Seeking AA/AAA light for friend; specific needs listed

Hi everyone,

A friend of mine has become fed up with the bulky, weak flashlights she keeps buying and told me that she wants something brighter, smaller and more reliable. She's not after 200 lumens or anything, and so likes the idea of a single AA or AAA light for her primary user.

She's after the following:

1. Tint: at least neutral white, or warm white

2. Modes: ideally, only 2 or 3 modes: low, medium, high. If only low (5-10 lumens) and high were available, that's fine. And if only high is available, that's alright if there's no other choice. Mode memory is good.

3. Brightness: Based on what I showed her with my Olight T25, she'd be happy with a high level brightness of 50 or so lumens (or higher, of course if it's possible).

4. Beam pattern: Ideally, she'd like a reasonably reaching diffused flood beam (like a Malkoff flood); failing that, she'd like a good combination of flood and throw, with a very good, smooth beam pattern (the Olight T25 comes to mind again - mine has a distinct hotspot, but good flood around it and no real artifacts to speak of).

5. Tailcap: She'd like either momentary on ability, or tailstanding; either one is okay, though I think tailstanding is her preference.

6. Strobe/SOS mode: preferably not. No noticeable PWM.

7. No parasitic battery drain.
_______________________

I think that's everything.

Thanks for any thoughts!

Maratac AAA fills all your needs , 3 modes , tailstanding , bright ,and just a great little light all around.
Lee

First think come in my mind is nitecore D10.

it has infinite adjustable brightness from 1%~100%
can using either single primary AA cell or rechargeable (nimh, nicd or even li-ion 14500).
it has tailstanding function and momentary push button.

another option are 47's Quark AA and Fenix LD10.
But those are only my suggest. i think there are still lot more that meets your criteria.

50 lumens ain't gonna cut it for a beam as wide as a Malkoff flood. My Malkoff M30WF is 170 lumens, and it's nearly invisible when aimed at a wet street.

You can take a look at the EagleTac P10A
-can tailstand
-momentary on forward click
-has hi/low (close to high/medium)
-also has lifetime original owner warranty

http://eagletac.com/flashlights/p10a.html

I vote for the ITP A3 eos, simple 3 mode twisty, runs on aaa, max output of 80lumens for 50mins.

If you go for the A2 then the runtime increases to 2hours, and the size difference from using aa shouldnt be a problem unless she's wanting a keychain only light.

I'd recommend getting them from shiningbeam's website, only $25 and very good service for a very useful and versatile light :thumbsup:

A Preon I or Preon II would do very nicely.
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/258156

A regular Quark AA or AA2 would be a good bet, though I wish they'd actually stock neutral tint. Perfect beam on that light too.

RedForest UK said:

I vote for the ITP A3 eos, simple 3 mode twisty, runs on aaa, max output of 80lumens for 50mins.

If you go for the A2 then the runtime increases to 2hours, and the size difference from using aa shouldnt be a problem unless she's wanting a keychain only light.

I'd recommend getting them from shiningbeam's website, only $25 and very good service for a very useful and versatile light :thumbsup:

Click to expand...

Consider that by using an Energizer Ultimate Lithium (L92), which is about 2 dollars each retail, you can get about 8 times the stated runtime, and also the light will work in extreme cold for the A3. Therefore you don't HAVE to get the A2 for increased runtime.

Ive got the A3 and I don't know about parasitic drain and all this jazz, but the light has a nice beam, a good mix of flood and throw (about 1/2 the power in the 3 inch hotspot(at 1 foot away), and half in the 15inch corona, which is nice and smooth.
And its tiny!

+1 also for the ITP A3,small and really very bright 3 modes and girly colours are available as well.

Why spend more does the job and for about $20

I think the NiteCore EZAAW ("warm") would work: it's one of the smallest AA lights I've seen (really almost like a large AAA light), has a warm tint, two modes (low/hi) with probably about 10 lumens and 80-100 lumens respectively, reasonably floody beam, no strobe/SOS, no PWM that I can detect (and I'm pretty sensitive to it), and can tailstand. Seems like it hits nearly every one of your criteria.

The only potential issues are that (1) it's a twisty, and I can't tell whether you wanted a clicky that tailstands or just a light that tailstands, and (2) I don't know whether there's any parasitic drain...though my guess is that there isn't.

Hope this helps!

- FITP

P.S. I'm a big fan of the ITP A3 that others have mentioned, but I didn't recommend it because it lacks a neutral/warm tint and has fairly noticable PWM. Other than that, it's a fantastic light: tiny, bright, and inexpensive.

P.P.S. You might also consider the LiteFlux LF2XT in neutral tint. It's a small AAA light with warm tint, great floody beam with punch (from the 120+ lumens that it puts out on LiIons), and no PWM. The only catch is that the UI is slightly more complicated. However, in "basic" mode, it's pretty straightforward: click once for on, double-click for low, or click and hold for max.

I plan on surprising my brother with a Quark Mini AA. Except for tint, since it appears the warm version is tough to find, it seems to meet the requirements. Might be just the light for your friend. Better runtime than a AAA and maybe it won't get lost in her purse quite as easily.

Geoff

Wait a little longer and get the Zebralight SC50w

Wow, wow, wow; lots more choices than I anticipated. I will be reviewing all these and sharing what I find with my friend. Thanks so much, everyone.

Oh - good point about the low lumens and Malkoff style flood! Thanks you. Yeah, the warm (or neutral? One of the two) Quarks have caught my eye before (for myself, too!), but I think they're on pre-order right now?

Anyway, I'll check all these suggestions out. I forgot to discuss if she'd be okay with a twisty, but I can't imagine not.

Cheers everyone! :twothumbs

Nitecore Defender Infinity.

Single AA
Two modes accessed by twist of head
Memory of last mode
Instant access to max
Hidden, but rapidly accessible strobe
Momentary switch (forward clickie)
Good with all types of batteries - ie omniverous.

The second mode is user adjustable from 5 - 140 lumens (R2 version) but once set, the light functions with absolute simplicity as a two level light.

Operation is very simple, and despite the sophistication, the usage of the functions is easily remembered due to the very clever UI.

The only thing it is lacking is tail standing, but a small piece of 1/2" copper pipe insulating foam solves that simply and cheaply.

Cheapskate said:

Nitecore Defender Infinity.

Single AA
Two modes accessed by twist of head
Memory of last mode
Instant access to max
Hidden, but rapidly accessible strobe
Momentary switch (forward clickie)
Good with all types of batteries - ie omniverous.

The second mode is user adjustable from 5 - 140 lumens (R2 version) but once set, the light functions with absolute simplicity as a two level light.

Operation is very simple, and despite the sophistication, the usage of the functions is easily remembered due to the very clever UI.

The only thing it is lacking is tail standing, but a small piece of 1/2" copper pipe insulating foam solves that simply and cheaply.

Click to expand...

Looks good, too. I'm a bit out of touch with tints and what's what these days. Is the R2 warm, or neutral?

Cheers

R2 is the efficiency bin. It does not specify color. For the XR-E R2 is the highest efficiency you can get. For XP-G, R5 is the highest efficiency.

A "neutral" tint is a bin like Q3-5A where the 5A specifies tint.

Thank you, carrot.

Is there a thread around that I've not seen which goes into more detail about this?

Cheers

tint/bin coding
cool vs warm

timbo, thanks kindly.