Well when it comes to flashlights that use 3AAA carriers, there is almost always resistance presented by the carrier. Since the Metal Gear has a LuxI 1 Watt LED, they put a 1 ohm resistor on the internal circuit board in the plastic cylinder. If you plan on sticking to AAA batteries, you'll need to remove or bypass the resistor to get it brighter. Also, going with NiMH batteries will give you steadier discharge along with longer single use runtime. For occasional use, I recommend either sticking with Alkaline or the new Rayovac Hybrid NiMH batteries.