River Rock 1.5w 2AA

Got this from the current Target sale for $9.88 (good til Feb/27)



This looks the same as the Aurora 1.5w 2AA

Size -


Head -


So this light has a couple of things going against it right off the bat - it's obviously much bigger/longer than a regular 2AA light.

As the head photo shows it uses an optical lens to focus the light to a tight well defined spot with almost no side-spill.

Two of the things I would normally avoid in a flashlight......

Put it down to bargain hunting - at half its usual price at Target this went cheap-cheap at me and since it uses 2 AA batteries (my favorite size) - I couldn't help myself.

How does it do?

vs. Costco 1watt 2AA


vs. Dorcy 1watt Luxeon 3x AAA


vs. Fenix L1 v2.5


The Spot beam of this River Rock 1.5w 2AA seems similar to the charateristics of the Energizer LED HeadBeam -

vs. Energizer LED HeadBeam - 2x Brighter

It almost seems as if the Energizer LED HeadBeam is brighter -
it is NOT - the River Rock 1.5w 2AA hotspot is considerably brighter.

These side-by-side beamshots all have the hotspots grossly over-exposed - and because the RR 1.5w 2AA has hardly any side-spill - the beamsshots cannot convey how much brighter the spot is on the RR 1.5w 2AA and how even/smooth and well defined that spot of light is........

Taking the light outdoors definitely show it strutting its stuff - the beam is well defined and throws a long way with usable light - the spot at 12 feet or more away is of a very useful size and the illumination is very even.

The stairs shots goes a little to convey this -
See "Practical" Beamshots? for details -




and for reference here's a MiniMag 2AA new bulb new batteries - and the Fenix L1 v2.5


Despite the 2 immediate strikes against it - I actually like it for one of its big "negatives" - I like the well defined and smooth/even tight spot light -

It is very useful for outdoors - I actually find this more practical than a 3D MageLite - the RR 1.5w 2AA may not throw as far but for most distances that I need to see outdoors this seems "better".

reminds me of the screensaver "spotlight."

doesn't seem to me like that kinda light would be very practical for realistic illumination needs, much more holly-wood than it is usefull.

mdocod said:

reminds me of the screensaver "spotlight."

doesn't seem to me like that kinda light would be very practical for realistic illumination needs, much more holly-wood than it is usefull.

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:huh2:



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The RR 2AA is the 'shelf queen' of my light collection. Completely useless beam. Hard to press switch to boot.

I give it a 1 out of 5.

BlackDecker said:

The RR 2AA is the 'shelf queen' of my light collection. ... I give it a 1 out of 5.

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Suggest you return the light to Target for a refund since you are so unhappy with it. Target will accept returns up to 30 days.

as one can read in my opening post I was pretty negative about "spot" type lights - before this River Rock 1.5w 2AA.

I've long been an advocate of lights with wide side-spills - wider the better.

I think generally it's because I tend to use the lights indoors and a wide side-spill helps illuminate the rest of the room so that one does not feel like having tunnel vision. And I still stand by that.

I think that's why the MiniMags and MagLites despite the yellow and uneven patchy beams do so well - one can focus the beam toa tight spot for throw - yet the side-spill still shows up the rest of the room.

However doing some of my "Practical" Beamshots (link) - I found that the beamshot of the Nuwai Q3 with its floody spot seem to illuminate those stairs really well.

This started me on a train of thought about narrower almost spot type lights - and kind of thought for myself that these seem to work better outdoors where the side-spill tends to get lost.

We seem to be always tracking things to see with the hotspot and the brighter the hotspot and more even it is the better (within reason of course). For me the MagLites are "optimum" focussed to a tight spot and I tend to use the hotspot to see.

So the River Rock 1.5w 2AA with its almost all spot - seems to fulfill this type of outdoors usage - the spot is well defined and very even - what's more to the point it is pretty big compared to the MagLite and a very usable size when about 12 feet or more away, which is the way I use light outdoors.......

That's the reason I risked saying the RR 1.5w 2AA seems to be better outdoors than the 3D Mag.......

Yeah, the spill gets completely swallowed up outside. Sometimes, I think spill can be bad for long throwing lights because of the glare from the ground directly in front of you.

So what else is on sale at Target?

Kryosphinx wrote: "Yeah, the spill gets completely swallowed up outside. Sometimes, I think spill can be bad for long throwing lights because of the glare from the ground directly in front of you.
So what else is on sale at Target?"

Many thanks for that input.

There's a current thread over in the General Flashlight Discussion section -

Target halves prices on River Rock 2C, 2AA, and reduces MiniMaglites until Feb. 27

There's where I found out about the price of this River Rock 1.5w 2AA.

The RR 1.5w 2C is at $12.88 and MiniMag 2AA are at $6.22 (the Copper colored one in my pic seems to be a Target special).

The River Rock 1/2watt 2AAA is NOT on sale, nor are the Inovas.

Any info on modding this light? How do you even open the top and get to the LED?

grayman4hire said:

Any info on modding this light? How do you even open the top and get to the LED?

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Pages 2 & 3

Current draw at the tail was 0.48A using regular alkaline AA's.

I also played around with the light shiming it off my deck at some greenery - specifically at some pampas grass heads about 30-40 feet away to see how well I could see.

I compared the River Rock 1.5w 2AA spot beam with a bunch of light at hand -

Costco 1w 2AA - in the hotspot the RR was better giving a clearer crisper higher defintion view - but the Costco had the advantage of a wider floody hotspot. However as indicated looking for actual detail with the light the River Rock's spot did do better. (similar results with the Dorcy 1w 3AAA)

Fenix L1 v2.5 - again the Fenix had a wider view and the hotspot was smaller more intense so it could pick out small objects at greater distances - but again looking at stuff in the hotspot the RR 1.5w spot beam did remarkably well despite the fact the Fenix hotspot was tighter and brighter. (same comments apply to the S1801 1w 1x CR123)

LightHound V3 - 3watt 3.6V Rechargeable RCR123 - not really a fair comparison as this light is noticably brighter and it is a floody spot - although this still has a pretty intense central hotspot too. Huge difference - the whole area was lit up by this light - however the RR 1.5w spot beam did still manage to pick out details in the scene well - just at the V3 3watter was just so much brighter. (same comments apply to the Nuwai Q3 on 3.6V RCR123)

So the River Rock 1.5watt 2AA seems to do well over a distance outdoors in picking out detail over any of the good 1watt Luxeons I tried - the well defined spot with very even coverage made for seeing details well.

This may make me rethink what makes for a good outdoors light.....

Of course the 3watters on 3.6V rechargeable RCR123 are in a different class of brightness.......
although the RR 1.5w spot beam still did well - albeit at a lower brightness level but I seem to be able to see the details in the spot.

UnknownVT wrote: "I also played around with the light shiming it off my deck at some greenery - specifically at some pampas grass heads about 30-40 feet away to see how well I could see."

I guess I might be talking to myself..............?

Late last night I described how I saw outdoors with the River Rock 1.5w 2AA spot beam compared to various other flashlights.

I thought some more about this and tried to take some photos of the lights shone on the pampas grass late last night - for another varient of my "Practical" Beamshots (link).

Exposure was below my camera's metering range so it had to be trial and error - after a few tries I settled on the optimum for the Nuwai Q3 on 3.6V RCR123 and LightHound V3 - the brightest lights in the test -
so all the night beamshots were fixed at the same exposure settings -

ISO100, f/4.8, 3.2secs, fixed Daylight white balance - with the lens fully zoomed to 105mm equivalent.

Camera obviously tripod mounted, and fired via 2 sec delay -
flashlights were held as steady as I could rested against a post on my deck.

Lights were shone with their hotspot centered at the base of the front-most pampas head.

The daylight reference shot was taken this morning trying to frame it as close as I could to last nights beamshots - the position was probably within inches of last night's.

Camera settings were ISO100, fixed Daylight white balance, lens fully zoomed to 105mm (equivalent) -
exposure obviously had to be different - I used my camera's Evaluative metering - which set the camera at f/4.8, 1/640sec.

I tried to measure the distance to the pampas grass heads with my optical rangefinder - but it was below the minimum distance of 12 yards - so I stand by my estimate that it's over 30feet - so probably in the range of 30-35 feet - let's "call it" at 33feet or 11 yards.

Daylight Reference

Nuwai Q3 on 3.6V RCR123 ....................................................... LightHound V3 - 3watt 3.6V RCR123

River Rock 1.5w 2AA .............................................................. Fenix L1 v2.5 (fresh alkaline AA)

Costco 1w 2AA


These beamshots should speak for themselves........

But a few comments if I may -
there was some street lighting which turned kind of red/orange in these shots.
The Q3 on 3.6V RCR123 is spectacular....
The (cheaper) LightHound V3 (also on 3.6V RCR123) is even more so in this outdoors situation.
These two lights are simply in another class.

The River Rock 1.5w 2AA spot beam (to me) shows more in its hotspot than the Fenix L1 v2.5, and marginally better than the Costco 1w 2AA - for the latter one has to look at the outermost pampas heads - the River Rock spot includes them and illuminates them about as well as the center of the spot, whereas the Costco shot shows them much less illuminated - although as described previously the center of the Costco beam could be considered better.

I like the River Rock because its spot is very even and for outdoors an adequate/useful size.... and reversing my previously negativity toward spot type lights - to actually quite liking this River Rock 1.5w 2AA for outdoors usage.

The RR2AA is pretty good. Aspherical lens type lights don't get enough respect. I think the light is a little large for practical use and carrying. The button placement is good, but the reverse clickie is too much work. A standard clickie would make this light much better. I tend to prefer my Inova x1 because it is pocket sized and can be used in twisty mode. It has the same tightly focused beam (although not as bright) for pointing out suspects. Even available at the same store, although the price is not as sweet.

UnknownVT said:

I guess I might be talking to myself..............?

I like the River Rock because its spot is very even and for outdoors an adequate/useful size.... and reversing my previously negativity toward spot type lights - to actually quite liking this River Rock 1.5w 2AA for outdoors usage.

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Nice photos, Vincent. I bought 2 more River Rock 1.5w 2AA lights after reading your postings. These were the last 2 in stock at my local Target store. The other Targets I visited had no more 1.5w 2AA lights, but still had plenty of the 1.5w 2C lights instead.

My wife smiled as she told me that her River Rock 2AA 1.5 watt LED light was much brighter than any of the lights used by the government inspectors who visited her job site yesterday.

I just bought one, got home and turned it on. It's the most defined spot beam I have, and it's quite purple around the edge. At 2 meters it looks like about a 12" spot, with a 1" purple edge all around it. Pretty bright. Very long, nice looking build though. Pretty tough button to press and that damn reverse clicky. AA's are good...

For under $10 I'm glad I've got it.

I have to agree with tight beams tend to be more effective outdoors where as flood pattern beams seem to be best suited for indoors (with all the reflective surfaces). In fact when biking or kayaking anything without a very strong hot spot is pretty much usless to me. After saying this it is just my opinion... Just my .02

Over all, I must add, I have been very happy with the Target River Rock line of LED lights.

Got one of the River Rock 2AA's from Target. Took it apart to see if I could improve the beam (broke a strap wrench trying, finally used some PVC pipe and channelocks to get a good grip without chewing up the finish). I removed the black "reflector" and painted it white and added a small strip of white paper to the gap between the reflector and the lens. Now there is much more spill although it is still a bit ringy. I think if the space between the reflector and lens was painted white, things might improve even more.

Far_Field said:

Got one of the River Rock 2AA's from Target. Took it apart to see if I could improve the beam (broke a strap wrench trying, finally used some PVC pipe and channelocks to get a good grip without chewing up the finish). I removed the black "reflector" and painted it white and added a small strip of white paper to the gap between the reflector and the lens. Now there is much more spill although it is still a bit ringy. I think if the space between the reflector and lens was painted white, things might improve even more.

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Would it be possible for you to post a picture of the circuit in this thing,cause I cant get mine apart for nothing,But I am gonna try again tomorrow,Never met a light that was so hard to unscrew,from what I can tell it unscrews in two places..

Thanks
Russ

That Jupiter LED reall puts out, but it's tricky to work with such a tight spot.

chiphead

There is another thread that shows the light disassembled. The head unscrews with great difficulty and the lens is held in the head with a pressed-in section. I used a piece of 1" Schedule 40 PVC pipe (cut the ring open and stretched it to fit the head), then used a piece of 3/4" S40 PVC pipe (cut a small section out of the ring so it can be squeezed down to fit the body of the flashlight). This acts as a cushion so you can use a vise or whatever large wrench you have without marring the finish of the light.