...compact, with a good, solid belt clip, great output, and preferably, the ability to tail-stand? A friend is looking for a replacement for his MiniMag.
itp sa2 seems to be good..I have the sa1 and love it..ordered the klarus p2a for my mom but have not received it yet but it looks great also and is 25-30$ on DD (I think they're doing a group buy for it right now)..jetbeam has a 2aa offering that's the same as the klarus but I don't know the model number off hand..
Klarus p2a is a good choice if you have a very flat surface to tailstand it on. The tailcap is a compromise between accessibility and "tailstandability"/stabililty. If you need "tailstandability" on uneven surfaces the 2AA format isn't ideal anyway.
I have a Quark AA2 S2 version. It is quite a bright light and tailstands (the regular version not tactical). But, it may be a bit pricy. I'd say Jetbeam BA20 or Klarus P2A, almost the same light, most probably the same driver.
Easy as:
- Klarus P2A
- JetBeam BA20
You said budget so my answer is unequivocally the tank 566 with extra body tube single mode or 5 mode. With seriously well spaced modes .A beautiful build. the body feels like a high dollar light and the 3$ extra body tube isn't a silly add-on it actually adds to the functionallity of the existing super product.
IMHO this has always been one of the best budget ligthts ever made .
Vectrex is right ..a 2 AA will ever tailstand anyway so why even ask it to .
With the availability of the fenix clips ..clips aren't a problem either and it fits in the Minimag sheath like a glove .
If you need to spend more buy the fenix E21 and add a clip...
or buy both .
:)
Thanks, I think Im going to order this light because it can act as an 1AA or 2AA...can you pls recommend me the best place to buy (ie a good vendor?)
Im not sure some places include the extra tube, and some dont. I used to only buy from DD but now that they havent shipped my last order I dont know other good stores.
Thanks.
just got the klarus p2a in..I can say first hand that this light is awesome for 25-30$
DX has the single mode with extension and the 5 mode version. NG shopping has the overview.
Please overthink if you don't want to spring the extra cash for a Fenix E21 or a Klarus P2A ... they are easily worth the extra bucks... but the decision is yours. (man, I start to sound like a CPF guy... scary ;-) )
Thanks for the links (and the advice), Ive never heard of NGShopping before? So its good see they carry so many Tank007 lights.
I have ordered a P1A from DD but they are sitting on my order...:( If thats nice I might get the P2A or the JetBeam equivalent.
Still the TK-566 looks like an awesome light for my little collection.
ngshopping is a price comparison site, that features many individual shops, think of it as Amazon marketplace for cheap Chinese sites.
I have a Klarus P2A and love it but I just received a Klarus ST20 from Goinggear. Pretty much the same output as the P2A but it has an additional front side button to change modes and a few extra modes. It has been selling for $63 but Goinggear has it on sale for $40 which is the same amount of money as the P2A. For the same money, I would take the ST20.
Balder BD-1P could be an option although that's putting you close to $50. It uses an XM-L and includes a body tube extension to make it 2 x AA. Running 2 x eneloop in mine yields output that's very close to 1 x 14500. I posted a review if you're interested.
There is a Romisen that is pretty good as well. Can't remember the model...
I have an idea what you might be thinking of: Romisen RC-N3
If not, well that's one I was thinking of but wasn't sure of its performance compared to the other models listed.
Hope the OP doesn't mind me semi hijacking this thread but my question is fairly similar. I'm wanting an AA for general household use since I don't trust everyone to treat li-ion rechargables with the proper respect and it's also useful for emergencies since CR123 are so expensive here. And I'm thinking of getting multi AA since I prefer something fairly bright and floody (don't mind if I only get about 1.5 hours run time with rechargables).
With the P2A at US$31.69 on DD is there any 2xAA budget lights (say under $22) with at least 170 real lumens on high? (Probably should have purchased during Christmas since the CNY coupons at DD are crappier https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/5315 .) I don't think the Tank007 can achieve this, I'm not that sure what sort of output it has on high with 2 x AA. I don't really care about tailstanding or the rest. Would prefer XP-G or possibly even XM-L but this seems very rare on budget multi AA lights, most are rather old which doesn't really help if you're looking for something bright. From http://lux.yi.org/torch/ the only thing there that may fit the bill is the Ultrafire C3 extended, but they have a poor reputation https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/1478 for quality and it seems they aren't always that bright either. The stainless is supposed to be better, but I have no idea if it has decent output with 2 x AA.
BTW according to http://club.dealextreme.com/forums/Forums.dx/threadid.756329 the Romisen RC-N3 can't tail stand. (Not that interesting to me anyway since from what I read, it's more of a thrower.)
Here is one for less than $20. Don't know what shipping would be to NZ. http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-227/Romisen-RC-dsh-N3-NW-Cree/Detail
I had one and it was ok but the batteries rattled around inside the body in the 2xAA mode and sometimes lost contact and had to be shook to make contact again. I gave the light away but I'm sure I could have put something inside the body to keep the batteries tighter and the problem would have been solved. I had no problems when using the cr123 body.
Don't know if you can save up or not but if you can get up to something around $40 before shipping, you will have a hugely better light.
If $43 fits the budget, buy a Caveman from Shiningbeam, but it doesn't tailstand.
I'm waiting the arrival of the Xeno E15, 1AA or 2AA, but no clip. They're pretty expensive on *bay, but I found it for $26 plus shipping. My Xeno EO3s have been very durable, so I'm hoping for the same from the E15.