AA Bug Out Bag Best Light?

I have read plenty of threads on AA lights. Most of them seem to be a little dated. I needed a suggestion from you guys. I am looking for a light that I might never use. I have a Pelican case with a C3/M61LL, lighter, Leatherman, diffusers, and chock full of CR123's and AA's. I used to have a Quark AA2 in there but I gave it to a friend of mine because he got a dog and watching him go poo with his phone's camera light made me upset. He needed the simplicity of the AA format as he'd never heard of a CR123. All of my other lights are CR123/Li-Ion.

Therefore I am looking for a light that is not too expensive. Maybe around $50-$75. I would like to keep it AA and also be sure that it runs off of a 14500 as I have one of those sitting around and nothing to put it in. Plus if you only had one battery you would be SOL if you had a 2xAA right? Maybe a little extreme but still. Anyways, with the new crops of Neutron's, Quark AA X's, ZL's out I just can't come to figure out what one to invest in. There is a ZL SC51w over on the MP for $55 right now that I was thinking of picking up, but I don't think ZL's run on 14500. Its always something. Thanks for your help guys. How about the peak 17500? That would run off of any 1 AA battery right? just not the 14500 I have. Ugh.

** When I sort the lights on goinggear's site by battery type, if I choose 1xAA/14500 it lists the ZL's. However in the specs page it says "Battery: One 1.5V AA (NiMH, lithium or alkaline). 14500 Li-ion batteries are not supported. Batteries are not included in the package." **

Can anyone confirm or deny the use of 14500 with the SC51 line?

Xeno E03 is good to go with either AA NiMh or 14500. Only $30 or so. Tiny and very light.
This one is a recent addition that I really like. Battery life is longer than the Xeno and it has more throw. Less money to boot. http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-84/ITP-C7R-Cree-Q5/Detail
Looks and feels like it's built like a tank. You get a 6% discount if you use this code. CPFuser. I like the fact that you can adjust the output from 190 lumens to 6 lumens and anywhere in between.

+1 for the Xeno E03. Ihave one in Warm and it's awesome! GTG with AA but use your 14500 and you'll be amazed at how bright it is. I carry either a Nitecore Defender Infinity (has strobe) or a Nitecore D10 as EDC lights. Both of these work great with either AA or 14500. The E03 is much brighter not to mention cheaper. I would recommend any of the 3 for your AA needs.

Instead of another light why don't you buy a Malkoff M31 and drop it and 2 AA's into your C3...it's a great drop in. You may not be able to use rechargeables with it but I'm not positive on that.

This is a subject I've thought much about. In my BOB/GHB I've got two AA lights - a Quark 2AA Tactical (XP-E) with flat tailcap for tail standing, and a Fenix HL20. I keep them both filled with eneloops and have an 8 pack of lithium primaries as back up.

I also keep a TK41 under the passengers seat in my car loaded with eneloops and an 8 pack of lithiums as back up for it also. There's also the lights I EDC, about 5 in total and there's a spare battery for each of those as well.

A Spark AA headlamp or flashlight might be a good option for what your are trying to do. You have a good flashlight in the kit if you end up having to nite hike a headlamp is be best option. If I remember correctly the spark's take 14500s. Just a thought...

get your quark back, or go with an AA2 tactical.

The Zebralight SC50 will supposedly run on 14500's. Don't forget to unscrew the light a bit to stop any parasitic drain if it will be sitting in a bag for months.

Geoff

I have the Nitecore D11.2 slotted and love it. It will run on 14500's as long as they are not button top. I don't know if it's recommended or not but it will run on them.

Get the Peak. AA, 14500,17500,CR123, RCR123. Anything you can get to fit inside the battery tube that has between 1v and 4.2v. You could probably use a couple of button cells and a wad of Aluminum foil if needed.
The QTC model will give you a very long runtime on low also.

Jash said:

This is a subject I've thought much about. In my BOB/GHB I've got two AA lights - a Quark 2AA Tactical (XP-E) with flat tailcap for tail standing, and a Fenix HL20. I keep them both filled with eneloops and have an 8 pack of lithium primaries as back up.

I also keep a TK41 under the passengers seat in my car loaded with eneloops and an 8 pack of lithiums as back up for it also. There's also the lights I EDC, about 5 in total and there's a spare battery for each of those as well.

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Does your profession demand that you edc 5 flashlights, or do you do it out of obsession? We all have our ocd's, lol....

jabe1 said:

Get the Peak. AA, 14500,17500,CR123, RCR123. Anything you can get to fit inside the battery tube that has between 1v and 4.2v. You could probably use a couple of button cells and a wad of Aluminum foil if needed.
The QTC model will give you a very long runtime on low also.

Click to expand...

Thats the exact description of one Peak model: Logan 17500 QTC, that light can manage all the cells mentioned, and even fit in the same compartment.

i have one as EDC, and after using it a couple of days decided to get another for my BOB, fits the bill PERFECTLY, Peaks are as reliable as it gets.

device manager said:

Does your profession demand that you edc 5 flashlights, or do you do it out of obsession? We all have our ocd's, lol....

Click to expand...

OCD all the way. Yes I do need a light for work and use one almost everyday, sometimes for a few hours every now and then. I figure if you're going to be a flashaholic you might as well live it.

The 5 lights: EO1 on keychain, EO5 on belt loop, EX10 SP in left pocket, Quark 123 Tactical in manbag (it's my office) along with a 3AAA headlamp.

And don't get me started on what's in my bedside drawer!

jabe1 said:

Get the Peak. AA, 14500,17500,CR123, RCR123. Anything you can get to fit inside the battery tube that has between 1v and 4.2v. You could probably use a couple of button cells and a wad of Aluminum foil if needed.
The QTC model will give you a very long runtime on low also.

Click to expand...

manoloco said:

Thats the exact description of one Peak model: Logan 17500 QTC, that light can manage all the cells mentioned, and even fit in the same compartment.

i have one as EDC, and after using it a couple of days decided to get another for my BOB, fits the bill PERFECTLY, Peaks are as reliable as it gets.

Click to expand...

I'm sure this will be no surprise to jabe1 (or manoloco), but I would also vote for a Peak here.

If you are certain that you will only need/want/use 1.2-1.6v AA or 3.6-4.2v 14500 (or 3v 14505) cells, the El Capitan will work great for this.

The Logan 17500 is just a little bigger and does add many additional battery options, as well as more candlepower and more throw. The increased width will accommodate CR123 and related cells (RCR123, 16340, 17500, etc.), too. Thinner cells, such as AA, 14500, AAA, 10440, etc. will work, of course, but will rattle unless you use a battery adapter/spacer (which should soon be released from Peak).

@jabe1 - love the comment about the button cells :laughing: - Peak actually had a prototype tube for the Baltic Sea that ran on 2x (1.5v ea) LR44 button cells ! I have been looking for one of these pretty much since joining CPF, so I don't know if this is vaporware or unobtainium .... if anyone has one of these they might be willing to sell, however, please let me know :devil:

I dont think theres any debate anymore. I just have to sack up and drop the 75+ on the Peak. I like the look of that thing, just hate how quickly it gets so expensive! To have the coolest part .. the pressure switch gets it up to $90. Won't need the clip. I def need a headlamp too. Have been looking at those Sparks and they seem pretty impressive. Just haven't really seen many reviews on them yet. All of the numbers look good just wondering about the reliability/quality.

If this were an every day light, Peak would be great. But if it's for a bugout bag, which for most people is rarely going to be used, I say Xeno E03. Why spend the extra money for something that's going to sit there when you have already said you want to keep the cost down? An expensive EDC light in your pocket makes sense; an expensive "I might use it a couple times a year" light does not.

I recommend the Xeno E03. AA and 14500. Its cheap and well made. 400+ LMs on 14500. It cheap enough to leave sitting around barely used, around $30.

Another big + for the xeno xml warm tint. I've got one in warm running on 14500. It goes med, low, hi. It's amazingly bright and my first light warm tint. I'd swear the tint is just like an incan. Low is too bright for some so they can run an enloope and get increased runtime. But i'll never take out the lithium cause the high is addivive.

Tiggercat said:

If this were an every day light, Peak would be great. But if it's for a bugout bag, which for most people is rarely going to be used, I say Xeno E03. Why spend the extra money for something that's going to sit there when you have already said you want to keep the cost down? An expensive EDC light in your pocket makes sense; an expensive "I might use it a couple times a year" light does not.

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I understand your point of view Tiggercat, and you might even never use it for its intended purpose, but if its a BOB, and that day comes to reality, the light you put in there must be as realiable as you can get, the Peak is and you can also set it to run on very low mode and some tests put it into the 350+ days range running on a very low output. (iirc it was something akin to a quark 123 moon mode, however in that range a little variation could mean a lot of more runtime, QTC should be more efficient to run, but i could be wrong)


The Xeno could be reliable too, but i have no experience with it.

Tiggercat said:

If this were an every day light, Peak would be great. But if it's for a bugout bag, which for most people is rarely going to be used, I say Xeno E03. Why spend the extra money for something that's going to sit there when you have already said you want to keep the cost down? An expensive EDC light in your pocket makes sense; an expensive "I might use it a couple times a year" light does not.

Click to expand...

I understand your point of view Tiggercat, and you might even never use it for its intended purpose, but if its a BOB, and that day comes to reality, the light you put in there must be as realiable as you can get, the Peak is and you can also set it to run on very low mode and some tests put it into the 350+ days range running on a very low output. (iirc it was something akin to a quark 123 moon mode, however in that range a little variation could mean a lot of more runtime, QTC should be more efficient to run, but i could be wrong)


The Xeno could be reliable too, but i have no experience with it.