I have been looking for a 1AA light that was small, bright, had a clicky and a clip and good UI. I saw this at my local gunshop a few weeks ago and picked one up for $34+tax.
It has high, low and strobe. There is no memory and it always starts on high which I dig. After 2 seconds, it resets and will start on high again. I like this as it makes it easy to use as a single mode light but have the low for sometime use. I use high 95% of the time but once in a while low is handy. Strobe is useless but it doesn’t really get in the way so it is not a huge negative.
What I like:
Uses 1AA
ANSI 100 lumen according to package
90 min runtime on high, just enough for my needs
Good throw with even blending of hotspot to flood. Very useful.
Decent tint. I am not a tint snob so as long as isn’t green or blue tinted, I am happy. This seems slightly warm.
What I don’t like:
Clip. Bezel up and hard to clip on some thicker pants.
Reverse clicky. This would have been better to just be a forward with high and low.
As thin as it is, there are areas that could be slimmed down. They added some width that could have been avoided.
What makes this light good is the size. It’s very small. It doesn’t look especially small in the pics but when I first saw it I almost passed it by because I assumed it to be a AAA light. When I saw it was really a AA, I got excited. Small AA lights are very rare for some reason.
Another huge pro to this light is there is a rubber bite ring so you can hold it in your mouth for hands free use. I wrap tape around my EDC penlight for just this purpose. It’s nice to see someone was thinking.
It’s not perfect but it as close as I have yet seen in a 1AA EDC light.
Things I would change to make it perfect:
Make it a high/low with forward clicky and low accessed via the twist head like the Jetbeam BA10.
2. Slim the body and head as much as possible. Take away all added bulk and make the head nearly same diameter as body. It’s already one of the slimmest 1AA lights so why not go for the gold?
3. Fix the clip! Bezel down and make it sit a little lower. Whoever designed this clip obviously doesn’t use clips on flashlights as an EDC. It’s dumb and sucks.
4. Drop the price a bit. $34 is a bit steep but worth it. $25 would make it a great deal and I would buy more as gifts and spares.
Bottom line, it is the best 1AA EDC work light I own. It makes a great light for mechanics and electricians. It’s more marketed towards the tactical/outdoor market but it actually is almost ideal for people who need a good work EDC.
This light is much more useful than my HD2010. I know big throwers get all the ink around here but a good small AA or AAA EDC is what 99% of people would actually carry and use.
I am sorely tempted to try out a 14500 in it but I don’t want to toast my new light. Does anyone have a clue if it can handle it?
Is there a way of finding out who made this for Browning? I want to find out if there is a more budget version of this light and if it can take a 14500 safely.
You could ask Browning if they think it will, or strip out the driver and see what I looks like/ post pictures. I would guess that it can’t, but as you point out, it depends who originally made the light and if the driver is the same.
I’m struggling to find an aa/14500 driver though, that host takes 17mm drivers, with a 4 x 7135 driver and an xpg2 it’d be a little pocket rocket and the slots on the top would take one of the clips I’ve seen available……
I’d best stop, I’m talking myself into this and I have no intention of getting into 14500 cells :bigsmile:
Update. I tried a 14500 in my Alpha and it fried it instantly. $40 down the drain. I sent it back to Browning with a note but I don’t expect they will fix it since it was sort of my fault. It didn’t say ‘not’ to use 14500. LOL!
Anyway, it is a good light as long as you stick to AAs. It does put out a lot of lit and has a decent runtime.
For my needs, I need a slim light with a clip. Taking AAA or AA is a must as 18650 is too fat. I need about 90 mins of runtime and a throwy beam. I don’t need 90-100 lumens but it doesn’t hurt either.