I love my 2aa lights and really have no idea about the popularity nor do I really care at all?
I also wish there were some side by side choices but the manufacturers are driven by? so I am not holding my breath for them either.
I like the format mostly as they fit nicely in a tool pouch pocket which is often sized for a 2aa Mini Mag and I still carry the Mag a lot this way.
The entire light is too easy to find and replace and abuse and entirely up to many of my daily use needs on a construction site to stop carrying them for example and I can loan them out and not think too much about it too!
I also prefer the AA format in general as they are so easily available and cheap to use and discard though I know that is not the popular practice of many here,please leave me alone about that!
I simply can not count on myself to have a light ready to work if I am the one to be recharging the batteries.
I love the Malkoff 2aa and the HDS is great as a light and a Club!
I also like the ET as it is so slim and easily found in NW tint too.
AA all the way for me!
Mostly.
18650s are harder to come by in a pinch, whereas AA primaries can be found all over the place? I like the idea of being able to buy a brick of AAs and be reasonably prepared for any substantial power outage - provided, of course, the light itself doesn't fail.
People will continue to use AAs quite simply due to the sheer abundance and easy availability of them. Yes, one can order a plethora of 18650s online and be set for life, but always being prepared is easier said than done.
Like for instance, a few months back in was driving home from work, got a call from my friend - his power was out and he needed a hand. I had my Thrunite in the car, but the battery was dead. I didn't have time to charge it so I went my my AA Fenix back up and dropped by a CVS, grabbed a Lithium Energizer and headed over to his house.
Sure, I wasn't well prepared but I had something to fall back on in a pinch. Same idea with firearms, people stock a variety of calibers, not just one.
There is one advantage of AA over 18650.... safety. You can dunk AAs in bad water, damage them, short them out and not need to worry like you do with 18650 batteries. You also don't have to worry about lending/giving a AA flashlight to anyone else as they can use disposable batteries if needed don't need to get them a charger to use the light in the short term.
Leaking is better than catching on fire and exploding, although I detest alkaleaks myself I only keep enough around for devices that either are give away (disposable) or don't play nice with nimh and are not suited for L91s.Yeah, you just have to constantly worry about them leaking electrolyte and ruining everything you put them in lol.
A couple of months ago I bought a 24 pack of Energizer Max Powerseal AA's. A couple of weeks later I went to open them and grab a couple and one had leaked all throughout the pack ruining the whole pack. These were brand new never opened and dated many years in the future.
Imo AA and AAA's are inefficient old tech cells that should be retired. Primaries are also hugely wasteful and hard on the environment(especially if not recycled). Unfortunately I still have to use them occasionally because a few things like TV remotes aren't generally available in other cell configurations otherwise, I would never touch them again. At least LSD NiMH(Eneloop), 14500, and 10440's are easy to find these days so I don't have to ever touch another alkaline again and can be Eco friendly while not lining the pockets of battery manufacturers.
Just acquired a 375 lumen Pelican 2360 and if that is a sign of things to come from the industry then perhaps the time for the funeral of the venerable 2aa has not arrived. I saw a 272 lumen mini mag at WalMart recently and Coast has a pretty nice floody triple in the G25 inspection light.
These are not the latest-greatest tacticool or flashion units but in the general world of consumers they should keep that niche alive a while longer.
The 2360 says 9k+ CD from a pair of double a batteries, and it runs cool so there is probably room to reach 500 (sustained) lumens at some point.
I love my ... incandescent minimags (which I still use routinely).
4AAA format is just the "new" 3AAA format adding an extra battery allows for brighter lights with longer runtime with smaller size than 2C or D cell format. IMO it is a lousier choice than 3AAA as they could probably use 2AA with a boost circuit and get about the same if not better performance.I still see plenty of 2AA lights, well more of them are going towards AAA's now. I recently got a 410 lumen Coast HP7 that runs off 4AAA batteries.