What's the brightest flashlight for around $20 or less?

Hey guys, I am in search of a new flashlight now and am looking for the brightest flashlight available for around $20 or less. The battery type isn't all that big of a concern but AA is preferable and I would prefer a sleek thin body than one with a "turbo" head. Thanks guys. And of course has to be LED, Cree or SSC.

this is a good one http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1995 very bright for its size

jbosman1013 said:

this is a good one http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1995 very bright for its size

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I second that light!

Yup MTE is bright and there is a new one with 5 modes and cree version just for fun.

Is there a similar 2AA version?

Second question, do they make any headlamps?

Well, you might try this....

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4452

Also, you may want to buy an inexpensive battery charger and some rechargable CR123A batteries so you can use more powerful cartridges. The following flashlight is great, despite its one-mode capability.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3379

DX is a great place to shop. I'd stick to the UltraFire flashlights and ignore the rest.

Confederate said:

Well, you might try this....

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4452

Also, you may want to buy an inexpensive battery charger and some rechargable CR123A batteries so you can use more powerful cartridges. The following flashlight is great, despite its one-mode capability.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3379

DX is a great place to shop. I'd stick to the UltraFire flashlights and ignore the rest.

Click to expand...

About how many lumens would the second one output?

If you want a 1aa pocket LED light, the 1-level MTE is a great value, basically a 15 dollar clone of the lamented Fenix L1P. However if you want max lumens you have to go for bigger lights and you may have to go incandescent--example (AA powered): PT Surge, which uses eight AA's and a halogen bi-pin lamp. Of course a 10 dollar Walgreens SLA spotlight will crush any of these lights.

The DX 1995 "MTE 1AA SSc" is pretty dang bright for $14.50 (I think) and the only nit I have to pick with it is a clickie that is FIRM and must be pushed in the center.

I've gotten much better at operating it with practice....

johnny13oi said:

About how many lumens would the second one output?

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I can't give you a number, but I can tell you that it puts my four D-Cell MagLite to shame. The light's not much bigger than my thumb, but it lights up my entire back yard woods lot. The head gets a little warm the longer it's on, but that doesn't bother me much, especially in the winter.

It's becoming my everyday carry light. It's definately brighter than the 1-cell AA light, but I'd be comfortable with either.

The little 123A light does wow more people when I demonstrate it at night. It always impresses me. The clip is much nicer than the cord. I even like the twist bottom. You can set it on a table after a power outage and it will give tremendous light output for about an hour.

Confederate said:

Well, you might try this....

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4452

Also, you may want to buy an inexpensive battery charger and some rechargable CR123A batteries so you can use more powerful cartridges. The following flashlight is great, despite its one-mode capability.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3379

DX is a great place to shop. I'd stick to the UltraFire flashlights and ignore the rest.

Click to expand...

Agreed, but MTE is the exception plus several other. Its build is less than C3 but brightess is really good(better than C3 in 1xAA setup in my opinion). Again really good for the money. As Ultrafire C3 it is not as bright as MTE with 1xAA or maybe the light tint(almost purple) that fooling around with my eyes. I ordered MTE 5 modes SSC and several other 1xAA lights i'll let you know. So far my favourite MTE SSC 1xAA.

fyi. Ultrafire C3 amp draws is like this
1xAA 1.2a
2xAA 0.55
i assume 1xAA or 2xAA is not much different in brightness. m i right? i would say 2xAA or 1x14500 wouldnt make much different.
can aynone measure amp draw with 14500?

Actually I'm not too happy with the MTE I got. I picked up two of them thinking they'd be nice AA lights, one of them was a little brighter than the other and one of them also flickers or doesn't come on unless you play with it a little either tightening or loosening it first.

I also don't think it's very bright compared to an Elly Cree that I also got at the same time.

Maybe I just got a couple of bad ones.

Henry33, try cleaning the contacts. If that doesn't help, try using a bit of foil around where the head meets the body.

For maximum brightness using batteries other then AA, maybe this one? Or this one? Or this one? Or even this one?

The MTE or the C3 are both good choices if you plan on running AA batteries.

I do have one of the last one mentioned and that's one of the best, brightest and smallest CR123 that I have. The only thing I don't like about it is the twistie, I think a clickie would be better. The brighest one I have I think is the EJY Cree 18650. A bit bulky though.

Anyway, played with the MTE a little more, it's the same whether I use a regular AA or NiMH. I have a Fenix L2T and it's about the same brightness as low mode, nowhere near as bright when I have the L2T on high.
Probably one of the dimmest lights that I have, but then again most of the ones I have are CR123 or 18650's. I wouldn't mind a nice 2 AA flashlight that's just as bright as a CR123.

One of the DX deals where you get a 123 light with a 2AA kit sounds like what you want. It's but one of the things on my wish list!

I say again I like my MTE 1AA SSc light a lot better since playing with it more.

It just won't clip in my pocket like the River Rock 1AA 1W.

I bought a 1AA river rock from target and used the pocket clip on my MTE it fits perfect

But there isn't anything to keep it from sliding off either end.

I know this because I tried it!