Is SureFire A2L like a poor-man's LunaSol?

Just thinking about whether I should jump on a sale of the A2L on the Marketplace...but I already have a LS20 =)

For those who have both, or perhaps know about each enough to chime in - do you think the A2L is like a poor-man's LunaSol? Are they similar enough that it would not be that great a differentiation enough to buy?

Since you already have an LS20, I would probably pass on the A2L. Picking up an original A2 (incan/LED hybrid) would be more justified IMO.

Since you already an LS20, what about the A2L has caught your interest? Maybe in answering this, we can help you better.

-Robert

Partly because I haven't had a SureFire in a while, and wanted to check out the new styling, and partly because I like the KISS 2-stage philosophy of SureFire =) Plus, since it's cheaper, I figured it'd be a good secondary LunaSol-esque light to have on hand, for backup, for dirtier use (I had another thread where I talk about the usability of the piston drive in muddy/dirty use conditions), or for lending out... =)

Do you tend to be picky regarding beam tint? The A2L has a pretty cool tinted SSC emitter. If you're okay with that, then I'd say the A2L does fit what you've just described you're looking for.

-Robert

I do recall reading about that - the cool emitter. That's too bad! I don't like cool beams =) My fave is the Seoul W0 tint...awesome.

Didn't realize that it was endemic to all the A2L's though - unfortunate! I'm sure I could get Milky to mod in a warmer Seoul, but then it would probably place the overall cost of the light a tad higher than my intended usage slot...darn.

mcmc said:

Just thinking about whether I should jump on a sale of the A2L on the Marketplace...but I already have a LS20 =)

For those who have both, or perhaps know about each enough to chime in - do you think the A2L is like a poor-man's LunaSol? Are they similar enough that it would not be that great a differentiation enough to buy?

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Get the original thing: The hybrid Aviator. A regulated incand is God's gift to mankind.

Haha, maybe I'll have to take a look at the good ole' A2 again then. I had one before, didn't think the high output was bright enough, or runtime long enough (The fact that the LEDs lit up well after the high mode was dust, I could see would be good when you're hard up for light - but then it was also kind of frustrating because I wanted the high output, so I would switch batteries - but then since the old batts lit up the leds, I felt like I was wasting battery juice by swapping out...).

And the led beam was very artifacty. Perhaps that's changed in recent buildouts!

mcmc said:

And the led beam was very artifacty. Perhaps that's changed in recent buildouts!

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Nope.

You can remove the ring and scuff/frost the LEDs, but it still won't be great. Or you can swap in different LEDs.

Harum, I see. Bummer! I thought that maybe SureFire sourced some smoother LEDs.

I had a red Photon Freedom that had the smoothest, cleanest beam ever. I lost it, and bought another - but it was so artifacty.

I guess clean red (or all colored?) leds are rare, or hard to produce. You'd figure a company like Photon would try to push the led companies to firm up their production...

mcmc said:

I guess clean red (or all colored?) leds are rare, or hard to produce.

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Surefire knows how to get smooth LEDs, my K2MS has extremely smooth and pleasing red leds. Of course the Blue, YG and IR are ringy, but they got the red down!

mwaldron said:

Surefire knows how to get smooth LEDs, my K2MS has extremely smooth and pleasing red leds. Of course the Blue, YG and IR are ringy, but they got the red down!

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You are not wrong!

My red is... well, just a wall of red on my K2MS!