mine is round too. Will that make a difference?

 

[angelofwar]

Great light! Once you get it and see the quality, go ahead and get that E2L...one of SF's best and most useable (for non-tactical apps, anyways)

:welcome:

 

[carrot]

The new ones have a bit longer runtime on high and slightly brighter LED's but besides being wickedly ugly have no downsides.

 

[Epic Win]

Good deal for a new Aviator. Very good deal.

It may not become your EDC, but if you realize that it's made to be used relying on the LEDs and using the incandescent main gun intermittently (and it has soft-start and regulation to encourage that use; you won't go through bulbs quickly) you will come to respect it very quickly.

Hope you don't mind me asking so many questions on CPF I looked around to understand what "soft start" and "regulation" meant, but the CPF wiki and faqs didn't help (and google search returns posts in which people already know the meaning so don't describe these terms well). So would you please be kind and explain what these mean! Even now I'm debating if I should have gotten a red LED version instead because I am an amateur astronomer and sometimes I use a separate red light to help with my night vision.

 

[Epic Win]

Great light! Once you get it and see the quality, go ahead and get that E2L...one of SF's best and most useable (for non-tactical apps, anyways)

:welcome:

Thanks for the welcome! Yes, I was seriously considering the E2L because I spend much time outdoors, and the runtime on E2L is the best I've seen so far....just that I wish it was slightly cheaper. What kind of lights do you guys have? I'm sure everyone posting in this thread has an A2 :laughing:

(edited: I just saw your signature...I don't understand anything but it must be your lights!)

(edit2: It seems that popular science has posted a review of this flashlight, holy molly! http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-space/article/2003-10/review-a2-aviator-flashlight )

 

[computernut]

Welcome to the A2 club! :thumbsup: Keep your eyes peeled for Koala's Onion Rings when they come out:Link

 

[angelofwar]

Thanks for the welcome! Yes, I was seriously considering the E2L because I spend much time outdoors, and the runtime on E2L is the best I've seen so far....just that I wish it was slightly cheaper. What kind of lights do you guys have? I'm sure everyone posting in this thread has an A2 :laughing:

(edited: I just saw your signature...I don't understand anything but it must be your lights!)

(edit2: It seems that popular science has posted a review of this flashlight, holy molly! http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-space/article/2003-10/review-a2-aviator-flashlight )

You will understand it all soon enough if you spend much time here :nana:...the aviator is the first (and still???) the only regulated incan...the chip in it regulates the energy that the incan lamp consumes, ensuring you get the same amount of light out-put (lumens) for the life of your batteries (i.e. it won't get dimmer like a m@g-light or other incans. And when the batteries can't provide enough juice to fire up the incan's 50 lumens, you can still run the LED's for several hours, so it's nice to know that you won't be left in the dark (in more ways than one)

I have the white A2, but still want to get a red one as others have mentioned, for a stealth light. nd I want a yellow green one for "bad arse" factor...especially when you explain to some-one what the YG light is for

The E2L is also probably the best regulated (commercially available) LED out there...you get exactly 11 hours of 60 Surefire lumens (70-75'ish actual). That alot of light for that amount of time. Google "E2L runtime charts" and see for yourself. Alot of CPF'ers actually do tests themselves and try to keep the industry honest (and let us know when they're not).

Get an F04 Diffuser for it and you have the best non-tactical EDC/camping light. The E2L's are hard to find on the marketplace, but that's a testament to how many people don't want to get rid of them. You know I'm right guys!

 

[Illum]

The new ones have a bit longer runtime on high and slightly brighter LED's but besides being wickedly ugly have no downsides.

lol, yeah, generally speaking the new round A2s have and appearance only a mother could love:nana:

 

[Echo63]

Hope you don't mind me asking so many questions on CPF I looked around to understand what "soft start" and "regulation" meant, but the CPF wiki and faqs didn't help (and google search returns posts in which people already know the meaning so don't describe these terms well). So would you please be kind and explain what these mean! Even now I'm debating if I should have gotten a red LED version instead because I am an amateur astronomer and sometimes I use a separate red light to help with my night vision.

Ok, Regulation means that there is a little driver in the body of the light, that keeps the voltage or current to the bulb at a preset level, so the bulbs output doesnt diminish over the life of the batterys.
I believe the A2's regulator bumps the 6v from the cells down to around 4 for the bulb.
Soft Start is just what it sounds like, the bulb is warmed up gently (over maybe 1/4 second or less) this means it is less likely to blow the bulb.

and a CPF member named Koala is working on a new LED ring for the A2, it has an adjustable output, and sockets so you can change the Led colour.
hopefully they will be ready soon

 

[paulr]

You did great, 100 bucks for a brand new a2. If you get tired of it I'm sure you can turn it around on cpfmp and make a small profit. Re the round vs flat sided models, they changed styles a few times over the course of production. Some collector can probably tell you exactly when your light was made, but from a user perspective there's not much difference.

The A2 is one of the highest tech incan lights, using a digital circuit to keep the brightness level constant through the battery runtime, and also to ramp up the voltage over a fraction of a second when you turn the light on, to not hit the bulb with a huge sudden inrush of current when the filament is cold.

You should read js's epic review of the A2 if you haven't yet:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=107943

there is also a meta-thread of links to other A2 threads:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?p=2504848

 

[hyperloop]

I made a bid on ebay, and I was the only bidder The light cost me 100.00 + shipping. I'm a 100 dollars down now, but a comforting thought is that this light seems very well received on CPF. I'm getting the incandescent version with white LED (new, as the seller says). Thanks to CPF....I at least don't have buyer's remorse.

Good deal, mine was $130 without factoring in shipping to singapore, total came to about $150 or so.

Got the HO-A2 bulb from Lumens Factory to replace the stock bulb and running mine of rechargeable CR123s too. You will like the light, it's great!

 

[MarNav1]

Had mine for awhile, got the Streamlight strion bulb adapter for it too. Was excited about the atomic chicken mod but hopefully koala's mod will be better. Swapping LED's would be a very nice option.