Greetings from Spain, BLF flashaholics! 
Well, bought my first cree light 1 yeah ago from Bryan @ SB. Didn't know which to choose, so I bought Kingpower K2, 2xAA, Q5, because almost all my batteries are rechargeable ones (AA). Good light, no complains. But now I need something smaller, but without sacrifice power. I think 1xAA/14500 will be great decision, because I still want to use my AAs. Want to buy good light I can trust, I mean I can use AA and 14500 without thinking that the driver can be burned, I need good regulation and multimode also. Any suggestions for about $30? What about ITP C7?
Well, besides this good light, I need another one, but cheaper, for about $15-20 (same specs). I like Akoray K106/Trustfire F20 design, but new Ultrafire U20 with R5 for $21 could be a good light. Any help will be appreciated 
BTW, as I don't want sacrifice power, I should go for lith batts (no remedy I think). Black Trustfires 14500? Are they good for the price?
To charge lith batts, I need a new charger. Want a multi batt charger, in case I want to buy 18500 light in the future. Shekor charger could be an option.
Thats all. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks in advance. 
Uniquefire AA-S1 for AA - Maybe a little too much on a 14500 since its single mode . Very nice on a AA though ..
ITP A2 AA , will run on 14500 , but a lot of power on High ...
Some new AA's on the way , such as the Mr.Lite [ J4 ? ]
Akoray
Relatively new is the Xtar 2 bay charger ..... http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=290210
Always remember , the easiest thing in the world to do , is to expel hot air from your lungs and through some vocal chords ..
The resulting sound may , or may not be worth listening too ….
Hey, old4570, thanks for the fast reply
Yep, I like A2, but... will it be more powerful that C7? Both of them are relatively small, so size doesn't matter in this case, so prefer the powerful one.
I'll have to read that thread, didn't saw this charger before. Thanks.
I had an Uniquefire AA-S1 and a friend of mine has the K2. The K2 is way better than most of the lights you listed as choice. Build quality is above all lights I had/have, even better than the Hugsby's. I don't consider the K2 an expensive budget light (what was it, ~35$ ?), but a cheap high quality light with more similarities to Fenix's, Nitecores and Quarks. The Hugsby P32 (black) is great for the price, but it will be most likely a little less bright and build quality is a little less good, but for standard 1xAA's it's still my recommendation. It doesn't take 14500's though. There is a golden version of the Hugsby which is supposed to manage 14500s. I only own 3 Hugsby's in black (P32/P31) so I don't know how the golden one is. (but someone does... well kind of)
Most driver can't be good for AA/14500 equally, so you have to choose which is more important to you 14500 support, or high output with AA. If I had 14500s I would probably buy the K106 with programmable driver.(Review) Here are some of Don's measurements.
Update: ITP C7 Review, Kingpower K2 Review
My intuition tells me, by looking at the runtimes of the C7 that the Eastward, Hugsby's, new SS(from Manafont / LT )/grey Ultrafire C3 will be brighter on AA's.
Update 2: After reading some measurements... I would recommend the TrustFire R5-A3 for mixed use with 14500/AAs for near maximum output on both..
Hi there SashiX, a warm welcome to you, thanks for joining!
If you don't care about the runtime, the Trustfire R5-A3 or the Uniquefire AA-S1 are superb. But if you do care about runtime and a nice high mode, go for the Ultrafire C3 Stainless 3-mode from Manafont.
Budget Light Forum ...where Frugal meets with Flashlight!
The ITP A2 is very bright on a 14500 ... You need to chose a light for the battery you wish to run ... Small bodied flashlights will warm up on a 14500 ...
Going AA you will always lose output when comparing to 14500
Always remember , the easiest thing in the world to do , is to expel hot air from your lungs and through some vocal chords ..
The resulting sound may , or may not be worth listening too ….
Thanks for the replys
@Vectrex
- AA-S1 it's an OSRAM light, while K2 have Q5. Did you tried your AA-S1 with AA or 14500? If K2 is brighter than AA-S1 with 14500... makes me think...
OSRAM better than Q5?
- Yep, build quality is great on my K2, HAIII, waterproof and so on. And yes, it cost me about $35. The review I saw @ http://www.light-reviews.com/ helps me in my decision. Constant brightness is great, good regulation.
- Will take those Hugsby into account
- Yes, most driver can't be good for AA/14500 equally, but at least I know that it will work properly on AA and 14500 without burning the driver. As fran82 says in one of those Hugsby threads: "... if you have an emergency, i.e. a black out, or a hurricane, earthquake, flood, tornado, etc and you have not 14500 or dont have electricity in your house to charge it, you will be fuc***..." So, prefer sacrifice a little power, but have a light that is compatible with AA and 14500
Good lumens btw.
- I saw this C7 review. Looks like tactical version is better (a little bit brighter and has better regulation). http://www.light-reviews.com/itp_c7_tactical/
- Is K106 programmable is better than normal K106? Looks like the second one is brighter, and I don't mind switch between modes (although I don't like strobe or SOS modes)
P.D.: thanks for all those links, vectrex, good job
@sb56637
Thanks. The runtime is not a problem. One question: why do you (and others) recommend AA-S1? Is it better than K106/F20 with Q5? Don't mind pay 3 bucks more for K106 if it's brighter.
@old4570
- A2 brighter than C7?
- "Going AA you will always lose output when comparing to 14500 " - Will lose output comparing to exclusively 14500 flashlight or you mean in general? I know that 14500 is much brighter than AA.
Thanks for your help!
EDIT: looks very interesting new Ultrafire U20 with XP-G R5.
If you want a nice AA light , AA-S1 is very good on AA's ...
If you want to run 14500 with AA for back up . Akoray AK-16 ...
I tested the Uniquefire AA-S1 , and got up to 120 Lumen on Alkalines , and 130L on Nimh , and I thought the 14500 was maybe overdoing it [ 200+ ] , I sent it of as a gift , as it was very nice ..
I need to pick up a few more as I was impressed by it ... For under $10 shipped
Always remember , the easiest thing in the world to do , is to expel hot air from your lungs and through some vocal chords ..
The resulting sound may , or may not be worth listening too ….
No problem Sashix... links are why we are here.
I don't own any 14500... so my view is very heavily focused on max output on AA's and I really despise strobe modes, especially on lights with memory. This is why I would favour the programmable K106, if I had 14500's, but it lacks in the AA department.(review1,review2,review3) But the TrustFire R5-A3 seems to be good on both battery types.
Also it seems I'm the only one with second thoughts about the Uniquefire AA-S1. I liked it at first, when I thought it was a warm tint with the Osram emitter, but later I found out it was actually yellow, like with a yellow lens in front, but everybody else seems to love it here, so my model might have been faulty, or a bad exception. Also don't forget that the S1 is single-mode and you wanted multi-mode.
The K-106 in Don's table might be the non-programmable... at least that is, what it is linked to, but here the top of the pops:
I ordered the grey C3 Q5, as I want to see if it is really brighter on 1xAA than the Hugsby and brighter on 2XAA than the Solarforce L2R, but that one is only single-mode.
The ITP C7 may be one of my next elected...I have no flashlight with IBS system.
In the range of the cheaps,maybe you should consider the Ultrafire C3 SS. Very good amount of light as both AA & 14500 (5 modes although)
I'm actually planning to put a R5 in the C3 SS,although with no specific reflector ...
While it is true that the UF20 promises...if the driver holds the 14500 without burning the driver (Waiting confirmation of this).
ForoLinternas.com
Hi there SashiX. In terms of brightness, the Akoray K-106 3-mode programmable is not the brightest. The cheaper K-106/F20 are somewhat brighter than the K-106 3-mode programmable version. But the AA-S1 is far brighter and has an incredibly beautiful beam. But I personally prefer the flexibility of the K-106 3-mode. Another decent option is the Ultrafire M2, which is very bright on high, and it still has a decent runtime on low mode.
Budget Light Forum ...where Frugal meets with Flashlight!
It is a programmable one. I was fiddling with it recently to see how low it would go.
The link is what I actually bought, most of those links come from my DX account history. But at the time they were shipping the 3 mode programmable though they claimed it was the less useful 6 mode.
The numbers from my light tests are always to be found here.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0ApkFM37n_QnRdDU5MDNzOURjYllmZHI...
Then you should switch to the Kaidomain purchase link. To avoid confusion.
Makes sense. Pity I didn't notice the link was to YouTube till I'd stuck it on the spreadsheet. Ah well, off to KD to play hunt-the-link. It will be sorted shortly.
The numbers from my light tests are always to be found here.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0ApkFM37n_QnRdDU5MDNzOURjYllmZHI...
lol, the new spitting image flashlight, look at post #3, there is the needed link to KD.
@old4570
- "If you want to run 14500 with AA for back up . Akoray AK-16 ..."
Akoray AK-16? Do you mean K-106?
As for SS-A1... good light for less than 10 bucks indeed.
@Vectrex
Yeah, don't know why almost all lights have SOS, strobe modes. I think momentary-on switch is much useful.
- "but later I found out it was actually yellow, like with a yellow lens in front, but everybody else seems to love it here, so my model might have been faulty, or a bad exception"
Yes, could be a batch issue. I've seen many lights (C3 for example) that had different tints, depending on when they were purchased/batch.
- "Also don't forget that the S1 is single-mode and you wanted multi-mode."- Well, If the light is only AA, could be an option, but if it's AA/14500... multimode is a must I think, because on 14500 it will be twise as bright.
Interesting results I see... Hm
K-106 really sucks on AA... Can't believe it, so loooow lumen 
Well, on 14500 also. R5-A3 an C3 SS have great output.
@XRAYboy
Yes, C3 SS is a good choice apparently. Will wait review from Don. Looks like he bought U20. Or not?
@sb56636
Haven't found M2 @ DX or LT
Where I can found it?
We should make a fundraiser to let Don buy every interesting light that is new... what are a few hundred lights more or less... right Don?
M2 Review / Purchase Link
Thx for the links, Vectrex
sb56637, have you tried your M2 with 14500? Very similar to K106/F20/AA-S1 body.
I have the Akoray AK-16 , 3 mode programmable , AA - 14500 - CR123A [ very nice ]
Always remember , the easiest thing in the world to do , is to expel hot air from your lungs and through some vocal chords ..
The resulting sound may , or may not be worth listening too ….
No, sorry, I actually don't own any 14500 cells. But I'm almost positive that it will work well with 14500, because it appears to be a rebadged Akoray K-106 6-mode, which according to the reviews is bright and reliable on 14500.
Budget Light Forum ...where Frugal meets with Flashlight!
Ok, guys, thx to all your posts on this forum, now I know much more things about lights, etc
So, now I have a bunch good lights to choose from. Also want to buy a relatively good multi charger (should be multi because I plan to buy 18600 in the future). Matt, I think you have tested most chargers available today in the market, hehe 
, which would you recommend? Xtar 2 bay that you suggested me before? Or Shekor? Or Ultrafire? In my opinion Xtar will be better choice.
Another thing. The friend of mine want to buy a good 1xAA light with the best/brigtest spill posible. He really need a good spill, less than brightest hotspot. What do you recommend? Of course we are talking about budget lights, about $20. Thanks in advance
Uniquefire AA-S1 - if necessary hit the reflector with some hairspray to farther diffuse the beam.
The numbers from my light tests are always to be found here.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0ApkFM37n_QnRdDU5MDNzOURjYllmZHI...
I totally agree with Don´s suggestion. The AA S1 has a wide beam and a nice ww natural color. 10$ Cheap!
Cheap quality is good - Expensive crap isn´t
Also easy modable. Just buy the ak-47 and you have a Li-Ion only 5 mode (or the modes you want by bridging the stars)
Also can use another 17mm driver or smaller and make multimode. AA or 14500, as you want!
This post/thread "may" contain referrals, a little contribution I "earn" in form of points ONLY if you buy the item. The purpose is to redeem items using the points and then making reviews of them in the forums to shar
Will ask my friend if he want a single mode light or multimode. The AA-S1 has the best spill with AA, 14500 or both?
I've been using the Trustfire TR-001 http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12594 for about a month now. I've been very pleased with it. I use it on 10440's, 14500's, and 18650's with no problems. It's a double charger with independent circuits that will cut off at 4.205v ( on all three battery types). It won't charge the 18650's as fast as some of the others, but it also won't ruin the smaller cells with too much current either. I'm going to order another one in the near future just to have a spare.
Just a heads up on the AA-S1. I just received one a few weeks ago and was less than impressed with it. After such rave reviews I can only assume I just got a crappy one (it happens...). On the other hand, the ultrafire C3 (DX sku 04452) has absolutely blown me away....on either 1xAA, 2xAA, or 14500(brightest). It has more throw than my Zebralight H51 and is almost as bright!
-Match
The AA-S1 both with AA or 14500 produces same spill, however, as all lights, with 14500 will be more powerfull (double?)
Perfect light for the money! even with alkalines (which draws less current than NiMh) is good enough!
This post/thread "may" contain referrals, a little contribution I "earn" in form of points ONLY if you buy the item. The purpose is to redeem items using the points and then making reviews of them in the forums to shar
The c78 from LT has better flood and brightness than the AA-S1. Very even beam with no artifacts and flexibility from wide to zoom. If you don't need modes, it's one of the best aa lights, all for ~$10.
Reading this makes you smarter: http://lesswrong.com/
Its a flood to throw light. I have several and none of them are very good at flood. Sounds interresting
that a 1.5 volt AA can provide higher lumens than a 3.7 volt 14500. Could you please inform us with
your measurements(!) of the C78 on 1.5v and the AA S1 on 14500, as the C78 is not found in Don´s
splendid dokument.
Cheap quality is good - Expensive crap isn´t
In terms of hotspot/throw with AA's, the c78 is about same as the skyray s5, about 1300 arbilux, this compared to 450 for the J4, 300 for the C3 SS, and 100 for the AA-S1.
For flood, measuring at half the radius from center, the c78 is about 40, the s1 about 15, the J4 15, and the C3 SS is 10.
Reading this makes you smarter: http://lesswrong.com/
I admit, I dont know what arbilux stand for. But if its the same lux as Dons there is a big difference
between your figures and Dons
The J4 is 1460, the C3 SS is 1391 and the S1 is 1255 Lux. Not a big difference. In lumens they are 262, 250 and 225.
With AA batteries the figures for all these lights are lower. But according to your figures the C78 on 1AA are much
brighter than these on 14500. For me there is something that does not add up. Do you use the same metode as Don
when you measure. Are the figures you gave measured and how?
Cheap quality is good - Expensive crap isn´t
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