2AA light selection help

Looking for a 2 AA light, love my 123 lights, but gotta have something w/ an easy to find/cheap battery too. Have some fairly specific priorities, listed in order:

1) Good beam pattern. For my uses this means gradual transition from hotspot to spill, and broader utility beam rather than narrow thrower.
2) Reliability, low odds of flaking out on me.
3) Warm tint preferred, not absolutely mandatory if other factors line up.
3) Price is a factor. Not the only factor, but if I can get good value that would be great.
4) Low low is nice too.

Max output, and 100 different modes are not important to me. Also, noticeably PWM on the low modes drives me crazy.

Where does this leave me? Thanks folks!

Were I in the market for a new 2XAA torch, I would go for the Quark, due to its beam quality, moon mode, and ability to run on 14500 lithium rechargeables with higher output.

Having said that, I recommend you spend some quality time with Selfbuilt's 2XAA roundup review and make your decision on that basis. Here's your link:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/214890

Good hunting!

LF3XT + 2AA tube (runs CR123 too) has a rather smooth beam pattern from reviews, offered in warm tints by some of CPF's dealers, and is usually from a recommended brand here.

I love my TK20's. But if warm tint is not required then the dereelight javelins are a great light. It has a marvelous beam. I have 2. One I bought as a host for p60. They can be 3xaa hosts also. The xre drop-in makes a good thrower. The xpg it comes with is very good and useful also. I have tried an mce but it just didn't have the voltage. I have the romisen rc n3, and the itp c8r. If I was not so happy with the javelins, I might try the eagletac or quarks. For a single aa I do have the quark mini.

Buckley said:

Were I in the market for a new 2XAA torch, I would go for the Quark, due to its beam quality, moon mode, and ability to run on 14500 lithium rechargeables with higher output.

Having said that, I recommend you spend some quality time with Selfbuilt's 2XAA roundup review and make your decision on that basis. Here's your link:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/214890

Good hunting!

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Can the Quark AA2 take 14500s? The AA certainly can but 8.4V may be too much for the buck/boost head.

Also take a look at the Solarforce 2aa host. Lighthound has them for 10 dollars. You can then add the d26 drop-in of choice.

fenix ld20 q5: not as bright as some but smaller, lighter, better quality than most and with 50% more runtime than my dereelight javelin and eagletac p20a2. both of my ld20 q5's have nice warm tints

the only bad thing about the ld20 is the lack of a really low low, other than that it's pretty much perfect, can't comment on the new r4 version

metlarules said:

Also take a look at the Solarforce 2aa host. Lighthound has them for 10 dollars. You can then add the d26 drop-in of choice.

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I own the Solarforce and the FiveMega 2AA. The Solarforce costs about 20 percent as much but is about 80 percent as nice. Here's what I'd change if I could:

- I'd make the chamber a bit wider so there's room for AA cells to which I've applied a sticky label.
- I'd make the bezel smooth, not jagged. Why give a security guard reason to say, "I'm sorry, I can't let you in with that"?
-I'd replace the cheaply made reverse clickly with a well-made forward clickie.

Wiggle said:

Can the Quark AA2 take 14500s? The AA certainly can but 8.4V may be too much for the buck/boost head.

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The Quark AA^2 head is rated to 4.2 volts, so a sinlge li-ion only. The Quark 123^2 head, rated up to 9 volts will handle 2x14500 cells with no problem.

My preference in a 2AA light is for the Quark - I like the clip, moonmode, reverse-clicky interface, simple design and lots of decent knurling on the exterior of the light. It tail-stands well, a feature some don't care about but which I use frequently. The fact that (other than Fenix LD20) it is the lightest and most compact 2AA light available is a distinct advantage in my opinion.

Ok, it's between the Quark AA2 and the Fenix LD20. Which has broader, more even beam?

I think the Fenix E20, Romisen RC-N3, RomisenRC-C6(with extension tube) are all great value AA lights. The Quark of course has many advantages but is more epensive.

candlelight001 said:

Ok, it's between the Quark AA2 and the Fenix LD20. Which has broader, more even beam?

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If you can live with an XP-E R2 Quark (may be more throw than you want), you can get a pretty good deal on one right now. 4sevens has them on sale for $50.15. If you apply the CPF8 discount code during checkout, you get 8% off, so, $50.15 x .08 = $4.012 and $50.15 - $4.012 = $46.138 shipped. Also, all R2 Quarks currently come with a free Prism kit that can be sold on CPF Marketplace for around $15.00 (I just sold mine for $16.00), and then we have $46.138 - roughly $14.00 = $32.14/shipped:thumbsup:. Just my 2 cents.

Oh yeah, I don't actually have a Quark XP-G R5 or Fenix LD20 R4 (mine is a Quark 123x2 R2 version), but the XP-G's are pretty floody, so I would say that between the two, they would probably be similar (as far as even beam is concerned), but since I don't actually have any first hand experience, you might want to wait on someone else to contribute.

my vote is for the quark AA2 R5. i have the 123-2 R5, and think the beams would be exactly the same minus about 20 lumens. the beam is very nice. no rings, artifacts, or donut holes. only thing you will notice from the beam is its hotspot, and spill. the hotspot is very wide, and its spill is bright, making the transition from hotspot to spill look less defined. the spill on quarks are also wider in diameter than the fenix LD20.

quarks also have moonlight at 0.2 lumens! the quark also comes with a much better holster, better knurling, and a much better clip. plus you have the option of buying a neutral tint head.

the new LD20 XP-G comes with a smooth reflector, and from another thread showing beamshots. the hotspot is now tighter than previous models, but the beam actually looks smoother too.

Based on my experiecne wiht the P20C2 MkII model, I'd say go for the Eagletac P20A2 mkII with orange peel. Bright, great build quality, the very best UI around and a quite low low. The new XPG beam makes for a lovely smooth transition from spot to spill and up to about seventy yards out it lays down one huge wide path of light with no dark areas whatsoever.

I don't think they've yet released the Neutral emitter in it yet but it can't be far off if that's what you really want.

I've found the Eagletac P20C2/A2 MkII range is just so good and versatile that of the seven quarks I own, the only one I'm still using now is the Tactical 123 that I have in my headband.

I have a Wolf Eyes Krait on the way now. With 2xAA, 220 lumens and a focusable beam (from 5º to 48º) it could be a good choice.

Just have a look http://www.wolf-eyes.com/product/Krait Detail.html

skyfire said:

my vote is for the quark AA2 R5. i have the 123-2 R5, and think the beams would be exactly the same minus about 20 lumens. the beam is very nice. no rings, artifacts, or donut holes. only thing you will notice from the beam is its hotspot, and spill. the hotspot is very wide, and its spill is bright,........

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Yeah, I agree. I have a Quark Tactical 123*2 XP-G R5, and it's a wonderful EDC light. I specially like the way that the Quark 'tactical' UI lets you program two default modes (using tightened or loosened head).

I am wanting to buy some more Quarks (AA versions), but they have been out of stock for a few weeks.

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Take my opinion for what it's worth. I have several Quark 2xAAs both Q3 XP-E and the XP-G R5. They're both nice but suffer from something called pre-flash. If you're susceptible to its effects (do a search and read up on it) that may be a deal breaker for you. Personally, I'm not crazy about the pre-flash, especially when I use the moon mode. I turn it on with the bezel covered in order to avoid it.

The 2xAA light I've been carrying around, which is pretty reliable because of its switching mechanism, is the Nitecore D20. People complained about the piston being too stiff (even stiffer than the D10s switch) but mine was great. I got it from lightjunction, there's a coupon in the marketplace in the discounts sticky. It's a little larger than my Quarks, but the low is pretty darned low. You can even signal, as long as it's not too fast, due to the design of the piston drive and there's actually a lockout that works, unlike the Quarks which have never advertised a lockout feature since their lockout may or may not work depending on the state of the anodizing on the threads, if you were lucky enough to get one that had anodized threads in the tailcap in the first place, that is.

My R2 XR-E D20 has a nice tint and profile. Even though the tint lottery is less in affect than it is for Q5 XR-E emitters, you still might get a violet one . . . I have 3 XR-E R2 emitters and they're all free of violet and green tints. The reflector is OP and the profile has some rings toward the outer edge of the spill. Not too distracting but the UI and form of the light is what wins me over.

Don't expect the same level of accessories as Quarks, all it comes with is the attached clip and extra orings. It fits my Fenix TK20 holster but you might be able to get a ripoff holster if you need one. It also feels much better in my hand than the Quarks.

Hmmm... now in a quandry. Pre-flash is a bummer. Also, have looked carefully at a bunch of beamshots, and it seems that both the Fenix and the Quark have the ""bullseye" type beam pattern with a very bright hotspot, and then spill/corona. I find that pattern distracting when walking outdoors at night.

The Seoul P4 was always the most useful pattern to me, but I can't find any 2AA lights w/ that pattern.

So, now, I'm not really sure where to go...

You didn't mention your preference about a SSC P4.

here's what you may need...

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.22935

Even a cheap DIY like this