Why is it no one will make this AAA light?

[kongfuchicken]

75 lumens for an hour

My jaws are on the floor!
Is that emitter lumens? Does it come in AA version, ha3? I'll take it? =P

Damn, times have changed!

 

[Marduke]

My jaws are on the floor!
Is that emitter lumens? Does it come in AA version, ha3? I'll take it? =P

Damn, times have changed!

OTF lumens are around 65ish. It is HA-3 (please read the specs on the page). There is no AA version, but the L1D Q5 comes close, with addition of a clicky.

 

[kongfuchicken]

I take it that nimh use is recommended for it?

Oh and please forgive my skepticism and hyjacking the thread... I'm really used to the fact that 2 primary cr123 lithium cells being barely adequate for 75lumens for an hour.

Telling me that a single AAA can do the same is a bit of a "get off my lawn you young critters!" moment for me here. =P

 

[Ilikeshinythings]

You have this thread yet you have not read about the L0D Q4 yet? THis thing is all the rage! I just bought one and it is very nice, compact, sexy, sleek and useful. I can not, however, guarnatee 75 lumens out the front for an hour with an ALKALINE battery. With an E2 lithium, yes, or with a NiMh, probably, but not an alkaline. You will get about half that with alkaline.

 

[KenAnderson]

I've also been looking for a small rugged keychain AAA-light but with
the additional criterion that it needs to be bare metal.

Al/Brass/Ti are all ok as long as they are not coated.

easyled,

You may wish to watch for a used LOTi. Fenix LOD in titanium. It has no coating and I polish mine up every few months to make it like new. Not programmable and it does have 3 levels and 2 additional modes, but I normally only use med, low and high.

A very well made light and priced right compared to most other Ti lights I've seen. I bought two at $100 (unmodded) and $120 (upgraded to Q5 Cree).

 

[KenAnderson]

My jaws are on the floor!
Is that emitter lumens? Does it come in AA version, ha3? I'll take it? =P

Damn, times have changed!

• Five output modes: 30 Lumens(3.5hrs) -> 11 Lumens(8.5hrs) -> 75 Lumens(1hrs) ->Strobe -> SOS

That is pretty impressive.

Ken

 

[KenAnderson]

Is it too hard to ask to get a production AAA light in an Arc AAA or Fenix E0 sized form factor with a high quality HA-III finish that has two and only two modes?! High = 30 lumens and low = 3 lumens.

Not exactly what you're asking for but the TNC Key-Lux AAA are sometimes seen used with a flupic that has three levels and an adjustable low and medium. I believe the high is locked. I have one and have the low set at around 1 lumen and the medium set to 20 lumens. To my eyes, the 1 lumen is perfect for night and the 20 is perfect for day use.

Ken

 

[fordwillman]

Well, I agree with the poster...there are some good lights and the new LOD Q4 is getting close, but do agree that a lower low is very much needed. I really appreciate the modded lights--but my pocket book does not!
So, come on Fenix or Arc!!!

 

[easilyled]

easyled,

You may wish to watch for a used LOTi. Fenix LOD in titanium. It has no coating and I polish mine up every few months to make it like new. Not programmable and it does have 3 levels and 2 additional modes, but I normally only use med, low and high.

A very well made light and priced right compared to most other Ti lights I've seen. I bought two at $100 (unmodded) and $120 (upgraded to Q5 Cree).

Thanks, yes these lights have interested me.

I don't have any modding skills though and would prefer to have the
latest generation leds.

Your Q5 upgrade sounds great.

Did you do that yourself?

 

[paulr]

lots of times folks ask for lower low when what they really want is either a red led or wider flood. just sayin'.

 

[Khaytsus]

lots of times folks ask for lower low when what they really want is either a red led or wider flood. just sayin'.

Perhaps, but defininetly NOT me. I do want want red at all, and a really wide flood with low output is pretty useless. As is a really tight beam with really low output, but a spot with good side spill with a very low low would be great in an AAA.

The L0D low is quite too bright, I still wonder if mine is REALLY high or my Arc AAA is a lot weaker than it's supposed to be.. I always thought the Arc AAA was around 5l and the L0D should be around 8l, so the difference shouldn't be as huge as it is.

 

[Gatsby]

I'll add to those suggesting the Liteflux LF2. It really is not that hard to program it and once programmed it is truly "set it and forget it". This is particularly true of you want P1 to be the lowest setting and P2 to be 100%. It ramps down or up so just wait until the light stops changing and save that level with a 3X twist.

Heck send it to me and I'll program it for you!

 

[KenAnderson]

Thanks, yes these lights have interested me.

I don't have any modding skills though and would prefer to have the
latest generation leds.

Your Q5 upgrade sounds great.

Did you do that yourself?

I did and it wasn't as tough as I was expecting. Most difficult was getting to the insides

I hope you find the perfect AAA.

Ken

 

[IcantC]

Why not just get one of those cheap small LED photon style keychain light for bathroom trips and save yourself the hassle/frustration? It should also be a cheap solution.

FWIW I have a keychain YG LED light I received from Toyota. It seems very dim, but is the best thing to use for night adapted vision.

 

[Anarchocap]

Why not just get one of those cheap small LED photon style keychain light for bathroom trips and save yourself the hassle/frustration? It should also be a cheap solution.

I actually bought myself a new Photon Freedom because they have the new DX Nichias. For $11.50, you honestly can't beat that given the UI and the size. However, I'd much rather have a standard battery size like AAA and the new Nichias still only put out about 10 lumens.

Honestly, I think the next rev of the Nichia LEDs that become twice as bright are really going to start meeting my needs as an overall EDC light. I bet we'll see that in 18 months.

It'd be nice if Photon would make a Proton in AAA, sans red LED. I think that would be a nice package if it was small enough. Given the prices that Photon charges though, it would be too expensive for what it is.

 

[Wrace]

I can't understand why no manufacturer has embraced the AAA platform and made a true EDC pocket light?

Is it too hard to ask to get a production AAA light in an Arc AAA or Fenix E0 sized form factor with a high quality HA-III finish that has two and only two modes?! High = 30 lumens and low = 3 lumens.

Can I be the only one that wants to buy something like this?

You are not the only one, I would like something like this as well, but we are on a forum where flashlights are a hobby for many folks and they like the latest and greatest tech stuff. Not that there is anything wrong with this btw, and the institutional knowledge present on this forum make it an unmatched resource for flashlight info. Along with the fact that the people on this forum give freely of their info to anyone who posts a question. It's these very people who drive the manufacturers to build better products that ultimately benefit not only the flashlight hobbyist but those of us non hobbyist as well...

Having said that, as a simpleton utility flashlight user I am frustrated by the increasingly complex user-interfaces these days. As an example, this is the operating instructions taken off the fenix site for the LOD Q4

Operation
Turn the head of the flashlight clockwise to turn on the flashlight. A counter-clockwise turn will then switch it off. To switch between output modes, turn the light on, then turn it off. Within 1.5 seconds after turning the light off, turn it on again and it will be switched to the next output mode. Repeat this process to continue switching through the modes. If the light is turned off for over 1.5 seconds, the regulative circuit will be reset and the light will default to its primary mode the next time it is turned on.

Too me, this type of user interface is ridiculously complex, boarding on absurd.

Can I figure out how to run it? Yes I can...
Can I program things? Yes I can...
Do I have the skills and tools necessary to mod lights? Yes I do...
Can I order parts to mod lights? Yes I can...
Can I get the tech info on how to mod lights from CF? Yes I can...

Do I want to do the above... uh, no. Should I have to do the above just to run a flashlight? Probably not.

Read those operating instructions again, all that just to turn on a flashlight???

So, yes, I too would like a flashlight spec'd out like the OP suggests. Actually I would like to add one more thing to that list, and that would be the ability to run on regular old AAA type batteries. None of this Ni-mi battery stuff (or whatever the term is). I buy my AA and AAA batteries at costco in bulk, and would like my flashlights to run on them.

Anyway, thanks for listening. I don't want to give the impression that I am ranking on the users of this forum in any way. I am truly appreciative of the participants in this forum and their contribution of knowledge. I'm just a frustrated simpleton flashlight user who had to get that off my chest I guess.

 

[PurpleDrazi]

I also recommend the LF-2 . . I had an LOD-CEQ2

How would you compare the brightness of the LF-2 vs the LOD, both on max - using 10440's?

Thanks!!

Francis

 

[Lite_me]

Quote:
Operation
Turn the head of the flashlight clockwise to turn on the flashlight. A counter-clockwise turn will then switch it off. To switch between output modes, turn the light on, then turn it off. Within 1.5 seconds after turning the light off, turn it on again and it will be switched to the next output mode. Repeat this process to continue switching through the modes. If the light is turned off for over 1.5 seconds, the regulative circuit will be reset and the light will default to its primary mode the next time it is turned on.

Too me, this type of user interface is ridiculously complex, boarding on absurd.

This, has me scratching my head. It shows how differently people perceive things.

To me, nothing could be simpler. Turn the head one way to turn the light On, turn back the other way to turn it Off.
How could that be any simpler? :thinking:
If you want a different light level once On, do it again quickly.
That's it! :shrug:
It can't get any easier than that.

 

[Marduke]

Having said that, as a simpleton utility flashlight user I am frustrated by the increasingly complex user-interfaces these days. As an example, this is the operating instructions taken off the fenix site for the LOD Q4

Operation
Turn the head of the flashlight clockwise to turn on the flashlight. A counter-clockwise turn will then switch it off. To switch between output modes, turn the light on, then turn it off. Within 1.5 seconds after turning the light off, turn it on again and it will be switched to the next output mode. Repeat this process to continue switching through the modes. If the light is turned off for over 1.5 seconds, the regulative circuit will be reset and the light will default to its primary mode the next time it is turned on.

Too me, this type of user interface is ridiculously complex, boarding on absurd.

Can I figure out how to run it? Yes I can...
Can I program things? Yes I can...
Do I have the skills and tools necessary to mod lights? Yes I do...
Can I order parts to mod lights? Yes I can...
Can I get the tech info on how to mod lights from CF? Yes I can...

Do I want to do the above... uh, no. Should I have to do the above just to run a flashlight? Probably not.

Read those operating instructions again, all that just to turn on a flashlight???

So, yes, I too would like a flashlight spec'd out like the OP suggests. Actually I would like to add one more thing to that list, and that would be the ability to run on regular old AAA type batteries. None of this Ni-mi battery stuff (or whatever the term is). I buy my AA and AAA batteries at costco in bulk, and would like my flashlights to run on them.

Anyway, thanks for listening. I don't want to give the impression that I am ranking on the users of this forum in any way. I am truly appreciative of the participants in this forum and their contribution of knowledge. I'm just a frustrated simpleton flashlight user who had to get that off my chest I guess.

1) How is the operation complicated? You turn the light on (duh). If you want a different level, turn it off and back on quickly, and you are at a different level. It's simple as turning it off and on, no programing required.

2) Any modern electronics, whether they be flashlights, digital cameras, etc. need a better battery than alkalines. It's not that these "new fangled flashlights" are designed specifically for NiMH, just that alkalines have little place in the modern world. They are simply inferior. They sag under any sort of load and don't perform well.

Will modern electronics work on alkalines? Yes. Should you run ANY modern electronics on alkalines? Not if you can help it. It's so much cheaper to run them on rechargable NiMH, and they run so much longer on one set of batteries.

Do alkalines still have a place? Sure, for low current applications like wall clocks and remote controls.

I think you would be greatly pleased if you picked up and tried out a good set of Low Self Discharge NiMH cells like Eneloop or Rayovac Hybrids.

 

[Khaytsus]

Having said that, as a simpleton utility flashlight user I am frustrated by the increasingly complex user-interfaces these days. As an example, this is the operating instructions taken off the fenix site for the LOD Q4

Too me, this type of user interface is ridiculously complex, boarding on absurd.

Turning the flashlight on and off is ridiculously complex????