I ordered a Klarus ST20 for my friend and it arrived today. It's an interesting little light. My Shingingbeam Caveman arrived yesterday and so I'm having fun comparing the two. The Klarus is a XP-G R5 and the Caveman is a XM-L T6. Not a lot of difference in output between the two lights although the Caveman has more spill. Throw is pretty close to the same.
It's probably better to compare the Klarus ST20 to the Klarus P2A. Both have very slender bodies. Light output, tint and beam are so close to each other that I can't tell the difference. Biggest difference is the UI. Where the P2A is only 2 modes changeable by tightening and loosening the head, the ST20 has a forward mounted clicky switch to change the modes. It works like this. Click the light on with the tail clicky. Scroll through Low, Medium or high modes by clicking the forward button. When you find the one you want and you turn the light off with the tail clicky, the light has memory and will come on at the mode you last used. Another function is the strobe. With the light on, hold the forward button down for 1/2 second and it goes into strobe. It looks to be a good strobe and varies from slow to fast and back to slow. The light also has a extra low mode accessed by loosening the head which gives you 2 lumens. Press the front button and you get a SOS mode.
It's a good UI and I like this light better than the P2A or Jetbeam BA20. I like the fact that you can change the modes with one hand.
I had looked at this light before when I bought my P2A and BA20 but it was over $20 more. GoingGear is now selling this light for $40 which is the same as the P2A and BA20. The light will tailstand but it's quite wobbly.
Ranking my 2xAA lights.
Shiningbeam Caveman is first.
Klarus ST20 is second.
Klarus P2A and Jetbeam BA20 are next and the lights are almost identical.
Quark AA2 Tactical is my least favorite. I like the fact that it has more modes but you can only program 2 at a time. Many would like the warmer tint better but I like Cool white lights. The other lights are noticeably brighter and have better throw. The Quark doesn't tail stand and the button is a little harder to click than I like. One of my biggest complaints of the Quark is that the batteries burn 15-20 minutes less than the others on high mode even though it's not as bright. Go figure.
I tested the light with 2 Duracell 2450mAh NiMh batteries. I only tested it on high mode. It ran for 1 hour and 50 minutes before it started to dim much at all.
I finally got my ST20 the other day and I completely agree with Chidwack. It's a really well thought out UI and so far, this is definitely my favorite Klarus light. If there was a way to use it with a single cell (preferably a 14500), it would be just about perfect, but then there would be no reason to buy the ST10 and I knew it wasn't spec'd to handle 4.2v when I bought it.
The interface works surprisingly well. I am not sure I'll ever need instantaneous access to strobe, but since it doesn't get in the way, I really don't mind. Same goes for the SOS and beacon modes. The moonlight mode is actually useful at 2 lumens (according to the specs; it appears significantly brighter than the V10A all the way dialed down and less bright than the V60C). I don't expect parasitic drain to be an issue since the soft switch doesn't do anything when the light is off, but I haven't checked. In any case, the light can be locked out.
I really dig the fit and finish. This thing just feels right to me: relatively light, well balanced, flawless anodizing, nice knurling, works well with gloves on. It even remembers the last mode it was on after you remove the batteries or after accessing the hidden modes (moonlight, SOS, beacon).
I thought the P2A was okay - not bad, not outstanding, but this is so much better, in my opinion.
Mine should be in my mailbox today or tomorrow, looking forward to another Klarus! I think the ST10 is just about as perfect of a single AA light that could be built, so I'm excited about a 2 X AA version.
It is hard to decide whether I like the ST20 or the Caveman better.
Caveman; more solid, thick, heavier, larger head, warmer beam, 3-modes, no blinkies. The feel of this light is close to perfect.
ST20: more delicate feeling, lighter, thinner, way smaller head, but about the same light output and throws better then the Caveman. Plus it has that cool sideswitch to change modes with, and a moonlight-Low mode, only 2 lumens.
These are both very nice lights, purchased for almost the same price. Very hard to pick a favorite, but on dog-walks I think I would favor the Caveman. In the house, I'd go with the ST20.
Those are my two favorite 2xAA flashlights. I'm finding that I am really starting to gravitate towards favoring AA and AAA NiMh lights. They are just so easy to use and carry. I'm also finding that although tons of light is great and nice to have, when I just looking to do a job, the smaller less bright lights are the ones I reach for first. I'm comforted by the fact that AA/AAA NiMh batteries are inexpensive, easy to charge, last a long time and are available almost everywhere. I also like the fact that if I need to do so, I can use AA alkaline batteries which I have tons of and can buy them anywhere.
Thanks for the beamshots! My first non-Surefire light was a Fenix L2D, which I bought sometime back in 2007 IIRC and I've had a thing for 2*AA lights ever since.
I prefer and primarily use li-ion based lights (which is one of the reasons, why at that time I mostly bought 14500-based lights that would also take AAs, even though I have so many 14500s now that I hardly ever actually use primaries; still, I always thought having options was a good thing). 2*AA strikes me as the best of both worlds for a lot of situations. If I need a thrower, I will bring a thrower. If I need a lot of spill, I'll bring a light that is suitable for whatever it is I'm doing. What 2*AA does is offer a ton of flexibility: it may not be the best light for the job but having the best light in the world is kind of pointless, when all your batteries are dead and you can't recharge them.
I still keep that L2D P100 in my car, btw and to this day, it works just fine.
