slimmish 1AA throwers?

[Paul_in_Maryland]

I'm looking for a 1AA or 1x14500 thrower to keep on my keyring alonside my 1AA flooder, a Peak El Capitan (18mm wide). It can be as long as 125mm, but I'd like it to have a head no wider than 22mm. The best 1AA throwers are turboheads; the next-best have heads that are 25mm or wider (JetBeam Jet-1 Pro, ITP SA1, Romisen RC-G2, and so on). I've ordered a Balder SE-1 (24mm) XP-E R3. If that proves too wide for comfort, I'll be looking for something slimmer. What do you recommend?

Dereelight C2H XP-E R3 (23mm)?
Quark AA XR-E R2 (22mm)?
Olight i15 (21.5mm)?
Nitecore EZ AA with an XPE-R2 (17mm)?
Nitecore EZ AA with an XRE-R2 (17mm)?
one of the cheaper Chinese brands?
something else?

Since I have the Peak for flood, I'm not looking for a compromise beam, so I'm guessing that XP-G and XM-L lights won't have the throw I'm looking for.

If the light can accept a 14500, I'll be using a CR14505 3V lithium primary cell. If it can't, I'll be using a 1.6V Energizer primary cell.

 

[alohasurftoad]

lumintop L1A, xp-g, 14500
jetbeam jet I pro v3, xr-e, 14500

 

[Paul_in_Maryland]

lumintop L1A, xp-g, 14500
jetbeam jet I pro v3, xr-e, 14500

Thanks, but at 26 and 25mm, these are 3mm and 4mm too wide.
I've gone back and highlighted my 22mm requirement to clarify that thinness is a priority.

 

[bigchelis]

The Peak Logan bezels fit the AA body you have and will look like this:
http://homepage.mac.com/philrobinson/Pictures/cpf/elcapitan2.jpg

The most impressive throw I have ever witnessed from such a small bezel has been the Peak Logan bezel..

Also, the EagleTac P100A2 AA size ligthts with SMO Reflectors and XP-E Q5 emitters, if they made a single AA variant it would win hands down.. If I recall I got 9~10K lux outf of those.



bigC

 

[Paul_in_Maryland]

Thanks, bigchelis. If the Logan is the best thrower that's 22mm or slimmer, I won't need a new light: this month, I bought the Logan's AA twin, the Peak Volcan, with a narrow beam (about 8 degrees). But even on a 3V lithium cell, the Volcan's throw pales beside the throw of my Romisen RC-G2. Maybe the Logan/Volcan needs 3.7V to shine.

As for the EagleTac P100Ax, its head is 25mm--too wide. But I know what you mean: The single-cell P10A was quite a thrower.

Any other slimmer-than-22mm AA throwers?

 

[phantom23]

Any other slimmer-than-22mm AA throwers?

No. To achieve good focus you need proper optics. Proper also means big enough. You can't get a thrower from 22mm head, it's impossble to get good throw using such small reflector/optics.

 

[kaichu dento]

Paul, you've already listed my choice and I believe it would prove to be the slimmest of the whole group - EZAAw, of which I still have two is a surprisingly throwy little light that I run 14500's in, takes less space than some AAA lights and has the easiest UI ever with it's successive switching.

 

[Flying Turtle]

My slimmest AA thrower is one of the original EZAA's. It measures about 16mm in diameter.

Geoff

 

[phantom23]

EZ AA is suprisingly throwy for such a tiny light, thing is - it's not throwier than most of thicker (but still below 22mm) lights.

 

[Paul_in_Maryland]

From these 2010 Australian beamshots, taken at 25 meters, it appears that Phantom23 is correct. Among EDC 1AA lights, the EZ AA's throw is trounced by the throw of the Nitecore D10 (XPE-R2, 19mm) and Fenix LD10 (XRE-Q5, 21.5mm). At 25m, the EZ AA's beam can barely be seen.

That said, I wonder whether the EZ AA would rival the other two if you loaded each with a 3V or 3.7V cell.

 

[kaichu dento]

Those of us citing the EZAA were doing so in regards to your title, suggesting you wanted something slim. Definitely more output with the 14500 in it.

 

[bigchelis]

From these 2010 Australian beamshots, taken at 25 meters, it appears that Phantom23 is correct. Among EDC 1AA lights, the EZ AA's throw is trounced by the throw of the Nitecore D10 (XPE-R2, 19mm) and Fenix LD10 (XRE-Q5, 21.5mm). At 25m, the EZ AA's beam can barely be seen.

That said, I wonder whether the EZ AA would rival the other two if you loaded each with a 3V or 3.7V cell.

You definitely need IMR 14500 or AW 14500 cells in these to see them trully shine.

Small 16mm~22mm bezel type lights are not going to throw per say. But at 5K~8K lux, that is amazing considering they will offer that with reflectors or Optics.

To put things into perspective. The small (actually huge and heavy) Aspheric type of lights like lenslight mini off AW CR123 at 1.2A to the XR-E R2 do a whopping 6K lux or so and thats with an Aspheric. So, for an even smaller light to have similar throw but with an Optic its trully amazing.

bigC

 

[Font size]

EZ AA's throw is trounced by the throw of the Nitecore D10 (XPE-R2, 19mm) and Fenix LD10 (XRE-Q5, 21.5mm).

First time I ever heard of a Ez aa (r2) with 14500 getting beat out by another Nitecore. Where did you get that?

 

[Animalmother]

Just curious guys, aren't these old lights?
I was looking for the same deal before, I looked for the LD10 XR-E, thing is I couldn't find it as it's long since been discontinued.
And the CPFM is good an all but I'm not sure if I'd want a light that was used this long and these lights came out sometime ago.

 

[kaichu dento]

Just curious guys, aren't these old lights?
I was looking for the same deal before, I looked for the LD10 XR-E, thing is I couldn't find it as it's long since been discontinued.
And the CPFM is good an all but I'm not sure if I'd want a light that was used this long and these lights came out sometime ago.

Do you really think we'd be talking about some of these lights if we didn't think well of them? I hope you're not deceived into the type of marketing-think that leads one to believe that unless something is the latest & greatest that it's not worth consideration.
So slim and eminently useful, there's a lot of them out there still putting in good service and they should have been a continuing line for years to come. I'd love to have a hCRI XP-G version, but that doesn't change a thing about the value of the 'already old' EZAAw.

 

[Animalmother]

You got me wrong entirely. I don't know where you came up with that response. I made it clear the XR-E and XP-E are my favorite emitters before many times.
I meant that them being old it may be heard to get them without getting them in the marketplace and by now they'd be pretty used unless you can find them new somewhere. I had a hard time trying to get my Jet 1 Pro R2 brand new but I did, when it came it had a defective UI

As I said, I looked for the LD10 XR-E and the thing was that I couldn't find it as it's long since been discontinued. Some vendors have the same ads for the older lights but the lights are the updated version and the ad not updated. I am talking about getting them in stock new.

After searching, I did actually find the LD10 Q5 in a few hits. Looking to see what other have to say about a slim thrower before I get one.

 

[kaichu dento]

You got me wrong entirely. I don't know where you came up with that response. I made it clear the XR-E and XP-E are my favorite emitters before many times.
I meant that them being old it may be heard to get them without getting them in the marketplace and by now they'd be pretty used unless you can find them new somewhere. I had a hard time trying to get my Jet 1 Pro R2 brand new but I did, when it came it had a defective UI:(

As I said, I looked for the LD10 XR-E and the thing was that I couldn't find it as it's long since been discontinued. Some vendors have the same ads for the older lights but the lights are the updated version and the ad not updated. I am talking abut getting them in stock new.

After searching, I did actually find the LD10 Q5 in a few hits. Looking to see what other have to say about a slim thrower before I get one.

It can be pretty hard finding some of these great classics and I guess all we can do at times is hope that someone else will bring the concept back in even better form, or that NiteCore would re-release it.

I never did get one of the red or blue ones and those would be harder than hens teeth to find now. Still, if someone likes the concept of the EZAA, it's going to get used and used is better than none at all, at least for me.

 

[Paul_in_Maryland]

First time I ever heard of a Ez aa (r2) with 14500 getting beat out by another Nitecore. Where did you get that?

I guess I wasn't clear. When I wrote,
"That said, I wonder whether the EZ AA would rival the other two if you loaded each with a 3V or 3.7V cell"
I meant "if you loaded each of the three,"--that is, I meant to imply that the all three had been tested on a 1.3V NiMH cell.

 

[Paul_in_Maryland]

Paul, you've already listed my choice and I believe it would prove to be the slimmest of the whole group - EZAAw, of which I still have two is a surprisingly throwy little light that I run 14500's in, takes less space than some AAA lights and has the easiest UI ever with it's successive switching.

I'm ready to cry. Over Thanksgiving weekend, I gave away three slim 1AA lights to relatives: a Fenix LD15, a Tank007 EO7 Osram, and a Nitecore EZ AA Warm. Judging from the comments in this thread, I would have thought more highly of the EZ AA W's throw if I had tried it on a 3V or 3.7V cell. But for several reasons, I no longer wish to use 3.7V lithium-ions. And I was never able to get the EZ AA to work with a 3V CR14505 cell, because the cell was too short. I had ordered a stack of 1mm magnets, but they didn't arrive till I had given away the lights.

I'm tempted to buy an EZ AA R2 being sold OEM (unlabeled) for $24 shipped; search for ""World's smallest AA XRE-R2 Led Flashlight". As I write, there are 13 left, but I suspect they'll be gone in a couple days, now that I've shared this link. Despite the seller's description, I believe all R2s were XP-Es, yes? Or were there two R2s: An XR-E R2 (130 lumens) and an XP-E R2 (145 lumens)? If two versions were made, would both be able to take a 3V cell? The XP-E seems too small to dissipate all that heat.

In any case, here's what one buyer said of it on another forum:

I received that exact light a couple of days ago, I have the EZ123w and EZCR2w from first runs and this is certainly OEM unmarked Nitecore. It is actually slightly better quality if anything than the two I had before, the threading has no play at all and the anodizing is awesome. I think this is because it is a later run with the R2. It uses EZ900 size XR-E die so incredible throw for a light it's size. Fully current regulated and an incredible buy at $23.95 shipped.​

 

[kaichu dento]

I'm ready to cry. Over Thanksgiving weekend, I gave away three slim 1AA lights to relatives: a Fenix LD15, a Tank007 EO7 Osram, and a Nitecore EZ AA Warm. Judging from the comments in this thread, I would have thought more highly of the EZ AA W's throw if I had tried it on a 3V or 3.7V cell. But for several reasons, I no longer wish to use 3.7V lithium-ions. And I was never able to get the EZ AA to work with a 3V CR14505 cell, because the cell was too short. I had ordered a stack of 1mm magnets, but they didn't arrive till I had given away the lights.

Paul, you could do what I've done several times, and for different reasons each time, but usually offering a light they might like better. I'd look through what I've got, or think of the personality of the person who got the EZAAw and try to match them with another option that would be a good fit.

I gave one friend an L0D a couple years ago and had to pry it out of him with an SS LD01. He didn't want to let go of the special light he'd gotten from me even though he liked the new one better, but relented finally as the new one was still from me. Right now I'm letting a friend use an SC50w and may end up with an LF2XT back out of it, as he seems to really like the function and front switch on the newer light.

The only reason I've ever heard from anyone of my friends or family for not taking another light in exchange has been either that they specifically loved the light they already had, or that it was special since it came as a gift, in which case they relented and took the light they liked better.