ITP A2 EOS questions

Hello everyone. I realize that the ITP A2 EOS may not be considered a budget light after all it is $25. My question is simply this, are there lights that fall into our budget way of thinking that offer the value that this light does? The ITP is well made, has a nice low mode, and you can get it locally and have it in a few days. I know that people are holding out for the BLF Tank lights, but I do not know when they are coming out. It have an Ultrafire U20 but even on a 1.2v cell it does not have a dim low mode. I know there is the K106 that you can program, but even that is almost a $20 light and I read about people getting the wrong version of the light they ordered. I am simply trying to use my money wisely and get a quality single AA torch for EDC use.

ITP's other older models are being cleared out (incl. CxT, CxR, where x is 7-10 depending on battery) by shiningbeam, et al. They're a better value than the Ax models since they properly regulate on buck/boost and solid build quality. The a series imo is overrated. Nice enough for edc, but a bit thin and not really all that special.

I was looking at that model as well for the AA and it looks like it can have a dim mode because of the variable brightness and such. I am just curious about its size and wonder how well it fits in a picket as it looks a bit chunky. :)

For durability and features, the C7 will kill an A2 no doubt, however, it is quite large for a single AA, but if that is no problem go for it. I really love my C7 a lot and it is really a tank. Its not anywhere near as bright as my Xeno E03, but the E03 can't do a true low on 14500 and the C7 can. Both the C7 and A2 use PWM, but the C7 uses such a high frequency (above 4khz), its not physically possible for the human eye to detect. I really wish I could still get the different battery tubes for it so I could lego it.

I keep looking at this guy as well. So many choices and so little money. I just want to get the right light so to speak as I do not have Foy or MATCH type money to play with. LOL :) I am not so much into the hobby of collecting as I am trying to find the right "tools" for what I need them for. Once i have them....then I really do not need to buy many lights and have a large collection. :)

I have an extremely large collection of lights. Probably around 160 of them. But I can rarely find more than 130 of them at any given time.

I probably have one to fulfil any conceivable need (Other than lighting up stuff a few miles away), but that's never stopped me yet. I don't "need" 99% of the lights I own. So what? Compared to camera collecting it costs half of nothing. Besides the ones I don't like and give away are better than most folks have ever bought - regardless of budget.

I used to sell old cameras. You would not believe how strange that can get. Like the 1930's Leica 250. Prices have dropped a lot - you'd only be able to buy a high-end car for the same money now - 30 years ago you could buy a large house for the same money.

Like the guy who flew from Japan first class to look at a camera. Well, to look at the box it came in. Apparently, breaking the factory seal and opening the box would have ruined its collector value. He spent around $300 getting the box X-Rayed (Which destroyed the utterly crap Ferranti electronics in it) to make sure there actually was a camera in the box. What he paid for this box, which allegedly (It did unless Leitz Wezlar were taking the mickey. Which is extremely unlikely) had a gold-plated Leica R3 in it, would have paid for the house I live in. The cost of the 1st class flight from Japan to Edinburgh would have covered my living costs for a decade or two.

Collectors are all utterly insane. Including those who collect lights.

I can understand why someone who will never take a picture with it will spend a years' pay on a hundred year old Contax or Leica. With lights I neither have, or would spend, that sort of money. But I can get a LOT more of them without spending all that much.

Somewhere in the loft I have an utterly uncollectable 80 year old Leica III. It was modded in the 1950s to allow use with a flashgun.

I paid about a year's income for it 30 years ago and never use it. And never will.

Lights? I can get a lot of them for not a lot of money. As in cheap enough to give away the ones I don't like without worrying about the cost.

And my day job pays less than the national average and the better-paid stuff I do has dried up in the last few years. I could drop my rates but I don't like the work and if it isn't very profitable, I'd rather not do it.