High output AA?

I’d like to have on hand a AA EDC with high output. I have a TK05 that can use AA, but it goes up only to 240 lumens. Is that about as high as I can expect? I keep that in my bag with a 14500. I just want a light at the ready with AA (or 2 AA). And I don’t want to spend a fortune on it.

The Klarus Mi7 does 700 lumens on a 14500 IIRC.
But of course this is only for short bursts…
More than 300 lumens in an EDC AA doesn’t really make sense to me but whatever float your boat :slight_smile:

Zebralight manages around 500 lumens from AA, but I don’t think anybody else is running them nearly that hard. Full output requires an NiMH battery, of course.

I’m looking for review of lumintop edc05.
But IMHO for continuous usage, aa size light should be around 100-200 lumen, anyway.

The point is to have a AA on hand that is affordable and has high output. I just want to know what’s the best I can expect.

The first Zebralight I saw with a quick search is priced at $69. That’s pretty far beyond my limit.

UTorch UT01: 400 lm on NiMH; 800 lm on Li-Ion, although realistically it is probably closer to 600 lm. Often goes on sale for $9.99 with a coupon. I’ve got several of them.

Small enough to clip to your hat and use as a headlamp as well.

Take a look at parametrek :
AA&500+ lumens

Thanks, all. The Utorch looks good. Gearbest is the only source I’ve found now at $21. That isn’t bad. I’ll give it some more thought.

$16.99 with the currently available coupon code
Sorry, I think that flash sale is over.

One thing to note about UT01 is that some people had problems with the switch not working or not working correctly. Both of mine have been fine. I have a CW one an NW one. I prefer the CW. The NW version is way too warm for my liking.

Thanks!

Yeah, I just saw that. But thanks anyway. I’ll keep an eye on it.

+1

The Zebralight SC5w is a great light, by far my favourite 1xAA light. Over 500 lumens, nice tint & beam, fantastic UI. All on a single Eneloop.

It’s a little pricey, but IMO, the Zebralights are well worth it. I have a drawer full of AA lights, but it’s my Zebralights that I end up using 99% of the time.

Check out Manker E11, Utorch UT01, and Lumintop EDC05. They are all a very similar design with decent output. All 3 have had some reports of driver/switch issues (read the threads on these), but lots of people haven’t had any issues. Both of my UT01 lights work fine with AA or Eneloops, but have the well documented driver/switch problem when using a 14500. Still a very nice light though. FWIW, Lumintop supposedly has been working on the problem, and “supposedly” they have now fixed the issue. Lumintop also is the only one of the 3 that has a magnetic tailcap. I have a couple of other lights that have this feature, and I find it super handy to have.

Can the magnet be removed?

High Lumen AA lights I have include Reylight AA Pinapple, Lumintop EDC05 in NW, Olight S1A in CW, Utorch UT01 in CW, Jetbeam Jet I MK in CW, and a Enogear Stainless AA in NW.

I usually end up with the Lumintop or Reylight in my pocket. Although the others all work just fine. I really like the Enogear but is a bit on the heavy side depending on what i’m wearing. I run 14500’s in all of them but they work equally well with NiMh as well. I am also guilty of throwing a DQG Tiny AA in my pocket as a backup.

Honestly if the weight of brass doesn’t bother you for EDC I would just grab a Reylight from the group buy. It’s beautiful and functional. Not to mention built like a tank.

Great suggestions. A clarification: The Reylight Pineapple I saw is a AAA light. Is there a AA as well?

The AAA light is the Pineapple Mini made from Cu.

The "regular" Pineapple is a AA light made from Brass.

The AA brass pineapple is a nice light, but you’ll definitely need to use a 14500 in it if you want decent output. On a AA, it only goes to about 90 lumens on max. Okay for indoors, but not much use outside. On a 14500, you get about 4x the output on all levels except moonlight, so it’s decently bright on a lithium-ion cell.

It will eat batteries pretty quick on max, though, and get fairly hot. The Nichia 219 emitter isn’t as efficient as Cree, though it is a really nice tint.

Found it. Thanks.

I got also (1 NW & 1 CW). The NW was/is much warmer than expected. No problems with either switch here.

I got each for $9.99 with a code.Make a request to M4DM4X or FreeMe…they come through many times.

Pretty good little light, and a super bargain @ $10!