Help me decide: SF A2&Aviatrix or New SF L1 Cree?

I've owned the 2nd generation Surefire L1 but sold it due to not liking the tight focus with little sidespill of the optic. I've owned 3 A2s over the years selling them then regretting it and getting new ones.

I'm inrigued by the prospect of the new L1 with Cree but at the same time still love the A2 and with the discovery of the "Aviatrix" upgrade and getting 2 colors(probably white/red 2 stage) has made the decision even tougher. One qusetion, with both the red/white, does the red show up much in the incan or 2 white led beams?

And no I can't afford both :shakehead! Any opinions/help would be appreciated thanks.

Tough decision. You obviously want both. Buy one now and one later. I'm sure you won't make the wrong choice... especially if you pick the A2 first...

carrot said:

Tough decision. You obviously want both. Buy one now and one later. I'm sure you won't make the wrong choice... especially if you pick the A2 first...

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I agree with Carrot on this one. I think you should pickup the A2 first. You'd probably like the L1 a little bit more. But they have been having some bugs with it, So i'd give it until September/October as by then you should have enough money, and the bug's should be worked out.

I agree with Carrot, go for the A2+Aviatrix first, the A2 is a proven platform, reliable and functional, the Aviatrix makes an already great light better

with the current "growing pains" the L1 Cree is having, holding off until the bugs are all stomped on is a good idea....


besides, i have both the Aviatrixed A2 and a Gen 2 L1 (1.1/22 lumens lo/hi) with the TIR optic, the 1.1 lumen output is great for walking around when dark-adapted, but you really need the F04 Beamshaper to spread out that ultra-tight spotbeam, especially on low, the Cree L1 has a slightly wider beam, but it's still a tight TIR beam, one of the great things about the A2 is it has two distinct beam patterns.....

with the low LED's, you have a nice, wide flood, around 3 lumens or so, won't too badly disturb dark-adaptation
when you need more power, you have a nice throwy *regulated* incandescent beam
when the batteries get too low to drive the incan (around 25% capacity or so), they can still drive the LED's for a few more hours
if you drop the light and break the incan filament, you still have the LED's as backup....

I can EDC either the A2 or the L1, i choose to EDC the A2, it fits my needs better, YMMV

the A2 has a cult following here for a very good reason

I would go A2 with the reasons above stated, L1 is not a good thing for EDC it excels in some task but is very poor in other areas.

Thanks for the replies. I'm pretty much leaning towards the A2 at this point especially after reading the thread about the L1 problems.

One other light I just thought of is the Novatac EDC 120 Tactical. What do y'all think of it vs. the A2 for an EDC companion to a CCW fiream?

Quickbeam does a beam shot of the all three LEDs (one red and two white) after frosting/sanding the red LED - look at post # 209 using
this url:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/162090&page=7
You dont see the red LED while using the incan mode but you do get a red glow in the All Three LED mode--i went ahead and frosted/sanded the red LED and I can tell ya' that I like it. The only down side is that you lose a little of the red LED intensity when just using the red LED by itself-'BUT' when its dark the red is enough light for my purposes.

dcowboyscr said:

One qusetion, with both the red/white, does the red show up much in the incan or 2 white led beams?

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As most have said, go with the A2 and Aviatrix and wait on the L1.. :thumbsup:

yeah,,id go with the A2+Aviatrix

cnjl3 thanks for the link to the beamshots. Good stuff. Has anyone else ever had any experiences with corrosion on the contacts for the Aviatrix like in that thread around post 210 I think it was?

I was the one who posted the picture of the corrosion on the spring contacts and nobody else said anything.
Hopefully mine was just one isolated incident
I am not worried because I know that Atomic Chicken would fix it if it got to be a problem.
I lightly sanded both spring contacts - then I used a Q-tip to rub some Pro-Gold on both contacts and my A2 has been working flawlessly.
I EDC both a Mclux III PD and my SF A2 w/Aviatrix.

dcowboyscr said:

cnjl3 thanks for the link to the beamshots. Good stuff. Has anyone else ever had any experiences with corrosion on the contacts for the Aviatrix like in that thread around post 210 I think it was?

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Well since I have had a few A2s I decided to take a chance on the L1 Cree. I'll get another A2 in a few months I figure. Bass Pro Shop here in Orlando only had one of the Cree L1s.

I was worried hearing about all the problems with flickering etc. I guess I lucked out this L1 has perfect fit and finish even the same exact color HAIII from what I can tell no mismatched color segments.

Perfect tint very white, nice low beam, very nice high beam. I really like the beam pattern with the nice hotspot and decent spill.

I've run mine 40 minutes straight on high no problems when I first bought it. Currently I'm doing a total runtime test with a fresh surefire cr123 and it's been on high for 70 minutes full brightness no flickering or decreases in brightness. Both tests were done with the light sitting on my computer desk with no cooling. The light gets a little warm after about 12 minuets but never gets very hot like say an L4.

My serial numer is A01792.

All in all I love this light I think it'll be my new edc along side my Sig P220 Carry SAO.

FWIW, I was out walking the dog tonight and the L1 cree definitely seems to out-throw the A2. This surprised me, but the L1 had a broader and more piercing high beam. Certainly surprised me...

That's good to hear I guess. I haven't had the chance to test out throw yet probably tommorrow night. I also compared the high beam to a friend's Fenix P2d on turbo which is supposedly 130 lumens. I really couldn't tell that much of a difference at all. I was very surprised.

I might get another F04 beamshaper for this light like I had on the 2nd generation L1 I used to have, but I really like the beam on this new version.