Buying my family AAA lights for Christmas.

My 3 year old niece is always playing with a little tiger flashlight she has, along with one of those 9 LED cheapos. The rest of my family are the type who try to use their cell phones to see in the dark. So for Christmas, I've decided that I'm getting everybody a good AAA light. Including my niece.
Anyways, as of right now, I'm thinking about either the Maratac AAA, or the Preon 1 aluminum version. My budget is about $40 per light. Gotta get 5 of them.
I'm just wondering if you guys have any thoughts on the best light for a normal person to have. I'd like to keep it to single AAA only, since these are mainly going to live on keychains and in purses.

The Maratac AAA is a nice light, but I'm a little worried about the longevity of the keyring attachment point. I personally like the aggressive knurling (it makes one-handed operation THAT much easier) but the iTP A3 EOS is also worth looking at. It's essentially the same light as the Maratac, but with a slightly more robust keyring attachment point, in my opinion.

Peak Eigers are right in that pricerange. beautifully machined single level keychain lights that can run on anything you can fit in the body tube...heavy duty/alkaline/nimh/e2 lith/10440...

for a regular person, i'd say power level #4, cool rebel, medium optic.
and then pick your metal. HA black aluminum, knurled Brass or Smooth Stainless.

I'm not sure about how the Preon-1's are packaged, but from a gifting perspective, the iTanium and the Preon-2 Tuxedo are superb. I personally think either light would make a quality gift that would be appreciated and a great presentation. Good luck!!

My two cents ... from all the lights already refered the preon 1 looks to be the best choice for a non flashaolic (assuming package similar to the Tis).

Nevertheless Ive opted for the Versa Ti ET10 to my Christmas gifts ... if you get them at a good price (a CPF dealer is selling them at 35$ with 8% discount). It is sold in a nice rectangular package (not as nice as the Preon) easily open to add whatever you need

iTP A3 EOS upgrade edition, buy 1 of each color: black, red, blue, gold, purple...

LightCannon said:

The Maratac AAA is a nice light, but I'm a little worried about the longevity of the keyring attachment point. I personally like the aggressive knurling (it makes one-handed operation THAT much easier) but the iTP A3 EOS is also worth looking at. It's essentially the same light as the Maratac, but with a slightly more robust keyring attachment point, in my opinion.

Click to expand...

Egsise said:

iTP A3 EOS upgrade edition, buy 1 of each color: black, red, blue, gold, purple...

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+1

I have the Maratac AAA and can recommend them easily! :twothumbs

Look at the stainless steel version if you want a pretty light. Or you can get the HAIII versions and package in some AAA Eneloops and a charger and/or lithium primaries like the Energizer Lithium Ultras.

I researched and purchased a AAA light a few months ago. I was also worried about the keychain attchment of the Maratac. And I thought the Fenix was a little pricey. I went with the iTP EOS Upgrade Edition and absolutely love it. Great little light and only $21 or thereabouts.

I know its not a AAA, but maybe the Quark AA Mini might make a nice gift at that price?

MWClint said:

Peak Eigers are right in that pricerange. beautifully machined single level keychain lights that can run on anything you can fit in the body tube...heavy duty/alkaline/nimh/e2 lith/10440...

for a regular person, i'd say power level #4, cool rebel, medium optic.
and then pick your metal. HA black aluminum, knurled Brass or Smooth Stainless.

Click to expand...

+1

LightCannon said:

The Maratac AAA is a nice light, but I'm a little worried about the longevity of the keyring attachment point.

Click to expand...

Mine broke, with no abuse or even any real use. It just fell apart into two pieces.

Between the two I would definitely recommend the iTP A3 EOS. The Standard version might be better for non-flashaholics -- I bought the Upgrade for my wife and it immediately became apparent that multiple modes just ticked her off.

The Illuminati Q5 is within your budget if you use the cpf2008 discount code.

I just tried pulling on the keychain attachment of my maratac with almost all my might and it didn't even budge. I also used to worry about this but not now.

Egsise said:

iTP A3 EOS upgrade edition, buy 1 of each color: black, red, blue, gold, purple...

Click to expand...

Who has the colored versions in stock?

http://goinggear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=14_19
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=181841

MWClint said:

Peak Eigers are right in that pricerange. beautifully machined single level keychain lights that can run on anything you can fit in the body tube...heavy duty/alkaline/nimh/e2 lith/10440...

for a regular person, i'd say power level #4, cool rebel, medium optic.
and then pick your metal. HA black aluminum, knurled Brass or Smooth Stainless.

Click to expand...

+1 also these are almost indestructable. easy to use by anyone...just twist.

damn_hammer said:

http://goinggear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=14_19
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=181841

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If you look at goingear's page, you'll see that all the colored ITP AAAs have negative counts of units in stock with the exception of gold, which has 8 units in stock.

I was under the impression that shiningbeam was usually the first US dealer to get ITP products, but he doesn't have them up on his site yet.

--flatline

You are a very generous gift giver spending that amount per light to I presume people who have no interest in flashlights.

I myself would make each of them a little gift pack up with loads of bits in.I would use the Fenix EO1 as it is reliable easy on batteries and lights up enough for the casual user plus would add other handy gifts such as perhaps those decent quality glow in the dark key rings, would then add a decent quality expanding pen and other bits and bobs.

I am doing the same for my 25 year old son this year, I started the hunt for gifts so far he gets a AA cell Cyber Lite (UK brand) plus from the US he has a nice watch in a nice ammo gift tin.

There's a very nice review of XP-G R5 1xAAA Titanium flashlights by EngrPaul posted here. It focuses on the Preon and IlluminaTi, but shows shots of other lights mentioned here (e.g. Maratec AAA). And you probably noted this thread in the current forum comparing the IlluminaTi with the Maratec AAA I agree with other posters that you are giving your family really nice gifts.

boojum

flatline said:

If you look at goingear's page, you'll see that all the colored ITP AAAs have negative counts of units in stock with the exception of gold, which has 8 units in stock.

I was under the impression that shiningbeam was usually the first US dealer to get ITP products, but he doesn't have them up on his site yet.

--flatline

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sorry, didn't notice the negative count that you noted. i purchased the blue, and purple from goinggear ... got them in the mail last week. they must be out again. looks like they expect more soon:

GoingGear.com said:

Should be here later this week along with a huge order of everything else from them.

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http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=203354&page=2

MWClint said:

Peak Eigers are right in that pricerange. beautifully machined single level keychain lights that can run on anything you can fit in the body tube...heavy duty/alkaline/nimh/e2 lith/10440...

for a regular person, i'd say power level #4, cool rebel, medium optic.
and then pick your metal. HA black aluminum, knurled Brass or Smooth Stainless.

Click to expand...

+2

A simple single-level, well-regulated light is perfect for a non-flashaholic. #4 medium is a good recommendation, IMO.