Ha ha, thanks for the replies guys - as I expected really. I find the beam a bit too narrow for such a low power light, and I was tempted to try anyway, but half a second of shining glory would be a bit of a waste, even for this :-).
Just in case anyone's interested in forking out for this spectacular £1 marvel, it DOES work ok with a 3.6v lithium 14500.
I wouldn't have bothered using it if it could only take AAs, because it was too dim to be useful with such a narrow beam, so I thought I'd take the chance of burning it out. Turns out it is surprisingly useable with a 3.6v 14500, so now resides in my coat pocket.
Having said that, I've just ordered a FannyFire 3900 3x XM-L, so I don't imagine it'll get a lot of use once that arrives ;-)
Damn, now I'm tempted all over again! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170640999442?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
Part of me knows these lights are bound to be rubbish, but another part reasons that, at this price, they might almost as well be free so what have I got to lose? How bad can they be for a quid? The strap and keyring would cost half that if bought seperately, and there may be a useable spare tailboot and a couple of O rings..It might even be possible to use the body as an extension tube for something. It's no good, I've got to order a couple. What can I say? I'm weak..
I have couple of these and while they are plenty bright for the price and have nice and sturdy appearance and seem nice to the touch they have terrible switches, either you drop it once and it stops to work or you have to unscrew the bottom part of the flashlight and screw it back on to get your light working if its not giving out 100% light or not switching on at all.
Ive read that you can fix that by adding some kind of oil into the switching mechanism, not sure, will try that out with mine.
How bad can they be for a quid? The strap and keyring would cost half that if bought seperately, and there may be a useable spare tailboot and a couple of O rings..It might even be possible to use the body as an extension tube for something. It's no good, I've got to order a couple. What can I say? I'm weak..