Which 1xAAA should I get?

[rwolff]

I currently have a Dorcy 1xAAA LED light, but after a bad experience yesterday (went to use it and found that the tailcap had screwed itself down - battery dead and leaking) I'm looking for something better.

Clearly, the "leave it screwed on loosely" tailcap switch design is a bad one (it can either unscrew, or screw down and turn on) for a flashlight which will be attached to a keyring. Lights I've been considering are:

Arc AAA (body appears to be made of unobtainium instead of aluminum)

Peak Matterhorn, Arc-style body

Peak Matterhorn, "ball end" style body

Mag Solitaire with homebrew LED conversion but retaining "screw head down tight to turn off, unscrew partway to turn on" switch mechanism.

Any other LED 1xAAA that I haven't heard of (yet)

What sort of experience do you guys have with these lights when carried on a keychain? I'm looking for something that's "dunk-resistant", won't turn on accidentally, and won't disassemble itself accidentally. The "ball-end" Matterhorn looks like the keyring attachment might unscrew from the flashlight, but for my purposes this would be more of a "safety valve" than a failure (since the flashlight itself would be intact, rather than having its tailcap come off and allowing the battery to fall out or pocket lint to get in).

 

[Phaserburn]

Though it's been said, many times, many ways...

The Arc AAA is simply the best single AAA/1led light yet made. The Unobtainium (UO) gives it that little something extra.

Seriously, I think the Peak would serve you well here. I read in another post that Coast has a new 1AAA light that's supposed to be pretty good.

 

[DBrier]

What about the Nuwai .5 watt 1AAA?

 

[gorlank]

Wow, didn't know Nuwai made a AAA light, source or pics? Thanks.

 

[Brento]

[ QUOTE ]
gorlank said:
Wow, didn't know Nuwai made a AAA light, source or pics? Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

it's been out for a few months

information thread on it

reviews

More Reviews

Run time plot

buy it

 

[nerdgineer]

Slip a short (3/4") long piece of 1/2" ID clear plastic tubing (acquarium tube from local HW store 69 cents/foot) over the tail cap with maybe 1/4" of the tube on the body. It grips the body and provides plenty of fricton to keep the tail cap in place. Completely gets rid of the auto-on problem, but tail cap can still be turned for constant on or lock out. Costs maybe 5 cents.

 

[2dim]

Check Andrew's Nano rechargeable supermod on this thread:

1.5W PEAK brass mod (lux3) (part2)

 

[Phaserburn]

I have the .5 1AAA Nuwai. There is no place to attach a keychain, even though the light is the correct size.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

 

[Brock]

I have been carrying the .5w for about a month now. It is nice and bright and has a tight beam, but all the paint has worn off the edges and the light is getting harder and harder to get to stay on, it is flickering a lot and you have to mess with the tail cap to get it to stay on. So about 3 days ago I went back to the Peak 3 led AAA, which isn't made anymore from what I understand, I wish it was the size of the Arc, they made it about ¼ inch longer and put a hollow space at the end, just to annoy me /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif You might also want to consider a single N cell light, the shortest of the group, but a tiny bit thicker, but not as thick as the .5w

As for brightness, the Arc is the dimmest, then the Peak 3led N cell, then the Peak 3led AAA and finally the .5w For size the Peak 3led N, Arc, Peak 3led AAA and the .5w.

 

[markdi]

get a micro illuminator - blows them all away

 

[davidra]

I carried an Arc for several years, ended up giving one to my wife and one to my daughter. I replaced them with a Peak 3 LED with the lug body, which Peak is about to reintroduce. Don't get me wrong, I love Arcs...but I like the output of the Peak better. It clearly outthrows, not as much flood, but I like it better. I also have a brass 3 LED with the standard Peak body, and I think it's too long for me. If you want a light that puts out, you can spend and get an LE Arc, or see what Peak comes out with in terms of a lux AAA (probably something like the .5 watt).

 

[Steve C]

A colleague just picked up a Gerber Sonic. While it certainly is not an ARC AAA, it is a decent little pocket light for a very reasonable price.

I'll be getting one for the wife, to replace her Streamlight Keymate. The Sonic is not quite as large as the Keymate (nor as bright), but uses a fairly common battery.

I know, I know, the four button cells in the Keymate are supposed to last for a zillion hours, etc. Trust me; her luck runs like mine. Those cells will die late at night when she's in Bugtussle, Arkansas, and the nearest replacements are 100 miles away.

Anyway, check out the Sonic.

 

[BentHeadTX]

I use a Peak AAA 3 LED light and am pondering getting the lugged tail myself. Under their "coming soon" is the Atlantic 1W AAA so my wife might be getting the 3 LED Peak soon anyway. The Atlantic (Luxeon) AAA might be the light we are all looking for.

 

[The_virus]

Aw blast, I posted a suggestion to end your Dorcy problems in another thread, not realizing you had your own where you'd more likely see it. I'll just c&p my other post and add a bit. It's similar to nerdgineer's suggestion, but using an o-ring of appropriate size. His suggestion might actually work better, but it's nice to have options right? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

You could try putting an extra o-ring around the tailcap to prevent it from screwing itself down, but if the thing was damaged by that battery leak it's probably a lost cause anyway.

If you get a good o-ring, you could probably get it so that if you screw it down yourself...the o-ring pops out until you screw the cap back again. One extra nuisance I know...but for the extra 25-1.25 or whatever you have to spend to get the right kind of o-ring...you could be saving yourself the trouble of finding a good EDC, plus improving your current one.

Again, it's up to you...if you hate that Dorcy there's no point in keeping it...but your problem could possibly be fixed to give the Dorcy another chance.

You could also swing for a slightly larger AA unit. The thread on the Gerber Infinity Ultra is tight and wouldn't screw down. Personally, I carry one clipped to my pocket instead of hung on my key ring, but there is a hole on the tailcap specifically for lanyard/key ring attatchment.

I'd say try nerdgineer's suggestion first...in the worst case scenario you've wasted a whopping 69 cents and still can use these other flashlight suggestions. Tell us if the rubber tubing/o-ring solution works for you if you try it!

 

[UnknownVT]

[ QUOTE ]
rwolff said:
I currently have a Dorcy 1xAAA LED light, but after a bad experience yesterday
Lights I've been considering are:
Arc AAA
Peak Matterhorn, Arc-style body
Peak Matterhorn, "ball end" style body
Mag Solitaire with homebrew LED conversion

[/ QUOTE ]

I've never used the Dorcy 1AAA on my keyrings - because of two main reasons - it's just too big (for me - YMMV) and I've never trusted its flimsy looking wire key-loop.

But I've EDC'd a Dorcy 1AAA from the first day I bought one - I carry it in my other pocket (to my keys) -
I really like its performance in terms of the wide coverage and ratio between the hotspot and side-spill.

Again like some others I have said this in the other thread about Dorcy 1AAA vs. Peak AAA.

Of all the lights you're considering I only have the Arc AAA - although I really like the light - for its quality - the Dorcy 1AAA very simply out performs it - by a WIDE margin.

No, the Dorcy is not as well built, nor does it look as good or efficient - the ArcAAA is streets ahead in build and design/looks.

BUT the very thing I used to criticize the Dorcy 1AAA for is exactly why I now like it so much..... DoH!

I used to criticize the Dorcy 1AAA for being much bigger than strictly necessary for a single AAA light.

It's much wider because of the head and longer because of the tail-switch.

Well I liked the tail-switch immediately before I even bought one - because of its momentary on - it's just so much more convenient to pull the light out of the pocket and press to get an immediate quick shot of light - advantage #1.

Too big - well I discovered much to my own chagrin /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif - that the size (and shape) is exactly what makes the Dorcy 1AAA so comfortable and handy to use in hand - yet it still sits comfortably in the pocket without getting lost - advantage #2

The head (and reflector) is probably responsible for the Dorcy 1AAA's wide coverage and good brightness ratio between the hotspot and side-spill making the light very usable over all of its coverage - I even found it better than other noticably brighter LED light when used outdoors in the unlit countryside...... Dorcy 1AAA's wide coverage is about 82deg - in comparison the ArcAAA at about 64deg is almost tunnel vision like.....advantage #3

Oh, even the "cheesey" rubber insert actually helps using the Dorcy 1AAA as a "mouth light" - I prefer using lips covering teeth hold and the rubber insert makes that much more comfortable and the light weight and balance also helps a lot - advantage #4

Then there's price - advantage #5 thru 10 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Here are some reference threads -

Dorcy 1AAA Outdoors

Light Coverage - spill-diameter Pics

Dorcy 1AAA #2 (vs ArcAAA vs Ultra-G vs Dorcy #1)

Personally I'd just carry it off the keyring -
or try one of the remedies suggested -
I think in terms of sheer usability/performance the Dorcy 1AAA is hard to beat -
but that's IMHO and YMMV /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Lynx_Arc]

My dorcy AAA kept coming apart in my pocket so I took a pair of needlenose pliers and bent/buggered up the threads on the end enough it is a little harder to screw/unscrew and haven't had it come apart/on since.