How shock-proof is the SF A2?

How shock-proof is the MA02 inside the SF Aviator? Can I take it with me for running? (in the rucksack) I know, it's not good to drop the light, but are vibrations (caused for example by running) shortening the bulb life? I am a bit concerned, because the bulb costs $25...

running or sloshing around in a bag should be no problem at all. it's not the fall that kills the bulb, it's the sudden stop at the end!

Dropped mine on the driveway face down. Made a small ding but the bulb still works just fine.

Don't know how much shock a rollercoaster puts on a filament, but the A2 has accompanied me on several rollercoasters.

Thank you all for the replies :twothumbs. Now I can carry my A2 without to worry about "gradually destroying" the lamp.

A buddy of mine wanted to check out my SF.A2 this past weekend while we were hanging out on the balcony at a party. He dropped it onto the concrete below! There's a dinger of a ding on the bezel. No cracked window, and the incandescent light assembly still works fine. Again, that was after it landed bezel first on concrete from the second floor!

Enjoy!

CHC said:

A buddy of mine wanted to check out my SF.A2 this past weekend while we were hanging out on the balcony at a party. He dropped it onto the concrete below! There's a dinger of a ding on the bezel. No cracked window, and the incandescent light assembly still works fine. Again, that was after it landed bezel first on concrete from the second floor!

Enjoy!

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And you still call him friend?

CHC said:

A buddy of mine wanted to check out my SF.A2 this past weekend while we were hanging out on the balcony at a party. He dropped it onto the concrete below! There's a dinger of a ding on the bezel. No cracked window, and the incandescent light assembly still works fine. Again, that was after it landed bezel first on concrete from the second floor!

Enjoy!

Click to expand...

The jerk! Is he still breathing? If he is, I hope he's at least learned a few things since then about taking care over others' (valuable) property. The poor A2 :shakehead.

Just to add my .02, I have carried my A2 on many a roller coaster and I have dropped it a number of times, with no damage to the lamp assembly that I have perceived. There is one tiny crack in the lens, but you can only see it at a certain angle. These things are tough!

Yup & Yes & Yeah. . .I kept my composure, but my other friend appeared to be more upset and wanted to throw him off the balcony. The one who dropped it said that it's just a flashlight. The other fellow said do you know what that is and how much that costs? There was just a smug smirk on the guilty one. That was all. . .I had to keep the peace on my part.

Some A2 owners have reported lamp failure after a drop, but it appears many others have survived intact. I don't have any specific experience other than that most of my SF incandescents can survive waist height falls.

i think since it's designed for pilots it could probably even survive an ejection, just my 2 cents.(atleast it SHOULD be)

leukos said:

Some A2 owners have reported lamp failure after a drop, but it appears many others have survived intact. I don't have any specific experience other than that most of my SF incandescents can survive waist height falls.

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My A2 has survived quite a few waist height drops, hundreds of kilometers of hikes, thousands of kilometers of bumpy roads and many international flights and associated baggage handlers without blowing a bulb.

That doesn't mean that it won't fail though... but if it does, the LEDs will still provide me with ample backup light.

"it's the sudden stop at the end"

The word your looking for is deacceleration impact

I dropped mine onto a concrete floor for about 7 feet up. The lens cracked but the bulb still functioned fine.

Surefire's awesome warranty replaced my whole bezel as it was scratched up bad anyway. 2 week turn around from shipping to it being back in my hands.

I drop my A2 about 3 times a day sometimes more :shrug: about 3 feet onto wood flooring.

I sit on a backless stool and well....it seems to have a mind of its own, despite the anti roll bezel it sometimes find its way onto the floor from a perfectly flat table...

and yeah...I need to tighten my clip

lamp has never been on when its dropped but after about a year now the lamps still fine

I was in a cave with friends yesterday (we built a camp outside and returned today), so I had my aviator in my shirt-pocket and when I was crawling through a tight pass - the A2 fell down from the pocket right onto rocks and rolled on rockes a few meters down. Fortunately it didn't end up in a hole somewhere. I picked it up, it was covered in mud but it worked - I didn't find any scratches on the light (it was calcite stone, not that hard).
It was my fault - I didn't take the time to attach the A2 clip to my shirt pocket. Lesson learned and A2 survived .

My friend's A2 has survived several falls from his belt and the lamp is fine. Oh, and he's the second owner.

When my A2 had to stock lamp, it seemed to be very shock resistant. I never dropped it hard enough to damage the filament. Last week accidentally knocked my A2 FM/Strion modded light onto ceramic tile from 40" and it cracked the lens and broke the Strion bulb filament. That was a bummer.