New, need flashlight recommendation.

I need to purchase a flashlight with the following characteristics. Size of 2 AA minimag flashlight. Batteries 2- AA alkaline. I want it to be as bright as possible. It is to be used for inspections in dark areas. I don't care how quick it eats through batteries. Not interested in rechargeable. I can get batteries free at work. It has to be small and bright. LED type ok if that is the way to go.

Thanks,
roger blake

Got $55.00?

I have one of these and it's great....

WayneJ's MM drop-in:

MadMax Wide Open with T Bin Luxeon 3

He still has a few other versions for sale there too.

Here's a link to a review on a TerraLUX MiniMag drop-in at $ 24.95. I have not tried these:

Link

lambda III is the brightest 2 AA LED that I have.
Topper /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Well, Roger11, welcome to CPF and stay a while!

Given the characteristics you are interested in, you should consider a 2AA minimag flashlight, but with one of Wayne's drop ins:
Sandwich Shop AA dropins

Take a look at the comparison chart to see runtimes and brightness, and consider the heat generated by the light, as well (how much continuous light do you need).

daloosh

LED is the way to go for 2AA. Go to the sandwich shoppe. sandwich shoppe and get any of the drop in 2AA modules. the higher the MA rating the brighter but if you're thinking of leaving the light on for long periods of time I would stick with a badboy 400ma or 500ma. The brighter the light the quicker it gets hot. The sadwich modules drop in to minimag 2AA and Brinkman 2AA. Oh yeah almost forgot get the replacement glass lens and the kroll tailcap switch if you want a pushbutton switch. Ofcourse if you don't want to go this route there are many choices of stock LED lights that use AA. ie streamlight, underwater kinetics, princeton tec. Most manufactures run the LEDs at spec. if you want to push the LED a bit harder go with the sandwich shoppe offerings and go to the sandwich shoppe forums here for a plethora of info.

I'll agree with 14C. Take a look at:

"Bad Boy" and "Mad Max" Minimag Modules Review

The link should answer most of your questions. If you like the 2 AA minimag flashlight format, well, that's what you get. You'll want the MadMax+ R2H for maximum brightness. Since it is regulated, you will get the same light output until the batteries die. You'll get about 1 hour of continuous brightness per set of batteries.

Only using 2 AA batteries limits the choice of lights if you want brightness. If you are willing to go with a larger light with more batteries (can still be AA's) you can get more choices.

the madmax/badboys are fantastic.
i have 2 madmax lites and 2 badboy 400.

what is really sweet is that you can change optics to suit your need. (from tightest to greatest flood) Fraen, NX05, and McFlood are popular. NX01 are good as well, but tend to be harder to find.

i recommend a badboy or madmax with a high dome (lux3 or 1w are both fine), kroll, mineral glass, and having both a NX05 and Fraen optic.

if you are used to a stock minimag, you are in for a real treat!

Bob

Sounds like you might be looking for something that is available as like an "off the shelf" type item? Are these inspections in an industrial type enviroment? I own all of these and I recommend all of them: Pelican 2 AA Mitylite Magnum, the Brightstar Responder 2AA, and the Streamlight 2AA Xenon ProPolymer. All are rugged built, brite, tough little lights. LED verions are available in these same configurations, except for the Brightstar. Can you tell me more about the application? Hazardous location, materials? Wet / damp?

The Mighty Lite Magnum by Pelican is my favorite incandescent 2AA light. I understand there is a version with a tail switch (like my M7 rechargable has). That would be GGGGRRRREAT!

For a 2AA LED, a Sandwich module in a minim*g is pretty nice, only I find that in the two I have seen (still own one) the LED color is rather purpleish.

A GGRRREAT! 2AA LED light is a Milkbone by Milkispit. Whatever LED he used in mine is a very nice color indeed! It's made on Rayovac 2AA Industrial light. Nice familiar form factor, NICE beam shape!

Princeton Tech PT40 is a 4AA light that is pretty awesome. It could also take an Everled.

As Capnal asked, what application? This could change things drastically.....

Thanks for all the replies.

The flashlight will be mostly used on industrial inspections of NASA test stands. These have steel frames with grated floors and oftern concrete walls. Weight and bulk need to be kept to a minimum. We carry digital cameras and recorder. The light is also used in the photos. Alot of it is climbing in narrow places, mostly looking at the condition of steel. One thing I did not realize is the heat. Hopefully they cool down quick enough to put back in holster. Longest continual single run time would be a minute max at any one use.

Why is 2AA critical? A PT Surge (runs on eight AA's and is about the size of a 2C light) is about 5x brighter than any 2AA light.

[ QUOTE ]
Roger11 said:
Thanks for all the replies.

The flashlight will be mostly used on industrial inspections of NASA test stands. These have steel frames with grated floors and oftern concrete walls. Weight and bulk need to be kept to a minimum. We carry digital cameras and recorder. The light is also used in the photos. Alot of it is climbing in narrow places, mostly looking at the condition of steel. One thing I did not realize is the heat. Hopefully they cool down quick enough to put back in holster. Longest continual single run time would be a minute max at any one use.

[/ QUOTE ]

OK, adding this additional information helps. You want to carry this in a holster, which I think would eliminate the PT Surge. It otherwise is the brightest light that runs on AA's. You want to stay with AA's because you get them for free, which eliminates all the CR123A type lights, which in general can be very bright and compact and light. You haven't mentioned reliability. Does it make a difference if the light "goes dark" right in the middle of an inspection? If so, then LED is the way to go, with its multi-thousand-hour life (depending on type). That leaves the question of whether you have to have a "off the shelf" stock light or are willing to do the 3 minutes of work necessary to turn a minimag (which you like) into a bright, reliable, AA using instrument.

If so, then the MadMax minimag modules really seem the way to go. If you are only going to use the light one minute at a time, then I would not think that heat build up is going to be an issue. Instead, think about the distance from the light that you want to see details. Is this going to be 10 feet, 25 feet, 100 feet? What I am getting at is, do you really need the brightest possible light in the AA minimag format, or would something else serve the purpose?

Do you have any other larger lights that you use that have the kind of light output that you would consider acceptable for this task? If so, maybe you could mention them so that a recommendation for a 2 AA format that gives the same output could be developed.

It seems to me that a LuxeonIII T Badboy 750 sandwich (or 650 if the 750's out of stock) from the sandwich shoppe is what you need. It should be the brightest drop-in you can get and it should be perfect for the short duration, maximum brightness situation you describe. If you haven't used LED's before, you should be pleasantly surprised by the color of the beam compared to the yellow beams of incandescents.

Hello, again,
After reading your inteded use, I would recommend the Brightstar Responder. A large part of my job is being the purchasing agent for my division, and these are sold through an industrial supply company, so I am sure your guys at NASA can order them.

http://www.flashlight.com/bright_star/responder.htm

The bigger one, the 3 C is rated for a 30 foot drop, and the smaller ones are just as tough. The 2AA size is available in black, yellow, and orange. Comes with a split ring, and I would recommend tying a lanyard on it. For not very much more in price or size, go ahead and step up to the 4AA. Oh, BTW, they have rear / tail push button switching. Handy feature. They also have several safety approvals, if that is an issue for you. Heat is not a factoy, these won't get blazing hot.

Just a few lights that came to mind.

Uke 4AA Xenon, compact with click switch. Brighter then 2AA only lights.

Arc LSH, LSH-P, or LSHF-P, with 2 AA tail switch pack. Pricey but very nice lights. More then worth the money in my opinion. LSHF-P is my personal favorite.

Streamlight 3AA Luxeon Task light, may be too long. Barrel click switch.

Streamlight JR. 2AA luxeon, possibly regulated (not out for another month or two). Tail click switch.

I can't really think of a reason to use a 2AA incandescant, a good 1 watt luxeon will crush them in output. Luxeon lights tend to have smoother beams as well which could help.

Surge would be excellent too though possibly bigger then you'd like to carry. Brightguy sells a holster for it if that's important.

[ QUOTE ]
FluffyGrunt said:

Surge would be excellent too though possibly bigger then you'd like to carry. Brightguy sells a holster for it if that's important.

[/ QUOTE ]

Holster is important. Two questions. How would the PT Surger compare to say BB-400? Which size holster at bright guy?

Holster:

http://www.brightguy.com/detail.html?sku=STR30905

Surge vs BB400: Surge is several times brighter than a BB400 but is quite a bit larger. It should be fine in a holster but you can't drop it in your pocket the way you can a Minimag. It's about the diameter of a typical 2D household flashlight, but a little shorter. It uses two sets of four AA cells in parallel. If you want, you can run it on four AA's and that makes it weigh somewhat less, though it won't run as long before the next battery change.

You could also check out the PT40, a 4AA light of more conventional design, that uses PR bulbs.

A pretty nice 4AA light is the UK4AA. I would imagine it is even better with a ELed module in it, but I don't yet have one.

The switch falls very naturally to the thumb.

The UK eLED (4AAA 1 Watt LED) is nice and quite a bargain at Brightguy (for $ 20.00 each I got two) but the MiniMag sandwhiches blow it away for output. I really like the runtime of the UK eLED but for inspections I could not recommend it.

Thanks to all who responded.

I went with a PT Surge and holster. I went for it for the additional brightness even though it is larger. If it seems to large I will go with a BB. I am sure the PT Surge will still get used.