New Surefire A2 aviator on the way

[ebow86]

Ok, I was going to hold out on posting until it arrived but I'll go ahead and ask something. Last week I purchased a surefire A2 aviator directly from surefire, it's due to be delivered on Thursday. When I called I asked the rep a question. I told how the A2 has changed styles and colors many times over the years and I wanted to know if I purchase an A2 from them if I was going to recieve the newest and latest version from them, the one shown on surefires site http://www.surefire.com/A2-Aviator. To be honest the rep really didn't sound so sure, all she told me was their stock was fairly new, and it's likely I will recieve the newest round body. Here's my question, do you think it's been long enough that the likely hood of recieveing an older flat sided version is slim? I have read most of the posts on the A2 here but to be honest I still confused on which body is which, when it was released, why some reound bodies have a OD green bezel, etc etc. I know alot of people don't like the new round body but I happen to like it better, and I've heard the LED's are slightly brighter on newer models. Does anyone knowwhen the round body was introduced and are all round bodies the same or is there any varience between round bodies?

 

[KeyGrip]

I dont' know when the round bodies were introduced, but you are very likely to get one. That has been the standard style for a while now, and I would be surprised if SF had any in stock.

 

[JNewell]

I'd be shocked if you get a 4-flats/square body, but if you do, I've got a spare round body that is never going to get used.

 

[ebow86]

Thanks guys. Still though, does anyone know if there are any differences between round bodies through years? Maybe I'm mistaken, but I think I remember seeing some round bodies where part of the ano on the bezel was like an OD green, where as the other round bodies were all the same color.

 

[DM51]

The ano colors of the newer bodies are a more uniform dark gray. Older lights, especially the 4-flats ones, varied quite a lot.

 

[ebow86]

Ok it just arrived. Very impressed, it's the new round body as well. Question, when the switch is fully pressed is BOTH the LED's as well as the incan lamp supposed to come on? I was expecting only the incan lamp to come on when fully pressed or the cap twisted on all the way, not both, this is a suprise.

 

[KeyGrip]

On high, both the LEDs and the incandescent lamp come on. It's normal.


The way SureFire anodizes their parts can lead to mismatching since they do individual components (bodies, tailcaps, bezels) in large batches. So those A2s you saw that had greener heads just came out that way, it was not intentional or part of the design.

 

[ebow86]

Add another one to the A2 aviator fanbase

I wasn't actually expecting my new A2 WH to arrive until today, so it was quite a suprise when I heard the brakes of the UPS truck stopping in front of the house yesterday. I know this light has been talked about endlessly here on CPF, but please, let me enjoy this rambling:)

First off, I want to mention this is the newest round body design with white LED"s (well, blue might be a better description, more on that later). Don't let pictures fool you, this light is deceptively small. The batteries inside were marked 12/2019 so this light has been made fairly recent, so that dispells the speculation, in my mind, that surefire is goingto stop manufacturing these. Have you guys ever sit and thought, boy, what would be my dream flashlight, how would I design it, what would it look like? Well, my dream came true, cause I'm holding it right now.

Waiting on nightfall ( and waiting for the neighbors 1000 megawatt dusk till dawn light to kick on in my eyes, like it has for the last several years everynight) I took it outside. This has to be the most underrated surefire light, in lumens ratings, ever. It's billed as having a 3 lumen LED flood, both my brother and I estimated it to be 10 to 15. I'm happy though, the led provides more than enough light to navigate around ( some would say too much). It does have the angry blue tint though, but it's really only noticable wallhunting. If you are worried about perserving your night adapter vision stay clear of the white led version, it is plenty bright. I was suprised to see that when the xenon lamp is activated the leds stay on as well, I wonder why surefire designed it this way? Anyway, the beam from the "50 lum" xenon lamp is, in my mind, about the perfect combo of throw and spill. The low beam of my surefire 10X dominator is conservately rated at 60 lum, after a series of ceiling bounce tests and outdoor test I have concluded, as well as many others here, that it's putting out somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 to 80 lumens, incredible. I was blown away to see it was beating my $500 10X dominator in output! I'm not sure if anyone has noticed this, but if you look in the instruction manual it actually says that the light puts out more light than all the other 60 and 65 lum lights, like to 6P and E2E, although it's still rated at 50 lums. It also says that the runtime is actually greater than 60 minutes, I haven't had it long enough to say wether that's accurate or not. I ran the light last night for, oh I don't know, maybe 20 minutes, and I didn't notice any change in brightness or whiteness, so I'm anxious to see how that holds up over the life of the batteries.

So there you have it. I know, I know, everything I just said has been said here 50 times over about this light, it just I wanted to share my thought's and opinions on this fantastic, technologically advanced, incandescent superlight. I once read that you have to own this light for a little while before you decide if you like it or not, it will grow on you, no way in my book, I fell in love with this light the minute I pulled it from the package.

 

[DM51]

Re: Add another one to the A2 aviator fanbase

I'll merge this with your earlier thread. It wasn't necessary to start a new one.

 

[computernut]

Welcome to the club! I have two A2's, round Yellow/Green and a square White. The Y/G is just right for night-time stuff so I keep it on my nightstand. I find the WHT LEDs bright enough for walking at night so I can see where my feet are going.

 

[KeyGrip]

Congratulations, welcome to the madness. May I suggest a few threads for you to sample:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=199366

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=210254

These are just two of the things you can do to play around with your A2. I'm getting the Onion Ring for sure.

 

[kramer5150]

Ditto that onion ring... I'll probably pick up 2-3 in different colors. of course that will lead to the purchase of more A2s:broke:

I fell asleep with my A2 on last night, the red color that gently floods the room is like a night light

 

[Ninja]

12/2010 dating on the batteries is the EXPIRE date... with a 10 year shelf life, make sure the date reads "2020" or there about on your next purchase - don't worry you will use those primaries up fast 8>)

 

[Kestrel]

12/2010 dating on the batteries is the EXPIRE date

Are you sure it isn't a "12th week of 2010" manufacture date? :thinking:

Edit: LOL, "2019", well, that's the way it is on the StreamLight/Panasonic CR123's I think - just wanted to throw that guess out there. :whistle:

 

[ebow86]

Sorry about that guys, what I meant to put was "12-2019" I've edited my post accordingly.

 

[ebow86]

You know guys, from what I've read there are people skeptical of the Aviator, questioning why an "outdated 2 cell incan light" should cost $200. When you look at the surefire incan lineup, and look at the prices of lights like the M2, M3, 9P, etc,etc, the more I think about it, and the more technology I see in the A2, I actually consider the A2 to be AN ABSOLUTE BARGIN FOR $200. Does anyone else agree with this?

 

[KeyGrip]

People tend to overlook the technological sophistication of the light because it doesn't translate into insane output. Which is funny, because making a bright light doesn't take complexity or thought, it usually just takes power. Most people have a price/brightness correlation by which they judge lights, and which I think is now obsolete. The A2 is not for them.

 

[ebow86]

Well last night my batteries gave up the ghost, 2 nights of hard use. I am very impressed with the runtime and regulation. I was indeed very bright and white right to the very end. Even when the batteries don't have enough juice to light up the xenon lamp, the LED's still give out some pretty good light.

 

[novice]

ebow86,
There a was previous link from KeyGrip regarding FiveMega's strion bulb adapter for the A2 wherein the sales thread was closed. There has been much demand for these on the used market, and FM just started a new sales thread. I'm a little unsure about the rules for these kinds of sales links, so just do a cpf search for, '(3rd run) A2 strion socket kit'.

This is a very useful and economical mod. The SF lamp assy. sells for about $25, the Lumens Factory version for about $20, but the strion bulb can be found for about $5 online. It is also brighter than the SF lamp, and at least as bright as the LF product, if not brighter. It's basically paid for in savings after you've gone through 2 bulbs, and put in bulb number three. The adapter does take a little getting used to. The holes are small, and close together, and the fit can be tight. I managed to snag 2 used ones. One was fine, and one was a very tight fit. I ruined at least one bulb trying to get it in. At that point, use wire clippers to cut one lead of the damaged bulb, and a needle file to eliminate the stump. Then using the single remaining pin, carefully get it in one hole, and move it in and out a couple of times, and rotate it, then do the same thing to the other socket hole. After I did this, it was MUCH easier to get succeeding bulbs in. Also, wear white cotton gloves to avoid getting your skin oil and salt on that bulb. Make sure to use a very light touch when you are setting the 'set' screw, or you could damage the brass threads on the socket unit.

Even when the incan bulb no longer comes on, you've probably got 25% of your batteries left, which is going to be around 4 hours on primaries, using the leds.

I'm looking forward to Koala's 'onion rings' coming out, also.

 

[ebow86]

Yeah, having the incan lamp go out with the batteries having about 25% capacity left is a little wasteful in a way, but I think it's a small price to pay for the excellent regulation.