Longest runtime for budget single AA or AAA led light on low setting to be used in tornado shelter

[Jeep guy]

I know this is not a AA or AAA light, but this is what I used to light my house during hurricane Ida last year. Ryobi makes these area lights that clip on top of their 18v power tool batteries. It has 3 light levels, 25L, 170L, and 400L. If you use their 9ah battery, the light has around 40 hours of run time. I had bought 4 of these lights early last year for my emergency supplies and thank god I did. We lost power for a few days here in south Louisiana when hurricane Ida hit us. These lights are about as bright as a table lamp so during the hurricane I used them to light various rooms of the house. I used them for maybe 3 to 4 hours per night for several days until the power came back on and I never had to recharge any of the batteries. I had a generator running outside that I could have used to recharge the batteries if needed.

Now if you have to have just a AAA flashlight, I love my Coast Polysteel 400 flashlight. It has two modes, 400L and 41L. The run time is 3 hours on high and 29 hours on low. It uses 4 AAA batteries. These sell for $25 at Home Depot.

 

[bykfixer]

I like the Pelican 2350 also, but it's a bit above the $35 price point. (around $40.)

 

[Justamessenger]

Nearly all of the quality multiple mode AA flashes on low, or a lower mode like candle will outlast the typical tornado warning duration of 2 hours on quality batteries stored less than a year with an initial multi year life (don't buy disposable batteries without dates, or just stick with new Duracells).

 

[RWT1405]

you would think that, but I had a cheapo one dollar hand crank in the back of my car inside the toolbox for years and that sucker survived basically everything

also I thought we left the ground of reason when he wanted a cheap but reliable survival light, my bad

( for a serious answer, really just get a Malkoff MDC or MD2 and some spare batteries, that thing will outlive your grandchildren )

You've been VERY lucky then, at least from my experience, and anyone I've known that tried to use those pieces of junk

IMHO those "cheapo one dollar hand crank" lights live up to exactly what you paid for them, and I would NEVER trust one as my emergency light for a "tornado shelter".

As to a Malkoff, absolutely!

 

[Arcadefreak49]

Looking for a reliable budget AA- or AAA led light with longest runtime on low setting...doesnt need to have super bright capabilities. Probably 30 lumens or less. 1 or 2 lumens may be a bit to weak to see in the tornado shelter. Ty

Coast, Olight, Maglite, just to name a few.

 

[this_is_nascar]

Sofirn C01 or C01S. These lights have the ability to fire and run on as low as .7-volts, using an AAA cell.

 

[bykfixer]

The C01 is great, but are there any left at Sofirn?

I think they were a limited run of a few thousand but us CPFr's gobbled 'em up by the dozen.

Another nifty thing a couple years back was the Yuji mod in 2aa incan minimags and P60 modules. I had a minimag that had been used off and on for years, stuck a Yuji in it using the same batteries and left it on for 70+ hours. It was still going so I turned it off, and set it aside for emergencies.

 

[fuyume]

My Fenix E12 v2.0 is a great little light. Fenix says 13 hours on an alkaline AA at 30 lumens, or 70 hours at 5 lumens.

I would also suggest the NiteCore LA10 lantern, for 23 hours at 10 lumens.

 

[pumps]

Pak-Lite's Official Website (9v LED Flashlights) - Pak-Lite's Official Website

Official Website -- Pak-Lite LED Flashlights snap to the top of a 9v Battery and provide light for up to 1,200 hours.

9voltlight.com

 

[MrEternalight2]

Looking for a reliable budget AA- or AAA led light with longest runtime on low setting...doesnt need to have super bright capabilities. Probably 30 lumens or less. 1 or 2 lumens may be a bit to weak to see in the tornado shelter. Ty

1000 hours run time. Eternalight - techass.com or ebay -suggest the Ergo/ErgoMarine or ErgoXRay models.

 

[gottawearshades]

1000 hours run time. Eternalight - techass.com or ebay -suggest the Ergo/ErgoMarine or ErgoXRay models.

Wow. These folks are still around?

Have they kept up-to-date on emitters? If they had hih-CRI I would buy one.

 

[this_is_nascar]

The C01 is great, but are there any left at Sofirn?

I think they were a limited run of a few thousand but us CPFr's gobbled 'em up by the dozen.

Another nifty thing a couple years back was the Yuji mod in 2aa incan minimags and P60 modules. I had a minimag that had been used off and on for years, stuck a Yuji in it using the same batteries and left it on for 70+ hours. It was still going so I turned it off, and set it aside for emergencies.

No idea. I have (2) full colored sets, that I'm looking to sell as sets. I didn't know they stopped selling them.

 

[cadcoke5]

Certainly, it is wise to not depend upon a single system. I threw away my $1 squeeze light, because it was impossible to get a steady light from it. Perhaps the capacitor went bad. As for batteries, I am sure there is the issue of potentially forgetting to replace the aging ones 10 years from now. So a mixture of things is wise. And some of those options can be very cheap.

 

[Banzai310]

Just get a zebralight AA. Great at higher settings, can run over 4 months on the lowest setting.

 

[der_horst]

or how about the armytek prime a2, 0.15lm/200d

Small Torch Light Prime A2 | Armytek.com

Small Torch Light Prime A2. ARMYTEK official representative. ✔CREE LEDs. ✔IP68. ✔TIR-optics. Powerful and reliable. The new models. No hassle warranty 10 years.

www.armytek.com

 

[lampeDépêche]

I'm going to recommend this bundle of 4 cheap lights plus batteries:

EVEREADY-Flashlight-Multi-Pack-Emergencies-Batteries

That's part of a big-river link; they currently sell it for $13.99, but check the big-box stores for even better deals. I've seen two-packs of the single D-cell version for about $5 before.

For under $15 bucks you get 4 lights plus batteries for all lights. Two of them are designed to run on AA, two designed to run on a single D-cell each. But the D-cell lights can easily be fed with a single C-cell, AA cell, or AAA cell -- just a bit of tape and tin-foil is all it takes.

I have owned the D-cell lights before, and found them reliable, cheap, and fun. Their boost-circuit will accept fairly low voltage, so you get a long curve of diminishing output, which is what you want in an emergency light. My calendar notes tell me that I turned a pair of them on starting Dec. 29, 2017, and they were still giving usable light on Feb. 6 2018. So, more than a month of run-time on a D-cell; that will mean a week or so for a AA cell.

For emergencies, you want redundancy. And with four lights, you can choose a variety of light-levels, even if each light is only on-off. All of them tail-stand.
Remember, these are cheap -- less than $4 per light, with batteries. So the batteries are not top-end alkali, and the QA is not foolproof. For my money, I'd buy the four-pack, test each of them a few times to make sure the lights work, and then buy some back-up batteries of a better quality.
These are not waterproof, bullet-proof, or tactical cool. They're cheap, simple, dorky, and only medium bright with a full battery. But cheap is good! Having multiples is good!

 

[lampeDépêche]

Dealgrabber -- it looks like PALights are no longer manufactured, and no longer available. I see one on eBay for $100.00 (!!!), but the original site says that they are all sold out.
Or are you referring to Pak-lites? Those are still in business, and offer a good product (though not what the OP asked for).

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

Fenix E12 v.2 for AA or Fenix E01 v.2 for AAA. If you want the longest running, don't go with a cheapo budget light. Get something where they put money into making an efficient circuit. If you're looking for an emergency light to have with you during a time every tool you have on hand is critical to keeping you alive, don't cheap out. Spend a little more to make sure it doesn't fail and get you killed.

 

[dealgrabber2002]

Dealgrabber -- it looks like PALights are no longer manufactured, and no longer available. I see one on eBay for $100.00 (!!!), but the original site says that they are all sold out.
Or are you referring to Pak-lites? Those are still in business, and offer a good product (though not what the OP asked for).

Pak-lite is good as well. More options like modes, glow in the dark, and warm tint. I just throw 9v out cause I remember someone said most batteries were gone except for 9v during disasters. Just another option if OP wanted something else.

 

[Unicorn]

Need something that uses one - AA or AAA battery.

The L91 is a AA battery. It's Energizer's product number for their lithium AA. https://data.energizer.com/pdfs/l91.pdf