Brightest AA?

LauraQ

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Which single AA flashlight (or 2AA) will give me the most lumens? I appreciate any direction. Thanks, guys!
 
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LED-holic

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Brightest AA: LiteFlux LF5XT or NiteCore D10
Brightest 2AA: Fenix L2D
Brightest on AA rechargeable (14500): JetBeam Jet-1 IBS (beware this light has a rough clicky)

You can tell from my signature which ones I prefer. :naughty:
 

BentHeadTX

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A NiteCore Smart PD D10 should be about the brightest single AA. The Jetbeam R2 might be brighter and someone will chime in with the answer.

The 2AA question is a bit more complicated. Maybe a Fenix L2D Q5 for throw? My Peak First Responder can run on 2AA (3AA all the way up to 5AA I think with additional extenders) It runs three Seoul LEDs at 2 watts total and gives a good flood of light. I run mine on 3AA to get the drive to 2.5 watts and it works very well.

I put my L2D body on my L1D Q5 head and it out threw the Peak but I prefer the much larger beam pattern of the First Responder.

All depends on what you want... and how much you want to spend.
 

pipspeak

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Nitecore does seem to currently hold the crown of brightest single-AA light.

The Fenix L1D/L2D (Q5 premium) combo is perhaps the most versatile... the L1D is almost the brightest 1-AA light (liteflux and nitecores just beat it) and the L2D is probably the brightest 2-cell light, plus has excellent runtime. Buy the L2D and the L1D battery tube and you'll have options for both 1 and 2 cell lights (they use the same head and tailcap). Both throw OK (esp. with the smooth reflector) but beams are still more floody than throwy IMO. The O-light T25 seems to have a similar output as the L2D but a larger reflector for longer throw.
 

AdamW

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The Fenix L1D/L2D (Q5 premium) combo is perhaps the most versatile...

Yes.

Excellent light and REALLY bright if needed. Multiple output levels and 2AA is your friend.

Fenix did a very good job with this light. It does not disappoint.
 

RGB_LED

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From selfbuilt's output tests, the Jet I's (IBS / PRO) seem to the output champs but there's only so much that an AA battery can push to the LED so, some lights might be a bit brigter but, in actual use, it's not going to be a huge difference. For example, my Fenix L1D-Q5 appears just a bit brighter (on Turbo) than my NiteCore DI which is, in turn, just a bit brighter than my D10. But, that doesn't mean the output numbers will confirm that since there may be differences between hotspot and sidespill.

Perhaps you can let us know how do you intend to use it... Are you looking for straight max output? More hotspot? Or sidespill? Will you be edc'ing the light? Giving it away as a gift? How about the $$ you want to spend? Just curious as your responses may lead you down a different path.

I use the NiteCore D10 which I find very versatile as it runs on 14500's and AA's - I can start off using 14500 but I know that it will also take AA's as a back-up. For the price, it's well-made and a good value but not the most output. The Fenix L1D-Q5 is also great as well since it's very bright with 1AA and has excellent runtimes as well as a dead-simple UI.

I've had the chance to check out the LiteFlux LF5XT just yesterday but the UI is quite complex - not impossible as I figured it out the second time I picked it up without anything telling me how it worked - and I wouldn't choose that light except as a collector piece - just my $0.02.
 

LauraQ

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Very good information from everyone! I knew you guys would have the facts I needed. I primarily intend to use it as an EDC (I'm a CERT team member and ham radio ARES volunteer), so I want to have something bright for emergency situations. I'm going to check out all of the lights you folks suggested. Thank you!!
 

LED-holic

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Glad to help. Great information here.

I hope you enjoy learning about which lights *cough* D10 *cough* to get. ;)
 

TONY M

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I think that the Olight T25 is slightly brighter than than L2D with better throw too.
 

Zenster

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Very good information from everyone! I knew you guys would have the facts I needed. I primarily intend to use it as an EDC (I'm a CERT team member and ham radio ARES volunteer), so I want to have something bright for emergency situations. I'm going to check out all of the lights you folks suggested. Thank you!!

If you go on "manuevers" as a member of ARES, I say to look closely at the D10 as a 1-cell light, and look real hard at the L2D-CE/Q5 Fenix as a 2xAA light.

The D10 offers a simple UI and the convenience of single AA operation, and the L2D adds the convenience of a strobe as well as an automated SOS feature for signalling (not that you know anything about that Morse Code stuff :duh2: :) ).
The ability to tail stand the light might be a big plus for you for when you're in a dark tent at night, and for that, the D10 would be a better choice because even though they can both tail stand, the height of the L2D makes less stable to do so than the D10.

They're both plenty bright for your application so either would be a great choice, however, what you really need to do, since you are now trapped here at CPF, is to get BOTH.
 

Gunner12

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The Nitecore D10 looks to be good for your task.

The L1D can also work well and it accepts different batty tubes for 2 AA(L2D) and 1 CR123(P2D) power. The L1T V2.0(simpler to use, and has a forward clickie) also accepts the before mentioned body tubes.
 

LauraQ

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Okay, okay, you've convinced me! D10 it is (for now). I look forward to joining in some of the discussion about this light once I've got my hot little hands on one.

Thanks again, guys! I love this board (maybe too much).
 

varuscelli

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Glad to help. Great information here.

I hope you enjoy learning about which lights *cough* D10 *cough* to get. ;)

That's some great subliminal coughing, LED-holic. You're a tricky guy... ;)

(Excuse me while I go out and buy another D10.)
 

LauraQ

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I succumbed to the subliminal messages on this forum!

You guys are evil. No, really.

And I did remember the discount. Thanks a million!
 
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