Best Throw/Flood/Combo AA & AAA Recommendations

Hey guys. Fairly new to the forum but have been reading extensively for about a week. Great forum here.

I've read numerous "best xxxx" threads I think some of them are kinda old or are either really specific. So I just wanted to start this thread asking for advice on which flashlights are best to date for each category.

All lights should be under $200, easily obtainable from the internet, and decent build quality. The number of batteries shouldn't matter. I assume the more batteries the "stronger" the light is. Main reason for AA is availability and AAA is availability & a smaller size.

What I'm looking for:

Best AA throw:
Best AA flood:
Best AA combo (good throw with decent spill?):


Best AAA throw:
Best AAA flood:
Best AAA combo (good throw with decent spill?):


Since I'm a newb, I'm going off of Gunner12's definition for flood and spill:

Gunner12 said:

Flood is a beam pattern, spill is the light around the hotspot.

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My first LED flashlight was a Serengeti I picked up from Sam's Club which I though was pretty neat for $15. Has a Cree XR-E that they rate at 160 Lumens. Didn't get any constructive comments on the forum about it though. Then I recently picked up a Fenix TK40... does that fall under any specific category? I'm looking to pick up a smaller light but would like some feedback first.

Thanks!

I think that pepole need to be spesific if whey start a "what is best" tread. Otherwise it will be a lot of "arguing" because we all have different oppinionts on what's best. The best light has to have best build quality, best regulation, best ui, best beampattern, best output, best size, best looks, best everything. Unless someone invents and pattern/copyrights something superbright, superefficient, something that dwarfs leds and hids in every way. There will be no universal "best" light. Even if surch thing was invented, i think that someone still would say : "i dont like this new 3000 lumen 1xaaa "cpf-fire" flashlight. Its to small and there is no lo-lo mode. 5 lumens is to bright for my night adapted vision. I need something like the 6 d-cell mag with a 0.2 lumen lo-lo mode to club intruders with while preserving my nightvision."lovecpf

best aa throw: quark mini aa neutral with 14500.
Lots will dissagree with this, but they are all wrong.:tinfoil: Even if they hate twistys, think its to thin and lightweight,, hate "the yucky yellow tint", or like 2 or 8 aa size lights better. Even if someone claim that their fenix tk40 throws ten times further, they will still be wrong. The quark has the trow i need from a aa light, its tiny, nice tint, its always in my pocket when i need it, Imo its the best aa "thrower".

Imo its better to ask for a light that best suits your spesific needs. The more spesific the better.

jorn said:

Imo its better to ask for a light that best suits your spesific needs. The more spesific the better.

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Actually I don't really have a "need" for a flashlight as my cheepo $15 Serengeti will do but I just find flashlights so COOL. Therefore I'd like to get the most for my money. I agree that specific needs should dictate what of light to get though.

Russelljohnson said:

What I'm looking for:

Best AA throw:
Best AA flood:
Best AA combo (good throw with decent spill?): You already have it, the TK40 :twothumbs


Best AAA throw:
Best AAA flood:
Best AAA combo (good throw with decent spill?):

Thanks!

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The Tk40 well rounded flashlight, anything else is just for wants, but its all about what you need it fer like Jorn said

PBX

You might as well consider the new Fenix TK45. It's brighter than the TK40.

It hasn't been released yet (still on ETA), but the Zebralight SC50 would be a good contender for best single AA flood. Pics on Zebra's website

PolarBearX said:

The Tk40 well rounded flashlight, anything else is just for wants, but its all about what you need it fer like Jorn said

PBX

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+1

regardless the size, TK30/40 will do all the job.:twothumbs

TK40 for sheer output in the AA format. TK45 is yet to be confirmed for release.

Fenix E20 is a nice little 2AA light that will give you the option of flood or throw.

Regardless of what light you get, do yourself a big favour and get enough Sanyo Eneloops to fill it twice (always have back-ups).

Lets look at some of your assumptions:

AAAs are certainly smaller, but not if you get a light that uses 3 of them. Ditto with AAs; theres a big difference between the 8xAA TK40 and a 1xAA itp A2 for example.
A light with 1x18650 is going to be smaller than even a 2xAA light since it will be a lot shorter and only marginally fatter.
Therefore, battery type itself is not a good indicator of size; you have to specify how many batteries as well.


Availability is kind of bogus as well. You want a light that is obtainable from the interwebz. Well, you can obtain the advanced batteries for the lights in the same manner. Therefore, limiting yourself to AA, AAA for that reason alone is not necessarily smart.

I limited myself to AA for my Father's Day presents and got itp A6 Polestars. This is because I don't want to give away lights with special battery requirements, that need gentler care. I got em some eneloops and a charger with it instead as they are more robust and what people are used to. This is a legit reason for going AA,AAA.
If you already had rechargables/charger, this would be another good reason to more strongly consider AA/AAA lights.

Consider that even though a light uses AAs or AAAs, you generally do NOT use alkalines! Pretty much everyone uses Rechargable NiMH (usually eneloops) for their AA/AAA needs. Another good plan is the Ultimate Lithium L92 AAA battery which lasts a LOT longer than alkalines and arent prone to leaking and ruining your light.


The throw/flood definition is a bit nebulous too. There are several factors involved.

If you hold a light say 1 foot from a wall, different ones will have different sized beams. Some have a fatter hotspot, whereas others have a skinnier one. The skinnier the hotspot, the better throw potential it has because the beam is tigher.

Also, the corona will be different too. An itp polestar has a big corona and is considered very floody. My xtar light has the same shape beam pattern, but it is about 1/2 the diameter of the corona.

Finally, some lights have more of their overall power in the hotspot or the corona. This power allocation also determines flood vs throw.




As mentioned above, 'best' is extremely nebulous. Some look at performance, some look at quality, and some look at cost effectiveness. They are all valid points of view.



Here are my recommendations:


Most cost-effective big AA light: itp A6 Polestar.

Best overall big AA light: Fenix TK40 (brighter, better build quality but 60 bucks more.)

Most cost effective keychain lights: itp A3 EOS (20 bucks, 3 modes, 1xAAA).
itp A2 EOS (1xAA...more runtime, same brightness).
itp A1 EOS (1xCR123... batteries are still easy to obtain but more expensive; much brighter than the other two at similar size)

joe1512 said:

Here are my recommendations:
Most cost-effective big AA light: itp A6 Polestar.

Best overall big AA light: Fenix TK40 (brighter, better build quality but 60 bucks more.)

Most cost effective keychain lights: itp A3 EOS (20 bucks, 3 modes, 1xAAA).
itp A2 EOS (1xAA...more runtime, same brightness).
itp A1 EOS (1xCR123... batteries are still easy to obtain but more expensive; much brighter than the other two at similar size)

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Really appreciate your detailed input. I was able to pick up the TK40 for $95 so I'm hoping it's worth the extra $15 for whatever it has to offer.

Russelljohnson said:

Really appreciate your detailed input. I was able to pick up the TK40 for $95 so I'm hoping it's worth the extra $15 for whatever it has to offer.

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considering that's by FAR the cheapest I've heard of ANYONE picking one up for I doubt you'll be remotely unimpressed

If its going to be a "user" I'd suggest rechargeables; if not, L91's (However, they are NOT manuf recommended/ie will void your warranty....although many people do it anyway. Just don't put them in backwards :shakehead )

"tk40 charger" will yield the relevant threads

jorn said:

best aa throw: quark mini aa neutral with 14500.
Lots will dissagree with this, but they are all wrong.:tinfoil:

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That tinfoil wont save you :laughing:

Not from me anyway :devil:

Quark mini with a 14500 : 2420 lux spot, 120 lux spill

Jetbeam Jet 1 Pro R2 with a 14500: 4520 lux spot, 112 lux spill

Russelljohnson said:

I was able to pick up the TK40 for $95 so I'm hoping it's worth the extra $15 for whatever it has to offer.

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Where did you buy your Tk40 for only $95? That's an absolute steal of a deal! :twothumbs:wow:

Locoboy5150 said:

Where did you buy your Tk40 for only $95? That's an absolute steal of a deal! :twothumbs:wow:

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Brand new from Fleabay. Actually picked up two of them. Might consider flipping them if it's gonna be too powerful for what I need. Although I don't really need really bright flashlights, I just think they're neat. Not sure yet. I also picked up a Pelican 7060 from Walmart for $130 and I'm gonna "rent" it for about 2 months to see how it works out since they have a 90-day return period.

thanks for all the replies from everybody.

Cheapskate said:

That tinfoil wont save you :laughing:

Not from me anyway :devil:

Quark mini with a 14500 : 2420 lux spot, 120 lux spill

Jetbeam Jet 1 Pro R2 with a 14500: 4520 lux spot, 112 lux spill

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Still its bigger, does the jet 1 have ibs? (gave away my jetbeam jet2 ibs because i too often got into programing while playing with it, couldent stand it) and it has a non neural tint. For me It cannot be "the best aa light" not the best trower or flooder, because there is too much I prob wont ike about it.
I bet the tk40 has more lux, but is the light with the most lux "the best"?

jorn said:

Still its bigger, does the jet 1 have ibs? (gave away my jetbeam jet2 ibs because i too often got into programing while playing with it, couldent stand it) and it has a non neural tint. For me It cannot be "the best aa light" not the best trower or flooder, because there is too much I prob wont ike about it.
I bet the tk40 has more lux, but is the light with the most lux "the best"?

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This is the original Jet 1 pro, it does not have IBS. It has three fixed levels and a memory for the last level used and has a greater output than the later IBS model. It certainly would be a bit bigger than the quark mini. The tint is probably WC and appears to be white to my eyes. It is the one in the middle:



The one on the left is an NDI and the one on the right is a Mini Maglight. The NDI and Jetbeam are being powered by NiMh AAs in the photo and would be 27% and 14% brighter on 14500s, respectively

I did not mean to imply it would be the best light for you, that is a subjective assessment only you can make. The NDI in the picture is my favoured light which I EDC, but I would never state it was the best possible thrower, because that is an objective statement which would simply not stand up to scrutiny. You might be interested that your Quark mini has slightly less output on a 14500 than the NDI in that photo.

The TK40 has 4.6 times the lux of the Jetbeam Pro but it needs 8 times as many batteries. Is it the best AA light for carrying in your pocket - I doubt it, is it the best AA for throw - Probably.

You got a great deal! The TK40 really isn't THAT big and heavy. My Polestar fits in my hand and I expected it to be a lot bigger and heavier.

Especially if you cheat and use the lighter weight lithium batteries.

I think your best bet is to get the 30 dollar Sanyo Eneloop package with 8AA, 2AAA, and a charger. The Eneloops work a LOT better with the TK40, cost pennies to recharge, AND they don't lose their charge near as fast as normal NiCad/NiMH which is a big deal! You want your light to still work after a month of non-usage.

Grats on the TK40! Ill betcha you could resell one for at least 120 bucks at the market here.

Russelljohnson said:

Brand new from Fleabay. Actually picked up two of them. Might consider flipping them if it's gonna be too powerful for what I need. Although I don't really need really bright flashlights, I just think they're neat. Not sure yet. I also picked up a Pelican 7060 from Walmart for $130 and I'm gonna "rent" it for about 2 months to see how it works out since they have a 90-day return period.

thanks for all the replies from everybody.

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Once again beware that some of these ebay lights are not the real deal. Just cheap knock offs.

joe1512 said:

Grats on the TK40! Ill betcha you could resell one for at least 120 bucks at the market here.

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that's what they go for new :thinking: