Looking for AA better floody lights?

Hey guys,

First post here - I'm trying to find a light that runs on 1 or 2 AA that is powerful and has a floody beam. I'm a rookie compared to you guys but i'm learning a lot buy reading many threads. It seems like there are so many choices but most seem to focus (haha) on throw, which i like but not at the expense of flood. Incan or Led is fine.

I want to keep about $75 and of course cheaper is better plus I want to give a couple as xmas gifts to Dad and good friend. I think fenix and quark look good but not floody enough from beamshots are there a couple of good lights that are known as best floody? Thanks a lot !!!

zebra light

welcome to CPF. please look up LiteFlux LF5XT.

khoo

If you want a 1xaa light that is all flood the zebralight is a great choice. If you want a choice between flood and throw the romisen rc-29 might be a good choice from shiningbeam.
In the 2xaa format, the fenix e20 is a great floody light.

Oh yeah, if you like the quark series but wish it were floodier, check out the new prism heads they jsut released for them. However, that will def bring you over your budget.

I'm all about a good floodlight

Check out Peak LED Solution's subforum in the CPF Custom Builders and Modders section, they have a new AA light called El Capitan, it uses a medium optic with a Cree XP-G, it's a single mode twisty and you can choose that single modes brightness, there are 8 different levels to choose from. It's $49.95 for the aluminum version and is made here in America, which scores it some feel good points for some.

I think fenix and quark look good but not floody enough from beamshots

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Beamshots do not tell the whole story. The Quarks have ample spill which I think is what you are after. I have two of the warm Q3-5A limited editions (standard 123 and 123(2) tac) and found that their beams are very well suited to almost any use I have had thus far. The amount of light thrown to the sides has to be seen to be appreciated.

:welcome: What will the lights you seek be primarily used for?

Well, the only single AA light i own that can move from flood to spot is my LED Lenser P5, you can check out my previous post on this light.

Other options are the Romisen RC 29 as mentioned above, there are some cheaper options from DX but i would humbly suggest going with shiningbeam, use "CPFuser" for a discount. Shipping is incredibly fast too.

2xAA, LED Lenser makes a model but i dont own that, the Fenix E20 can also focus. Not too sure about the new Magleds though.

Thanks for all the great responses :twothumbs. I'll use the light indoors and outdoors. The LED Lenser P5 or P7 looks interesting, What do you think? Not sure if they have lower outputs too for indoors. Thanks I'm learning a lot. I'll let you know what I decide.

Anyone have beamshots of the Romisen RC 29? Or is it too new for anyone to have done a review on it yet?

--flatline

Maybe take a look at the Gander Mountain 125 lumen handheld LED flashlight.

It's only one mode, but looked to be solid construction. Uses a Rebel LED, and focuses.

And remember, you can take a rectangle of Scotch 'Magic' (translucent, not the clear stuff) tape, fold the end over to make a tab, and slap it on the front of your light when you want a broad floodlight for a while. Peels right off, no problem. PostIts little color-tab things work too.

I'm guessing a simple light would also be good?

The Zebralight is a small light that is pure flood. No hotspot at all.

The Lensed light like the Romisen RC-29 and similar should all go from flood to spot pretty nicely, but they won't have any spill in spot mode.

:welcome:

If you want a pure flood, even beam, Zebralight is your choice. H501 can be get at $59-63 from various US dealers with coupon.
Or you can use a diffuser (buy one or DIY) on a regular light, but there are certain amount of light loss -- Zebralight use a lens so don't have this problem.
From my experience, I would say my Nitecore D20 is a flood light, not too flood, but definitely not for throw. You can get a Q5 D20 at about $40-50 (I saw a sale thread yesterday in marketplace), 180 lumens, 2AA, pretty good UI and piston drive feels much better than most "switch".

Checkit said:

Thanks for all the great responses :twothumbs. I'll use the light indoors and outdoors. The LED Lenser P5 or P7 looks interesting, What do you think? Not sure if they have lower outputs too for indoors. Thanks I'm learning a lot. I'll let you know what I decide.

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The LED Lenser P5 only has one mode, have run mine for close to 4 hours and at the end it still has usable light output. Not sure about the P7 though i was looking at a P6 (2xAA)

I decided to order a Romisen RC-C6 II Warm White with an extension tube to turn it into a 2xAA. I ordered from Shiningbeam.com and Bryan mailed it the same day I bought it. It was around $25.

Any thoughts? I'll let you know how a newbie likes it when it arrives, by the way what are the different type of AAs are there out there I've heard of NiMH and eleopes from CPF can someone give me a quick rundown? Thanks. :thumbsup: What's sad is I'm wondering what to get next!

Sanyo eneloop is a Low self-discharge NiMH battery. The problem with regular NiMH rechargeable is

nickel-based batteries lose 10% to 15% of their capacity in the first 24 hours after charge, then 10% to 15% per month afterwards. lithium-ion self-discharges about 5% in the first 24 hours and 1-2% afterwards.

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However, eneloop is more expensive than regular NiMH. So it depends on your needs and budget. If you use your battery frequently, then regular NiMH is OK.

I have lots of regular NiMH, so I did not purchase eneloop. If worried by the discharge, I can always take alkaline or L92 Li as backup.

Normally you can get eneloop in amazon, costco also have some sale if you can get it.

Checkit said:

I decided to order a Romisen RC-C6 II Warm White with an extension tube to turn it into a 2xAA. I ordered from Shiningbeam.com and Bryan mailed it the same day I bought it. It was around $25.

Any thoughts? I'll let you know how a newbie likes it when it arrives, by the way what are the different type of AAs are there out there I've heard of NiMH and eleopes from CPF can someone give me a quick rundown? Thanks. :thumbsup: What's sad is I'm wondering what to get next!

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Good call on the extension tube. I have to remember to do that too if I end up getting one of these. Hm, I dont see the extension tube sold by itself, link? Actually, I have a romisen rc-n3 I wonder if its extension tube would work just as well.

My first post in more than a year, I think.
I prefer incans, but I prefer floods even more. So I bought an H501W to EDC. A few nights ago, I arrived late to a movie theater and used the H501W to find a seat. Long story short, I lost it in the theater but missed it so little I didn't go back four blocks to find it. It's too tiny to EDC without a keyring to keep it in place. And 80 lumens spread over 80 degrees left me wanting more brightness. Perhaps its 18650 big brother would suit me better.

Checkit said:

I decided to order a Romisen RC-C6 II Warm White with an extension tube to turn it into a 2xAA. I ordered from Shiningbeam.com and Bryan mailed it the same day I bought it. It was around $25.

Any thoughts? I'll let you know how a newbie likes it when it arrives, by the way what are the different type of AAs are there out there I've heard of NiMH and eleopes from CPF can someone give me a quick rundown? Thanks. :thumbsup: What's sad is I'm wondering what to get next!

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I have a RC-C6 and really like it. I didn't even know you could get an extension tube for it. Thanks for that info. As for the light, it's a lot of fun and when completely unfocused, puts out a very very wide, round spot. Just a big, usable floody circle. You will like it, and for the price is a fantastic buy. It's a lot of fun in its tightly-focused mode too - the cat chases it as if it's a laser-pointer.