brightest single AA alkaline flashlight

[raggie33]

id like it around 3 inches and be ablke to do 500 lumens on a basic aa alkaline cell

 

[ilikeguns40]

You'll be very hard to find a light getting 500 lumens from an alkaline AA. Closest light that suits your preferences is now discontinued and it is the Zebralight SC5 with a 550 lumen output for 3 min - then step down to 407 for .5 hours. Maybe try a WTB

 

[Monocrom]

Do you want actual out the front 500 lumens on a basic alkaline AA battery or do you want made up blatant lie but-everyone-puts-up-with-it emitter lumens numbers? If it's the former.... Yeah those don't actually exist. You'd have a much easier time with a 14500 lithium-ion rechargeable flashlight. One that in a pinch can work off of a single-AA battery but won't give off nearly as much output.

 

[raggie33]

400 lumens? doable?

 

[Monocrom]

No. I'm sorry but no.
Flashlight technology hasn't advanced THAT far, yet.

 

[ilikeguns40]

Even if it was, runtime would be very short. Better off going with li-ion 14500/AA duel fuel light that works with both.

Peak El Capitan is a nice choice and super reliable

 

[Stress_Test]

So.... what's the max discharge amperage for an alkaline AA? Maybe we could do a little math to see what's even theoretically possible for a very efficient emitter at low currents; maybe an XP-L2?

 

[aznsx]

So.... what's the max discharge amperage for an alkaline AA?

Good luck finding reliable info (as in 'from the manufacturer' on that). I've looked for that data from the major players repeatedly, and never found it from any of them.

Energizer certainly provides fairly complete specs on their L91 (and good on 'em):

https://data.energizer.com/pdfs/l91.pdf

Note that the same manufacturer provides no such info for their E91:

https://data.energizer.com/pdfs/e91.pdf

Given what we all know painfully well about alkalines, I'd just take the L91 number(s) and plug that data into my equation(s) anyway. I figure one might as well use specs on a AA primary that's actually worth using in practice.

 

[Stress_Test]

I've been trying to remember a test I saw a while back about a 1AA light that had surprisingly high output on an alkaline... for a couple minutes anyway. I think it was still well under 200 lumens though, maybe 150-ish range.

I want to say that was a Fenix but my memory isn't cooperating here.

 

[LiteTheWay]

Like everyone else here, go with the dual fuel 14500/AA. Much brighter on the 14500 and can use AA if needed.

 

[M@elstrom]

For visual reference both lights are powered by a fresh Varta AA Alkaline

• Photon Proton Pro with a claimed max output of 125Lm (focused beam)
• Lumintop Tool AA 2.0 with a max claimed 270Lm output (floody beam)

 

[cave dave]

Alkaline's are even more likely to leak when driven that hard as well. Nobody wants to clean up that mess!

 

[rwolfenstein]

I bought a malkoff MDC AA, it puts out 115 lumens on high. I feel like that is a safe operating brightness without having the batteries explode.

 

[DaveTheDude]

Here's a relatively inexpensive experiment for you to consider: take one Lumintop Tool 2.0, add one reputable, reasonably high capacity 14500 cell (Keeppower, or Vapcell F12 or H10 model to maximize output), and see if that combination meets your requirements. If it doesn't, you should seriously consider moving up to a more powerful platform.

 

[rwolfenstein]

I used to think it was lame that Surefire's E2LAA outdoorsman only put out 90 lumens on high. However when you think of what your working with the alkalines, it makes sense.

 

[bigburly912]

I'd bet if you tried out a Tool with an alkaline you'd find it's probably bright enough for what you need. Lumens numbers versus real world usability is a huge problem. Most people are shocked when they use an HDS and realize it's only 150-250 lumens.

 

[scalpel_ninja]

I'd bet if you tried out a Tool with an alkaline you'd find it's probably bright enough for what you need. Lumens numbers versus real world usability is a huge problem. Most people are shocked when they use an HDS and realize it's only 150-250 lumens.

Indeed. A single emitter with an excellent reflector can prove to be useful for 99% of daily tasks.

 

[Derek Dean]

I'd like a single AAA flashlight that puts out 2500 lumens for 2 hours. Can some body please direct me to a suitable light : )

 

[Brokenarrow]

I'd like a single AAA flashlight that puts out 2500 lumens for 2 hours. Can some body please direct me to a suitable light : )

Surely and I can sell you a car battery back back to go along with it.....

 

[ghostguy6]

Its been discontinued but you can still find some around for sale, the Acebeam M10 would be a great fit. Acebeam claims 224 lumens on high with a single AA cell, 550 with a 14500 cell but in reality I think it is more. I run one on a E91 and it is noticeably brighter than a standard alkaline AA. I run another with a 14500 and I would say it can be as bright as some of my other lights rated at 700 lumens.