Double and Triple Barrel Flashlights?

[yellow]

I'm personally not interested in any light that forces me to use alkaline or rechargeable batteries.

[edit]
no alkis, no rechargeables? :thinking:
what remains? Car headlights?
[/edit]


some thoughts to rmteo's post:
as he states, double barrel is more difficult to make, as well as triple.
Also there is an "end" to nice holding diameter.
imho even D-cell lights start to be not too good to grip, a double (or triple) 18650 setup would be really big.
18650 or C are ideal.
(there are C-sized Li-Ions, iirc. Check AW's selling thread)

 

[R.ticle One]

Is there such a thing, then, as a 3AA host which can take P60 dropins? (Again, using a battery holder, or a configuration that allows the light to be shorter and fatter, rather than the length of three AAs all lined up).

 

[neoseikan]

EagleTac M2C4 or M2XC4
Neo-Fab Legion II, but it is not really in production, but you can get other triples, like this.

Have to say, Legion II is in production.
I have sent out a lot of them, and more than 100pcs will be ready quite soon.
__________________

 

[Hitthespot]

Multiple barrel flashlights have been around for some time now. Here a pic of my 12 year old Energizer ican "double barrel". It takes 8 AA bats. and has a focusable reflector. It is a good thrower and very well built. I don't know if they are still available.

Hey my dad had one of those (the 4 battery version ). He left the batteries in for around 5 years and they fused in the light. We had to throw light and batteries out. :mecry:

Bill

 

[Dude Dudeson]

[edit]
no alkis, no rechargeables? :thinking:
what remains? Car headlights?
[/edit]


some thoughts to rmteo's post:
as he states, double barrel is more difficult to make, as well as triple.
Also there is an "end" to nice holding diameter.
imho even D-cell lights start to be not too good to grip, a double (or triple) 18650 setup would be really big.
18650 or C are ideal.
(there are C-sized Li-Ions, iirc. Check AW's selling thread)

I am only interested in lithium primaries. Back in times when I only owned one light (and used it heavily) I was definitely into rechargeables.

Now I have several lights, and sometimes one will sit for up to a week at a time - but when I need THAT light I want it ready to go RIGHT NOW.

So as far as I know that limits me to CR123's and AA's - although it's possible an AAA light might end up in my hands someday.

I live in a dark area, and although I might use a light 10 times per night it still only amounts to maybe 3 or 4 minutes total runtime. Rechargeables would be more of a pain than it's worth for me.

I'd LOVE to put a Malkoff dropin in my old 3C Mag, but no way am I going to run something like that with alkaline batteries. And at this time I just wouldn't use enough runtime per week to justify dealing with anything rechargeable there either.

Anyway to get more back on topic - the question of the OP was somewhat answered by the person who posted about relative "capacity" of a C cell versus 2x AA's - EXCEPT for the fact that there's no lithium C cells out there that I know of. I'll take (in terms of power and output consistency alone) 2x lithium AA's over an alkaline or rechargeable C cell any day.

 

[jzmtl]

I am only interested in lithium primaries. Back in times when I only owned one light (and used it heavily) I was definitely into rechargeables.

Now I have several lights, and sometimes one will sit for up to a week at a time - but when I need THAT light I want it ready to go RIGHT NOW.

Have you ever used low self discharge NiMH cells?

 

[Dude Dudeson]

Have you ever used low self discharge NiMH cells?

No, as mentioned I'm not in a position where cost is much of a factor with primaries. Therefore there's no "tradeoff" for me in using them.

Rest assured, the minute cost DOES become a factor (like if I get a job that requires heavy usage of a light, which has been the case before) then I will be back in the rechargeable game.

 

[bobrip]

I've wondered, for some lights like the TK40, why larger cells aren't used instead of many smaller ones in a multi-barrel arrangement.

The battery manufacturers like to make flashlights that use a lot of cells for obvious reasons. I was told this by a large Japanese battery manufacturer.

 

[Mike Painter]

C cells are the same length as AA's - 50mm. A single C cell has 150% of the capacity of 2 AA's. Comparing a double barrel configuration of 4 AA's vs. 2 C's in-line, the C is fatter but the AA is taller. Also, the double barrel is more complex to machine (it cannot be done efficiently using just a CNC lathe) and therefore more costly to produce.

True but The Underwater Kinetics lights with 4 C cells in a 2x2 form is great and is done with plastic.
Four 18650's in such a form factor would be about 5 inches long and could have a one piece plastic body.
Long burn time and the "flat" design fits in most pockets.

 

[jzmtl]

No, as mentioned I'm not in a position where cost is much of a factor with primaries. Therefore there's no "tradeoff" for me in using them.

Rest assured, the minute cost DOES become a factor (like if I get a job that requires heavy usage of a light, which has been the case before) then I will be back in the rechargeable game.

I'm not talking about costs, but rather your "ready to go". If you leave your light for some time with regular rechargeable they'll self discharge, but if you have eneloop (or others LSD) in there it's essentially at full charge after even months, so you are still good to go right then.