These days I enjoy 1xAA lights... the ease of finding AA's and the low cost of AA NiMH's are attractive to me plus lights the size of my RC-G2 fits very well in my hand and is still small enough and light enough to carry around. Here are some things I'd like to have
1xAA or even 2XAA form factor... 14500 usage is not an issue either way as I have no plans on using them
I don't have a tint preference but like tints in the 4-5 range on the Cree tint range (warmer side of neutral 4000-4500Kish) however, I would consider a CW
Modes- No real preference here either... my RC-G2 is a single mode light and I still like it.
UI- Either Head or Tail selectable is fine with me
Cost- $30ish
Emitter- I like the XM-L's for the huge wall of light they put out but really I'd like a pocket thrower so I'm thinking XR-E Xp-E with a Optic and or SMO reflector... I have 2 XM-L's now for wall of light wants/uses... My RC-G2 uses an XR-E and would love to have an XP-E light just for the small emitter and higher brightness/surface area ratio (can't think of correct term) for throwing purposes although I know the XP-E can only be driven to 700mA vs the 1000 of the XR-E.
Just toss out some ideas.
Oh and FYI... As a CPF'er... I love that there is a place that doesn't treat "budget" lights like they are the plague.
Hmmm, AA thrower... Maybe the ITP C7 or it's sibling the T70 Tenergy Premium (XR-E). I remember that the T70 was on clearance sale somewhere (~20-25). From the beamshots I have seen it has one of the tightest hotspots of any 1 AA lights. In 2AA format the Fenix E21 has a smooth reflector and an XP-E Emitter and is one of the cheaper premium lights. ( I have one from the DD group buy a while back)
The Sipik SK68 or the Romisen RC-29 are nice flood-to-throw lights, but I personally like reflector based lights better for throwing purposes.
If I remember correctly the max amps for the XP-E were raised to 1000 mA by Cree later.
I’ve recommended this before (since I use it) but it may or may not be what you are looking for. If you don’t like the zoom type lights but want that kind of throw buy a Sipik SK68 for $8 and take out the aspheric lens. Next buy a Ultrafire BJO8A for $16. This is a single AA one mode 23mm cyclinder type of light. It’s well made.
Remove the reflector and put in the aspheric in place of the front lens. It’s easy to do. If you like forward clickies it’s easy to take the reverse clicky out and put in a Rominsen forward clicky.
That’s $26 in parts and no skill required for the assembly It makes a nice pocketable thrower. Thrower being a relative term in that size of course.
I've ordered a RC-29 Romisen with the R5 (1-Mode)... I'm pretty pumped... Romisen lights are well made for their price. I've seen the ITP's and find their form factor interesting. Are any of the ultra small AA's with the XP-E's decently throwy?
The RC-29 is great, but I mainly used it as pure flooder and not as a thrower. It's a fantastic close up work light with an almost perfectly even beam in flood. I didn't like the sharp tailswitch so much, though.
Yeah... The tailcap is the only real con for me but it allows it to tailstand which is a plus so a wash really. I'm not expecting ultra throw with it but as a great all around (have with me) light... it'll be enough throw for my needs and a great flood when I want it (which is more often then not). Is the flood pretty similar to when you run an LED on candle mode (aka, head/reflector off?).
My brightest AA light is pretty big and is IMR 14500 only.
It is a real parts-bin special being a Mr.Lite J4 with the stock driver but the LED replaced with an XM-L. The TIR optic it came with didn't like the XM-L much so I pulled the reflector from a dirt-cheap Trustfire TR-801. Gives around 400 rapidly waning lumens and doesn't get painfully hot.
It makes a nice pocketable thrower. Thrower being a relative term in that size of course.