Need options for a 1-AA EDC light...

I am looking for a light to give a girl for a Christmas present. It needs to be small and powered by 1-AA battery, so she'll carry it and use it. She carries pepper spray now, but I have very little confidence in its real-world effectiveness. So, I'd like her to have a bright light to able to use defensively. Because I want something that she can immediately "blind" someone with, I don't want something with 10 different brightness levels that she must navigate through (no L1D). I would like 2 brightness levels. On "high", I'd like something that puts out 60+ lumens (more is better) for more than a half hour. "Low" should probably put out 15 lumens (or so), but I'd prefer that it last several hours on that setting rather than be bright. It MUST have a clicky tail cap and an attachment for a lanyard.

I am a bit of a newbie to the light industry, so please provide the company name with the recommendations - I probably won't know the model light you are talking about as well as you do. I am familiar with the Fenix line. The L1T V2.0 seems like an ideal light, but it will not be available until after Christmas. What are some of the options out there?

Oh, let's try to keep the price under $80-90.

Thanks!

Well the LM 31 would work. But the choices are many as others will quickly list here for you!

smg said:

The L1T V2.0 seems like an ideal light, but it will not be available until after Christmas.

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I believe LightHound still has it in stock as of yesterday. I'd check out other shops as well. Fenix-Store isn't the only authorized US dealer.

Can't the L1D be set to turn on in Turbo mode, without the need to switch to other modes? And even if some strange thing happened, the next mode is strobe, which I think would be even more effect at blinding and disorienting someone.

Sgt. LED said:

Well the LM 31 would work. But the choices are many as others will quickly list here for you!

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The main problem I see is that the first button press turns on LOW mode. Under stress, I don't want her fumbling to find the right brightness setting. Otherwise, it looks great. The L1T interface is nice because you can tighten the head and know that the first button press will give you full power.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will look through some of LumaPower's offerings.

swxb12 said:

I believe LightHound still has it in stock as of yesterday. I'd check out other shops as well. Fenix-Store isn't the only authorized US dealer.

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Oh, great! Thanks for the info. Since the Fenix store says "Ships Jan 2008", I thought that was when it was becoming available. I will look around.

Others, I'm still interested in hearing about other options

PocketBeam said:

Can't the L1D be set to turn on in Turbo mode, without the need to switch to other modes? And even if some strange thing happened, the next mode is strobe, which I think would be even more effect at blinding and disorienting someone.

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Um, actually, you are right Thanks for bringing up a good point!

The LM31 may take 2 clicks to get to high, but it's ALWAYS 2 clicks to get to high. You don't have to wonder if the head is set right, or what mode it was in last.

The L1T x2 rebel is still available at lighthound and eliteled

In Canada j2led still has some.

I like the UI for the Olight series. They have levels and strobe, but you never have to use those if you simply click it on and click it off. The T15 is a 1xAA and it's available in a regular version for just under $40 with CPF discount at Pacific Tactical or the Q5 version for a little over $60 at Battery Junction.
I have the LM31 and like it, but while it is a simple 2-level UI, having to click twice at either the beginning or end everytime you use the light actually does become annoying when using the light many times a day (maybe it's just me). She may only need the light occasionally and it is simple for a non-flashaholic.
With the Olight, the strobe is instantly available if the light is already running in illumination mode. This could be handy for defense although that will get a lot of debate around here.
Typically the way I carry my T10 is with high illumination mode as the default. A simple click on and then click off when done.
If I need to switch to strobe while the light is on, a momentary press instantly activates it. Two more momentary presses and it's back to high illumination. A full click is then OFF and the light remembers what mode it was in if it's been on a few seconds in that mode.
I only switch to lower levels if I know I'll have the light on for awhile and don't need full brightness. That's easy too with some loose and tight twists of the bezel. It doesn't matter if the bezel has become slightly loose between uses, the drop to the next level only takes place if the light is on and then you tighten the bezel. It's really a sensible system I think.
For a even simpler single mode light my GF actually carries and uses the River Rock 1AA 1W that I gave her. You have the best idea of what your GF will be comfortable with learning.

I have all the Fenix lights and yet I choose to EDC the L1T. Great little light and plenty bright enough for just about anything. The L1D is brighter but I really value the simplicity of a two level light and I bet your girl will too. Another great choice would be the Fenix AAA lights, even smaller and more likely she will carry it, but I don't think they still offer the 3 stage model which is one of their best IMO.

Peter Atwood said:

I don't think they still offer the 3 stage model which is one of their best IMO.

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https://www.fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=58&products_id=111
I believe CLEARANCE25 will get you an additional 25% off.

If you want maximum lumens, i.e. high always as the first level of light when the light is turned on I think that the Fenix L1T is probably the best choice with a clickie. The Liteflux LF5 can be set such that when twisted on 100% is the first level at P1 and it is darned hard to get to a different mode for a newbie, but it is a twisty. Anything else requires either rotation through something else or reliance on a last mode memory, although the Olight seems to generally come on in that mode as long as you don't do a momentary press once it is on. Your gf may be able to handle that but I can testify that my wife would not because the first time she got lost in a mode somehow by accident or otherwise the light would end up in a drawer.

I'm not terriby familiar with any of the 1xAA single stage lights but I think you may be better served with a single stage light given her need for a lot of light with no fiddling. I think Selfbuilt has a roundup of single stage 1xAA lights in the review section.

Edited to add: Just thinking about it and another option would be a Peak Pacific Super Ultra Power SSC with the keychain AA body and their optional momentary switch. While not a pure clickie it would give her the option of a push button operation for momentary light and twist for constant on which might work in her situation. Plenty of light out the front, excellent Peak build quality and reliability.

+1 for the Fenix lights but, if you can't get a hold of one, try the JetBeam CLE V2. It's well-made 1xAA light with lo-med-hi settings plus strobe and sos. The cool thing is that, when you enter a mode, and leave it on for 2-3 seconds, it remembers that mode the next time you turn it on. :thumbsup:

I'm not sure how brightness compares to the fenix as I now only have the older L1P / L1T's lying around but, I did eye-ball it against my P3D-CE and the High is close to, but not quite as bright as, the P3D on High (not Turbo). Leaving it on strobe might be the better option for her but you two can figure out what works best.

Check it out at BUGOUTGEARUSA.com; with CPF discount, it's $29.95... http://bugoutgearusa.com/jecv2pr.html - only catch is that it appears to be out of stock 'until Nov. 23rd'... It's now Dec. and they haven't changed the 'out of stock' sign but you can always fire a note off to them to ask if they will be in stock for xmas.

Good luck.

Thanks for all the suggestions. The L1T is still looking pretty attractive, but the Jet Beam is something else I want to look into. The Olight is a good option too. Maybe I will end up buying her 3 or 4 lights and then I'll just *return* the others when I get around to it

RGB_LED said:

Check it out at BUGOUTGEARUSA.com; with CPF discount, it's $29.95... http://bugoutgearusa.com/jecv2pr.html - only catch is that it appears to be out of stock 'until Nov. 23rd'... It's now Dec. and they haven't changed the 'out of stock' sign but you can always fire a note off to them to ask if they will be in stock for xmas.

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If you checked out the C-LE on the normal page the shipment date is Dec. 5th. They just didn't change it in the specials section. I am waiting for them to get in!! It is going to be my Christmas present.

The L1-D CE is great

Another vote for the Fenix L1T V2.0.

I own one, and the UI is just simply easy and intuitive.

A good general use low, and a very nice high mode - all from one little AA NiMH cell (or alkaline, or lithium).

Very simple to operate for the flashlight newbie... :thumbsup:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3607
This may be worth looking at, very cheap & has a forward clicky, so it can be flashed at the first touch of the switch. There have been a few reviews on CandlePower, a search should find them. At $10.90 you could get a few.

Sorry for me being a bit OT here, but a flashlight is NOT a good defensive weapon(unless it's big enough to be used as an impact weapon)! To convince her to use a flashlight instead of pepperspray is madness. Unless used together with a gun etc, flashlights should not be considered as defensive weapons IMHO. Just try it out yourself. Even with dark adapted eyes it's not hard to "take down" an opponent that tries to blind you with bright flashlight (tried it a couple of times with friends and a +100 lumens light and it NEVER worked). Sure, it might give you a small advantage, and a second or two, but if you don't have anything else to backup the flashlight with(like a gun), there's not much of a point and you're toast. And from personal experience, the only time flashlights are blinding enough, then they are in the car headlight category, and not in the tiny EDC-light category. And to use a flashlight as a blinding weapon, you have to count on that the "perp" has dark adapted eyes, how often does that happen? 5% chance?

But if you insist on a flashlight, check out the tigerlight.
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/181372&highlight=tigerlight

Thanks again. I am still interviewing options, for those who haven't chimed in yet.

Lobo, I appreciate the input. Your criticism is valid, however I won't suggest that she use a flashlight instead of pepper spray. I want her to have options for different scenarios, as well as a better understanding of the limitations of pepper spray. I haven't gotten her to the point of carrying a handgun. You are right; a small, non-impact-size flashlight is not much of a defensive tool ...at close range. However, when you want to confront someone who is approaching from 20 feet away, ordering them to "Stop!" carries a little more authority when you shine a light on them. Also, pepper spray is not effective at that range, so a light might be the best deterrent in that situation. Your thoughts (or anyone else's) are certainly welcome.

There is a famous saying: "In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is King". I believe something similar can be said for the person who controls the light in a very dark confrontation.