O regulated incandesent, where art thou?

Of course, we know the regulated incandesent is standard in the A2.
Other lights can be modified to accomidate them.
But it has been 2... or is it 3... years since the introduction of the A2 and it is still the only light that comes stock with a regulated incandesent. Frankly, I would expect this to be an industry standard.

Allow me to be slightly sensational for a moment. A tactical operator depends on the brightness of a light to carry out breeching procedures. But why does that light live up to lower standards than the rest of his equipment? What if his rifle fired .50 cal rounds the first shot, but after that degraded to .45 cal, .30 cal, and finally .22 cal unless he reloads?

A regulated incandesent seems like the perfect feature in a tactical light... you get the same brightness out of a light time after time without the need to swap out batteries after one use. Sure, maybe an operator who is being funded by state or federal government can afford to waste batteries in this way... but what about us civilians who expect consistant performance when we turn on our lights, not a constant decline throughout the runtime until we finally get fed up with the dimming? Not to mention that regulating an incandesent protects from filament breakdown.

Is anyone else wondering why Surefire... or any other brand for that matter... isn't cranking out full lines of regulated incandesents?

Without the need for an electronically regulated circuit, isn't that what companies like Streamlight and Mag have done with their rechargeable lights (SL20, Stinger, Strion, Mag Charger)? Also Surefire and others with the use of CR123 powered compact lights? With the absence of a regulated circuit, having a battery source that delivers power on a relatively flat curve would seem like the next best thing.

logarithmic said:

A regulated incandesent seems like the perfect feature in a tactical light... you get the same brightness out of a light time after time without the need to swap out batteries after one use.

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Brighteyez said:

Without the need for an electronically regulated circuit, isn't that what companies like Streamlight and Mag have done with their rechargeable lights (SL20, Stinger, Strion, Mag Charger)? Also Surefire and others with the use of CR123 powered compact lights? With the absence of a regulated circuit, having a battery source that delivers power on a relatively flat curve would seem like the next best thing.

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Well sure, you can look at it that way. However... take a look at the runtime plot for the M2, for example. It uses two batteries and puts out 65 lumens. It hits 50% at 54 minutes, declining the entire time.

For those same two batteries and about 75-80 lumens, the A2 will run dead even at 95% output until 45 minutes, at 50 minutes dropping out completely.

I know which I prefer.

For one, a tactical operator wants the most reliable possible. I've never heard of any A2's acting up, but a regulator means there's just one more thing that could go wrong with the light. While I have no reason to believe the A2's regulator is not reliable, what makes Surefire's line of tactical lights so reliable is because they are so dead simple -- a body tube containing batteries, a lamp assembly, and a switch that is as solid and simple as can be. When you turn on the A2 with low batteries, it'll sometimes appear to have 3 stages -- LED, low incan and high incan -- that's because of dirty contacts causing resistance in the tailcap. A simpler light like the M2 is less susceptible to this.

Second, you see the declining light output on the graph, but usage in person tells a different story. Our eyes detect a logarithmic (that's you ) change in light, and you'd be hard-pressed to really see much of a difference. Additionally, because it's continually dimming, you won't be surprised when your batteries are low.

carrot said:

Second, you see the declining light output on the graph, but usage in person tells a different story. Our eyes detect a logarithmic (that's you ) change in light, and you'd be hard-pressed to really see much of a difference. Additionally, because it's continually dimming, you won't be surprised when your batteries are low.

Click to expand...

Ah, touche.

But that still doesn't explain the lack of regulated incans. Cost, prehaps? Its just a great feature.

The first time I actually realized my G2 got dimmer throughout the life of the batteries was when I put in a new set after the first died. I honestly couldn't tell it was getting dimmer, even when the batteries were about to take the final plunge. It would be nice to have a regulated P60.

Another interesting question is whether it would be better (or even possible ) to have the regulator circuit built into the lamp assembly, which would potentially allow them to be used in current lights, but would add to the recurring cost of replacing the lamp, or if it would be better to have the circuit in the body.

Maybe its demand. Most people won't pay 200+ dollars for a flashlight, and Surefire probably produces enough to fill the demand for A2.

Surefire probably figures that those who want the feature will buy an A2, end of story.

Other manufacturers probably don't see a large demand for the feature, so they won't spend the money to develop/produce one.

Until the demand for the A2 goes up solely on the basis of the regulated incandescent, other manufacturers won't see the need.

I agree its the best feature of the A2, and the main reason I bought one off ebay (should be here this week).

dragoman

I dont know about most people, but although I love my A2 to bits, I would be a bit worried about the fact that it tends to die without warning.

In a tactical situation I would be worried that it would drop out of regulation mid op and you would be left with a reading light

An unregulated light will gradually decrease brightness over its runtime, however, this decrease in brightness does not really reduce visibility until right at the end of its batterylife.

You could be in a lot of trouble if you picked up an A2, thinking that its still bright and good and then having it die on you completely within 5 minutes.
Whereas with an unregulated light, you can at least gauge how much life it has left by turning it on.

that's why, imho, a regulated light like the A2 needs a battery gauge, even one that is crude.

My Craftsman Ultrabeam spotlight has a multi-colored LED indicator for battery life.....(Green - Good, Yellow - Medium, Red - Recharge)

Shouldn't be too hard, simple voltage reading from primary battery should do it (prior to regulator circuit)

dragoman