A2 Love - The Perfect Light for Night Hiking

So tonight, a coworker and I did something we've been talking about for awhile now, a brisk hike after work some night. Well tonight was the night. We got to the trail and parked right at dusk and got on our way out onto the trail as the sun was going down. There was a nice bright moon and it was clear and cold. In addition to getting to finally use my Princeton Tec Apex Extreme outdoors at night, I instinctively made sure I had the Surefire A2 with me with fresh batts. Secured to the strap of my North Face pack and clipped to the sternum strap on my left side, it came in very handy.



It's.... PERFECT! The low led beams perfectly light up the trail for navigation, and the incan beam is just magical outside at night, especially when you want definition on objects in the woods at 25-50 yards. "Is that a bush? Is that a skunk?" The 200 lumen High beam on the Princeton Tec was fantastic, but you lose some detail at distance. The A2 held it's own. Sorry to say I didn't snap any pics out there. My digital camera was buried in my pack, and I was more concerned with not tripping and falling, or losing the other guy as he knew the trail much better than I did. It was my first time after all. We were only out about an hour. However, watch this thread! Next time we go, I'll keep the camera handy and get some good outdoor shots.

A very nice light. I wish they had made a three battery version with a higher voltage lamp.

ampdude said:

A very nice light. I wish they had made a three battery version with a higher voltage lamp.

Click to expand...

The beauty of that configuration would be a nearly-perfect match for 2x LiIon as well. I was tempted by an A2 a few times but never picked one up due in part to challenge of running it from LiCo's ...

Kestrel said:

The beauty of that configuration would be a nearly-perfect match for 2x LiIon as well. I was tempted by an A2 a few times but never picked one up due in part to challenge of running it from LiCo's ...

Click to expand...

:devil:

I was hoping that calipsoii would mention his Li-Ion "solution" ... :twothumbs

Please stop mentioing how wonderful the A2 is - every time I get over the urge to buy one I see a thread like this and the feeling is re-awakened!

If you haven't picked up an A2 yet, do it. It was the light that started my addiction. It's the best light SF ever created, hands down. Why they discontinued it boggles my mind.

dudemar said:

If you haven't picked up an A2 yet, do it. It was the light that started my addiction. It's the best light SF ever created, hands down. Why they discontinued it boggles my mind.

Click to expand...

Agreed 100%! The A2 is what started me off too.

And if you get one of Calipsoii's LED rings to replace the stock one, you have the perfect all-purpose light for outdoor activities.

Yeah, I had earmarked one of those in warm white to purchase if and when I get an A2. My wife lost her job earlier this year so it would be selfish to buy one right now, but things are looking more promising for the future so I might drop a few hints for Christmas!

I'm sure that even if I didn't like it, I'd be able to sell it without loosing too much money....but I WILL like it I know.

I have the A2, modded with warm white led ring and fivemega's strion kit.
imho there is no need to be sorry not to got one when available, because its a shelf queen here. I only keep it to be able to show around the best incan light in that size class. You saved much money.
Output or runtime wise its outdated.
Just a normal XP-G Led insert inside an 18650 host --> no chance.
my new Quark X neutral --> even less chance
a good XM-L full power led insert inside a 6P --> smokes everything (with about the same current consumption than the A2)

yellow said:

I have the A2, modded with warm white led ring and fivemega's strion kit.

Click to expand...

That's the combo that is always in my pocket. The only time it's not on me is when I'm in bed or mowing the lawn. Even when I'm sleeping it's in the pants hanging on the bedpost, ready to respond to bumps in the night.

imho there is no need to be sorry not to got one when available, because its a shelf queen here.

Click to expand...

Well, if it's such a sorry light for you, you can ship it to me. :naughty: I've been thinking I need another A2 for one of calipsoii's multi-mode LED rings. Then I'll have to figure out which A2 to carry each day.

I only keep it to be able to show around the best incan light in that size class. You saved much money.
Output or runtime wise its outdated.

Click to expand...

In terms of raw lumens, perhaps so. In terms of very usable light with an intuitive user interface, I really like my A2. Thanks for proving we're all different.

Shalom,
Steve

yellow,

How much do you want for that light?

I just picked up one of these today with a blown out bulb from turners basicly new for $50. I couldn't pass that up. I already ordered the lumen factory bulb. I am interested in the 5mega adapter but looks like those are ancient history. oh well. Just like having cool surefires around really don't need to dump a whole ton of money into ANOTHER flashlight lol. I just got a 4sevens XML AAx2 NW tactical on Thursday....

slappomatt said:

I just picked up one of these today with a blown out bulb from turners basicly new for $50....

Click to expand...

I don't know what turners is, but do they have any more of those "new A2's with blown out bulbs for $50" ??? :huh:

Its a small chain sporting goods store here in SoCal. They only had 1 but they did have a open box black C3 that could have been had for a song.

Great responses, guys. The mystery and love of the A2 comes out whenever we start talking about it! Already got people offering other people money for one and we're still on the first page of the the thread. I promise some cool outdoors night beamshots this time. Also going to take along my C2/Malkoff M60 and see how that baby does.

Dang it, you are killing me. Now I have to have an A2...

Siliconti said:

Dang it, you are killing me. Now I have to have an A2...

Click to expand...

There's some great deals on the Marketplace! Go for it! I, for one, welcome our LED-loving, Incans-are-dead Overlords, because it makes the A2 more accessible to we the faithful.

I'm afraid to say that my bidding finger slipped last night and I won one on eBay. It was $30 cheaper than the best I've seen so far, and postage to the UK was half what they quoted in the advert. Supposedly as new condition too! Still, it's the most I've ever spent on a torch, so I have a little bit of a sick 'what have I done' feeling right now...

Nothing to do now other than stock up on CR123A batteries!