Replacement for Preon 2?

[black_ice_pc]

Hi all,
I bought a NW Preon 2 a short while back, and while I love the tint, I'm somewhat unimpressed by the throw. I didn't expect it to be amazing or anything, but it's usable distance is maybe 75 feet in near complete dark. I define usable distance as the max distance where you are able to distinguish a human figure easily.

Like I said, I wasn't expecting a thrower by any means. If it had a SMO reflector instead of the OP I'd probably be satisfied, but it's just not quite enough punch as is I don't think. SO, what are some recommendations for AAA/AA(or cr123) lights in the $45 range or less that would have a better throw, while still achieving comparable lumens? I realize that a cr123 format is probably going to provide more of what I'm looking for, so it's not out of the question.

I want:
pocket clip
AAA/AA(or cr123, but AAA/AA is preferred for size)
150+ lumens
effective distance of 150ft+
NW tint is a plus
multi-mode is a plus

I should also note that my Preon 2 came with what looks like thermal paste smeared on the dome of the LED on one side. Not bad, but still definitely there. So whether I decide to keep this light or not, it's going back for replace/return.

 

[HKJ]

In AAA format the Fenix LD05 and the EagleTac PN20a2 has more throw.
You can see some comparative beamshots in my penlight beamshot collection. But it is probably not enough to satisfy you requirement.

 

[black_ice_pc]

Thanks HKJ, your comparison was quite thorough. It seems like the Preon might be my best choice in the penlight format after all? I looked at the LD05 and PN20a2 beamshots, but they look pretty much identical to the Preon. From a 1st person perspective, how much more throw do they provide? As in how much further do they reach at comparable brightness?

 

[HKJ]

Thanks HKJ, your comparison was quite thorough. It seems like the Preon might be my best choice in the penlight format after all? I looked at the LD05 and PN20a2 beamshots, but they look pretty much identical to the Preon. From a 1st person perspective, how much more throw do they provide? As in how much further do they reach at comparable brightness?

If you look at the beamshots you can see PN20A and LD05 has brighter center, on the green graph you can see that they have around 50% more lux.
But you need four times the lux to double the throw distance, i.e. 50% is not much improvement.
And the Preons greater total output with a wider beam is probably more useful most of the time.
A AA light with LiIon battery or a CR123 light will probably be the best solution for a small light with more throw.
The old RRT-0 is a good thrower with AA LiIon or CR123, it can also use regular AA, but with reduced output.
A Quark AA with LiIon or Quark CR123 are good light with some throw, but they are not optimized for throw.
I have a beamshot with most of these lights here.
For AA lights I have one here, JetBeam Jet-I pro V3 is the best thrower in that collection with Quark AA on LiIon in second place.

 

[HarveyRich]

If you want small, then the Quark MiNi 123 or MiNi AA (with 14500 li-ion batteries) will outhrow the Preon 2 and have almost as large a hotspot--likely with more lumens overall too. The itP A3 EOS (with 10440 li-ion batteries) also is very small and has more throw and probably lumens as well. However, if you use li-ion batteries in those two lights, remember that you can't get protected batteries because of their small size. So, you need to be somewhat careful when using them for a while and remember to recharge more frequently. The likely end point of over discharging will be a dead battery, not an explosion. I've never gotten to that point with either of these. The RCR 123s come protected, if that is a concern and you don't mind the slightly fatter light.

 

[LEDninja]

I did some slogging through selfbuilt's reviews.

4Sevens Preon Review (1xAAA & 2xAAA)
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=258156
Selfbuilt's throw# for the Preon 2 is 32 = black_ice_pc distance of 75 ft.
So Selfbuilt's throw# of 64 = black_ice_pc distance of 150 ft.
There is no other AAA light in that review with better throw.

4Sevens Quark Mini AA-2 (XP-G R5) Review
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=296756
Selfbuilt's throw# of 42 = black_ice_pc distance of 98 ft
Twisty, same length as Preon 2, pocket clip.

1xAA Round-up Review
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=224932
ITP SA1 R2. Pocket clip.
Eneloop Selfbuilt's throw# of 56 = black_ice_pc distance of 131 ft
AW 14500 Selfbuilt's throw# of 76 = black_ice_pc distance of 178 ft
-
Quark MiNi AA. No clip
Eneloop Selfbuilt's throw# of 30 = black_ice_pc distance of 70 ft
AW 14500 Selfbuilt's throw# of 56 = black_ice_pc distance of 131 ft

1xCR123A/RCR Round-up
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=201117
Quark 123, R2 Edition or Quark 123 Tactical, R2 Edition. Pocket clip.
Selfbuilt's throw# of 73 = black_ice_pc distance of 171 ft
Make sure you go not get the R5 edition by mistake!!!
Selfbuilt's throw# of 50 = black_ice_pc distance of 117 ft

You can go through the reviews to check out the other lights. Many of the better throwing R2/Q5 lights are gone or they may ship you a 'free upgrade' to the floody R5 LED.

 

[black_ice_pc]

I did some slogging through selfbuilt's reviews.

4Sevens Preon Review (1xAAA & 2xAAA)
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=258156
Selfbuilt's throw# for the Preon 2 is 32 = black_ice_pc distance of 75 ft.
So Selfbuilt's throw# of 64 = black_ice_pc distance of 150 ft.
There is no other AAA light in that review with better throw.

4Sevens Quark Mini AA-2 (XP-G R5) Review
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=296756
Selfbuilt's throw# of 42 = black_ice_pc distance of 98 ft
Twisty, same length as Preon 2, pocket clip.

1xAA Round-up Review
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=224932
ITP SA1 R2. Pocket clip.
Eneloop Selfbuilt's throw# of 56 = black_ice_pc distance of 131 ft
AW 14500 Selfbuilt's throw# of 76 = black_ice_pc distance of 178 ft
-
Quark MiNi AA. No clip
Eneloop Selfbuilt's throw# of 30 = black_ice_pc distance of 70 ft
AW 14500 Selfbuilt's throw# of 56 = black_ice_pc distance of 131 ft

1xCR123A/RCR Round-up
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=201117
Quark 123, R2 Edition or Quark 123 Tactical, R2 Edition. Pocket clip.
Selfbuilt's throw# of 73 = black_ice_pc distance of 171 ft
Make sure you go not get the R5 edition by mistake!!!
Selfbuilt's throw# of 50 = black_ice_pc distance of 117 ft

You can go through the reviews to check out the other lights. Many of the better throwing R2/Q5 lights are gone or they may ship you a 'free upgrade' to the floody R5 LED.

Thanks for the detailed response!
So it looks like the Preon 2 is indeed the best AAA format penlight out there. I guess now it's just a matter of whether it's enough for me. I'm really loving the tint, and as I've been using it (carefully so as to not damage the delicate anodizing ), I've become more accustomed to the output. I think the problem was the initial expectations were a little high, considering my main comparison is a 123^2 Turbo which blows it away both in output and throw(especially throw). This is clearly not a fair comparison. So I've been carrying only the Preon 2 for the past few nights, and it's warming(or neutral-ing, heheh) up to me.

Thanks all for the very helpful responses. I appreciate the insight alot!