Man, I just want a simple two-mode Cree with a low-low...

Is there such a light as this?

Must run on one or two AA cells, preferably two.

Two-mode only, please!

Clickie OK if it is a robust design, not prone to flickering after a few months use. Otherwise, twisty is fine.

OK already, I know Cree can be bright, but it seems with most Cree-based lights that consideration is given to bright first and runtime second. I want a "high" that is more of a medium, which will be plenty bright to darkness-adjusted eyes, yet offer insane runtimes.

The "low" I want to be much lower than my LOD-CE on low. I want just enough light on low to guide my path a few feet in front of me. If one is familiar with the old 2AAA River Rock headlamp, with a clickie low-high switch, that on low is what I am after in terms of low brightness.

Oh, did I mention "nix" the PWM unless it is a high enough frequency to not be visible?

Spill is more important than extreme throw. No "paper towel tube" fisheye optics, please.

Does anything on the market come close?

NiteCore D10.

I think the D10 fulfils all of your requirements except for spill over throw. You may have to make some compromise somewhere.
Your other option is to get some sort of multi mode drop in for a MINI MAG.
that is a 2 cell light. variable focus and with the right driver multi levels and extreme low. A good kroll or some other switch is necessary.
Have a look at the shoppe for a aa drop in. They used to be a very popular thing.

Otherwise the NItecore D10 would do just fine. The low is very very low and the high still has some runtime behind it. (very much dependent on the battery choice)

Try one if you don't like it sell it and (it will be easy to sell on the market place) Yaesumofo

If you want low-low that puts out less than an L0D you want a D10.

It's actually low enough that you can look at it, and the high is bright enough that you can search in a shaded area with bright sunlight coming through a window and still find what you're looking for.

D10, NDI

I agree, Nitecore D10 would suit you.

I think the D10 sounds like the closest to what you want also.

You might look at the Lumapower LM31. It is a Seoul instead of Cree and the low may be a little brighter than you are wanting, but it is pretty low. The light is a nice balance between flood and throw.
http://www.batteryjunction.com/lumapower-lm301.html

Thanks, I'll look into the D10 and the LM31. But,

...the high is bright enough that you can search in a shaded area with bright sunlight coming through a window and still find what you're looking for.

Click to expand...

That sounds really bright on high. I am not sure that decribes the "high" that I am looking for, which is more of a medium that won't completely destroy my night vision or wash things out at close range. I want to sacrifice, say, the top 30% or so of max brightness a Cree is capable of, and apply it toward extened runtimes. This is for close-range use. So, is the D10's high blazing high, or not? Someone mentioned that it may have more throw and less spill than I might prefer. Any links to beamshots so I can see the spill to throw ratio?

Other SSC lights are fine too if they fill my requirements.

The D10 has variable output so if you don't want max you don't have to set it to max.

Most people want max brightness, so if a light is using a cree Q5 head or better, you're going to get a high mode that is going to be very bright. Most manufacturers are not going to squander the capability of the Q5 head and limit the high to an artificially low output. Fortunately with the D10 and many other lights you'll be able to adjust the output or switch to a medium mode for longer run time if that's more important to you.

There are a ton of NiteCore D10 reviews and threads around with beamshots, comparisons, etc. Good luck.

Try the ZebraLight - don't use the High mode - Low and Med are excellent and wide-beam without any hotspot.
https://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=89&products_id=434

LF5 XT
You'll only have to program it once. You can program it to just have 2 modes, a decently low low, though not HDS low though not much does have one of those.
The LF5 XT has the smoothest cree beamshot I've ever seen, definitely more floody than most other cree lights.

Is the D10 available for sale new through any seller other than 4sevens?

I believe he's the only seller, but not 100% sure. Still, I'll say that for comparison sake, I used my L0D Q4 on all three levels for months and was very happy, for my needs, with it's balance of decent low beam, but also bright enough that if I wanted to see out into the woods, I could. Still I usually use the medium, which is it's first setting.

Then when I got my D10 to leave in the car as a replacement for my 3D MagLite, I found that it was impossible for me to part with it (or the L0D for that matter), so hence I carry both all the time, but use mostly the D10 anymore, since it will go both brighter and dimmer than the L0D, with the added bonus of letting me get any setting in between.

I'd be willing to bet that if the D10 wasn't perfect for you, you'd still never want to part with it, and at less than $60 with the discount Four 7's gives, you can't go wrong.