The SF A2: bulbs and more

[SureAddicted]

Although.. I went to check my SF retailers, and one of them has a CLOSE-OUT SALE ON INCANDESCENT A2s! They wanted like €30 for each A2. So I bought two.:fail:.

I'm speechless.
I would of bought the entire stockpile they had.

 

[Steve in SoCal]

I'm speechless.
I would of bought the entire stockpile they had.

Definitely, doesn't that translate into like $2 usd...:devil:

Just kidding

 

[jellydonut]

I'm speechless.
I would of bought the entire stockpile they had.

I checked and they actually only had six more left, so I bought those too.

Anyone want a white, blue or red LED incan A2?:nana: I think these could make awesome Christmas gifts. With a bundle of CR123s..

 

[Chrontius]

Re: Drop-in bulb for SF A2

Got my A2 now - not an impressive amount of brightness but it should be a very useful light. I suppose it's a mark of maturity when we stop worrying so much about brightness. :laughing:

Paradoxically the beam is more white than my warm SST-90 which looks seriously yellow in comparison.:candle:

It just needs to get dark so I can test it properly outdoors. Lucky it's fall now so there's lots of color outside too!

Current, temporary, configuration:

The U2 clip doesn't really fit - it is snug but that's only because of the paracord. The ideal here would be a big, fat o-ring that could really cinch down on the U2 clip and also fill the gap left by the lanyard ring. I don't particularly like lanyards anyway.:nana:

There is a problem though.. Watertight integrity at the head. The small plastic retainer is not snug against the o-ring of the head alone, it needs the original A2 clip. What is needed here is a small piece of metal exactly the same shape as the original clip's mounting part to make the light watertight against.

So.. anyone got an original A2 clip to sell me that I can cut to pieces?:naughty:

I may have an original A2 clip I broke off, and all it would need is smoothing with a dremel. I may have also lost the little bugger, but I promise I'll look.

I checked and they actually only had five left, so I bought those too.

Anyone want a white or blue LED incan A2?:nana: I think these could make awesome Christmas gifts. With a bundle of CR123s..

Good gravy! I could probably use one as a gift...

What are blue LEDs good for? Blood tracking and charging GITD?

 

[jellydonut]

The claim is that its good for blood tracking and not much else. I look forward to putting it to the test.

If you have that broken clip it would be PERFECT.

 

[sgt253]

Jellydonut,
How much are you asking for the A2?

Regards.

 

[jellydonut]

Woah, dudes - at least let the lights arrive before pouncing on 'em.lovecpf

 

[Machete God]

... The unfrostys are getting very rare these days. ...

Er, unfrosted bulbs can be bought from any of their dealers, or directly from LF here

Got my A2 now - not an impressive amount of brightness but it should be a very useful light. ...

I've had mine for just over a month and it's my favourite EDC item for holding and admiring. The LED beam is very useful, and the bright and white incan beam is there when I need it. I would like to echo the complaints of others about its battery eating habits, though. I also worry about darkening the bulb when I turn on the incandescent beam for quick blasts. And that I'm shortening the life of the bulb every time I go to incan. But these complaints are nothing that can't be solved with some IMR cells and a LF HO bulb
[EDIT]This fills me with new-found confidence in the longevity of my bulb!

You could just buy the clip for the LX2 / A2L model and use that for bezel-down carry.

Thanks for this nugget of info, I was wondering if that clip would fit, it looked like it would. But it will also have the pressed-up against the tail-cap issue, correct?

I could.. If anyone would sell it. The Surefire retailers here don't carry it, Surefire retailers overseas won't ship international. ...

Let me know if you find a seller that ships international lovecpf

Now to go search for onion rings..

You don't need to search hard, he sells them here

I checked and they actually only had six more left, so I bought those too.

Anyone want a white, blue or red LED incan A2?:nana: I think these could make awesome Christmas gifts. With a bundle of CR123s..

What? Not yet? Oh ok

 

[Monocrom]

The tail-cap issue will always be there with those clips.

 

[jellydonut]

You don't need to search hard, he sells them here

I didn't mean it literally - the first run is sold out. What I'm really doing is waiting for the second run.

The U2 clip is a flaming failure - even with some retention with the lanyard the diameter is still too big. I've removed it for now.

What is REALLY needed is a bezel-down clip that goes into the lanyard ring notch, and rotates freely the same way the original lanyard ring does! That way it won't be as much in the way. I found that the U2 clip did not impede use of the twisty much at all, because it rotated freely in the notch.

The Oveready/Moddoo clip, on a Delrin ring... Hrrrmmmmm

I have four AW IMR 16340s now, but I don't want to use them before I can order some onion rings. The LEDs are visibly overdriven, I don't want to ruin my original LEDs just to save a few CR123s.

 

[Hack On Wheels]

You guys need to pipe down over here; now I'm really wanting an A2! 30 Euros is a steal for a new A2, you are very lucky to have found those.

I think I might have to start planning for my eventual A2 purchase; it is inevitable now.

..Strion socket kit + Onion ring + amber LEDs + AW RCR123s = Win?

The red LEDs are the classic choice though, the way I see it. I wonder if there are any high CRI 5mm white LEDs?

 

[AvroArrow]

I think I might have to start planning for my eventual A2 purchase; it is inevitable now.

..Strion socket kit + Onion ring + amber LEDs + AW RCR123s = Win?

The red LEDs are the classic choice though, the way I see it. I wonder if there are any high CRI 5mm white LEDs?

Close, Strion socket + Onion ring + whatever LEDs + AW IMR16340 = win. Regular black/silver AW RCR123s (as well as most other RCR123s) will not fit into the A2's tube because they are too fat, that's why I bought 4 IMR16340s, strictly for my A2. Red LEDs are nice, but very short range outdoors. I tried the red LEDs during our last walk in the woods at night and... you can't see very far in front of you.

 

[jellydonut]

I like the red for walking in the woods - you can see just what you're about to step on and nothing more. It is subdued and discrete - other times when using a light I feel like I'm turning myself into a beacon. As much as I enjoy overly bright lights I enjoy being left to my own devices much more.:tired:

The A2 is a fun little light, and even though I've fallen in love with it and carry it every day now in place of my overpowered LED dropins (Nailbender SST-90 and Oveready Triple V3:duh2 I think anyone can appreciate it in some way if they collect lights.

I think of it as the kind of light that would end up on the 'sub-zero' section of the board if we ever made a CPF 'Cool Wall'. It's not the brightest, or the longest running, or even the fanciest, shiniest or anything.. but it has 'it'. A cool factor I guess only geeks appreciate.:nana:

Think about it though - this light has been out so long I don't even know when it was released.. 2003? 2004, 2005? Any other lights from around there that are still being appreciated in their original form? Okay, the M6, the M6 would be on the Cool Wall too. I'll be buying a loaded M6 when I'm done with school and back to making money.

 

[jellydonut]

:lolsign:

 

[Hack On Wheels]

oo: ....

I know I'm not the only one, but feel free to PM me if you are looking to unload some of those beautiful lights. Best not let this turn into a sales thread though.

That's an awesome picture; it reminds me of some of the pictures of the Overready.com stock... so many awesome lights in one photo! Truly a lovely sight to behold. I don't have many duplicates of lights, but I might just have to get all my Surefires and other incans together for a family photo now.

 

[jellydonut]

The biggest issue would be the shipping - shipping anywhere from here is so expensive noone would be willing to pay, and I'd pretty much break even if I included it in the price these go for on the MP, so they're kinda 'marooned' here.

Anyway, I'm juggling my EDC with a white version now, using the LF bulb in that one too. I see what people mean now RE oval hotspot. LF bulb makes a pretty neat upgrade.

 

[Hack On Wheels]

Well, you could definitely do much worse than being marooned with those beauties! You're rivaling pwatcher for A2 collecting now.

Keep the photos coming, that last one is nice too. Might even be computer wallpaper material...

I'll be interested to know what LED colour(s) you prefer after you've had time to play with them all.

 

[jellydonut]

Well, I got a graze on my finger so I decided to squeeze some drops out to test the blue light for 'blood tracking'. Apparently it's supposed to make blood stand out from the background.

All it did was make it look black. It was better than red:nana:but not better than any of my white lights, LED or incandescent.

Maybe it's better in the outdoors for some reason but I'm not gonna bleed THAT much for science.:duck:

I've got four of the Valiant Concepts delrin tail shrouds incoming so that'll be nice. I'll have to crack open more of these boxes though.:sigh:

 

[KiwiMark]

Re: Drop-in bulb for SF A2

And if I had known AW's IMRs would fit and that koala would really manage to put the onion rings into production, I would have kept my 2nd A2 instead of selling it.

The AW LiFePO4 cells also fit just fine and seem to work pretty well on a stock A2.

 

[jellydonut]

I updated the first post since I've gone a little far a little fast from being an A2/incandescent skeptic.lovecpf

The Delrin tail shrouds arrived today - excellent products. They were as easy to install as I had figured.. Once the original, GLUED plastic parts got out of the way.

Now I just need more LumensFactory bulbs and all my unboxed A2s will be equal. Then it's just a matter of color choice.:twothumbs

I've also decided to run the IMR 16340s in the EDC A2 now. I don't really care all that much if i burn up the angry blue things in there now, surely those onion rings must be right around the corner. :ironic: I keep primaries spare in a pocket though, just in case.