NEWBIE Looking for A Dream flashlight

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Teethmonkey

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I am looking for a super bright LED flashlight that runs off of 1 or 2 AA/AAA. I would like it to be regulated so it sucks all the juice out of my batteries & I would like it to be tough. Does anybody have any recommendations?
 

Roy

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Befor that question can be answered, how much are you willing to spend?
 
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Teethmonkey

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I figured it would be under $100, Are there any production lights like this?
 

paulr

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First of all, if you want a super bright LED light, 1AA or 2AA can't really supply enough power to run it. The light you probably want is a Surefire L4, which runs on 2xCR123 and costs about $140, a bit more than you had in mind but maybe within reach. Rather than go on about AA/AAA alternatives I thought I'd make that suggestion. With 2AA normal alkalines you can't come anywhere near it. With 2AA L91 lithiums you might be able to run a BB750/Lux3 for a minute or two without overheating, but if you're going to require L91's you may as well use CR123's.
 

nerdgineer

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Yeah, I guess bright means different numbers to different people. I think 900 CD is bright, in which case XM-3 costs about $50. (pre-sale with shipping) and claims brightness starting near 1900 CD and staying above 900 CD for over 90 min (don't remember - check XM-3 thread). CPF'er waion has a similar looking light coming in October, but neither of these is here yet.

2 x CR123 cells gets you comparable brightness and wider beams with various 3W and 5W Goldengadgets lights for $60 or so. Check their stores or eBay.

Brighter than that seems to require incandescent lights, or bigger/more expensive LED lights which may or may not fit your needs.

You will of course eventually get a bunch of bright lights (averaging less than $100 each) so you have all the definitions of brightness covered - and maybe a few x million CD spotlights.

It's only money, and unlike money spent on dinners, skiing, traveling, broadway plays, etc., toys you get with it will stay around forever....
 

albert

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I guess you maybe looking for Lambda's MiniMiniM@g with MiniProIII drop-in. Both items should go under the $100 mark. I suggest you put yourself down in his super long ordering list.
 

IlluminatingBikr

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Might want to look at all of the MiniMag modifications. Although they are not production lights, they will probably be your best bet for finding a good 2AA LED light.

Such modifications include, Madmax, Badboy, Opalec, Newbeam, Terralux Ministar2, and Lambada also makes a drop-in.
 

metaldogfish

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Sep 16, 2004
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being a newbie myself, i can't say enough about the uk 4aa led. i've used the mini mag for years (it's still a good light) but the uk has quickly become my favorite. although it requires two more batteries, the uk light seems brighter and more white. it also runs a lot longer. the only bad thing i can say about it is that when you are under a mobile home or crawl space is... MAN!!! THEM SPIDERS LOOK MORE OMINOUS!!
 

mapson

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Got myself two uk4aa eleds and they are my emergency lights, love the fact that they last and last and last...
 
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Teethmonkey

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I do have a Mini mag AA flashlight. Is there a drop in I can buy that I don't have to do too much technical stuff? I'm looking for something that puts out a lot of light (25-35 lumens) That's a lot to me. I would like it to suck the batteries dry and it doesn't need to last more than an hour on a set of bateries. Where can I buy the drop-ins?
 

paulr

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Teethmonkey,

The drop-ins are from www.anlighten.com/shop but 25-35 lumens is really pushing it, especially if you want to run on alkalines. You can probably do it with an MM+ WO and a T-flux led. It will run pretty hot and you may have to shut it off after a few minutes. You also may not get an hour of operation on alkalines. For best results, use L91's.

I still think you're much better off with a lithium powered 5 watt light. If you really want to use AA's, get an EL Blaster VI which uses your choice of three 123's or six AA's. I think I understand what you really want though, and it's the SF L4 or L5, either of which will put out 70 or so lumens and be a heck of a lot tougher than a modded Minimag.

I'm not too impressed with that Heliotech review. It says it needs L91's, so may as well use 123's. The MMWO pill will run ok on alkalines at least for a little while; it will just work a lot better on L91's.

The UK 4AA eLED is a real nice light, very practical, economical, and long running, but not too impressive in the brightness department. I'd estimate it at 12 lumens or so, comparable to a stock Minimag.
 
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Teethmonkey

Guest
Thank you everyone for all the great info. I have been looking at a streamlight Jr. Luxeon. Has anybody had any experince with these? I think I might MOD my mini mag and try out something like this and see which one works the best.
 

nerdgineer

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Lots of CPF'ers have them, including me. They're light, white, and bright. I think the Luxeon is overdriven a little. They don't run all that long - maybe an hour thirty, forty minutes to half power on alkalines - maybe a little longer with good nimhs, but batteries are cheap and it gives good value for the price (about $30 delivered).

Others have said that its like a factory MM mod - at a price competitive with anything a hobbyist could put together.

The more efficient arc LS with 2 AA pack gives about as much light and runs maybe 2 and a half hours, but it also costs 3 times as much.
 

paulr

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Another possibility for AA power is the Longbow Eco series. A little bit spendy, but really nice lights.
 

KevinL

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I think you can hit your target with a BB500 based sandwich and a Luxeon 3 emitter on top. I just built one by hand and that sucker is plenty bright. With Luxeons, light output scales more or less linearly with current, so even assuming conservative specs of 65 lumens at full power (700mA), at 500mA I'm getting somewhere in the region of 45 lumens at the LED itself. Minus losses for the reflectors and optics, 20-25%, that's around 35 lumens.

The BB500 is very punishing to alkalines though, we're looking at a 1 amp current drain from the alkalines, and the only way I've managed to get more than 90 minutes from it is by using NiMH batteries. But the whole point of AA lights is to use cheap batteries.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I built my sandwich by hand, but dat2zip's sandwich shoppe offers prebuilt, turn key packages. You unscrew the MiniMag on both ends, remove reflector and guts (just pry off a small plastic tab and everything drops out), drop the sandwich in, drop the reflector in and you're in business. Cost is an issue though, the BB500+Lux3 kits are $60 and you will definitely want a Kroll clickie switch, make that $65 before shipping. Streamlights go for ~$30, they're definitely making good use of their better process technology and sheer volume to cut costs.
 

paulr

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Teethmonkey, one more light occurs to me for your request: the new Gerber LX 3.0. It uses three AA's so it's a bit longer than a Minimag, but it's 3 watts and quite bright. It's reviewed on Quickbeam's site and maybe on Craig's as well. I'm not sure if it's regulated. It's around $40 at www.batterystation.com/cpf.htm .

Note that regulation does NOT make the batteries last longer and neither does it make sure that you get all the available energy from the cells. What it does is keep the output steady while the cells last. The lights that are the champions at getting every bit of juice from batteries are unregulated ones, most famously the Inova X5T.

Also, if you're concerned about battery economy, consider rechargables. I hate to sound like a broken record but the Surefire L4 generally works quite well on the 3.6 volt Pila lithium ion cells you can get from www.jsburlys.com . That stuff starts getting expensive though.

If you're not absolutely set on an LED light, there are some nice compact incandescents that are very bright and well within your price range. If cost of operation was a concern to me and I didn't want to spend the bucks for an L4 outfit, I'd certainly get a Streamlight Strion, which is Minimag sized (thicker but shorter), around 65 lumens, and is lithium ion rechargeable including home and car charger for well under 100 bucks. For 30 bucks or so you can get a Scorpion which is a similar light but runs on 2x123 instead of being rechargeable.
 
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