New AAA on Ebay

No markings, other than "4149" on the pill.

The head on mine is aluminum, I'm pretty sure, but it is very thin.

If it had come with the o-ring, I'd probably be just OK with it. The best part of this buck and change expense was the anticipation of opening the familiar brown envelope in the mailbox.

edit: the clickies on Kai (same as the ones from autoshop88 on ebay) are definitely worth the couple bucks spent.

The head on mine is aluminum, I'm pretty sure, but it is very thin.

That's weird. I check my ebay and I bought it from the same guy. Maybe they ran out of alum when making mine and just poured plastic down the mold.

Later, I did manage to dump the "pill" casing and reflector out of the head - both pieces made of plastic, of course. Was a little surprised they fell out so easily. Seems they are just press-fit into the head, with the threads providing minor securement.

For those who prefer DealExtreme, they just listed two of the most promising 1xAAA super-budget lights:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.44168

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.44167

I received two of the nameless clickies with a clip . I bought them mainly to plunder their clips and the clips are the best thing on these lights. The led is much smaller than advertised in the pictures and I think even the DX keychain is brighter. I will do a comparison later.

Also the Richuang RC-7001 arrived and that one is actually quiet nice for the price paid. The Emitter is as big as the nameless ones should have been.

Hmm , I'm tempted to buy the 7002 also ... must ... resist...

Having them on DX is nice, if only for consolidating purchases and giving the mailman a break wearing a path to the front door with a multitude of small envelopes. Since I need some other stuff on DX, I'll probably order one of those Richuangs while I'm at it. Still waiting for those keychain clickies from focalprice. DX's beamshot of the Richuang looks more impressive, btw.

I'm looking for a budget AAA for my keychain EDC and a bit reluctant to spend $10 or more for something fancy so quite a useful thread

$0.89 : Meritline has this one http://www.meritline.com/037-18-aluminum-compact-led-flashlight---p-40688.aspx?source=s2010 with coupon code MLCK248656082459AL1

What is meritline? another chinese site as DX? are they legit?

Meritline is very trustworthy. I have bought hundreds of items from them. No problems whatsoever. They always have these little sales with coupon codes that make certain items cheap. It's a company based in Hong Kong, but they also have warehouses in the USA.

Thanks medieval!

So how's meritline shipping times to USA customers - quicker since it might ship domestic?

It's about the same as DX. On certain items get shipped from the USA. Most of their items ship from HK.

Thanks for the heads up but the coupon is for newsletter subscribers only and I don't want junk mails in my main email account. I'd rather pay 70 cent more. But the shop looks interesting and haven't heard of them before.

I don't even get any newsletters from them. Maybe I unsubscribed after I joined.

Hmm, OK thanks ... I'll remember that if I need more clips

And according to the discussion on CPF, several users liked the MXDL clicky and twisty from eBay seller autoshop8810. This seller has once again started offering these products with the "Buy it Now" option, which I prefer. Here are the links:

http://cgi.ebay.com/MXDL-3W-LED-AAA-Battery-Pen-Flashlight-Lamp-Torch-7119-/320579913319 (Clicky)

http://cgi.ebay.com/MXDL-3W-LED-AAA-Battery-Mini-Flashlight-Lamp-Torch-/320579913323 (Twisty)

Sounds worth a try. Will be interested to have a look once they arrive. The fun bit is that even if they are rubbish, which they don't appear to be, there is very little lost.

Do you if either of these tailstand?

No, unfortunately. Although with my stash of 1xAA tailstandable lights I don't think I'd ever use a 1xAAA much as a long-term candle.