Looking for affordable AA light Christmas gifts

[jellydonut]

Hey guys

My parents have been trying to get me to recommend flashlights to give as Christmas gifts. We've come to the conclusion that they should be modern LED lights and take 2xAA batteries.

The problem of course is that they are normal people and I'm not so none of my recommendations are wanted.:fail: Of course I couldn't tell them to go out and buy three Surefires or Malkoffs, so I looked at stuff I had never bought but that basically the entire forum has positive opinions of.

First I looked at Fenix and 4sevens - Fenix doesn't have all that many 2xAA lights, and 4sevens lights are made for flashlight fanatics. I'm not going to buy lights with clicky mode changer UIs for normal people, not happening. Then I found the Sunwayman M20A and thought, this is perfect. Not too pricey either.

Of course my parents being normal, boring people (I call them cheapskates, but oh well) they think this is too expensive. 'Can't you get anything decent for less than that?' No, I tell them, anything below that and it's a lottery. You'll have a 50/50 chance of the light being DOA or dead within days of use, Dunkin' Donuts beam, non-centered emitter, a manual in Engrish or maybe just Asian characters with nothing understandable at all, pretty much something completely un-giftable.

So, dear CPF budget lights subsection - I challenge you to prove me wrong. A 2xAA LED light with regulation and a decent amount of output.. Decent being better than a darn Maglite, shouldn't be hard in this day and age. No clicking 30 times to program the light to signal the moon, on and off is fine. Maybe max. 2 modes. Decent build quality and finish, not going to fall apart immediately. $35 or less. Is there such a thing?

I'm pretty sure the answer is 'no', I just need to get it confirmed I guess.:nana:

 

[RedForest UK]

Romisen RC-N3 from shiningbeam. I'm sure you'll get this answer a lot.

In all honesty I was a little underwhelmed by the newer XP-G version and would go for an older XR-E one for better throw and the option of a warm tint. But others may disagree.

The single modes are better really as in 2xAA mode the modes are very close together on the 2 mode versions.

Oh, and if you want solid proven quality then the new Fenix E21's are available new and unopened on the marketplace for $30 from xuancool.

 

[GunnarGG]

Fenix E21!
About $35 at 4sevens after CPF discount.
It has got good reviews and has a simple 2-mode UI.
And go for the neutral white!

 

[mcnair55]

If Aldi exist in your parts,on offer at the mo,a 2 AA cell light,simple ui and a 3 year warranty,bought one myself well pleased with it.Bright and comes with batteries and a clip.

Best bit just a UK £tenner.

From experience I have found a non light person does not care what make it is as long as it works ok.

 

[sol-leks]

there are a number of good 2xAA lights for under 35, but I think the E21 and the romisen rc-n3 already mentioned are your best bets.

 

[jacktheclipper]

+ 1 for RC-N3

 

[jellydonut]

Thanks guys - can't believe I looked past the E21. I was so sure I had gone through all of Fenix' AA lights on 4sevens.com. :fail: I didn't even happen to think about the whopping 8% discount either, that saves the day (and seals the deal)

 

[Mathiashogevold]

Jelly, if you're buying the E21, you should buy it in these days!
The dollar is low, and 35 $ is going for around 195 kroner to 205 kroner, so if you are lucky you can get at at least 1 E21 under the tax limit!

Go for it, i just got a Preon for right under 200 kroner. You should try it out with the E21 too!

 

[rekd0514]

Of course my parents being normal, boring people (I call them cheapskates, but oh well) they think this is too expensive. 'Can't you get anything decent for less than that?' No, I tell them, anything below that and it's a lottery. You'll have a 50/50 chance of the light being DOA or dead within days of use, Dunkin' Donuts beam, non-centered emitter, a manual in Engrish or maybe just Asian characters with nothing understandable at all, pretty much something completely un-giftable.

That would be called being practical. Regular people don't want to spend $78 on something that provides light that they don't use very often. Also saying that you have to spend $78 minimum to get a quality light that isn't broken 50% of the time is completely untrue. There are plenty of lights way below that and usually do the job of providing light better than the more expensive ones. It is just a flashlight and you get a better led for less.

Anyways , I would recommend:
Solarforce L2r (this is a P60 host)
Shiningbeam Romisen RC-N3 R4
EagleTac P100A2
Fenix E21

You can search these places in the US for the best price.
batteryjunction.com - 5% off CPF2010
lighthound.com
shiningbeam.com - 6% off CPFuser
sbflashlights.com - 5% off SBCPF
goinggear.com - 10% off ggcpf10
lightjunction.com 12% off CPFSAVE12

If you don't mind waitng from Honk Kong prices may be cheaper.
itc_shop on ebay is an authorized solarforce dealer as well in HK

 

[jellydonut]

That's what people think, it's just a flashlight, how hard can it be, right? Going by reports on this forum however it to me seemed impossible for the less expensive light manufacturers to QC their products with any kind of regularity. I don't want to send someone a shrinkwrapped nice looking light and have it go dead on them.:fail:

I'm glad to have been contradicted in this view, I hope the E21s will work fine for the.. giftees? recipients? Silly English, oh well.

 

[rekd0514]

If you are settled on the Fenix E21. It looks like this is the cheapest place with the CPF discount.

lightjunction.com 12% off CPFSAVE12

If you order 2+ to get the $.99 shipping on orders over $50, they're ~$31 shipped. That is a pretty good deal honestly.

I would personally go with the Solarforce L2R though, just because it is a P60 host. They are easy to upgrade, mod, can be fixed easily, and the host should last forever.

 

[Kestrel]

Please use CPF/MP for dealer sourcing & CPF discount code information.

 

[Kindle]

Decent being better than a darn Maglite, shouldn't be hard in this day and age. No clicking 30 times to program the light to signal the moon, on and off is fine. Maybe max. 2 modes. Decent build quality and finish, not going to fall apart immediately. $35 or less. Is there such a thing?

(for "normal" nonflashaholics)

Duracell Daylight 2xAA
Coleman Max Cree 2xAA
Energizer e2 Lithium 2xAA
Icon Modus 2
Icon Rogue 2
Minimaglite LED (multi mode)
Rayovac Sportsmen Extreme 3W
Terralux LightStar 220 EX

 

[waddup]

i feel 1 x AA lights are better then 2 x AA lights, smaller, just as bright and you only need 1 battery :thumbsup:

itp a2 (or a3) gets my vote as a gift light. ($21)

 

[rekd0514]

(for "normal" nonflashaholics)

Duracell Daylight 2xAA
Coleman Max Cree 2xAA
Energizer e2 Lithium 2xAA
Icon Modus 2
Icon Rogue 2
Minimaglite LED (multi mode)
Rayovac Sportsmen Extreme 3W
Terralux LightStar 220 EX

There's not really a reason to get any of those when you can get the E21 for $5 more shipped than the ~$25 those cost. You can also get a Solarforce L2r for $23 shipped from itc on ebay.

 

[Kindle]

There's not really a reason to get any of those when you can get the E21 for $5 more shipped than the ~$25 those cost. You can also get a Solarforce L2r for $23 shipped from itc on ebay.

Most of your family isn't going to give a damn about P60 legos nor do they want to mess with online retailers.

Most people want a flashlight that reliably turns on when they click the switch & is easy to replace when needed.

Be sure to tell your great aunt to have fun with her warranty claim to Hong Kong.

The insular community here isn't representative of most family members that will be getting the lights as gifts.

Furthermore I have seen every single one of the lights I listed available between $9.99 to $19.99 on sale (and Black Tuesday is coming up once again).

 

[rekd0514]

They won't care, but it is still better for cheaper and available on ebay. It is a pretty common place these days.

The Solarforce is probably more reliable than anything on that list I would guess and is quite easy to replace.

No one turns in warranty claims on a flashlight anyways. They would just buy a new one.

They are on sale once a year for that good price and you said they are readily available? Also it's Black Friday, not Tuesday.

 

[Sub_Umbra]

You don't need 2xAA to beat out a M/\G. I have a friend of mine who's giving away 1xAA Maratacs. They way outperform M/\Gs, their build quality would cost $20 more from any other company, and the UI is dirt simple.

 

[SirJohn]

(for "normal" nonflashaholics)

Duracell Daylight 2xAA
Coleman Max Cree 2xAA
Energizer e2 Lithium 2xAA
Icon Modus 2
Icon Rogue 2
Minimaglite LED (multi mode)
Rayovac Sportsmen Extreme 3W
Terralux LightStar 220 EX

I think the OP is in Norway so many of these may not be an option and if they are, he probably won't be able to get them for the prices we can in the US. Yeah, I can pick up the Minimag LED for $10 (great deal at that price and for the average joe non-flashaholic its a great gift because of the built up brand cache. The multimode version will give about 60 lumens which is pretty solid at that price point) from time to time here in the states but I doubt they ever see tham that cheap overseas.

 

[Mathiashogevold]

I think the OP is in Norway so many of these may not be an option and if they are, he probably won't be able to get them for the prices we can in the US. Yeah, I can pick up the Minimag LED for $10 (great deal at that price and for the average joe non-flashaholic its a great gift because of the built up brand cache. The multimode version will give about 60 lumens which is pretty solid at that price point) from time to time here in the states but I doubt they ever see tham that cheap overseas.

That's a point, i just saw the Duracell Daylite 2AA at a store here, it did cost 45 $
I also saw a Mini Maglite LED last week, at the price of 70 $. That was the single mode edition.
LOL