New User Intro, looking at AAA lights

Howdy,



I'm new again... not sure where my old account went but that's OK.



I discovered SureFire a few years back... bought and gifted quite a few lights. Currently I have an Aviator in green and M2 with upgrades.



As I recently lost my Arc AAA, I'm looking at lights again. There are some good reviews and posts on very small lights like the Arc. The market seems to have exploded since I bought mine, and I have a lot of reading to do.



Regards,



Aaron

Not sure what the responses were, but i'm pretty sure it started like this:
itp eos A3
Fenix E05
4Sevens Revo

Preon 1 or 2 isn't a bad choice either if you'd like the ability to switch between a twisty or clicky interface as well as a 1xAAA or 2xAAA body.

Also Maratac AAA (very similar to ITP A3 EOS, but with knurling and tail-stand capability), and DQG tiny (hard to source, so here is a CPF marketplace link):
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/sh...allest-CREE-XP-G-R5-AAA-Light-Upgrade-Version

If you prefer Ti there the Illuminati TI (sp ?) as well as some of the above lights.

I love my Preon ReVO by 4Sevens and the Illuminati TI is a reliable classy little light also.

Bought a Revo SS about a month ago and love it! Don't have the others to compare it to but don't know how I could like them any better.

The stainless steel version Peak Eiger replaced the Arc AAA-P as my daily carry backup light. Like the Arc, the Eiger is made in USA.

Maratac AAA copper . Uber cool.

I have the fenix E01. If you want alot of runtime that is the one and it was under 13 bucks. Not as bright as the E05 but at night is is pretty good. Really small and very good quality

I really like my Fenix E05 R2. Since getting it I don't use any of my other flashlights much at all!

parnass said:

The stainless steel version Peak Eiger replaced the Arc AAA-P as my daily carry backup light. Like the Arc, the Eiger is made in USA.

Click to expand...

Peak Eiger is great, and is also available in brass!

Moving this to the LED Flashlights forum.

Bill

bobkat said:

I have the fenix E01. If you want alot of runtime that is the one and it was under 13 bucks. Not as bright as the E05 but at night is is pretty good. Really small and very good quality

Click to expand...

Same here, REI has the E05 for $24, fantastic light for its size, have it with me always.

Peak Eiger or Preon Revo in SS, you won't be sorry with either!

I'm questioning your join date....

Which ones can run a 10440 cell ?

I know the Peak can, most of these lights don't have proper heatsinking for a high current draw. Many use a 10440 in their Preons (not Revo), and in the Maratacs. IIRC they just go direct drive until the voltage drops a bit.
Few AAA sized lights are designed for 10440s.

No Revo, but the ITP and Maratac do.

How about the world's brightest AAA light? Here's the perfect solution. Here's a chart (from BigChelis) showing that it actually is over 300 lumens for a short period!



There are at least TWO keychain lights (each priced at $20 to $40, depending on version) that will give you this tremendous output. One is the 4Sevens Preon1 and the other is the iTP EOS A3. For either one, I would recommend getting it with the XP-G R5 emitter. If purchasing the iTP EOS A3, I would be sure to ask for the 'upgrade' model, which is 3 modes (lo med hi).

Both of these lights utilize a standard AAA battery for 'normal' users and will pump out a respectable ~80 to 96 lumens, but if you really want to juice up the light to the 300 lumen level, then you need to purchase a 10440 Li-ion battery and charger (readily available and inexpensive). It's the 10440 battery that is the secret to this massive power.

I have both lights (each with 10440) and they really crank out the light. Lately, I have been giving away the iTP A3 XP-G R5 'Upgrade' like candy. I must have doled out at least 20 of those lights in the past few months. Just ordered four more last night (from GoingGear, with free shipping and 10% discount - using the CPF code). My EDC is the iTP A3 SS (with a 10440, of course).

Legal disclaimer - Of course, like anything that is over-powered, there is a little caution that needs to be exercised. This light WILL get hot if used on max power for very long, and you need to be careful about discharging the battery too fast.

I have the Illumina Ti CA3 and it's a great little light on both AAA Eneloops, and Energizer Lithiums. I also have a Fenix LD01 in stainless, and it puts out a really nice beam. I prefer the L/M/H UI of the Illumina Ti over the LD01's M/L/H interface but it's growing on me. The Illumina Ti is really tiny and got a great review by selfbuilt. (look that review up). But if you want to run 10440's, you'll have to look elsewhere as neither of these two are supposed to handle that much voltage. Good luck in your search.