Re: What\'s the brightest LED light using AA batt\'s
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Smaug said:
Have you ever considered going Ni-MH? IMO, that is the way to go. Not only do you wind up paying less, but you don't pollute either. I have my Streamlight 4AA loaded with Ni-MH right now, and it is very nice. Carry a set of alkaline AAs as backup, and you're golden.
Also, I believe you can do better than $0.22 apiece for AAs elsewhere online...
Yes here it is:
http://www.cheapbatteries.com/
$0.15 apiece for Kodak Alkalines if you buy 100+ batts. It is about 1/5 of the way down the page. They also have 1800 mAh Ni-MH's for $2.00 apiece, for 4+, which is bloody good when you see how much they cost in the store...
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Smaug said:
Whoops, now to actually attempt an answer to your question. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
I haven't had a ton of experience, so I will just give you my speculations on what experience I have. My Streamlight 4AA is very bright, has a very good flood, and decent throw on account of the hotspot.
The new Streamlight 3AA Luxeon Star is probably brighter, but with a tighter beam and shorter battery/LED life.
Either of those lights is reasonably priced enough to seriously consider it. I would highly recommend the Streamlight 4AA based on my experience.
Here's a link to my mini review on it:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB16&Number=261850&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1
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Smaug, thanks for the link to an alternate cheap battery supplier! Have you bought from cheapbatteries.com, and are they reputable? Do they sell authentic merchandise? I had a bad experience a couple years ago in which an online site sold me fake Energizer AA alkalines then stole my credit card number to rack up fraudulent purchases! Based on that, I've been sort of conservative in my choice of battery supplier. Probably scarred. So, is cheapbatteries known to be 100% legit?
The reason I've stayed away from NiMH is twofold. First, I don't like their tendency to lose their charge over time. I tend to use my flashlights sporadically, so they might sit for some time between uses, but when I need them I want to be able to grab them and have them run at full capability. That's why I've loved using lithium AA's in some of my lights in the past, though others would burn up on them. (Learned that the hard way once.) I've been under the impression that NiMH would let me down in the "sit and wait, then run full bore" department. Second, I was under the impression that NiMH doesn't provide the same runtime as alkalines? Although maybe the newer, higher-capacity ones do?
(Oh yes, third possible problem with NiMH would be that I wanted a power source that would remain available in an extended power outage. I live in the boonies and we sometimes get an such things, hence no way to recharge the batteries...)
I don't know; maybe I'm just a total freak.
