What's a good single AA stainless steel flashlight

Looking for one that is good and no limit on budget. AA for compact size. Stainless as the cheap flashlights on ebay with adjustble zoom are beginning to have paint chips everywhere.

Cheers.

Welcome to BLF!

Here is an budget friendly option:
DQG Tiny AA
http://m.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_252466.html

However not all non-SS flashlights will chip as easily. If you buy high quality ones with good anodizing they should be very durable.

In order of my personal preference:

Zebralight SC52, considered by many the best AA light, takes both ni-mh and Li-ion. It is my favorite compact flashlight.
http://www.illumn.com/zebralight-sc52-l2-cool-white-280lm-aa.html

Manker T01, probably the best throwing AA light, highly recommended by members in this forum.
https://fasttech.com/product/4090700-authentic-manker-quinlan-t01-led-flashlight

Zebralight SC5, this is the brightest single alkaline/ni-mh light but it can’t take Li-ion rechargeables
http://www.illumn.com/flashlights/zebralight-sc5-op-xm-l2-545-lm-cool-white.html

Manker E11, a compact and cheaper version of the above.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01G1QJO3U

Astrolux X5, very bright and throws well but it is heavy and bulky for a AA light, and ONLY takes Li-ion batteries.

Those Manker/Godmes T01 lights look awesome, I’ve been reading reviews and watching videos on them for about the last hour.

Maybe I’ll buy myself one at Xmas time.

Will, I’ve got 2 SC52’s. One older one without the L2 emitter, and one with. Great flashlights!

Yeah, I have the first version without aux modes and uses the old XM-L (not L2) and the light it produces with a 14500 is amazing, the Clicky still feels like new after many years of use. For me it is an absolute must have.

Klarus Mi7

subbing thread. I’m still looking for that “just right” AA light.

eagletac d25a ti

:+1: :+1:

Especially if you are looking for something small and light

(Although not steel )

Everything ‘Klarus’ I’ve ever bought was really well built, but tinted so icy cool it makes my teeth hurt. To top it off, they’re sealed up so tight you can’t get into them to change the emitter.
If they’d join the modern era in the ‘neutral zone’ I’d be all over that stuff.

If money is not an issue I would go with titanium light. It’s lighter than stainless steel and will not chip as aluminium but when carried alongside keys there are going to be some scratches same as with stainless. I would stay away from Klarus because of theirs questionable business practices - their MAP enforcement with recent group buy is not the first example, they are also the reason behind cancellation of 4sevens Preon Revo (one of best and prettiest AAA based light’s to date IMHO). They are actually destroying our hobby.

Back to the topic - have you seen Thrunite T10T (titanium)? Aforementioned Eagletac D25A Ti is awesome as well. There’s (was?) special edition version with Nichia 219B. DQG AA Titanium is another choice: $37.42 D.Q.G Tiny AA EDC LED Flashlight. Check out Olight S15-Ti as well and Jetbeam TEA20 - this one stands out as it’s gold. Sunwayman also have some expensive Cr123/AA titanium lights like M11R or V10R(both fits AA with extender).

Some stainless lights to consider as well:

The TnC Ultra-Lux 14500 is available in stainless……but it is super-pricey. :frowning:

Judging from other POP lites, including the T22, the POP lite P22 is a very good stainless steel 1 x AA two zone TIR zoomy; but they are rare as hen’s teeth. I have one on order from Taobao, but I am not confident of really getting one. The two zone optics means you can get almost all the LED’s light into the throw, and it is a zoomy so you can also switch to flood. I don’t think the driver can stand a 14500, the original driver in my LED Lenser P5.2 didn’t.

POP lite is (or at least appears to be) the Chinese brand, now changed to Fitech, of the company that also makes the LED Lenser and Coast brands. They come with a nice color owners manual in Chinese only.

Thumbs up for the Manker t01 its an awesome aa, my next aa is gonna be Klarus mi7 .

FastTech list “Mode Memory Next Mode”. Is that a mistake in the listing or in the driver?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Manker-E11-CREE-XP-L-LED-AA-14500-Flashlight-Simple-Version-of-Manker-T01-/222135746300

next mode memory is the worst design in my opinion. I stopped using any lights that I had with next mode memory.

What about this?

http://www.cnqualitygoods.com/goods.php?id=2212

That torch looks REALLY nice, but I´m afraid the innards are not very tempting … 3 modes (hi-low-strobe) like in the cheap SRK lights… the XP-E R5 is probably only a LB clone. Better save a few more bucks and get a Klarus Mi7 or Manker E11…
K.

I have actually had that light for over a year. works great nice tint cw but not blue. very bright. I would say it would be a good backup light. I used it a lot to see how it would hold up. never had a problem.