Surefire L2 or A2

I am currently edcing an E1e and an E2e. The e1 for closeup work reading maps looking behind waterheaters, cashregesters and otherthings, in a restaurant. The e2 helps me locate adresses for my second job usually the adresses are 25 to 35 yards away. So my question is, the A2 how is the throw I know the LED's are not that bright but i think 3 lumens would do. As for the L2 Again how is the trow I am partial to the L2 I dont have any good LED's and am interested, if the throw is good enough to find an adress at 35 yards.
Let me know what you all think also what color LED's on an A2 I am partial to white for color rendering on maps but I am also interested in colored led's it would be more like having two lights. My wife has give me $175.00 to spend but I can go a little over if needed, so I can only get one and I really like surefire so let me know
Thanks Dan

For reading maps and spotting things 35 yards away, the A2 is what you are looking for. The L2 is a bright flood. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

I like the A2 w/white LEDs on low for reading maps, then popping up on high to light up street signs or house numbers. It is perfect for that. The A2 has a nice throw, much better than the L2. Also on low the A2 has a nice wide spread for working in tight places. You also have a longer runtime with A2-low vs the L2-low. I have both and I prefer the A2 for all around use. The L2 is a fine light, and it would really light up a work area, but at 35 yds its starting to run out of steam. Although it would probably get you by, according to the ambient light. Maybe you could keep the E2 in the car for looking at house numbers and use the L2 for your work. The L2-low might make a better work light in a partially lit environment than the A2-low.

I've had the A2 with red leds and the incan light seems to last forever. Must be the regulation.
if the mapsreading is in the dark and you want to keep your night vision, get red leds, otherwise the 3+ lumen of a A2 is often more than enough. but in a low lit environment of a restaurant, I thing the A2 on low is too low. just not enough to be realy of help.

If you are prepared to spend the money an U2 is a very nice light. I replaced the A2 by the U2 for outdoor use and general use, but the E1eKL1 is now my EDC. it lives in my jeans. Funy are the bright spots on the body. First I tought it was the aluminium, now I know better: it are small chunks of the chromium of my key's, the HA3 eats it!

I also have an A2 that I use similarly....red leds though,I use it for sailing and use the leds for chart reading and deckwork and the incan for picking out unlit buoys - works very well indeed and I'm still on my first incan bulb too!!

The U2 is good but the throw might not be what you want. Still a bit on the flood side - and at 35 yds, I think you'd be pushing it to get good illumination.

My new favorite is an E1e body+KL4head+one of those McTailcap thingys that gives two settings. Normally a KL4 on one cell lasts a very short time, but with the tailcap, I can get 24 hours+ of low level output and then still have high level momentarily.

Now, if you put an E2C converter and KL5 head on that E1e....now your talking better throw...

Otherwise, for a stock solution, the A2 is the way to go. Mine only holdback with it is that the 3 leds give you overlapping circles in the beam rather than a smooth one, so for maps sometimes it can distort the image, at least until you move the light and realise what is map and what is lamp artifact!!

all the best....

...Oh and White A2s come up all the time on eBay....

thx all I guess I will go with the A2now if I could decide red, green, or white, oh the tough decisions we must make.

I'd go with white, unless you really need to worry about preserving your night vision, and are also using charts that work well under monocrhomatic light. (In that case, choose "Red".) If you are planning on using the light in a general purpose way, fixing stuff, reading maps, etc, white will be much more useful.

I have an A2 with red leds. Great light, but when you're reading maps it's going to be hard on the eys with red leds. Also, if you have red in the map, then you're screwed. The A2 lights up things very well, especially at 35 meters and the LEDs are perfect for reading a map, but get the white leds. I was in New Mexico and I used it extensively on hikes, driving around, hunting. A great light.

A2's can be had for around $125 on ebay. you may be able to get another light with the left over cash /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif whats that saying, buy them both....

Have you considered buying an Aleph 1 head and a two stage tailcap to go on top of the E2e? That way you get the great throw of a Lux III with the ability to dim the light to a lower level. The switch works on a similar principal as the A2. With the Aleph you can chose what level you want low to be by buying different resistor boards that are easy to exchange.

Don McLeish / AKA McGizmo designed the lights and he uses Dat2Zip electronics. Check out McGizmo's forum and The Sandwich Shoppe for more info.

Hi,
The L2 is the better choice for multiple reasons. It is brighter (output), will never have to be replaced, and has a two-stage switch where both stages are very useful and bright. If you are wanting a cool flashlight, however, the A2 is better.
-Ian

Hmmm. I'm only familiar with military type terrain maps which are set up for reading with red light. I assume all terrain maps are made that way. So I don't see the problem,unless you are talking about road maps, in which case I don't know what I'm taling about and feel stupid.