Are CPFers starting to lose interest in AA based lights?

Not much discussion on AA based flashlights lately, such as Mini Mag® 2/3 AA, Energizer® Hard Case swivel head and the like.

I'm still waiting for a 2xAA turbo head fenix...

you need to wait for surefire to come out with an AA type, garuanteed to have about 10,000 posts within one day. Im waiting on my NDI..

Crenshaw

Actually I remain very interested in the perfect 1xAA light. Not much bigger than a 123, almost as bright, cheaper batteries etc etc. Fenix L1D-Q5, Proton Pro come close but no cigar, the NDI looks great but I don't (can't) own one yet. As I've stated before, I just need HDS or Novatac to make a1xAA version of their lights and my torch collecting days would just about be over

Crenshaw said:

you need to wait for surefire to come out with an AA type, garuanteed to have about 10,000 posts within one day. Im waiting on my NDI..
Crenshaw

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Lotsa irony there for us Americans with the latter CPFM thread garnering over 1800 posts; 130 some odd thousand views; more orders than they can fill...and all engineered by who?...a company that nobody had even heard of not 6 months ago.

I'm not sure that CPFers have lost interest; yet a lot of folks like myself have just saved one heck of a lot of money on decent torches from innovators such as Edgetac and Zebralight.
Not bashing SF at all; as I have a Guardian and a 12ZM...yet neither of these much more reasonably priced AA lights purchased recently have let me down to date and have left me pretty satisfied (for now).

I am still very interested. The NDI is very close to my perfect AA based lights.

Not interested in AA powered lights at all :thumbsdow . Single CR123A torches are the minimum these days for me ...

in this recent (still ongoing) poll: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/192178
AAs are currently at 56.18% with the next popular been CR123A's at 15.73% out of 89 voters so far. so they are still the most popular, i havent looked to see if there was a similar poll last year to see if they are less popular now than they were then though.

Crenshaw said:

you need to wait for surefire to come out with an AA type, garuanteed to have about 10,000 posts within one day....

Crenshaw

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And 9,999 of those posts will be how it's a hoax because no one would ever believe that Surefire would make such a light. :huh:

Rzr800 said:

Lotsa irony there for us Americans with the latter CPFM thread garnering over 1800 posts; 130 some odd thousand views; more orders than they can fill...and all engineered by who?...a company that nobody had even heard of not 6 months ago.

I'm not sure that CPFers have lost interest; yet a lot of folks like myself have just saved one heck of a lot of money on decent torches from innovators such as Edgetac and Zebralight.
Not bashing SF at all; as I have a Guardian and a 12ZM...yet neither of these much more reasonably priced AA lights purchased recently have let me down to date and have left me pretty satisfied (for now).

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I guess that happens when something as revolutionary as the NDI comes out. Forward, 130 odd torch lumens, HAIII,infinintely selectable brightness levels...the only thing it can reallyl improve on is how bright it can go, and that depends on the emitters.

Monocrom said:

And 9,999 of those posts will be how it's a hoax because no one would ever believe that Surefire would make such a light. :huh:

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and ill bet size15s will post ONE time with " :devil: " and then leave everything to speculation.

Crenshaw

Yes.... I do believe Al would have the last laugh.

Re: Are Capers starting to lose interest in AA based lights?

It isn't going to happen. Surefire is not going to make a AA light any time soon. It doesn't fit. It just doesn't fit. Think about it.

OK AA flashlights?
Well all in all their are only 3 or 4 which are of any interest or are any good.
The Fenix, the old ARC,
the Mag AA with a pill and an optic.
That's about it.
The AA form factor is pretty boring.
the form factor to too big

OK so why aren't there more AA formfactor flashlights?
Bask in the day they used to make lights which held 3 AA side by side to make the 4.5 volts the Lumen Lux III emitters liked. they ran pretty flat and produced a pretty good beam depending on the reflector.
ok so what about a single cell light?
well a boost driver is required so we have to spend some dough to do that. In order to but a decent optic in there or reflector you need to make a head which is will hold the necessary components that needs to be engineered. $$

So really there is a lot of work involved. like I said the ARC AA was pretty popular. They did not stay in production for long.
IMHO the 2 AA flashlight is too long forget about the Mag 3xAA how silly is that thing? They did that just so they could run an led? Why?
I guess the answer to your question is YES we have a long time ago.
IMHO about the best AA flashlight available is the Fenix L1D-rebel this thing (the rebel version) puts out 90 lumens. A good start for a AA formfactor flashlight. This is a state of the art light with a good driver and good emitter.

My feeling on the topic is there is a lot more interest in smaller flashlights, smaller and higher power (perceived) lights. I have some TINY lights which are Brighter than hell. the AA form factor is just a little to be to be en vogue.
Sorry to ramble on.
The AA flashlight has fallen out of fashion on the CPF. We seem to only be interested in the brightest possible flashlights with the longest possible runtime with perfect beams which will both reach out and touch the face of George Washington on Mt Rushmore and singlehandedly fill the MSG with enough light to play 50 minutes of basketball.
See where I am going? I know it is crazy and ridiculous.
BUT that is where I see us pushing towards. we want it all and we want it CHEAP. That is one thing I have noticed on the CPF the complete shift by a group who did not care about how much a light cost. to a group interested in seeking out the best deals on the cheapest quality Chinese crap from deal extreme.
Back in the "old" days of the cpf. the "cheap" Chinese crap was all but ignored unless it looked like it would make a good host for a great light Ala MrBulk.
So no we aren't interested in AA lights at not lights which cost more than $50.00 and we are interested in the cheapest crap we can find.
The CPF has lost interest in true community development and gained an interest in hi profit making projects made in titanium.
Sorry I will stop now....
Yaesumofo

Monocrom said:

And 9,999 of those posts will be how it's a hoax because no one would ever believe that Surefire would make such a light. :huh:

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Re: Are Capers starting to lose interest in AA based lights?

Go back to 2006... and Streamlight 4AA Luxeon was a HUGE hit. Now, everyone seems to be talking about CR123 lights, then 18650 Li-ion the last month or two.

People talk about the newest products. The most recent wave of new lights includes those by Surefire, Inova, HDS (Twisty), and First Light USA. They all employ CR123A batteries.

When the next batch of new AA lights are announced, people will discuss them, too.

I never really thought about it much but now that Handlo brings the topic up I realize I never use my AA based lights much and cant remember the last time I bought one.

I do remember being very pleased with the original Fenix L1P and a few 2-AA extensions for some older lights but really dont use them much anymore. I have several Arc LS models also with the 2-AA extension tube and always use the 123 twisty rather than the AA body.

I see many members now leaning towards the very small AAA models as well as the 18650 or even the smaller Li/Ion cells. It does seem as if the AA just doesnt fit anywhere in the scale now. With more efficient emitters and multiple modes one can get pretty good runtime as well as brightness from a single AAA cell.

Once I discovered the advantages of Li/Ion based lights using smaller cells with more power I kind of kept that trend up for my personal tastes. I have a few rechargeable Li/Ion AA cells also and do not use them much either as once again I have several AAA lights that are equally as bright while being smaller.

I have always thought any AA size light was too large for keychain carry and have yet to see any AA based light perform well enough for duty carry. I tried to EDC my Ultra-G long ago and found out it just did not feel right on my keys or even in my pocket.

I would love to get an NDI, but I kept spending all my money on A2's over at CPFM, and my next purchase will likely be a 6P.

The NDI and Arc-AAA are really high on my list though, the promise of no hassle free lumens thanks to Eneloops is very alluring. I'll probably switch my EDC Fenix P2D over to the AA body for a while to see what it's like once it's current CR123 dries up.

AAA cell based lights like the Fenix L0D CE Q4 are amazingly bright in such a small package that they suffice for most EDC purposes. Run time at medium and low outputs is more than adequate. AA-based light are just a tad too big for pocket or keychain use.

If you need brighter light or longer run time, CR123 lights are better than AA with less weight; the form factor is more comfortable in the pocket too.

That's funny... because I find myself carrying my L2D-CE on its holster every day, and both of my headlamps (which get used at least once a week, if not more often to save on the electric bill and have fun) take AA cells. The other lights I use most often are my D-mini w/18650 tube, my Wolf-Eyes Thunder (2x18650), and my L0D-CE. Guess that's pretty inconclusive... I don't think AA's are dead. :twothumbs

I want a headlamp that can take a common, generic square digital camera battery... like a 3.7v 1230mAh Lenmar.

I found my self grabbing a generation 2 Inova X1 yesterday from Target, on sale for $13. I got the last one in the store. In my opinion, the gen 2 X1 is the best general purpose low cost 1xAA light.