Yeah, it's actually terrible for making flashlights. Aluminum is lighter, significantly cheaper, much easier to work with, and great for dissipation. Seriously, the only reason companies even bother making titanium flashlights is because folks mistakenly think it's an exotic material that is rare, and thus very expensive. Nope. It's usually very expensive because it's hard to work with. It wears out production machinery at a much higher rate than other metals. That's why companies charge so much if you want Ti anything.
It's not rare at all though. Entire world's supply is located in China, and there's a massive amount of it. If you have a Ti product from Japan, that just means the raw titanium was imported there first from China.
Companies make flashlights out of Ti because they know customers want them!
Fun fact: Before the end of the Cold War, Titanium WAS relatively rare. When the Cold War ended, it turns our Russia has significant deposits, and had been hoarding it as a strategic material. Strapped for cash (since so many high level officials embezzled so much as the Soviet Union collapsed), Russia sold huge stockpiles into the market, and it pretty much hasn't been expensive since.
Regarding "Aircraft Grade" Aluminum:
Yeah, that's just marketing B.S.
Actual air-crafts are made from different types of aluminum.
Everything from rigid thick as hell, to thin and flexible.
Depends on which section of the aircraft, and which air-craft we're dealing with.
I think generally, yes, that is marketing nonsense, since they use a LOT of different aluminum in airplanes. Honestly, I swear it's just code for "aluminum alloy," which is hilarious, cause no one is using PURE aluminum for things in 2024, haha.
The actual thing to look at is if it's 6061 vs 7075, as 7075 is markedly stronger. Although, I don't think that matters a whole lot in flashlights, honestly.
For many gun parts, it's kind of a thing, despite most everything working just fine when it's made of 6061. 7075 is usually overkill, but maybe that's what someone is after.
Ironically, the arguably MORE important part of aluminum is the anodizing. Being a gun person, I sort of took quality anodization for granted, but the reality is that the surface treatment industry in the U.S. is absolutely head and shoulders above the Chinese companies. One of the things that REALLY makes Surefire, Malkoff, and Peak lights SO NICE is they have exception anodizing. I know some Chinese companies claim they do T6 anodization, but boy...it's not. I honestly don't know if they ONLY do T2, if they lie to cut costs, or if they just honestly can't make a real T6...but, it's not the same.
Even some of the nicer Chinese brands like Weltool have noticeably worse anodizing. It's interesting that, in the gun world, high quality anodizing is something people talk about, look for, and really appreciate, but in the flashlight world, it's kind of forgotten. It's one of the reasons people can drop a Malkoff and be shocked it isn't scratched. A top quality anodizing is a very, very hard surface, so it's very resistant. In fact, most steels will LOOK like they scratch a good anodizing, but it's the steel rubbing off ONTO the surface. Malkoff uses T6, Surefire says they use Mil-spec (T3?), and I'm not sure what level Peak uses, but there's looks beautiful, though I think it's likely a T2. So, even the "lighter" American anodizing ends up just being a lot better. But, that's kind of true across the board for surface finishing when comparing the U.S. vs. China (if you've ever done anything is a precision industry).