aa light w/minimal regulation

I have several aa lights and think I would like a Jetbeam single aa, but...

I don't like my flashlight to drain all the power out of a battery and just suddenly go black !!! I would much rather have one that will regulate for a while and then go out of regulation and slowly deplete the remaining power. Heck, I'd rather not have any regulations and slowly depelete the battery so that I can make my mind up when to replace it instead of suddenly being in the dark.

I have several of the discontinued Lifegear's that were sold at Target's and they seem extreamly good at this, but I'd like a flashlight a bit more robust and with a warm tint (3400-3800 temp.). I prefer a forward clicky also, and don't know if the Jetbeam can be fitted with one.

I really really do not want a round flashlight w/o some type of head on it to act as an anti-roll device, unless the Surefire or anti-roll device of the mini-mags will fit. I don't want to depend upon the clip to do this for me. My Lifegears are round, but the mini-mag anti-roll device works nicely on it.

I may add some desired features as lights are recommended, but the above are the most important ones.

Any ideals?

Connortn

romisen G2 or C29?

The Quark Mini AA (warm white version) seems to be able to continue lighting up on very low voltage and I've not seen it cut out suddenly. I'm sure it's regulated, but apparently it drops out when the battery gets down. I'd assume the standard version works the same.

Geoff

You'll like the Peak Matterhorn. It has nice output for awhile on AA and then tapers off forever.

LED Lenser? The P5 is quite a nice light but doesn't have an anti roll device.

The way it operates isn't to everyone's liking - either all spot, all flood with no hot spot or in between with rings..you generally don't use anything between all flood or throw anyway so doesn't come up as an issue often. Throw is really good for a single AA light too.

EDIT: If you don't like the idea of single mode have a look at the M5, it's got low/high/strobe. It's regulated apparently but I had one and I found it did seem dim quite noticeably giving you plenty of time to swap cells...too bad the LED Lenser site has crap information

Flying Turtle said:

The Quark Mini AA (warm white version) seems to be able to continue lighting up on very low voltage and I've not seen it cut out suddenly. I'm sure it's regulated, but apparently it drops out when the battery gets down. I'd assume the standard version works the same.

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When the High and Medium modes are the same brightness, I take that as a sign to swap batteries. I love that little light.

I've only had that happen to me with one light and that was the first decent AAA light I ever had, a Zero Gravity. One level, plenty bright, but when the battery died right in the middle of doing something in the dark and being focused on the lighted area, it gave a whole new meaning to pitch black!

Thankfully I've never seen any of my other lights do that and I think it was a problem that was created when regulation first started to be used, without the realization that they needed to give consideration to the end of life cycle too!

Maybe the Jet I Pro w/IBS V3 doesn't show the "suprise, you're in the dark" feature. I don't have one, of course, and by looking at run times on the light, I assumed that it would not give very much if any warning that it was about to go pitch black on me.

Has anyone here tested this light to see how it behaves when the battery gets low by actually watching it? I did so with my Lifegears and they will run up to 8-9 hours before going out. You almost had to light a match at 9 hours to check it out, but you could still navigate around in familiar surroundings. I'm not sure what circuit they used, but I like it. Just wish they were built a bit better as one has bit the dust already.

Also, if the Jet I Pro w/IBS V3 has anything like the Lifegear runtime, is there a forward clicky that will work in the light, or does it require the reverse quicky to make the IBS to work?

And is there a similar light that will last for years and very durable running on aa's? I'm assuming here that the Jetbeam will do so, or do I need to look for something in a Surefire or similar light? I don't think Surefire is making a single aa flashlight yet thou.

Flying Turtle said:

The Quark Mini AA (warm white version) seems to be able to continue lighting up on very low voltage and I've not seen it cut out suddenly. I'm sure it's regulated, but apparently it drops out when the battery gets down. I'd assume the standard version works the same.

Click to expand...

The MiNis are voltage-regulated (brightness varies with input voltage), so they'll start fading out with batteries that taper off in voltage (alkalines are good at that). The high modes will cut out when the battery can't supply enough current, though.

The regular Quark line is current-regulated, and will just cut off suddenly.

Solarforce L2r with >.8 to 4.2 v Drop in or any AA/AAA/C/D lights with specified .8v minimum voltage will do the trick.

Most of my lights powered by AA/AAA and not by protected lithium batteries will drain the batteries slowly after it drops to 50% power.
My single mode Romisen RC29 from shining beam can go for 1.5 hours at full power and can go on for 5hrs more (stopped the light since it might damage the battery when drained).

I rarely use my lithium powered lights in my Camping trips and night strolls coz I don't want to be left out in the Dark.
My Best backup light is the MiNi AA. lightweight, reliable and can be used even with amost depleted batteries.

Ian2381 said:

My single mode Romisen RC29 from shining beam can go for 1.5 hours at full power and can go on for 5hrs more

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Thanks a lot, Ian. Now how am I supposed to justify toting TWO Romisens on my keyring? Actually, I can, and I will: The RC-G2 II is to throw and impress, while the defocused RC-29 II is to provide a pleasing, useful flood. Each in Neutral White / Warm White.

My Zebralight H31 did that to me last evening. Since I always use low or moon mode on it, I didn't get a heads up. It just went black. I figured it might power up after leaving it off for a minute or two but nothing. I literally was SOL especially since I had to navigate through my cluttered garagfe with no lights then realized I had my maratac AAA but the light would dim to off before 5 seconds but it would rebound each time I turned it off and then on so I was able to get to the inside of the house before the battery was completely under voltage for the NiMh to be unable to provide any light.

kaichu dento said:

I've only had that happen to me with one light and that was the first decent AAA light I ever had, a Zero Gravity. One level, plenty bright, but when the battery died right in the middle of doing something in the dark and being focused on the lighted area, it gave a whole new meaning to pitch black!

Thankfully I've never seen any of my other lights do that and I think it was a problem that was created when regulation first started to be used, without the realization that they needed to give consideration to the end of life cycle too!

Click to expand...