Need recommendations -

I'm looking for small flashlights to have for misc rooms around the house.

Here in Arizona, the sun can be relentless in the summertime and as a result, my wife and I have mastered the art of blocking out all light from entering our house. We call our home ... "The Cave". Because of this, I simply cant have enough flashlights laying around(at least thats my excuse).

I have higher end flashlights but dont want them laying out and about. I'd rather have something more disposable that uses more conventional batteries with longer run times. I thought the little Dorcy AAA lights would be the ticket but they simply arent bright enough.

Any suggestions, thoughts?
1. Size - something like the Inova X1 with a little more side spill
2. Price $20 or less
3. AAA or AA batts - something that can handle rechargable NIMH batts would be weigh heavy in priority.
4. Aluminum
5. Brighter than the AAA Dorcy
6. Quality of light a little more important than run time (if can handle rechargables).

Regards,
Jeeper

A good option would be the River Rock 2AAA light at Target as long as you can handle a pronounced blue tint in the beam.

The light is compact, has a very good build quality, has momentary and constant on, and its .5 watt LED puts out more light than even the 3 LED Dorcy 1 AA (which is also a decent option for the same price if you can find it). Runtime is around 7 hours at close to full brightness on 2 AAA batteries.

The River Rock 2AAA is one of the best deals around at only $10.

For around $20.00 or less? Have you tried looking the Inova's and River Rock LEDs that Target has? I don't own any of those with the exception of the 1.5W LED Lantern from RRD. It's a great little one that I use for lighting in my bedroom rather than turning on the household light. . .

Hope you find what you're looking for and Enjoy!

Arizona eh? I've yet to visit the "astronomy/star gazers' capital" of the world. . .

If you don't absolutely require an aluminum body or LED, you can get vastly more output from the Princeton Tec Rage (about $10):

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/princetontec_rage.htm

Overall the River Rock 0.5w 2AAA may be your best bet if you don't mind a blueish beam. If you want plenty of output, the Princeton Tec Rage.

If you don't have a Target store in your area, the following link will sell you the same 2xAAA light with the Nuwai name on it over the internet.

http://store.advancedmart.com/nu5waposiled1.html

I'll throw in another vote of the River Rock 2xAAA (not the 2xAA) light from Target. For $10, I just don't think it can currently be beaten for a flashlight of that size with a nice amount of output and a good balance of throw vs spill. The beam is consistantly blue throughout, but very tolerable to me.

The Inova Radiant 2xAAA from Target is a couple $$ more and almost as good, better in some ways. The Radiant is less slippery and it has a clickie which most members seem to prefer. The beam is blue in the center and greenish around... not bad or good, just different than the River Rock.

But the River Rock is smaller and feels and looks nicer in my opinion. Nuwai also makes similar models to the River Rock in 1xAAA and 1xAA if you want something smaller and a bit dimmer. They also make a 2-stage 1xAA light that is nice and gives nice runtime.

Or if the sale is still on, and you can deal with stainless steel and rubber rather than aluminum, the Craftsman 3xAAA light feels more like a 2xAA light to me and has very nice output. Rechargeables are fine on all the lights I've listed. They were like $12.99 but may be back up to $20-ish. On the plus side is if you have a 3D or 3C Maglite, you can put the bulb in and get HELLA runtime and very nice throw.

If you are a member of Sam's or know someone that is, they have the Element which comes in a 2 pack for about $26 or $27 and it is very bright... mine is definately brighter than my Metal Gear which usually gets good comments. It also runs on 3xAAA.

Thanks for all the replies. I'll check out the lights mentioned.