Brightest AA LED Light?

Not a bad idea to carry multiple lights.

Is there a thread specifically discussing tint somewhere? I have a few colleagues that would benefit from reading that.

Thanks,

A.
 
It throws very well and has a good sidespill, runs on 2high capacity NiMH AA cells for 2 hours on turbo

2 hours?! No way! 90 minutes or so. 'carbon60' wanted 4 hours flashlight, you gave him 1,5hrs one... You should go with LedLenser (Coast) P14. It is bigger, uses 4AA, runs for 3,5-4,5h, is brighter and throws much better. And it's focusable which is rare in LED flashlights.
 
2 hours?! No way! 90 minutes or so. 'carbon60' wanted 4 hours flashlight, you gave him 1,5hrs one... You should go with LedLenser (Coast) P14. It is bigger, uses 4AA, runs for 3,5-4,5h, is brighter and throws much better. And it's focusable which is rare in LED flashlights.

Fenix advertises the runtimes as 2 hours on high (and don't forget the 11 hours on low). Lately they are pretty accurate so I quoted them. This thread has runtimes which say 90 minutes for 2500MaH cells. The runtime in this post says 1 hour and 45 minutes for 2700Mah cells. So I guess you're right that it's not 2 hours as advertised. On primary lithium cells, however, you do get 2 hours runtime on high. But he said himself later on in the thread that the runtime he said earlier is not as important because he'll be carrying spare cells anyway. And don't forget the runtime on low, which is slightly more than advertised.

And, I really doubt wether the LedLenser would be better suited for SAR purposes. Yes, it has longer runtime on high. I don't know wether high or turbo is actually higher than on the Fenix. But AFAIK Led Lensers come with cool tinted LED's, which is a big no-no for an outdoor searching torch. Seriously, try it yourself. Take a cool tinted and a warm tinted torch with about equal OTF lumens ratings, go running / biking in the countryside at night when it's drizzling and check which one gives you the best image of what is going on around you. In my experience, for outdoors use, warm tint beats cool tint every single time, even if the cool tinted torch has a considerably higher lumens rating.
 
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Not warm but neutral are the best. Warm light makes everything yellow. Grass, sand, trees, pavement, tarmac... LL P7 runs over 12 hours on low (which is quite bright and useable), P14 at least 2x more.

Three pics: very cool Cree, SSC SWO, incandescent.
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As someone who does searches at night for a living, often in overgrown or wooded areas, and owns several lights, including the Fenix TK20 and EagleTac P10A2, I can tell you to avoid the Fenix TK20, which I gave away. It's narrow beam and concentrated hot-spot made it useless for SAR. The EagleTac, however, really evenly lights up a large area for a good distance with a smooth transition from a large, soft, hotspot to a bright, even, spill.

For most of my wooded area searches, however, I now use an ElektroLumens Mag3D SSC P7 conversion which brightly lights up a huge area (think car headlight high-beams, but without as much throw; that's okay as I usually don't have that far of an unobstructed distance in the woods) and has a very long run time of very, very, gradually dimming brightness with high capacity Nimih D cells.
 
Oh, and by the way... if you haven't looked it up, the brightest AA light currently commercially available, by independent testing, is the EagleTac P10A2. And in the real world, during normal usage, it is noticeably brighter and lights up a larger area than the Nitecore D20, Fenix KT20, L2D, or Olight M25.
 
Tint of each LED light will be a bit different, this is the nature of producing LEDs.

The Eagletac P10A2 should have a pretty white(cool tinted) beam.

It does make sense that the P10A2 should be better for your task because of the wider hotspot. When you get the money or the want, check the multi die LED lights.(Seoul P7 and Cree MC-E LEDs)

Lots of output and a pretty wide beam. Runtime will be shorter of course and I haven't seen AA powered ones yet.
 
Tint of each LED light will be a bit different, this is the nature of producing LEDs.

The Eagletac P10A2 should have a pretty white(cool tinted) beam.

But what do you think of the opinion that a neutral beam is better for spotting objects?

It does make sense that the P10A2 should be better for your task because of the wider hotspot. When you get the money or the want, check the multi die LED lights.(Seoul P7 and Cree MC-E LEDs)

Do you have a particular torch in mind that uses those LEDs?

Thanks very much for your input,

A.
 
Hello All,

I'm looking for a torch that uses 2-4 standard AAs and lasts at least 4 hours. I'm having a really tough time figuring out what my options are though. I will be using it to search wooded areas at night as part of a volunteer SAR group.

I currently have a MagLite 3D AA, but I would like something brighter (and that comes with a *!&@ lanyard attachement!)

Any suggestions?

Thank you,

A.

Nightcore D20 @170 lumens is not bad at all. What about Jetbeam III M@225 lumens? Is it a two AAs flashlight?
 
As someone who does searches at night for a living, often in overgrown or wooded areas, and owns several lights, including the Fenix TK20 and EagleTac P10A2, I can tell you to avoid the Fenix TK20, which I gave away. It's narrow beam and concentrated hot-spot made it useless for SAR. The EagleTac, however, really evenly lights up a large area for a good distance with a smooth transition from a large, soft, hotspot to a bright, even, spill.

<snip>

I concur about the TK20 having too narrow of a beam. I gave mine away as well. I do admit that the color of the TK20 beam did make a difference in perception of colors, in particular blood trails. however the TK20 simply has too narrow of a beam when you do not know what you are looking for - eg: search operations. I have the Eagletac P10A2 and like it's beam pattern very much.
 
Yes, you can use a filter to make an LEDs output seem warmer. There have been threads on the topic but the search function doesn't work very well.

Something like an 81A filter as used in photography would likely do the trick. You can obtain such filters in sheet plastic form called 'gels'. You can even get packs of gel samples for free from some places.

Just be aware that filters work by subtracting wavelengths, or reducing their strength, so there will be some reduction in the total output.

Personally I think the idea that a slight difference in tint of the light making a critical see / don't see difference in being able to find what you are looking for is unlikely.

If during your searches deep in the woods, you suddenly decide to pause and consult a paint colour chart with a view to making a final decision on redecorating the master bedroom - then you 'might' benefit from a filter.


Is there no way to adjust the color of a beam using a filter of some sort?

A.
 
Well, I seem not to be able to cancel my TK20 order and will likely end up with both the Fenix TK20 and the EagleTac P10A2. Guess I'll have to try em both. :)

Going to look for filter gels for fun too.

Thanks,

A.
 
No, the Jetbeam III Military takes either a single 18650 or else two CR-123's.

Is the Jetbeam III Military (using two CR123) brighter than the 2AA's Jetbeam I or the 2 AA's Nightcore D20?
 
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iTP makes some really great AA lights-- the C7 and C8 -- the 7 uses one and the 8 uses 2. Both with Cree LEDs and around 190 lumens at their brightest.

I have been suprised how well these work with regular alkaline batts. Although, I am a die hard CR123 guy. :) But HEY, what can I say? I understand the AA thing too.

:wave:
 

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