Looking for the cheapest single AA or AAA that is still high quality

Hi all,
I am a missionary going back to the country I serve in. It is customary in this culture to get friends a gift after going on a trip.
I am looking to get a number of my friends over there a AA or AAA light that is good quality yet not expensive. Since I am a missionary I don't have a ton of cash, yet need to get around 6-10 of them.
Since the electricity goes out quite often I thought a flashlight would be a good gift.
They will be glad to get a single mode light, but having a low would be preferable as it will increase the run time.
Another note is that they will all be using alkline batteries as they don't have money for a charger.:shakehead
If anyone knows of a site where the price goes down the more a person orders I would love to here about it!
I'm not looking for one of those cheap 3 AAA lights :fail: you can get at Wal-Mart for a couple dollars. I want to get one that will work for them for a number of years!
Thanks for any and all ideas!

Fenix E01

Fenix E01 would be my first choice (That's a single AAA light for around $13. Best for a keychain. It's fairly waterproof.)

The E05, another keychain light, is brighter but lacks the battery life of the E01.

Another one I like is the Nebo Edge. It's a single AA light, costs about $9. Also pretty nice quality for the price. It's a bit larger and brighter, also waterproof.

EO1 without question.

Olight i2 and i3 are $20-25- and put out a lot of light for the $!

The 1aa Cree Energizer available at Target for around 16 bucks a pop is a nice durable basic torch.

I wonder if the Gerber Infinity AA would be useful here. The Gerber Recon is the more modern version which has a rotating dial (with filters) on the front so you have the option of red, white, blue and green light. It is a AA light and being a twisty tailcap operation is very robust. I keep several as useful back up lights and the output on white setting is more than adequate for personal lighting during a blackout. They are under $22 on Amazon.com at present.

Actually I will have to keep these in mind for next months light purchase list. I had forgotten how much I like these.

Another vote for the E01.

nicodimus22 said:

Another one I like is the Nebo Edge. It's a single AA light, costs about $9. Also pretty nice quality for the price. It's a bit larger and brighter, also waterproof.

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I don't know anything about Nebo lights. Do you have any experience with them? Will they last a good long time? I don't want to give a light that only last for a month or so.
I do like that it is AA instead of AAA. After posting the thread I realized that AA is more common over there. You can get AAA, just not quite as common.
Thanks for your thoughts, Shad

What's your budget? We all define cheap differently

Deal4 said:

I don't know anything about Nebo lights. Do you have any experience with them? Will they last a good long time?

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You can find several youtube reviews on the Edge if you want to see more on it.

I have 2 Nebo lights (Edge and Redline) and find both of them to be surprisingly high quality for the price. As for how long they will last, my best suggestion is to find someone who has had them longer than me (maybe in older amazon reviews or youtube reviews.)

Well, as it stands now I am thinking of these as possibilities:
-Fenix E01 (kind of dim, but with better run time)
-Fenix E05
-Nebo Edge (don't know anything about it thought. anyone have one?)
-iTP EOS
-Olight i3 or i5
Does anyone have any other ideas?:thinking:
I would actually like to use AA after I thought about it as they are more plentiful there. Still not sure though.
I have about a month before I have to have the lights so still have a bit of time.
Thanks for your help!

ITP A3 from shining beam, the old version is on sale. $15.75 each, also have the newer version for $20.50. Cpf members have discount to compensate shipping cost.

another vote for the ITP A3 - the updated version has three modes so you can use the low to extend battery life. Its a single AAA keychain light

Deal4 said:

I don't know anything about Nebo lights. Do you have any experience with them? Will they last a good long time? I don't want to give a light that only last for a month or so.
I do like that it is AA instead of AAA. After posting the thread I realized that AA is more common over there. You can get AAA, just not quite as common.
Thanks for your thoughts, Shad

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Too bad fenix refuses to make something simple like their e05 or e01 that would take an aa. Imagine the runtime potential. Unfortunately its sales potential would be limited due to the pervasive "smaller & brighter is better" mentality, so I understand. I don't have to like it though.

They have inexpensive 1 (& 2 mode now I think) aa innovas at target. Twist with momentary, nice beam, good runtime. Plastic lens. Great for giving away. I gave mine away almost immediately.

its sales potential would be limited due to the pervasive "smaller & brighter is better" mentality, so I understand. I don't have to like it though.

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Yes smaller and brighter is that what i want but relax, most lights have 3 modes, so you can use it only at low mode and then you have your high runtimes. I just wish that those lights always starts with low mode, it will save battery and is good to your night view when you wake up at night.

The ITP A2 EOS is an AA light that might suit your requirements.

After a quick look around the best price I could find was $18.99 from www.techtoolsupply.com (elsewhere it seemed to be priced at $24.99 and up).

I don't know where you are located, so just watch out for shipping costs before you commit to buy, some vendors charge rather a lot.

Brinyte PD03 with AAA
Ultrafire C3 with AA

nicodimus22 said:

You can find several youtube reviews on the Edge if you want to see more on it.

I have 2 Nebo lights (Edge and Redline) and find both of them to be surprisingly high quality for the price. As for how long they will last, my best suggestion is to find someone who has had them longer than me (maybe in older amazon reviews or youtube reviews.)

Click to expand...

I agree on the Nebo. I have several of these laying about and in the car. They truly are of surprising quality for the money(5$),35 lumen output and make very nice little gifts. I brought about 10 with me on my last trip to visit friends and family in Ukraine and these were THE runaway hit out of any of the gifts I gave out. Plan on sending out a care package with more soon.

Danielsan said:

leon2245 said:

Too bad fenix refuses to make something simple like their e05 or e01 that would take an aa. Imagine the runtime potential. Unfortunately its sales potential would be limited due to the pervasive "smaller & brighter is better" mentality, so I understand. I don't have to like it though.

They have inexpensive 1 (& 2 mode now I think) aa innovas at target. Twist with momentary, nice beam, good runtime. Plastic lens. Great for giving away. I gave mine away almost immediately.

Click to expand...

Yes smaller and brighter is that what i want but relax, most lights have 3 modes, so you can use it only at low mode and then you have your high runtimes. I just wish that those lights always starts with low mode, it will save battery and is good to your night view when you wake up at night.

Click to expand...

Y U No like AA e05?!