AA light for christmas gifts help

Ok I know this has been asked before. With everything changing lets see what you think.
I want to buy flashlights for 2 or 3 of the kids in family aged around 13 years for Christmas. I dont want to spend more then $20 perhapts $25. I prefer to get them a light that will run on AA alkaline batteries as it will be easier for them to replace them. I may consider 1xcr123 but prefer 1xAA or 2xAA Alkaline. I want something with nice throw and spill. (would like to impress there parents). Good runtime. I also would prefer 2 stages HI and Low but, 1 stage will work. Any Thoughts?

How about an Utrafire C3? Comes with one level for ~$17, and 5(?) levels for around $21.
Has a cree p4 emitter - I have the one level light, and it's pretty impressive, especially for the price. Reverse clicky, takes AA batteries....occurred to me right away when I saw your post.

BTW, I have a Fenix P1 CE and the Ultrafire seems just as bright, for less than half the price.....with a more easily available battery and a nicer tint (IMO).

D.

Check around the local hardware/department stores for 2AA MagLED. Much malinged around here but still a good starter light.

The only light I have in your price range that I can recommend is the MTE 1xAA SSC-P4 42180-U Flashlight. I am happy enough with mine that I ordered 3 more for presents.

Selfbuilt has reviews of the 1AA single stage and multi stage torches.

Here is bessiebenny's review of the 1AA lights he got.

Here is Ernsanada's review of the C3

Good throw, cheap, and bright, humm,

CR123:
Gree
Mini 3W Cree

2 AA:
WF-606(Grey version)
3W Seoul

1 AA:
hFlash
MTE Seoul
C0-2
SAIK RC-A2

There also a few mulitmode lights in your price range.

I'd go for the hFlash or the 3W Seoul because of the larger reflector.

I ordered some of these to give out:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2089

Powerlight HX-G011 1W
1xAA LED Flashlight Grey
Item # 2089

enter "bulkrate" for [$0.91 off/ea] 20= $69.00 +$1.70 for registered air mail fee.

Ends up being $3.535 each shipped.

Don't wait to long if you plan to order, once the xmas mail season starts shipping time will likely increase.

You can get the Fenix L1s for around $22. Fenix-store is having a 25% off on clearance items.
https://www.fenix-store.com/product...d=104&osCsid=1447762c6aba1008811866241a8535ce

jayb79 said:

I ordered some of these to give out:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2089

Powerlight HX-G011 1W
1xAA LED Flashlight Grey
Item # 2089

enter "bulkrate" for [$0.91 off/ea] 20= $69.00 +$1.70 for registered air mail fee.

Ends up being $3.535 each shipped.

Don't wait to long if you plan to order, once the xmas mail season starts shipping time will likely increase.

Click to expand...

Hopefully the people you give these out to are not friends or family.

The LED in these is just a blob of phosphor on a metal. The color tint is usually really blue and ugly.

Check out the Streamlight 2AA propolymer LED.

Nitroz said:

You can get the Fenix L1s for around $22. Fenix-store is having a 25% off on clearance items.
https://www.fenix-store.com/product...d=104&osCsid=1447762c6aba1008811866241a8535ce

Click to expand...

Good catch, here's the link to the thread with the 25% off details:
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=170746

For $22 shipped, I don't think you can get better build quality than the Fenix L1S.

A lot of the DX lights are of fairly low quality. The single-stage ultrafire C3 or MTE Cree/SSC are probably your best bet for low cost single stage (but can still have problems). The Powerlight is indeed of low quality, both for build and light output. Most of the multi-stage lights are also problematic for one reason or another. My review threads (mentioned above) have more detail. FYI, I have just received a multi-stage C3, and build quality has definitely decreased from earlier single stage models. My sample is also having flickering problems.

If you want something a bit brighter than the L1S (which is still quite acceptable IMO), the 2-stage Lumapower LM31 is available for ~$29 plus shipping at batteryjunction.com (use CPF2006 coupon code for 5% off). Very good build quality. For a few $ more, the Jetbeam C-LE v2 is an excellent multi-stage light (see bugoutgear USA's thread in the marketplace). Review of these lights are available here:
Rebel, Cree, SSC Multi-Stage 1AA Review: RUNTIMES and BEAMSHOTS

If you can squeeze out a few more bucks you could get the LumaPower LM31, Its super sturdy and has a very low low and a bright high. Its on sale for $31 before taxes and shipping so its a sweet deal.

LumaPower LM31 80 lumens 1 x AA with Seoul SSC P4 LED

http://www.batteryjunction.com/lumapower-lm301.html

5% off code: cpf2006

I think anyone would be thrilled to get one and they use the most common and easy to get cell on the planet, an AA.

Happy shopping! :sick2:

the mte seoul from dx.
great great light.
i'm about to give one away myself.
but i will miss it

DX's new Ultrafire C3 is multimode.

LEDninja said:

The only light I have in your price range that I can recommend is the MTE 1xAA SSC-P4 42180-U Flashlight. I am happy enough with mine that I ordered 3 more for presents.

Click to expand...

Have you been using it on alkalines? I don't think being happy with a light's performance on lithium or nimh cells alone, is good grounds for recommending it as a gift for someone who is going to run it on alkalines. If you're using it on alkalines and it's working well, that's another matter of course.

So far I have to recommend a lower powered light like a Gerber Ultra. Much less bright, much more runtime, works great on alkalines.

craigberesh said:

.. I want to buy flashlights for 2 or 3 of the kids in family aged around 13 years for Christmas. I dont want to spend more then $20 perhapts $25 ..

Click to expand...

I'll be in the same boat soon.. I've got lots of nephews/nieces.. so Christmas spending $ always hurts..

I was thinking..

-Dorcy 1AAAs, ~$6 from Walmart as stocking stuffers for the smaller kids


But for the tweens to newbie adults.. I want to gift something better..

-Lumapower LM31 1AA, $31 (-5% "cpf2006" +shipping) @ BatteryJunction.com

-Fenix L1S, $29.25 (-25% "CLEARANCE25", free shipping) @ Fenix-Store.com

-maybe Arc.. but like you said.. i want the beam to impress also..


The <$20 DealExtreme-type lights.. i'm not sure about.. quality seems all over the place.. i don't want to gift a dud.

ok I place my order for Fenix L1S could not pass up the deal:thumbsup:

...

Craig, did you already purchase the lights?

If not I have a +1 for the Streamlight ProPoly 2AA Lux. BrightGuy has them for 17.95. They have a 25 lumen output and a 18 hour runtime. Perfect for kids. Colors are yellow or black, so you can kind of customize a light for a kid.

"Listen up Stevie, its yellow or black, thems your options!"

The ProPoly's are rugged enough for most kids, would probably last longer than many lights mentioned. My kids just shred things unbelieveably fast.

john46268 said:

If you can squeeze out a few more bucks you could get the LumaPower LM31, Its super sturdy and has a very low low and a bright high. Its on sale for $31 before taxes and shipping so its a sweet deal.

LumaPower LM31 80 lumens 1 x AA with Seoul SSC P4 LED

http://www.batteryjunction.com/lumapower-lm301.html

5% off code: cpf2006
:sick2:

Click to expand...

HUGE +1
Buy yourself a Surefire with the order and get free shipping, and lots of free batteries.

paulr said:

Have you been using it on alkalines? I don't think being happy with a light's performance on lithium or nimh cells alone, is good grounds for recommending it as a gift for someone who is going to run it on alkalines. If you're using it on alkalines and it's working well, that's another matter of course.

So far I have to recommend a lower powered light like a Gerber Ultra. Much less bright, much more runtime, works great on alkalines.

Click to expand...

The MTE 1AA SSC-P4 42180-U flashlight runs alkalines and NiMH with no problem. I have bought 10 of these from DX for gift giving, they are even better with the GITD tailcap mod installed. Only downside is they won't tailstand afterward, but that is usually not an issue for the general public.