Longest runtime on medium mode for single AA lights...

I just came back yesterday from a mountain hiking trip and I realize I needed a tent Light that can run the whole night on 40-50 Lumen output using a single AA battery. Is the Zebralight SC50 one of the better option, Medium: 41 Lm (10.5 hrs)? Your suggestions is much appreciated.

As a general rule, a light with a recent LED like a Cree XP-E or XP-G and with a decent circuit will give you about 200-250 true lumen-hours on a single Lithium AA or 123. So you can probably find a light that will last 5-6 hours at 40-50 lumens. If you want 12 hours of light, that's probably two cells either in the light or as a cell change. Now 40-50 lumens is a lot of light in the small confines of a tent. It may be that the beam pattern of your light is more of a spot than a flood and not efficient at lighting the space. You might want to consider some kind of diffuser to get better use out of fewer lumens.

Just a note: 40 to 50 lumens is incredibly bright when you are camping, especially if you are trying to sleep. I would choose a light with either a lot of modes, or ramping and change the output as you require. 5 - 10 lumens is usually still very bright inside a tent.

tolkaze said:

Just a note: 40 to 50 lumens is incredibly bright when you are camping, especially if you are trying to sleep. I would choose a light with either a lot of modes, or ramping and change the output as you require. 5 - 10 lumens is usually still very bright inside a tent.

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I'm using a soft diffuser wherein I believe its reducing the output a lot but in return it got a soft light that is not irritating to my eyes. I wanted a brighter tent light to avoid being stomped by Guys around the camp walking without a flashlight at night.

Also I'm using Eneloop AAs.

While I've not done a runtime test, I don't think my SC50 would last 10 hours on medium. Probably more like 5-6 at best. Seems like 40 lumens might be too bright, even with a diffuser, to sleep.

Geoff

Flying Turtle said:

While I've not done a runtime test, I don't think my SC50 would last 10 hours on medium. Probably more like 5-6 at best. Seems like 40 lumens might be too bright, even with a diffuser, to sleep.

Geoff

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How about 40 lumens with diffuser for Camp light? will this be enough? As I got really exhausted from my yesterdays climb i'm thinking of making my backpack lightweight even at the expense of reducing the weight of the lights I carry.