Don’t use lithium.
At high drain I believe one 18650 can draw slightly more amp hours that 4xaa. The aa’s are good general purpose lights but I can see why there’s no development for such specialized products.
Really huge reflectors are somewhat expensive, mostly because in order to perform reasonably well, the bigger they are, the more perfect they have to be. Unless there is huge demand (like a BLF Group Buy perhaps?) I doubt any manufacturer would make a multiple AA light with huge reflector. I guess you could mod a light yourself, though, if you know how. Buy a GT and mod it to take AA cells!
Also, according to that site, the TN4A has only slightly less throw, is a lot more compact, and less than half the price as the Fenix right above it in the list. If I were choosing from that list, I would get the TN4A.
TN4A Hi did rated at 453m. Less than you want but it’s a really great light.
Have a couple 4aa one rated at 402 meters. Can’t mod anything that’s for sure!
IMO the only way to get more throw from a TN4A would be swap out the XP-L HI for the SST-20 NW.
You’ll get an additional boost throw, which is nice.
Coast PolySteel 600 focusing light has an 810’ range in spot mode. No where near 700m, though.
Nitecore Ea8 does 150-180kcd with an XP-L HI and since the cells are 2p4s it runs at full power on 4AA (for half the runtime).
Hmm, this sound intriguing. I use a TN4A as my bike light, and while I don’t NEED additional throw, at times it would be nice. How hard could this be? Anyone know how to tear down a TN4A? I got the battery ring off and exposed the back of the driver, but the driver doesn’t just pop out for me.
Sorry for the thread drift . . .
Don’t forget the budget friendly sofirn SF11
Is there a reason you’re opposed to using li-ion cells? You can get 400m throw from a chunky multi-AA light but there isn’t really anything that compares with even a $35 Emisar D1S that runs on 18650s.
Have its clone the Thorfire tk4a.
Just the usual safety reason.
Not the first time I’ve seen that.I had a coworker who decided to go that route at least until her kids were older.
How can someone not use lithium these days? How is your phone or laptop powered?
I don’t know what are OP reasons are but if it was me then I’d go with tropical heat safety in my case.
Other than lithium primaries and NiMH batteries, I’ll never leave my 18650 or any li-ion in my car or anywhere potentially hot.
Just toss a powerbank in car or even placing it on garden table outdoors and you’ll get a massive pregnant battery.
Yes I live in the southern u.s. Nimh have other advantages too.
If you find Nitecore EA8 and swap led to XPL HI can reach 700 meters.
Other option is to find and mode Convoy Х3.
Manker MK-41
Interesting thread. I was just thinking about posting something similar as I have come to prefer multiple AA lights for my glove box (allows L91 lithiums with the option to run plain alkalines if needed). Currently has a Coast HP14 in one vehicle and a 5.11 XBT A6 in the other. The Coast is utter junk; sure when its working its fine but it frequently doesn’t want to work. The 5.11 I REALLY like as a truck light, though. Operations off half the cells if needed, throws great and has an optional low mode.
Looking to replace the Coast HP14, though. I could scoop up another 5.11 but for the price there has to be some better options. They are on close-out for $30 now but you can still get a lot of light for that in some brands. I would like about the same size as its easy to find, hold and use as a vehicle light (smaller and it tends to get “lost” in the glove box). Any other suggestions? That Sofirn SF11 looks good but its still pretty short. I’d like to be in the range of a 2-3 cell Maglite as far as overall size.