I like AA batteries. They are compact yet offer better capacity than AAA or coin cells, are available in alkaline or lithium primaries as well as lsd nimh or li-ion rechargeables. All are relatively easy to find and if you are ever in a position where your rechargeable runs dead you can pop an easily sourced alkaline in until you get charged.
Unfortunately even the best nimh or 14500 doesn't hold a candle to the capacity or discharge rate of 18650 cells and many of those lights are barely larger than an AA version. I still like to be able to run primaries if needed but many of those compact 18650 lights require a 1s power source.
With handheld lights this isn't too bad as I can pick a 1aa for max comfort, 2aa for more all-purpose use, 18650 if I want small and powerful or some like like a surefire or Malkoff which can run 2xcr123 or an 18650. Headlamps are tougher. Few nice headlamps offer multiple aa format or compatibility between cr123 and 18650 cells. Interestingly zebralight shows voltage specs of 6v on many models but the. Specifically says not to use 2xcr123. About the only nice headlamp I can find with a high cri led is the sportac ph10lc2. Nice headlamp but not as robust as my armytek, lacks a moon mode plus I feel like the nichia 219 is one of their lower cri bins... generally I'd prefer my armytek wizard pro xhp50.2 warm or step down to the acebeam h30 sst-20...
Anyways all I'm saying is I like to run rechargeable cells but want to be able to drop some primaries in from the local store, or odd tv remote, if needed. Makes it DAMN hard to pick an ideal set up these days.
Unfortunately even the best nimh or 14500 doesn't hold a candle to the capacity or discharge rate of 18650 cells and many of those lights are barely larger than an AA version. I still like to be able to run primaries if needed but many of those compact 18650 lights require a 1s power source.
With handheld lights this isn't too bad as I can pick a 1aa for max comfort, 2aa for more all-purpose use, 18650 if I want small and powerful or some like like a surefire or Malkoff which can run 2xcr123 or an 18650. Headlamps are tougher. Few nice headlamps offer multiple aa format or compatibility between cr123 and 18650 cells. Interestingly zebralight shows voltage specs of 6v on many models but the. Specifically says not to use 2xcr123. About the only nice headlamp I can find with a high cri led is the sportac ph10lc2. Nice headlamp but not as robust as my armytek, lacks a moon mode plus I feel like the nichia 219 is one of their lower cri bins... generally I'd prefer my armytek wizard pro xhp50.2 warm or step down to the acebeam h30 sst-20...
Anyways all I'm saying is I like to run rechargeable cells but want to be able to drop some primaries in from the local store, or odd tv remote, if needed. Makes it DAMN hard to pick an ideal set up these days.
