surefire A2 Avaiator

how bright is the white incan light? does it compare w/ a P-60?
how bout the coloured leds ?
does surefire make a bright white led/ other color combo?

Re: surefire A3 Avaiator

Looking at the specs in the Surefire catalog...

P60 lamp assembly: 65 lumens
A2 Aviator: Xenon - 50 lumens, LED - 3 lumens, available LED colors are white, red, yellow-green, green and blue.

I do not own an A2 myself so I cannot give you any firsthand experiences with comparing the beams.

Re: surefire A3 Avaiator

I have an A2 and have used both white and red LED's with it. The incan beam is great. While slightly less potent than a P60, it also is the only regulated incan that Surefire sells, so it is whiter and remains brighter than any other Surefire incan I have seen. The LED's are relatively dim since they are made to work in a dark cockpit. The red is very striking, but the white is a little more useful as it's brighter. Compared to the SL TT 2L, the LED's are definitely less...I think those LED's are closer to 15 lumens. Still, if you're in the dark, the A2's LED's are very functional and it's a beautiful, highly advanced light. I don't know of anyone that makes a white Lux/colored 5mm combo, but it would be interesting...however, I have really come to like incan beams and the A2 has among the best.

Re: surefire A3 Avaiator

A3? Is that different from the A2?

Re: surefire A3 Avaiator

I don't believe there is an A3.

Re: surefire A3 Avaiator

I could not find any references to an A3 in either the SureFire website or the 2005 SureFire catalog (PDF from their website) so I assumed the original poster was referring to an A2 Aviator and responded with that assumption.

Of course, I could be wrong and an A3 really does exist in which case just ignore everything I posted.

Re: surefire A3 Avaiator

made me look though /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
bernie

Re: surefire A3 Avaiator

me too /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Re: surefire A3 Avaiator

I have both a 6P (uses P60) and the A2 in both white and red LEDs.

The A2 incan puts out (SF specs) 50 Lumens vs the 65 the P60 does. The gotcha is that the P60 only does that for a bit as it is dependent on battery voltage. So, I believe the A2 is actually brighter for a longer period of time than the P60 based lights.

The white LEDs give a nice flood that is very useful for walking around etc... I find my self using that most of the time and the ican when i need throw. The benefit is that the batteries seem to last forever.

The red leds have some artifacts, circles in the beam that are inherent in the LED design. They are great for applications where you need to preserve night vision like driving at night, boating at night etc... They do not throw much light if used in an urban setting. In that case, the white leds are a better choice.

J

Re: surefire A3 Avaiator

thanks!!! oops on the typo A2 not A3

Re: surefire A3 Avaiator

Regulation really makes up for the slight lack of lumens, IMO. .

Re: surefire A3 Avaiator

ohh, i hoped for another regulated Surefire incandescent /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Re: surefire A3 Avaiator

;;;

-David

Re: surefire A3 Avaiator

I personally bet you've never used one. Everyone to their own opinion...but since Size 15's knows more about Surefires than anyone on the board, and he thinks it's the most advanced light they make; I'm with him. I have a G2, and if you use it for more than 15 minutes it will be significantly dimmer than an A2 run for the same time. And with the white LED's, it's as bright as it needs to be unless you happen to be in an urban area or somewhere with a lot of ambient light. It's a great light; ask someone who owns one.

Re: surefire A3 Avaiator

The SF A2 is a wonderful light. The 6P and other SF lights using the P60 lose the 10 lumen advantage in the first 15 minutes of use. The led's will drain much of what is left of flat 123's. Everyone wants or requires something different from the lights they purchase. Think about what is best for you, and purchase wisely. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: surefire A3 Avaiator

;;;

-David

Re: surefire A3 Avaiator

ok thank god. My eyes were getting red from seaching SF catalog.

Re: surefire A3 Avaiator

what were you searching?

-David

Re: surefire A2 Avaiator

Hmm, pretty strong statement from anyone, especially if you have compared the A2 with any Luxeon lights and see what the difference is. I suggest you handle one and see for yourself before throwing numbers around and conclude that the A2 is inferior.(hint, look which one throws further and has a more human eye-friendly color).

The A2 has the most perfect beam I have ever seen in a small light, nice intense center with smoothly-softening corona. It's a beautiful beam.

Nick

[ QUOTE ]
cheapo said:
whatever, I know plenty about flashlights, but I know that if I want 50 lumens I would get L4. It has better runtime. I dont get it, why the heck would you buy A2 over L4. Well, I would go with L2, or L4.

-David

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: surefire A3 Avaiator

[ QUOTE ]
cheapo said:
whatever, I know plenty about flashlights, but I know that if I want 50 lumens I would get L4. It has better runtime. I dont get it, why the heck would you buy A2 over L4. Well, I would go with L2, or L4.

-David

[/ QUOTE ]
I do not own an A2 but I did get to play with one at a SureFire dealer and I do own an L4 (actually, an E2e + KL4 which is the same as an L4 but w/o the Z57 clicky switch - still need to get a McE2s) and I can think of a few instances wherein an A2 would prove superior to an L4.

First, in some situations, the 65 lumens of the L4 is overkill. It is too bright. The L4 does not provide two-stage / lower-level output functionality out of the box. The A2 does. This is not good for situations such as close-up work, a situation where you are trying to preserve dark adapted vision (the classic example is that of a pilot in a cockpit) or if, say, you wanted something a wee bit discreet (for example, you are a parent wanting to just check up on the kids without waking them up). The low-level LED mode of the A2 would be a boon in situations such as those.

Another possible advantage of the A2 is that incandescents tend to do better than LEDs in fog or rain so if you expect to have to deal with those, I believe an A2 would edge-out the L4. The incandescent beam tends to cut through the moisture better. The flood of light that an L4 produces would tend to refract back at you.

And as far as runtime is concerned, the low-level mode of the A2 has better runtime than the L4.

Bottom line, while I love my L4 I think the A2 is more versatile in that it allows the user the choice of using the low-level LED or the high-level incandescent as the situation demands it. You do not have that versatility in an L4.

Just my 2 cents.