A flashlight for EDC

[SantaClawz]

Besides, if anyone gives me hard time here for asking what EDC is, I'll avoid your house next Christmas and you get no presents! :nana::devil:

 

[RobertM]

Thanks man.

I don't see why anyone would jump on me for asking this, it's impossible for someone new to the forum to understand what all these acronyms are, unless a new member happens to be a good mind reader, psychic or whatever you want to call it.

Actually, we have a Welcome Mat :nana:

:welcome:

 

[SantaClawz]

Actually, we have a Welcome Mat :nana:

:welcome:

Thanks Robert, now I feel like a total idiot for hijacking this thread without checking the welcome mat first.

Sorry guys, should have found that before asking here.

 

[Zflashlight]

Thank you guys for the help you-re giving me! Questions keep popping in my head though.

If you want the Li Ion AAs, Energizer makes them readily available at the corner store in primary and rechargeable. We as a family, tried the Energizer AA rechargeables because we were going through AAs like crazy when our Wii game system was getting a ton of use. But they just didn't hold a charge for very long and we got tired of always replacing batteries in the Wii game controllers. I hope I've adressed some of your questions and concerns.

Li-ion are rechargeable, lithium are not, is that right?
And if what you say is true, for rechargeables, better to use NIMH for durability. What about those Eneloops i keep hearing, are those AA as well?
Can any flashlight that uses AA use all of the above, as long as they are not mixed? (alkaline, nimh, eneloop, lithium AA, li-ion AA) The important thing is that the batteries are 1.5V or 1.2V?

I'm sorry if i'm being a PITA..

 

[jcalvert]

Besides, if anyone gives me hard time here for asking what EDC is, I'll avoid your house next Christmas and you get no presents! :nana::devil:

Dear Santa,

Are you finally going to give the Leafs a chance at the cup?


To Z,

Are you getting the information you have been looking for as we kinda got off track?

John

 

[jcalvert]

Thank you guys for the help you-re giving me! Questions keep popping in my head though.

Li-ion are rechargeable, lithium are not, is that right?
And if what you say is true, for rechargeables, better to use NIMH for durability. What about those Eneloops i keep hearing, are those AA as well?
Can any flashlight that uses AA use all of the above, as long as they are not mixed? (alkaline, nimh, eneloop, lithium AA, li-ion AA) The important thing is that the batteries are 1.5V or 1.2V?

I'm sorry if i'm being a PITA..

Z,

First, your only a PITA to those w/ egos.

Second, I stand corrected, the Energizer AA Rechargeables are NiMH, the Lithium AAs (corrected) are not. I don't know about the Eneloops because I don't use AAs any more, but there are plenty of folks that can answer that one and the question about their use in AA-based flashlights.

John

 

[Zflashlight]

To Z,

Are you getting the information you have been looking for as we kinda got off track?

John

Lights are turning on in my head, that's got to be a good thing.

SantaClawz, don't worry, we're still on track.

RRT-0 alternatives are still on my mind, and still the topic. I'm just taking the time to fill the gaps, so i can understand all this a bit more.

 

[jellydonut]

Thank you guys for the help you-re giving me! Questions keep popping in my head though.

Li-ion are rechargeable, lithium are not, is that right?
And if what you say is true, for rechargeables, better to use NIMH for durability. What about those Eneloops i keep hearing, are those AA as well?
Can any flashlight that uses AA use all of the above, as long as they are not mixed? (alkaline, nimh, eneloop, lithium AA, li-ion AA) The important thing is that the batteries are 1.5V or 1.2V?

I'm sorry if i'm being a PITA..

Eneloops seem to be widely regarded as the best rechargeable AAs. I only run 18650s and CR123s myself so I don't know.

There's no such thing as li-ion AAs - the closest you will get are 14500 cells which are the same size as AAs but have more than twice the voltage, 3.7-4.2V. I'm sure the other poster confused the Energizer rechargeable NiMHs and the Energizer primary lithiums.

Any flashlight that takes AA can take both alkaline primaries, NiMH rechargeables and lithium primaries because they are all the same size and voltage. This is one of the greatest selling points of AA lights IMO. Run rechargeables when you're using it a lot, lithium primaries when you need absolute reliability, and in a pinch you can still use alkaline primaries because usually if you're in need of a battery this is all that will be available.

Primary = use once, discard - non-rechargeable

As for durability in rechargeables, li-ions are actually best in this regard. Unlike other battery chemistries they do not exhibit the 'memory effect' that you get with NiMHs and NiCds. This is probably what the other poster experienced and attributed to li-ions.

The only issue is that they should not be discharged too much. Ideally you shouldn't run them dry at all but top them off regularly. This is something I had to learn the hard way, I actually 'cycled' some of my li-ions as if they were NiCds before I read more about batteries here and realized I had basically ruined the runtime and lifetime of those two li-ions.:fail: Buuut, now I'm veering off, this isn't even relevant if you're still looking for an AA light.

As for selector rings - I urge you to consider lights with simple, good UIs even if they don't have selector rings.

I used to think a selector ring light would be the be-all end-all for me, and now that I have one.. It isn't all that essential. Sure, it's cool to have, and the light itself is very nice (Milky modded SF U2), but I mostly end up using just the highest and lowest modes anyway.:fail:

For me low and high, only two modes, is still king. Simple is good.

 

[jcalvert]

Eneloops seem to be widely regarded as the best rechargeable AAs. I only run 18650s and CR123s myself so I don't know.

There's no such thing as li-ion AAs - the closest you will get are 14500 cells which are the same size as AAs but have more than twice the voltage, 3.7-4.2V. I'm sure the other poster confused the Energizer rechargeable NiMHs and the Energizer primary lithiums.

Any flashlight that takes AA can take both alkaline primaries, NiMH rechargeables and lithium primaries because they are all the same size and voltage. This is one of the greatest selling points of AA lights IMO. Run rechargeables when you're using it a lot, lithium primaries when you need absolute reliability, and in a pinch you can still use alkaline primaries because usually if you're in need of a battery this is all that will be available.

Primary = use once, discard - non-rechargeable

As for durability in rechargeables, li-ions are actually best in this regard. Unlike other battery chemistries they do not exhibit the 'memory effect' that you get with NiMHs and NiCds. This is probably what the other poster experienced and attributed to li-ions.

The only issue is that they should not be discharged too much. Ideally you shouldn't run them dry at all but top them off regularly. This is something I had to learn the hard way, I actually 'cycled' some of my li-ions as if they were NiCds before I read more about batteries here and realized I had basically ruined the runtime and lifetime of those two li-ions.:fail: Buuut, now I'm veering off, this isn't even relevant if you're still looking for an AA light.

As for selector rings - I urge you to consider lights with simple, good UIs even if they don't have selector rings.

I used to think a selector ring light would be the be-all end-all for me, and now that I have one.. It isn't all that essential. Sure, it's cool to have, and the light itself is very nice (Milky modded SF U2), but I mostly end up using just the highest and lowest modes anyway.:fail:

For me low and high, only two modes, is still king. Simple is good.

Jelly,

Very good and helpful post. You're right about the NiMHs we used for the Wii, as we were unaware of the memory issue at first. We still went back to using alkaline AAs for now.

Question, can the Eneloops be used in "any AA" product including the Wii controllers? If so, next order I place for any batteries, I'll order those as well.

And you were correct in that I meant Lithium AA's, not Li ion, so I went back and made the correction. These are mistakes I know not to make, sorry Z!

John

 

[tylernt]

Question, can the Eneloops be used in "any AA" product including the Wii controllers? If so, next order I place for any batteries, I'll order those as well.

Yes, we use Eneloops in our Wii controllers. Runtime is great and the LSD nature of Eneloops means I can keep a spare set of charged cells on hand for quick swap-out without having to wait for a recharge.

 

[jcalvert]

Yes, we use Eneloops in our Wii controllers. Runtime is great and the LSD nature of Eneloops means I can keep a spare set of charged cells on hand for quick swap-out without having to wait for a recharge.

Perfect, thanks ty!

 

[Zflashlight]

jellydonut, that was perfect! Now i have a better grasp of the battery types available. Thank you!

One question that has slipped by is, even though the 14500 cells aren't AAs, can the RRT-0 run on 14500? I've read people say that in this forum, but for the R2 version, and the website doesn't mention 14500. Anyone know for sure?

And does the R5 version throw more than say, Maglite LED, if so, much more?
I know the R5 version is floodier than the R2, that much i think i understood, because the emitter is different.
I'm not that concerned about throw with RRT-0, but i want to gauge its performance overall. I think that's the word.

I could measure how much mine throws and check fonarevka to compare, but judging from their Maglite incan pictures (i can hardly see anything), i think the camera doesn't catch the light properly to compare to actual use. Only between each picture/flashlight in said test, that observe the same conditions.

 

[illumiGeek]

I, too, am picky about the UI. I have a Fenix L1T, which doesn't get much love here, but it has a nice, simple UI -- click on / click off, twist for hi/lo. An L2T is also available if you want a higher hi.

I'll second the Fenix L1T as a great EDC. It's small (single AA), bright (98 Lumens) and has a very white, smooth beam that is a good compromise between flood and throw. Nice "Tactical" clicky, and Hi/Low selectable by simply twisting the head.

I have the v2.0 with the Q2 emitter and it has been my EDC since the day I received it. It's really an awesome, simple light.

If you don't mind an initial programming step the Quark AA R5 Edition is slightly more expensive and slightly brighter. It has 5 brightness levels, of which your favorite 2 can be programmed for use so in the end it's as easy as the Fenix (just turn the head tight or loose to select the 2 modes you programmed). The Quark also has a pocket clip, although the Fenix comes with an excellent belt pouch (actually, they both do).

The Quark allows a bit more tuning of the high & low settings (from 5 available levels), as opposed to the 2 factory set modes in the Fenix. It also has Beacon, Strobe and SOS modes (although I personally don't find "blinky" modes useful).

From my experience with 2 of each light I find the beam color of the Fenix to be very close to Neutral (Sunlight) white, while the Quark is quite cool. Personally I prefer the more neutral white of the Fenix. I tried ordering a Quark "Neutral" series, but the one I received was excessively warm (almost incandescent warm). So I like the beam color of the Fenix better than the Quark (but keep in mind my sample size is very small).

Anway, if you want a simple AA light for EDC it's pretty hard to beat the Fenix L1T v2.0.

And yea, Eneloops rock!

 

[Zflashlight]

I was thinking of rounding up all flashlights that have a selector ring and make a list of them, perhaps sorting them by batteries used, or just mentioning key features.

But it would just be another thread buried somewhere. Would it be possible to make an entry in the Wiki? I wouldn't mind taking the time to learn a bit and do it.

I think the wiki is a resource that, while it is being used with useful, and general enough information, perhaps it could use some entries like this.
If not updated, they wouldn't be useful 10 years from now but, they would be a nice reference now, and if updated, a good reference for the foreseable time.
Other categories like diveable lights - a table with brand name column, model column, a depth column, a modes column (1 mode, 2, 3 etc.).

 

[jellydonut]

I agree, the wiki would be an awesome resource if it was being used.

Personally I feel I'm too much of a noob to spout too much stuff in wiki articles, but I guess I could give it a shot. I wonder why people don't use it instead of posting huge threads?

 

[Zflashlight]

Completely agree on the noob part, but in this case, ring UI, i think it's a matter of will and time. All i have to observe is the presence of a ring UI
If i make mistakes on other details, it's still a wiki, and folks can correct my mistakes.

The dive example is a bit more involved, but one can always start with the manufacturer's specs - only diveable make the list, not just IPX8. An extra column named "Tested" would indicate Yes/No/Unkown (maybe No is irrevelant here). If Yes, provide a link.

That's also the beauty of the wiki, it's not static, only the URL is.