1 or 2 AA LED for a gift

Hi !
Looking for a gift here for a girl.
- AA (1 or 2... not 3 nor 4) Alkaline or Nimh
- Maximum of ~ 50$
- Bright
- Good throw
- Must be small, about the size of my P3D-CE
Well... a little pocket rocket

I have some ideas in mind but I'm not sure of the pros and cons:
JetBeam C-LE v2, Lumapower LM31, Nuwai 325XR8, Fenix L1T v2, WF606A.


Thx !

The JetBeam does have a prominent hotspot and weaker side spill, however the orange-peel reflector probably sets it back in the throw department. Just to be nitpicky, the JetBeam does have a clicky that is a little hard to press compared to my other lights.

I would recommend checking out one of selfbuilt's outstanding AA light comparison/review threads here for some throw numbers: link It would appear that Fenix L1D Cree and L1D Rebel are top throwers. If it helps, they'll come with the lifetime warranty too if you buy from an authorized dealer like Fenix-Store.

The throw on C-LE v2 is adequate for indoor and 'city street' tasks, I'd say. Overall it is a heavy and expensive feeling hunk of gadget in hand. Feels nicer than my Fenix L2D for sure.

The L1T Rebel 80 comes with a forward clicky and only has two modes. Simple operation. Maybe this is your ticket. Best of luck.

Spypro said:

Hi !
Looking for a gift here for a girl.
- AA (1 or 2... not 3 nor 4) Alkaline or Nimh
- Maximum of ~ 50$
- Bright
- Good throw
- Must be small, about the size of my P3D-CE
Well... a little pocket rocket

I have some ideas in mind but I'm not sure of the pros and cons:
JetBeam C-LE v2, Lumapower LM31, Nuwai 325XR8, Fenix L1T v2, WF606A.


Thx !

Click to expand...

The L1Tv2 would be my current choice for an AA flashlight gift for people I don't mind spending money on.

Otherwise, I give the MTE 1-mode SSC light from DX. None of those have failed me yet... which can't be said for any other cheap light I've used thus far.

I wish Fenix would come out with a 2-stage AAA light - same format as the L0D, but only 2 modes - 10 lumens and 50 lumens. I'd buy a bunch as gifts.

The Olight T15 is a very good little Cree light running on 1 AA battery. I like mine a little better than my P1D-CE Fenix light, which is also excellent, but slightly higher in price.

I hear good things about the Ultrafire C3 Cree, although I don't personally have one (still enroute...). For $3 more (about $20), you can get it with an extender so it is also a 2xAA.

Thank you for your answers !
Is there an AA light outhere with a GITD tailswitch ?
It would be a nice feature

Spypro said:

Is there an AA light outhere with a GITD tailswitch ?

Click to expand...

FYI, you can get replacement 14mm GITD from DX (10 for <$2) here:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5714
Not sure if they would work in all 1AA lights, but worth a shot for the price.

Could you explain a little more how you see the light being used? I've gifted away a lot of lights over the years (as you can probably tell from my reviews - I've had a lot to give away! ), and have generally found women prefer small and unobtrusive lights. I would say 1AA max size ... have you consider 1AAA (e.g. Fenix L0D)? You want it to be lightweight and easy to pocket or carry in a purse.

It terms of styling, I can tell you the "sleek" look of the black Fenix lights are very popular (moreso than the "rugged" look of the Jetbeams - more of a guy thing, maybe?). Again, just my experience.

The light will be a light for a girl, an old friend of mine. I prefer it to be lightweight, bright, maybe with some GITD things, 1 or 2 AA size, small. Rugged or sleek.

I would say then Fenix L1T v2.0.

I forgot to mention it, but most women I know prefer the simplest interface possible. The twist-head 2-stage L1T v2.0 is just about perfect, IMO.

A good second choice could be the lumapower LM-31, but the Fenix is brighter, longer lasting, and smaller. See my runtimes and pics here:
Rebel, Cree, SSC Multi-Stage 1AA Review: RUNTIMES and BEAMSHOTS

I would definitely recommend Fenix's L1T Rebel 80. It is small, light and easy to operate. More importantly, it is a good size for EDC, which hopefully your friend will do.

I second the LM31. Its rugged and foolproof. Very easy to use and feels good in the hand. Nothing the glows in the dark glows for very long except $$$ tritium sticks

BatteryJunction has it on sale right now for $31 + 5% CPF discount

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

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

Battery Junction - 5% off code: cpf2006

Happy shopping!

I vote for the LM31 also. Well made and inexpensive.

i vote for the aa mte seoul aa light.
that thing is a no brainer at $15 bucks

as far as i can tell, its down to two lights: the mte seoul 1 mode, which has gotten excellent reviews and is pretty darned bright, VS. the LM31.

i dont have either, but my guess based on reviews and specs is that the LM31 will be the higher quality to feel in the hand, but the mte will be a little brighter. has anyone tried both?

both are affordable as gifts, have easy to use interfaces, and hopefully are bright enough for the "wow" factor, which i think are the crucial requirements for gift lights. the interfaces of most other lights are what rule them out.

does anyone know if the LM31 uses PWM?

also for consideration is MTE 5-mode Rebel 0100 BIN since reviews say it is brighter than pretty much any other 1AA light in this range. the drawback of this one is the useless modes and possibly annoying interface.

LM 31 all the way! I love it, so much I wanted to try new glass with LDF on it since it's not a thrower anyway. Lens is in the mail......should be really sweet though!
IT'S NOT PWM!!!!
I do believe it comes with a swappable glow button now.

I've given my wife 3 lights. She keeps a RC-H3 in her purse, it's not the brightest light she has but she likes the easy to push forward clicky switch. http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3880

When we walk at night, sometimes in a nature park, she uses her JetBeam CL-Ev2. With a 2 hour or more runtime on a Kodak LSD, it's always worked well for us. She likes it a lot.

Edit: She also has a Ultrafire C-3, she now uses it as a backup to her CL-E. Funny story, when the warehouse guys where she works pulled out their flashlights and were comparing them, she got her C-3 and they were amazed at how small and bright it was. She said they kinda just slunk off, she was amused.

I've got the L1Tv2. Picked it over the Lumapower because it has the simple momentary, click on, click off tactical tailswitch, and still has a Low function with a twist of the head. I use the High 99% of the time but it's nice that the Low is there somewhere. I wouldn't want to be cycling through the Low every time I turned it on. Ditto cycling through High every time I wanted to turn it off if I was a Low light freak. You can untwist the head on the Lumapower to turn it off, but that really defeats the purpose of a clicky tailswitch. Of course, if the L1Tv2 hadn't come along when it did, I'd be the happy owner of a LM301 (or do they call them LM31 these days ?).
Another plus for the Fenix is they have the interchangeable 1xAA and 2xAA body tubes. I like the single AA tube for EDC in my jacket pocket, but if it was going in a purse or car, I'd get the 2xAA body for the brighter beam and longer runtimes.

L1T v2.0

The biggest reason is because of the UI. Really easy stuff to just switch through (2 modes = easy operation). If she likes it a lot the 2AA body can be purchased too! It is nice to have more than 1 option these days.

Personally I would put a big recommendation to the Jetbeam C-LE v2.0, but the UI memory and multiple modes might make your friend crazy when all she wants is to get some light kickin.

I forgot about another option.

There are so many lights to fill so many niches. Here is a really nice/dependable flashlight that would be a good gifter for a female.

Streamlight ProPoly 2AA Lux. It can be beat up. She wouldn't loose it because of its size. Forward clicky with momentary on. Rated at 25 lumens with an 18 hour runtime. Here is a review.

Mag LED AA in red or silver. user friendly reasonable bright for most situations a girl would use a light for, durable. My wife's EDC is a silver one.

A neutral colored fenix P2D would also fit the bill nicely.

good luck bro!