Is the River Rock 2AAA still a good choice?

I love the amount of output and the size factor. Any thing like it?

GarageBoy said:

I love the amount of output and the size factor. Any thing like it?

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The RR 2AAA I bought was a stinker -- very blue and very dim. A brighter, whiter, better built, but more expensive alternative is the 2 watt, reflector version Victorinox 2AAA.

I think it's still about as good a deal as it ever was. Got one in each car and they always work. Mine are a bit blue, but still bright.

Geoff

I think it's a really good deal, mine has a very nice tint, just ever so slightly blue.

I just gave one to each of my father and my wifes father. Neither had a small pocketable flashlight and that one is a nice choice, just as always.

Yes,for the price a good light.

For the price and size it's a great light. I bought 3, 2 were bright white & the 3rd was dim yellow. I'd know with current technology someone could build something that would blow it away, but I don't know if they have yet.

The low price and readily-available batteries still make it a good choice, IMO.

However, it probably represents the upper limit on what represents a good price for a small, non-Cree flashlight. Spending just a few bucks more will give you plenty of much brighter alternatives, particularly from Chinese dealers like DealExtreme and Kaidomain.

Skibane said:

Spending just a few bucks more will give you plenty of much brighter alternatives, particularly from Chinese dealers like DealExtreme and Kaidomain.

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In the 2AAA format?

DX has a (1 x aaa) Cree that comes bundled with an extension tube to make it a 2 x aaa. It's probably about the same size as the RR.

I gave a black one to my dad. He loves it, and carries it everyday. (He's not a flashaholic). Dad lives in Russia. The light is not only brighter than what you'll normally find there, but he has no trouble finding AAA cells.

Got myself a shiny version to replace the one I gave to my dad. Recently bought another black one from Target. At just under $10, it's one of the best bargains around. :twothumbs

I have to agree that it is still useful in its class.

I like a lot of other lights more ... but if you can get this one for anything under $10, they are good finds. They make good gifts, especially for the women folk.

Sorry, I picked up a duplicate post during editing, does anyone know how to delete a post outright?
(the edit page lets me change, but not delete the post)

This was one of my favorite lights, and I have used it a hundred times in real life situations, but now that I have some better lights, the blue color really bugs me.

It's not even uniform like some lights, but kind of splotchy and uneven.

I got the Kaidomain 5 mode light for only 15 bucks which really blows both the RR 2 AAA and RR 1W luxeon AA lights away, but the light arrived with a slightly loose head, and I had a similar experience with DX, so I am a little hard pressed to recommend the real low-ball priced lights unless you are willing to be willing to work a little to make sure you end up with a good one.

After just a little fiddling, my Kaidomain light now works just as smoothly (and is just as bright) as an equivalent Fenix, at only about one fourth the cost, but your mileage may vary.

I am not sure what the 2xAAA light options are at DX or Kaidomain, because my RR AAA works well enough (dispite the yucky bluish tint), that I haven't considered buying another 2xAAA light.

I know both DX and Kaidomain have basic 'single mode' [simple on/off] CREE lights for only about 10 bucks that will run on a single AA cell with great beam quality and nearly perfectly white color. If you get a good one, these lights will all blow the RR2AA away.

I did buy a nice SINGLE AAA light, the Ultrafire B3, from Kaidomain. It's only about 10 bucks (shipped) from either DX or Kaidomain. I did have to clean some packing grease gunk out of the threads, but now it's working really smoothly.

The Ultrafire B3 it tiny but has amazing output brightness for it's size and cost.

So, if you want a really surprising little 'noisy cricket' pocket canon, and don't mind a little shorter 45 minute run time on a single AA cell, check out the Ultrafire B3. Unlike the RR Nechia lights like the RR 2AAA, the B3 has a nice uniform white, unbelievably bright beam.

This little light is the size of a maglight solitaire and puts out almost the same amount of light as my RR 1W Luxeon (no kidding), which is about triple the output of the RR2AAA.

If I may be permitted to leave aside the AAA and $10 limits for a moment, my favorite light in the whole world so far is the Jetbeam C-LE, which I can HIGHLY recommend.

The Jetbeam C-LE is a single AA multimode 'twisty' light, that is one of the smallest AA lights you can get, so it's quite a bit shorter and only a little fatter than the RR 2AAA. At 20 dollars it costs only a bit over twice as much as the RR2AAA, but believe me it's 10 times the light.

HAIII anodized finish (best you can get), beautiful machine work (you do have to lube the threads because they ship them dry to keep oil and grease from possibly going where it shouldn't during shipping), 5 modes MEDIUM, LOW, HIGH, STROBE, SOS. Anti-Reflection Glass lens (not cheap plastic), High End CREE P4 LED, etc. etc. etc.

If I could only keep ONE flashlight out of all those I own (Fenix included) it would be my C-LE.

This is the light that is largely responsible for me falling out of love with the little RR 3 AAA after many months of happy use.

The beam quality, and brightness of the C-LE is just on another level entirely. Even the 'medium' mode is still brighter than a RR 2AAA light, and it can run 6 hours on a single AA battery. There is a 'Low' mode that is just as bright as those old 3LED Dorcy lights (bright enough to comfortably read by) but which has a much whiter more uniform beam, and which will run 24 hours or more.

To get the 20 dollar price on a C-LE you have to take 2 minutes to set up a Emilions Workshop password and login, and then email them with your Candle Power Forum ID. Then they will set it up so when you log in at Emilions you will see special CPF discounted prices, and the C-LE drops from 24 dollars to 20 bucks (plus a couple bucks shipping).

This has to be one of the best flashlight deals in the known universe.

Even if you want to pick up some RR 3 AAA's for gifts and what not, I would also consider the Jetbeam C-LE, because it's a whole different animal.

I just ordered two more from Emilions (one for the car, and one just for insurance in case they stop making them), and both arrived in PERFECT condition.

I had heard that the threads being rough was an issue with the C-LE, but after I lubed the threads with a little teflon grease it was fine, and now, after only a month or two of use, the head turns as smoothly as if it was on ball bearings.

There are apparently two versions of the C-LE but I have only dealt with Emilions, which has only the newer version 1.2 C-LE, so I can't comment on the quality of the earlier version but all three of my V1.2 C-LE's have been PERFECT.

The Inova Bolt is another 2 AAA option, it is more expensive, but also a much better build and brighter. Hard to beat the RR for cost though, and really, I could care less about tint that some people dislike and complain about. About the only time you can really tell is when shining them on walls, or using two lights at the same time to create a comparision. I dont do much of either so who cares, just a personal thing.

Luminescent, you make a good case and I agree that when compared to lights we can buy on-line, the RR 3AAA is a poor to modest performer.

But, for someone who will buy lights at a mass-market merchandiser like Target, Walmart, etc ... I still think the light is worth a look ... especially when on sale.

I have a spare chrome one I picked up for $7 that I'm going to give to a co-worker, I believe. She is outdoors a lot ... and I'm sure she'll love it.

Bror Jace said:

Luminescent, you make a good case and I agree that when compared to lights we can buy on-line, the RR 3AAA is a poor to modest performer.

But, for someone who will buy lights at a mass-market merchandiser like Target, Walmart, etc ... I still think the light is worth a look ... especially when on sale.

I have a spare chrome one I picked up for $7 that I'm going to give to a co-worker, I believe. She is outdoors a lot ... and I'm sure she'll love it.

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I agree 100%.

Other than being a little out of date on color quality (newer lights are usually nice and white), the RR2AA is a good general-purpose small light. Fairly bright for a small light in its class, and good run times.

Some folks just want that 'Instant gratification' that comes with a local purchase, and for them :sigh: the definition of "The BEST Light", really means "The Best Light I can buy at Target or Wal-Mart".

I will forgo any insulting comments about "trailer trash flashlights", because I must confess that I was one of these people for many years.

But then I finally ordered the C-LE, and my experience with this light has cured me of this horrible affliction in one treatment.

It arrived in 5 days, and is truly a thing of beauty.

I have acutally gotten more 'stinkers' from the department store (bad color, crappy output) than by mail order.

Luminescent said:

Some folks just want that 'Instant gratification' that comes with a local purchase, and for them :sigh: the definition of "The BEST Light", really means "The Best Light I can buy at Target or Wal-Mart".

I will forgo any insulting comments about "trailer trash flashlights", because I must confess that I was one of these people for many years.

But then I finally ordered the C-LE, and my experience with this light has cured me of this horrible affliction in one treatment.

It arrived in 5 days, and is truly a thing of beauty.

I have acutally gotten more 'stinkers' from the department store (bad color, crappy output) than by mail order.

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The average person is far more likely to buy a light at Wal-Mart, Target, or K-Mart than shopping online. Some of those "trailer trash flashlights" are indeed capable of holding their own. One example would be the Brinkmann Maxfire LX.... Shortly after having bought my 2nd tactical light, a Surefire C2, I spotted the Maxfire at a Target in upstate NY. Reading the claims on the packaging, I thought there was no way an $18 light could even come close to the just-over-retail I paid for my Surefire C2. But I figured, what the heck. That Maxfire definitely held its own, in terms of performance.... Hardly "trash."

The thing with Brick & Mortar stores, if you get a lemon, you can literally take a few steps back and instantly get the problem rectified. Not so with mail-order. I've had a AAA Mini-Mag and a Surefire G2 that needed correcting. I took 10 steps, walked back into the store (two different ones on two seperate occassions) and instantly got the problem fixed. No lost time or extra money on shipping.

Monocrom said:

The average person is far more likely to buy a light at Wal-Mart, Target, or K-Mart than shopping online. Some of those "trailer trash flashlights" are indeed capable of holding their own. One example would be the Brinkmann Maxfire LX.... Shortly after having bought my 2nd tactical light, a Surefire C2, I spotted the Maxfire at a Target in upstate NY. Reading the claims on the packaging, I thought there was no way an $18 light could even come close to the just-over-retail I paid for my Surefire C2. But I figured, what the heck. That Maxfire definitely held its own, in terms of performance.... Hardly "trash."

The thing with Brick & Mortar stores, if you get a lemon, you can literally take a few steps back and instantly get the problem rectified. Not so with mail-order. I've had a AAA Mini-Mag and a Surefire G2 that needed correcting. I took 10 steps, walked back into the store (two different ones on two seperate occassions) and instantly got the problem fixed. No lost time or extra money on shipping.

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All excellent points.

I have several quite impressive "trailer trash" flashlights myself.

Alas, they are all from Target (even as "trailer trash" I have *some* standards, and won't sink to shopping at Wal-Mart unless absolutely necessary, because I absolutely despise EVERYTHING that this company stands for).

For example, I still like my original short silver 3AAA Dorcy 1W Luxeon quite a lot, and it is still in my car today.

I think the main reason that I am still so fond of this light is that I found out that a standard translucent white pill bottle could be cut down to form an absolutely perfect wide angle front and side diffuser to fit around the head of the light (like the one for the LiteFlux LF2). This slides onto the head about a half inch (nice and snug like it was factory made), and the rest of the bottom of the bottle sticks out about two and a half inches and lights up like a short segment of a 40W fluorescent light. With the diffuser in place, you can use the light as a very effective close in area light or as an emergency signaling wand (the light is 2-mode and has strobe). I leave it in place all the time during storage to protect the plastic lens from scratches and so its always available when needed (one of my pet peeves about department store lights is the easily scratched plastic lenses). Can't imagine why Dorcy didn't ship the light with a similar diffuser as a standard accessory.

I just lucked out to find an aspirin bottle that was a perfect size, and which had just the perfect level of white translucence to defuse the light without excessive loss, so this thing throws more light than you might expect.

Been trying to find something similar to fit my Jetbeam, but no luck so far

I also have one of the Dorcy 3 D-Cell 1W Luxeon's.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/113883

Dorcy seems to be overdriving the Luxeon in this light and the total light output and throw are amazing. The reflector is really deep and has absolutely perfect focus, like those that are custom machined for extended head Maglight mods. This is the only off-the-shelf light I have ever seen that will keep up with custom modded Aspheric Mag lights. Target blew these things out the door at 5 to 10 bucks on clearance! (Along with the Jetbeam C-LE for 20 bucks this has to rank as one of the greatest flashlight deals of all time)

The Target River Rock Single AA 1W Luxeon is also very nice. It's real output is more like about 25-30 lumens vs. the 38 lumens claimed, but that's still fairly bright by most standards, and it has a really nice neutral to warm white color balance. The light is modeled after the single AA Fenix lights and the machine work very good. In fact other than the fact that the light uses a plastic lens instead of a glass lens, the mechanical construction is definitely on a par with Fenix, but it costs 19-20 dollars and for that amount you can buy and equivelent REAL Fenix with a glass lens that won't pick up scratches as easily.

I have a number of other department store lights that I use from time to time (including the RR2AAA), but these are the only ones that have stood the test of time and remain in daily use.

So I absolutely agree whole-heartedly that there are indeed some jewels out there, but this doesn't change the fact that if I had limited myself to only shopping at Target and [gag] Wal-Mart, I would never have acquired some of my absolute favorite lights, like the Jetbeam C-LE (or my soon to be Rebel-Modded Ultrafire B3).

The Nuwai/RR 2 AAA is a good light for the money. I can't say I'm in love with the purple beam but the runtime is great and it gets the job done. I would imagine it'd outlast some of the cheaper Cree lights as the build quality isn't bad at all, for less than 10 bucks.

The single AAA version is cool too but is way less efficient, boosting from 1.2-1.5 Volts. There's a big difference.

Dave