Layman’s Flashlight Reviews

Surefire A2 Aviator

The Surefire A2 Aviator is Surefire’s only hybrid LED/Xenon flashlight, and their only light with a digitally regulated Xenon main beam. This light was one of their flagship models and is one of the reasons Surefire is so well known today.

Surefire A2 Aviator

Meat and Potatoes

The Surefire A2 Aviator employs one of my favorite Surefire inventions. The 2 stage momentary tailcap switch is, in my opinion, one of the greatest achievements of this spectacular company. There is very little that can be simpler to grasp than press harder to get more light. This simple concept is what makes this light such a joy to use. Once you turn this light on, there is no need to adjust your grip in the slightest in order to have access to full power. The basic twist for constant on settings are also very easy to use, even single handedly.

The A2 utilizes a trio of 5mm LEDs in quite a few choices of colors. I’ve had the occasion over the last couple years to spend a little time with several of the colors, but I believe that the white LEDs are the most useful. The advertized 3 lumen output seems to me to be far understated. I have found the light level of the white LEDs to be more than adequate for a large number of around the house and even outdoor tasks.  In the dark with adjusted vision, the secondary beam produces a beautiful flood profile allowing the immediate area to be illuminated with little to no hotspot washing out your vision.

The main Xenon beam also seems to suffer the affliction of being underrated. It is advertised as a mere 50 lumens, however I would be surprised know that was actually the top end of it’s performance. The Aviator competes with other lights sporting somewhat more impressive numbers. This is, however, as much a testament to Surefire’s routinely understated marketing department as it is to this particular light.

This torch also provides one extremely useful feature, it’s rock solid construction. When you pick up the Aviator, you know instantly that you have a quality light in your hand. Every facet of this light exudes quality of materials and workmanship.  The machine work is exquisite and Surefire’s attention to detail is unparalleled in this light.

While this light may be a touch larger than I like in an “Every Day Carry” type of setting, it does make a fantastic go-to light for around the house or around the woods at night. The two levels of light are fantastically useful for many nighttime tasks. The Aviator proves itself to be a specialized tool that does it’s job well.

Surefire A2 Aviator

Constructive Criticism

While the A2 has many excellent qualities, no light is perfect. Even though I suspect that the 50 lumen output is misleading to the power of the beam, the incandescent Xenon light is incapable of truly matching output with a quality current generation LED when it comes to sheer power and efficiency. I know that many die-hard incandescent enthusiasts will be shuddering at that statement, however I think the time may have come for Surefire to find some high color rendition LED to replace the Xenon lamp assembly in these lights.

Also of concern when it comes to an incandescent light is the relative fragility of the light bulb filament. The main beam of the Aviator is most unfortunately susceptable to damage from shock or merely outliving it’s relatively short life expectancy. The A2’s “Soft Start” power regulation does wonders to increase that life span, but even still there is a likelyhood that eventually you will find yourself shelling out the price of a replacement lamp assembly.

One interesting note that I discovered is that, though the white secondary LEDs produce a beautiful, nearly flawless beam, the colored LEDs do not fare quite as well. Where the white beam has a beautifully smooth wide spread of light, the colors tend to produce a trio of noticeable interlocked rings from their oddly reflected spill beams. This inferior beam can be quite distracting in almost any circumstance.  I’m not sure what method Surefire could employ to alleviate this, but I know that some users have taken to aftermarket sanding of the LED’s domes to diffuse the light better.  This should not be necessary in a light of this caliber.

Even if you choose to overlook the shortcomings of an incandescent lamp in favor of it’s color rendition and warmth, you still end up having to deal with it’s relative inefficiency. If Surefire were to offer any sort of rechargeable option for this light it would go a long way. As it stands, you currently are limited to around an hour of high beam usage before you are forced to drop in another set of CR123A cells. The highly efficient 5mm LED low beam will continue to run even beyond the point where the main beam fails to light, however you will be deprived of your high output for some time if you choose to run a set of batteries into the ground. Careful usage will prolong that hour, making it seemingly lastlonger, but your burn time is still limited no matter how you look at it.

Surefire A2 Aviator

Conclusions

The Surefire A2 Aviator is a mainstay in the world of flashlights. It is one of the lights that opened my eyes several years ago to the world of high quality illumination tools. Many incandescent enthusiasts consider it to be about the pinnacle of that genre and would love nothing better than for it to never be changed. Over my use of this light I have found it extremely hard to put down and am now genuinely seeing the appeal of glowing tungsten as a source of light. I still personally find this light to be ripe for a makeover, but If you are looking for incandescent specifically, you can do little better.

SureFire Kroma

The Surefire Kroma is one of the worlds most technologically advanced lights to date.  It features many highly advanced components and showcases Surefire’s extensive R&D department.  There is very little in common between this light and your average big-box torch.

Meat and Potatoes
The Surefire Kroma is best described as a higly variable 2-stage torch.  High beam is always a 50 lumen white light focused with a high transmission collimator lens rather than a reflector.  This results in a very smooth beam transitioning almost completely flawlessly between spot and spill.  It is accessed by pressing the tailcap down completely, or by tightening the switch the same amount to achieve constant on.

The secondary beam, however, is where all the magic happens.  A half push (or lesser twist for constant) of the tailcap brings you to the low level beam.  This low level is independently selectable between:

• 1.4 lumen White
• .48 lumen Blue
• 3.4 lumen Blue
• .52 lumen Red
• 6.3 lumen Red

All of these options are accessible by use of the selector ring beneath the head of the light and thankfully, the High mode will turn on with a firm press of the button at any time, in any mode allowing you instant access to the most light this torch can produce.

This light is very well constructed and the array of 3mm LEDs around the lens in the head of the light actually makes it look almost like a piece of jewelry.  That being said, this isn’t a piece that has to be babied.  This is still a solid tool meant to be used and it definitely gives that impression.  The anodizing is extremely thick and will likely hold up to a load of abuse and still look fairly good.

Constructive Criticism
The strange thing about this light in my opinion is the fact that as advanced as it is, there is still plenty of room for improvement.  Most of this likely stems from the very fact that it has so many features.  Because of this, more is expected of it than other lights.  Since it was designed to be an all encompassing utility light, more perfection is required to achieve this than if it had been designed with fewer features.

My biggest concern with this light is the level of the high beam.  This light is still currently being touted as one of the top of the line lights in SureFire’s arsenal, and yet the high beam utilizes an outpaced Luxeon III LED producing a meager 50 lumens.  If this LED were to be upgraded to one of the offerings by Cree, Seoul Semiconductor, or OSRAM, and then driven a little harder (as those LED’s are capable of) the output would benefit greatly from the change.  50 lumens out of a 2 cell light has grown to the point of feeling underpowered when, in my opinion, a Surefire light of this size should be kicking out upwards of three times that.

Speaking of size.  I realize that this may be strictly my personal opinion and nothing more, but in my experience, the Kroma seemed to be one of the largest 2xCR123A lights I have seen.  The only one I can remember surpassing it was the SureFire U2 Ultra.  This creates a torch that is less prone to be slipped into a pocket and actually carried.  As we all know, in an emergency, the only light that counts is the one you actually have with you.

One final note of concern was with the construction of the plastic pieces such as the selector ring.  For a piece of this quality and price, I would expect this to be completely flawless, but I was assaulted with mold marks and inconsistencies that would generally only show up on significantly cheaper items.

Conclusions
This light is fantastic in concept and decent in execution, however I am loath to say that it lives up to it’s hype.  Certainly this is a light I would be thrilled to have in my possession, but it’s lack of power or efficiency due to surpassed LED technology gives me pause.  I would say that if this light were updated with completely current technology, I would be able to rate it better, but in the mean time, I will personally pass.

All things being considered, it is still an excellent light, just don’t expect it to blow people away in pure illumination drag racing power.  The strength of the Kroma lies within it’s versatility instead.