AA alternatives to Streamlight polypro Lux

Ok, I received my Streamlight Polypro Lux and I agree it's a pretty fine light considering it's only a lux one. But the hotspot is too narrow for me. It's more like a what's in the bushes across the yard light as opposed to a walking light. My favorite light is my Chop modified KL1 sitting on an E2 body. It's a luxIII with a reflector. The hotspot is about the same intensity as the streamlight but twice as big. Are there any AA Lux lights that can reproduce the same type of beam?

I sense that you want a broad throw. As you know, this is a difficult combination to come by.

Possibly these 2AA models:

Longbow ECO ($85 to $100) with optional $44 wide head or McFlood head.

Heliotek HTE-1 Rev. 2 ($100) with the built-in diffuser in place.

The 3AA Aitec 3001 ($40 to $50) is a 3W Luxeon baton light that, I've read, has a nice flood.

You might try a bright 2AA Luxeon (XM-3, Costco) and fitting it with an ultralow-dispersion (ULD) diffuser glass lens from flashlightlens.com.

The broadest, most even beams come from multiple LEDs. Typically, the more LEDs, the brighter the beam. You can readily find 12LED 2AA models on eBay for about $15 shipped.

Currently the largest number of LEDs in a AA light is the 2AA, $6 (approx.) 16-LED Wave from http://www.szwholesale.com/ . Mine should arrive any day now; I'm hoping its beam is as broad as that of my Propolymer 3C (10LED), and brighter.

There are actually quite many options. Paul suggested the LongBow Eco. If you want a LB Eco, just buy a Micra and a eco tube. It is much cheaper that way. Eco is around 100$ usually, and Micra about 75-85$ and an Eco tube should be 20$ plus a few bucks shipping. You might not want the Heliotek unless you want a weak flood when using the diffuser. The Heliotek has a deep reflector just like the Propoly lux and has a 1 watt also.

For more Information, the LongBow Micra review is available Here

For more info on the heliotek, look here

Why would a nice light like the longbow use a Lux 1 instead of a Lux 3?

Gerber LX 3.0 fits the bill. It has a great form factor, is rock-solid, runs on rechargables or alkalines, and has a nice hotspot. The only complaint I have is that it is not regulated. But I change the batteries frequently, rotating them into the charger, and no problems. It is a lux3 with a wide hotspot and good throw.

I second cognitivefun on the LX 3.0....and $40 at batterystation!

Either an LX 3.0 or a KL1 on a Vital Gear FB3 body. The SF/VG setup is about twice the price, buthas better throw, a clickie, is regulated, and is a bit smaller.

For $10 to $15 more than the LX 3.0, Gerber offers a tactical version: TX 3.0, with a tailswitch.

Be aware that according to reports (specs?), neither one can use lithium cells without blowing the LED.

2AA Nuwai, Amondotech

Check out this light $21.00.

The Fraen optic with a Lux sandwich in a minimag produces a large hotspot. There's not much side spill, but I find it to be very useable for close-up and distance. You can de-focus the beam somewhat by adjusting the minimag head to make it a little broader and less intense.

I just noticed that Longbow sells a 5-watt LED module for their ECO (not for their Micra or Mini), for $88:
https://www.longbowonline.com

In other words, you could build your own 5-watt, 2AA LongBow super flood:

$88 5-watt module
$25 ECO tube
$45 flood head
$15 tailswitch
--------------
$173 total

Correction:

In another thread, falconz has just disabused me of the 5W, 2AA Longbow:

"Yep the mini and micra uses the same optics.
And yep, there is a 5 watt (Luxeon V) module... for use in the ECO tube with the AA adaptor removed and inserting 3 x CR123s."

I'm surprised only one person has mentioned the mini-maglite with a Dat2Zip luxeon "sandwich" module.

Using either theIMS 17mm reflector or the bigger IMS 20mm reflector (the latter requires a bit of modding) you should get the same beam that your modified KL1 gives you. Plus, when the body of the mini-mag gets beatup and scratched you just buy a new one and move the sandwich/reflector combo to its new home.

Jon