Any one else tired of CR123 LED lights?

I was just wondering if anyone else is tired of the continual proliferation of LED lights using CR123 batteries? I really, really don't like these hard to find and expensive power cells and don't plan on buying any more lights powered by them (surefire included, and especially) unless they turn out to be something other than the darkly anodized generic fare that has saturated the market. Here's to hoping for more lights powered by alkaline or NiMh rechargables.

I really love CR 123 powered lights and they are the only ones I consider buying, except for very few others, like Photons.
Alkaline doesn't cut it, and rechargeable is a hassle and unacceptable for a multitude of reasons.
SO, I am the opposite of you
bernie

Kiessling said:

I really love CR 123 powered lights and they are the only ones I consider buying, except for very few others, like Photons.
Alkaline doesn't cut it, and rechargeable is a hassle and unacceptable for a multitude of reasons.
SO, I am the opposite of you
bernie

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Jedi Knife said:

I was just wondering if anyone else is tired of the continual proliferation of LED lights using CR123 batteries? I really, really don't like these hard to find and expensive power cells and don't plan on buying any more lights powered by them (surefire included, and especially) unless they turn out to be something other than the darkly anodized generic fare that has saturated the market. Here's to hoping for more lights powered by alkaline or NiMh rechargables.

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Nope. By ordering online, my CR123 cells really aren't that expensive. I feed my M6 SF123's and the rest Battery Station USA made 123s. It's hard to beat ~1.20 per cell from Battery Station. Although, I do have some 17500's on the way to power my SF G3.

For me, it's either CR123 or Li-Ion.

-Robert

I generally prefer primaries for my lights. CR123 cells are cheaper and run longer than lithium AA. So, no I'm not tired of them. They are currently my preferred power source for lights and cameras.

Despite the drawback of cell availability/cost, I find the form factor of a 1xCR123 light to be just about ideal for me. Considering the resulting compactness combined with excellent runtime, and availability of seriously cheap CR123 cells online (not to mention rechargable Li-ions from AW, which in my experience have been very convenient and reliable), I will still happily buy them. How can you complain about $1 per cell with a 10-15 year shelf life? I'm more of a casual user though, so don't burn through batteries terribly fast (and I only maintain a small stock of primaries for emergencies, otherwise its rechargable all the way for me).

I do, however, always keep my D10 handy for serious emergencies since AA is so ubiquitous.

Neither am I tired of them! They bring the highest output, the cells work in any conditions as they should, they don't leak and have a shelf life of 10 years. :thumbsup:

I order them at my favourite austrian dealer, so they aren't much more expensive than AA-Alkalines. Don't buy them in your local photo-shop though, you will pay twice to 4 times the price. By now, i didn't have any problems with "no-name" cells, mine are called "Cytac"...

Of course, I also use AA-lights, powered by Panasonic Infinium rechargeables, but I'm never in a dark forest at night without a CR123A powered light in the backpack!

I must admit that I'm a little bit tired of my L4, which burns 2 cells in an hour, but knowing that, I only use it when I really need it. For the rest, a light like a TK10 or an M20 has long runtime with 2 cells, you needn't keep it on high all the time. Same thing for the EagleTacs, reserve the high for the situations you nee to flood the wood with light and your cells will last.

NiMh-AA are good alrounders, but you never know how long they really run and how they will behave...

Obviously, the trick is to not pay those exorbitant retail prices for your cells. I bought a batch of 400, new production ROV cells for $.79 each and split them up with others. $1 each seems to be attainable many times as well.

I like them, and I certainly prefer them to alkalines. I also like AA's but I only use either LSD rechargables, or AA lithium primaries now. Incidentally, AA lithiums are harder to find and more expensive in shops here than CR123's. My lights are about 50/50 AA and CR123 (excluding big Mags).

I ordered 10 Energizer CR123's the other day for £9.99 including shipping. Not the deal of the centuary, but I'm happy enough paying that. You can pay that here for 10 AA duracell.

Like them. say in 9p surefire with malkoff M60, no other lite not much bigger than mini mag can deliver 235 lumens for 2.5 hours. no 2aa lite generates 235 lumens. 180 yes.

However mainly use 18500 li-ion cells these days, with 123s as backup.

Jedi Knife said:

I was just wondering if anyone else is tired of the continual proliferation of LED lights using CR123 batteries? I really, really don't like these hard to find and expensive power cells and don't plan on buying any more lights powered by them (surefire included, and especially) unless they turn out to be something other than the darkly anodized generic fare that has saturated the market. Here's to hoping for more lights powered by alkaline or NiMh rechargables.

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Nope, not tired of them. I prefer CR123 primaries for my lights. They are lighter weight, cost less than AA Lithiums and are not hard to get. A couple of mouse clicks can have a batch of good quality ones on the way for $1.00 per cell or less. I ordered a box of 50 of them early this year. This should last me over 2 years. Lithium primaries have a 10 year shelf life as well, and they don't leak like alkalines do when they sit for years in an emergency light.

So, I'm not tired of them..

I like AA batteries more than CR123. I'm not saying they are better. I agree that for the size, CR123 are hard to beat. I understand you can get cheap CR123 primaries on the web, but rechargeable NiMh will always be cheaper to use at the end. Of course you can also have RCR123, but I'm really not impressed by their performance vs a Duracell 2650 NiMh in flashlights.

To me, it's a question of standards/availability all over the world. If the CR123 were the most easy to find batteries in the world, than I would prefer them over the AAs. I'm like that.

People are saying that you won't see much of a difference between 180 and 220 lumens. Proof to me that I did a good choice with my L2D Q5 using NiMh with a 2 hours runtime on a set of Eneloop. Imagine on set of 2650 mAh ...

I bought a Canon camera that was using AAs just because they are available anywere I'm traveling. If my set of rechargeable batteries is dead than I can buy another one for a few dollars. Don't wanna be forced to use the "sorry it's not avalaible anymore" special proprietary lithium battery that worth 100$... It's not standard: you'll have to buy a new camera...:hairpull:

BTW, I think alkalines are out of the game now, but at least they are an option in my AA flashlights.

I respect EVERYONE's choice no matter what type of batteries they use. I know CR123 DO HAVE some advantages over the AA. We all have different needs. NiMh are a better choice... for me. If we were all making the same choices, the world would be a boring place to live .

Cheers!

Jedi Knife said:

I was just wondering if anyone else is tired of the continual proliferation of LED lights using CR123 batteries? I really, really don't like these hard to find and expensive power cells and don't plan on buying any more lights powered by them (surefire included, and especially) unless they turn out to be something other than the darkly anodized generic fare that has saturated the market. Here's to hoping for more lights powered by alkaline or NiMh rechargables.

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CR123 batteries are the best deal going when you factor in size, voltage, amp rating and storage life.

So no, I'm not tired of them at all.

As far as price goes, it's silly to buy retail local.
I buy them 50 at a time from any of the online sources you find here in CPF.
While I do keep some AA lights around, I do so just in case I have to have one that accepts the "cheap to find anywhere" batteries they use (although I've yet to run low on CR123's).

As far as rechargeables, they're great and I use a lot of them as well. But you can't rely on them when the power goes out at the house and you can't recharge them anymore.

i love my cr123's. mainly because of their long shelf life. i don't have to worry about them self discharging before i get a chance to use them. i do like my AA powered lights, but i don't like alkalines, and unless i use the light often, or at least regularly, i don't like rechargeables (for any form factor for that matter).

For an EDC light I like the form factor CR123 cells give a light. I prefer the shorter and wider light to the longer and narrower. I presently pocket carry my EDC (Nautilus) and I probably wouldn't if it was long enough to take a AA cell. For camping or other such activities I carry and use both CR123 and AA lights. There are great light light that use either AA's or CR123's so I don't want to limit myself to one battery type.

Yes getting tired, I feel the need for a 18650 based light.

As other have said, CR123's can be had online for quite cheap. Even my local outdoors stores (Cabelas, Bass Pro...) sell bulk packs of Surefire cells that work out to ~1.75 each. Couple that with the fact that 1 NiMH cells simply can't support the high lumen outputs we expect out of modern lights and I'm a CR123 convert. At some point it just becomes nice to have all your lights able to run on the same cells.

You are tired of ..... choice?

I choose almost exclusively AA lights. Way easier and the output is sufficient for my uses... and I am very happy to know that the chance of an exploding light in my hand is not existent.

By the way: Not everybody has easy access to cheap CR123A....

Personally I made the decision to standardise on AA, AAA and 18650 (plus a couple of 14250 cells for my raw al), so no CR123 for me. The reason is that I'm not bothered by the size advantage of a CR123, and for a BoB I can buy lithium AA's, and have a 10-15 year shelf life, and then when my stash of those run out, still run my lights on alkies I can scavenge. For day to day use, I use LSD NiMH eneloops, which IMO are a lot easier than RCR123's; mainly because there are no safety worries associated with lithium, and they can be recharged in about 30 minutes if need be, as opposed to 3 hours on LiCo cells.

Kiessling said:

I really love CR 123 powered lights and they are the only ones I consider buying, except for very few others, like Photons.
Alkaline doesn't cut it, and rechargeable is a hassle and unacceptable for a multitude of reasons.
SO, I am the opposite of you
bernie

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+2

Unforgiven said:

I generally prefer primaries for my lights. CR123 cells are cheaper and run longer than lithium AA. So, no I'm not tired of them. They are currently my preferred power source for lights and cameras.

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NightFlyer said:

Nope, not tired of them. I prefer CR123 primaries for my lights. They are lighter weight, cost less than AA Lithiums and are not hard to get. A couple of mouse clicks can have a batch of good quality ones on the way for $1.00 per cell or less. I ordered a box of 50 of them early this year. This should last me over 2 years. Lithium primaries have a 10 year shelf life as well, and they don't leak like alkalines do when they sit for years in an emergency light.

So, I'm not tired of them..

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Oddjob said:

For an EDC light I like the form factor CR123 cells give a light. I prefer the shorter and wider light to the longer and narrower. I presently pocket carry my EDC (Nautilus) and I probably wouldn't if it was long enough to take a AA cell. For camping or other such activities I carry and use both CR123 and AA lights. There are great light light that use either AA's or CR123's so I don't want to limit myself to one battery type.

Click to expand...

+1