Surefire Aviator 2017 thread

[badtziscool]

Vapcell T8 seem to work okay. Ill keep everybody updated on long term use.

View attachment 62150

Taking one for the team!

 

[Rossymeister]

Taking one for the team!

I have searched and searched online and cant find anything definitive either way. Cool little light. Just want to avoid primarys unless i absolutely have to.

 

[F89]

I've been using 16340 (4.2V) batteries in single cell Surefire lights for years. I've been using them in my Aviator since I got it at the start of the year with no problem.
I wouldn't worry.

 

[Rossymeister]

That makes me feel a little bit better. Got to get those guilt free lumens!

 

[F89]

That makes me feel a little bit better. Got to get those guilt free lumens!

I don't know what's more guilt free? Depends on how deeply you think about it.
Both lithium primary and rechargeable are pretty heinous when you think of the mining and manufacturing processes, even maintenance and recycling procedures.
Perhaps the guilt free comes in when considering expense? One off cost of a primary vs rechargeable cost divided by number of charging cycles and associated charging equipment costs and so on.

That said, I'll happily use either.

 

[Rossymeister]

Just an update, everything has been working flawlessly for the past 2 weeks. Ive been starting every day off with a freshly charged vapcell t8. Im getting a solid 50 minute runtime on high white, till the voltage drops to 3.6 . I have had no problems running the red led either.

Cool little setup!

 

[Rossymeister]

3 month update, probably the last time ill post about this. Everything has been working flawlessly. I use the red alot more than i thought i would. Cool little edc light, with a surprisingly long runtime on a rechargeable rcr123. Get one if you dont have one.

 

[Erif]

Ok thanks. I emailed a surefire dealer about getting an amber version, and they said they weren't able to order it. Weird.

I recently came across this issue trying to get a hold of an amber one. Did you end up finding one?

 

[Rossymeister]

I recently came across this issue trying to get a hold of an amber one. Did you end up finding one?

I was told by a surefire dealer that the other colors were only available for government purchases, whatever that means. I haven't called and spoke to surefire directly though.

 

[Erif]

I was told by a surefire dealer that the other colors were only available for government purchases, whatever that means. I haven't called and spoke to surefire directly though.

That's the same info I got after calling them a couple days ago. I see they're sold out pretty much every where so I figured I'd call for an ETA. They say the red is for public sale and all the other colors are through military/ LE channels only. I can't imagine why, but im still trying to find anything but blue haha

 

[Rossymeister]

Anybody have the amber aviator? How are you liking it?

 

[scalpel_ninja]

Anybody have the amber aviator? How are you liking it?

I have one and like it a lot. The white is very pure white tint with decent amount of throw. Amber is pleasant to use at night. It's an older version of pull and twist, not twist with detent.

It seems to be a tint lottery and LED centering lottery too. A red version I once owned had poor white tint and red with artifacts that was mostly due to the eccentric optic not centering on either emitter. I suspected it was poor placement of the MCPCB that affected both colors.

 

[Monocrom]

You roll the dice, and you takes your chances. Is it worth it?
For an SF Aviator? Heck yeah.

 

[batman]

Not for me. Even at $269 from Amazon..My YL/GN version flickers on both modes of YL/GN. I wouldn't accept headlights on a car that flicker, or landing lights on a plane that flicker, why accept such QC? Returning mine soon.

 

[F89]

For what it's worth a lot of their lights do the low flicker. I've seen it on the E1D LED, EB1 300 lumen and 2017 Aviator.
Although it's a totally different light, the EDC1-DFT is awesome.

 

[batman]

For what it's worth a lot of their lights do the low flicker. I've seen it on the E1D LED, EB1 300 lumen and 2017 Aviator.
Although it's a totally different light, the EDC1-DFT is awesome.

I'm surprised. Makes me wonder if the flickering is just a normal trait of the light, rather than a QC defect. If it is just a trait of the electronics, why on earth?
If it is a defect and we're supposed to just accept it, it seems like surefire's philosophy is, "as long as turns on and off at all, it's worth as much money as we want to charge for it."

 

[F89]

I'm surprised. Makes me wonder if the flickering is just a normal trait of the light, rather than a QC defect. If it is just a trait of the electronics, why on earth?
If it is a defect and we're supposed to just accept it, it seems like surefire's philosophy is, "as long as turns on and off at all, it's worth as much money as we want to charge for it."

I'm not sure what it is, but I think it's an (undesirable) trait of the driver electronics. Interestingly the ones I LED swapped show little to no flickering after the swap. Perhaps this is an effect of the (lower) forward voltage of the LEDs I used.
That said, flickering or not, those drivers are tough and dependable. Obviously many (everyone on a flashlight forum) would prefer not to have flickering and there really is no excuse for Surefire to not have fixed the design to avoid this. I imagine most people may not notice unless looking for it, whether it bothers you or not is another thing and then there's the once seen factor.
Once again, I have to say the EDC1 and 2 DFT are fantastic lights (with no signs of quibbles).

Edit: Just checked my E1D LED which I previously swapped to an Osram 1mm2 and there's no flickering at all on low (or high). It definitely flickered on low when it had its original XPG2 in it ( I used it for years with the original LED and it always flickered on low).
My recent Y/G Aviator flickers on coloured low and high. More noticeably on low and sometimes generally more noticeable than other times and sometimes almost non existent. It also flickers a touch on white, low (have to look for it though). I had to stare at the beam on a wall to observe the flicker. For the most part I don't notice it in general use but I make no excuses for the fact that it's there.

 

[batman]

I'm not sure what it is, but I think it's an (undesirable) trait of the driver electronics. Interestingly the ones I LED swapped show little to no flickering after the swap. Perhaps this is an effect of the (lower) forward voltage of the LEDs I used.
That said, flickering or not, those drivers are tough and dependable. Obviously many (everyone on a flashlight forum) would prefer not to have flickering and there really is no excuse for Surefire to not have fixed the design to avoid this. I imagine most people may not notice unless looking for it, whether it bothers you or not is another thing and then there's the once seen factor.
Once again, I have to say the EDC1 and 2 DFT are fantastic lights (with no signs of quibbles).

Edit: Just checked my E1D LED which I previously swapped to an Osram 1mm2 and there's no flickering at all on low (or high). It definitely flickered on low when it had its original XPG2 in it ( I used it for years with the original LED and it always flickered on low).
My recent Y/G Aviator flickers on coloured low and high. More noticeably on low and sometimes generally more noticeable than other times and sometimes almost non existent. It also flickers a touch on white, low (have to look for it though). I had to stare at the beam on a wall to observe the flicker. For the most part I don't notice it in general use but I make no excuses for the fact that it's there.

Thank you, that's reassuring to hear. I will see if this little thing grows on me, I may keep it. I like the red LED variant a little more than my Y/G, but the red runtime on high kinda turns me off. Y/G has such a great runtime I'm not afraid of the idea of running it on primaries. Also, Y/G is a difficult to find color of LED..I want to have a good one. I can always use my mini maglite in red if I need to go creeper status. 😅

 

[Monocrom]

I have over a dozen SureFires. Half are LED.
None flicker.