I need CLONES!

fenix-store
Beer

Beer

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 13, 2007
Messages
217
Location
KCMO
Hey all,

I have a wedding coming up and would like to get all my groomsmen, and the guy in the band (who are playing for free) a Fenix P3D-CE. They have all remarked how they like my "bright pocket light."

However, I'm try to keep the wedding to a small and tight budget, and $250.00 in Fenix's won't help.

So my question to you is this: Does any one sell a decent Fenix type clone? Must be CREE, must run on 2X 123a's and be small pocket sized.
Prefer to have the head and body the same daim. (like a Fenix)


So.... discuss. :twothumbs
 
Have you looked at some of the lights on DX or KD? I don't know if they have any 2x CR123's with the head quite as narrow as the battery tube, but they do have plenty of lights that use 2x CR123s that are decent like some of the Ultrafire lights. Just a thought of mine, I do wonder if a light taking 2 CR123s would be the most ideal light for a non-flashlight geek like most of us on CPF, since they're very expensive to buy the batteries anywhere but online. Maybe something like an Ultrafire C3 would be something to look at, it can take 1 AA or 2 AA with an extension tube.
 
I agree that AA would be better for the non flashaholics. My only concern was that they all like the form factor of the 2 123a cells. For some reason they all don't like the shorter P2D.

I have a couple of 1 AA lights and the size is pretty close, but can these really get very bright? The two I have are the INOVA X1 and the RR 1AA, and the are nowhere NEAR as bright as the P3D.

As for 2AA lights, I have never really liked them, to long and skinny.

Meh.

now I'm just being picky. Wish I had enough $$$ to get them all Fenix's I'm pretty sure CPF would have seven new members. :laughing:
 
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Beer said:
I agree that AA would be better for the non flashaholics. My only concern was that they all like the form factor of the 2 123a cells. For some reason they all don't like the shorter P2D.

I have a couple of 1 AA lights and the size is pretty close, but can these really get very bright? The two I have are the INOVA X1 and the RR 1AA, and the are nowhere NEAR as bright as the P3D.

As for 2AA lights, I have never really liked them, to long and skinny.

Meh.

now I'm just being picky. Wish I have enough $$$ to get them all Fenix's I'm pretty sure CPF would have seven new members. :laughing:
Click to expand...

I also agree that a 1AA light would be best and yes a 1AA light can be very bright. The MTE seoul is a good choice, it has a nice beam thats a mix between flood and throw with a rather impressive output. I would have suggested the rebel verson but I have not heard many good things about the multi mode switches on the DX lights.
 
Beer said:
I have a couple of 1 AA lights and the size is pretty close, but can these really get very bright? The two I have are the INOVA X1 and the RR 1AA, and the are nowhere NEAR as bright as the P3D.
Click to expand...

Yes, a lot of these newer single AA lights will impress you, they can get quite bright. Especially those with the nicer circuits, they can drive a AA with a high enough current that they are best used with NiMH since they handle high currents better, although an alkaline is ok and they work fine at medium and lower outputs.

I don't have one of these, but I've been reading about it from others and it sounds very good for the price - http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8751
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8752

It uses a circuit with very high output in its highest mode and it's an efficient circuit. A potential drawback is that it has 20(!) modes, although they are separated into three groups and the main one has a 'very' low, low, medium, and high setting. You will likely be blown away if your only source of comparison in AA lights are the two you mentioned.

If you're worried it's too complex, there is the 5 mode MTE or single mode MTE Seoul. Less modes, but I think the 20 mode circuit is a better circuit when it comes to output on high and overall efficiency (I may be wrong on that, but the 20 mode circuit is based on one of the nicer AA circuits that I know of).

There's also the Ultrafire C3, which won't be quite as bright from what I understand, but is a nice light and is available in a single mode and a 5 mode.

The Jetbeam CLE 2.0 is nice as well, good 5-mode circuit and well made (costs about $31).

Romisen makes a couple of nice lights as well.

I could go on and on, there are dozens of decent AA lights out there now. I think the MTE 20 mode is a heck of a light out there right now if you don't think they'll mind all the modes, it uses a very efficient Rebel 100 LED and an efficient, high power circuit.
 
I think they will be pretty happy with the above lights. I would recommend the MTE Seoul for single mode or the MTE Rebel 100 if multimode is needed.
Click to expand...
The MTE Rebel 100 is quite nice -- I'd recommend it over the single-mode seoul (I have both). It's brighter, and has better tint. The only drawback is that the higher mode draws way too much current for alkaline cells to perform well -- the light will suffer short runtime on high, dim gradually rather than running regulated unless you were to run NiMH cells (or Lithium primaries which cost the same as NiMH cells, but can only be used once and can't be topped off between uses...).

2xAA will hold up better for alkaline cells, but it isn't really pocketable.
 
Beer, got to the Fenix-store clearance page and get them an L0x of some sort. Check out the info in my "CPF Specials" thread (link in my sigline).

I know, I know... they don't fill your requirements but, they are plenty bright, less expensive (to buy and to maintain), and will surely be a welcome addition to their keychains.
 
For 30 bucks you can get a Q5, HAIII, 16-level brightness at DX or Kai. It is either 2X16340 (RCR123A) or 18650. Check out the new VB-16. The guys will certainly be happy with this one.
 
bspofford said:
For 30 bucks you can get a Q5, HAIII, 16-level brightness at DX or Kai. It is either 2X16340 (RCR123A) or 18650. Check out the new VB-16. The guys will certainly be happy with this one.
Click to expand...

That's a really nice light, I will mention though that it's a bit large, about an inch longer than many of the other 2xCR123/18650 lights. If the size and battery type isn't an issue, for $30 it's great bargain. I like lights to be as compact as possible, but with the newest ones having the Q5 and being in that color, very nice light.
 
If you can afford 30 bucks a pop, the CL-E v2, quality wise is head and shoulders above most of the stuff from DX or Kai. It's plenty bright.

My brightest single AA multimode light is the 0/100 5 mode DX Rebel light. However mine and reportedly others have a connection problem, the spring's really not long enough, I had to buy a copper washer to extend the reach of the switch so positive contact occurred all the time. Without it occasionally you'll have to shake the light to get it to come on at full brightness.

The C3 single mode is the next brightest, but of the 4 I got, I had to wrap desoldering braid around the heads of 2 of them to keep them from popping off, the threads didn't engage well. If you know how to fix substandard examples, go with these. Desoldering braid is cheap at Radio Shack. Tell them, "Don't unscrew the heads."

Build quality of the DX MTE 1xAA SSC-P4 42180-U Flashlight is good, is pretty bright too.

For a cheap CR123A light you can't get any better than the Romisen RC-C3 from DX. The ones in gray are pretty, too, won't show the scratches as much as black. It's got contact springs top and bottom, does momentary too, it's dished out in the back and the thumb fits really well. Most people I've shown them too really like them.

Edit: I forgot about the DX FMR1. It's really bright, a single CR123A 0/100 Rebel, side clicky, 5 mode. It's got a lot of "Wow" factor, it's that bright. I haven't shown it to anyone who hasn't wanted one. I've bought over a half dozen, about 20% of the lights I've gotten are a little dimmer than the rest with a little green tint to the beam. Those are still crazy bright.

I don't know about the EMR1 but in the same format - end clicky DX has a Q4 single CR123A light that would make good gifts, has a nice white tint. http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5435 Just have to make sure that the button doesn't get pushed in your pocket. Is nice and bright, just not much brighter than a good CL-Ev2.

Good luck with the wedding. I've had 2 myself. :D
 
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this thread interests me, but everyone keeps talking about AA lights when the original post stated that it must be 2x cr123 and look like a fenix. I personally wont buy an AA light for any use other than backup or close use only. Any edc i have MUST run on primary lithium Cr123.
 
LOL if my friend showed me the power and beauty of a P3D and then gave me one of these single AA lights, i would think that my friend did not want me to have a light as good as his, and i would feel quite depressed about it.
 
2xTrinity said:
The MTE Rebel 100 is quite nice -- I'd recommend it over the single-mode seoul (I have both). It's brighter, and has better tint.
Click to expand...

Have you ever cleaned the head contacts of the 1mode SSC? That usually makes them brighter and/or stop flickering.
 
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