Forget Luxeon, How about 2 (or more) level AAA

I finaly got to use my new AAA in real dark, outside. It is great, alot brighter than I thought it would be. I'd love it if I could get a couple levels of light out of it. For walking I don't need the full brightness, especially at night. However full bright is needed sometimes. There are lots of good, small luxeon lights. My LS is one of mine. I'd rather have another Arc AAA that filled 90% of my needs than a killer luxeon that I only use 10% of the time.
My 2 cents.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink2.gif I'll Beta test /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
A multi (3+) Level AAA luxeon would be OK also. A 98% use light!

A Luxeon (or Jupiter or ???) is the natural progression for the Arc AAA and as you want, multiple levels.

For years it was brighter, brighter, BRIGHTER at all costs. Now that we have BRIGHTER, beam quality and run time are an issue. Problem is it is much easier to run a 5mm LED at max level than to have a Luxeon run at multiple levels and get an optic to focus that large emitter.

The world of EDC is constantly changing and the next battle is going to be fun (and expensive) to partake in.

I'd like the light to get brighter before more levels are added. It's not too bright for any task that I've found yet, so I like the overall usefullness of this light as it currently stands. Maybe if it didn't last so long on a battery, I would vote for multiple levels, but it's good like it is for the time being.

Wits,
You can be Peter is keeping an eye on the Luxeon K2 S bin (60 lumens at 350mA) Figure at least 15 lumens at 85mA for around 3 to 4 hours of runtime. I get 2 hours out of an AAA cell with my MicroIlluminator AAA feeding the R3J Luxeon at 155mA.
My vote is a head that is 20% larger than the body to hold a small reflector. Set max output at 175mA (30 lumens), medium at 50mA (9 lumens) and low at 10mA (2 lumens).
ArcMania built the small regulator for the Lambda MicroIlluminator over two years ago so it is not impossible to do. The problem has to do with space in the head to pack all the electronics in for variable output, voltage boost curcuits and regulation. The length of the Arc AAA would need to expand at least half and inch.
I am sure Peter (and most other companies) would love a boat load of SWAH K2 Luxeons. The AAA Rev4 is just the beginning...

Although the K2 isn't available for use for that multilevel AAA light that BH is talking about, Andrew Wynn is selling the nano and it's a three stage lux 3 in AAA format.


I don't have a new ARC but from what I can gather it would benefit from a low setting for use in dark settings without disturbing others (theater, presentations, early morning when spouse is sleeping , etc) or one preserving night vision when looking at starmaps or planning a quick, stealthy getaway during a burglary or act of vandalism (j/k). I do plan on getting one as soon as I can afford it.