I can not imagine the UI being too fussy for anyone doing search and rescue with an EA4 or EA8. One full click gets max brightness and one more full click turn the light off. Doesn’t take a genius.
Anyone that stupid has no business working search and rescue and probably couldn’t find his way to work let alone someone that is lost. They probably won’t be using anything but high mode in their line of work.
I saw these at my local Walmart.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Coleman-2000012363-Coleman-LED-CT50-6AA-Ultra-High-Powered-Aluminum-Flashlight-500-lumens/21155782
If you don’t like it you can take it back.
I wasn't implying that anyone was stupid. In a pressure situation, stress favors a smaller universe of decision making. Let's see, is that a half-press, or a full-press? And what if I accidentally bump the switch prior to or after Turbo mode? Split seconds are important in search/rescue work. We are talking volunteers here (people with good hearts). Maybe not as capable as Navy Seals.
Some of us who have a measure of tech savy are prone to think it's a universal skill. My experience shows that to not necessarily be true. I had a friend who could build you a house, but could not change a spark plug if his life hung in the balance.
And let's not forget Murphy's law (anything that can go wrong, will go wrong).
I see there have been lots of suggestions already. But I have questions:
1. What sort of budget per light are we talking?
2. You say ‘search & rescue’, but what does this actually mean. Will they be used outdoors mostly, or inside? What sort of throw and/or output do you think you need to look at?
3. Is size and weight an issue? i.e. do they need to be compact enough to fit in a pocket, or are larger lights more acceptable?
4. Runtime. I’ve seen no mention of this, but will you need extended runtime for the lights at all? In addition to this, will it be expected for users to carry spare batteries with them? If they will be, how? Will they be lose or in a holder? I ask as something like an 8 AA torch will mean 8 spare AA’s.
5. On the topic of batteries you’ve said AA and AAA. But what chemistry are we talking? If it’s alkaline then this will seriously limit and affect what torches you should be looking at and the sort of output and runtime they’ll manage. If it’s NiMh or lithium primaries then it opens up more options.
If indeed it is alkaline only, then would C or D cell be an option too? Such cells have far higher capacity than an alkaline AA or AAA.
Basically you’ve said your Chief likes the output and performance of a C8, but doesn’t want li-ion. Well that’s a bit like saying you like the speed and performance of Ferrari, but you will only consider a 1.6 diesel engine - in short it ain’t likely to happen.
(well ok there are high output AA lights, but they are all pricey and all need lots of batteries and not alkaline - see why I asked the other questions 
).
Anyhow, so that I’ve added a suggestion or two. I’ve just bought myself a POP lite T33. It runs on 3xAAA. Is fairly compact and uses a TIR lens, so goes from flood to throw. For it’s size, output and battery source it has very good performance and beam distance. It’s also single mode, has momentary and would be easy to handle while wearing gloves, but not so big it won’t fit in a pocket.
POP lite also offer the T34, which is basically the same light as the T33 but runs 4xAAA instead. I suspect it maintains output longer and has a longer runtime overall than the T33.
The lights can be had from Fasttech or DX.
They are not silly money either and even better with the BLF coupon.
The main question is: does it need to be intrinsically safe???
Zoomies tend to be mostly flood (and therefore not too bright) unless zoomed out. Could be a deal breaker. The OP likes C8 (non-zoom reflectored).
I am not 100!% sure at this point the way it started I gave my oldest son. C8 LU3 to use when he went on duty everybody fell In love with it, except for the batteries so when I finally talked to fire chief a couple days ago he told he started asking me about the C8. When I told what I paid for it he was really excited, but he wanted different power sources he even mentioned having a couple of costco Fiet electric zoomable light but didn’t like the way the zoom lost focus easliy he askes me what I could find preferably in AA, AAA and then lastly C &D cell .the lights are used mainly outdoor search and rescue max distanceabout 200 yards .I agree I tried convincing him to the rechargeable li-on route but he said his guys would never keep up on charging them and I guess the size of 3 C cells in series would be acceptable.
Defiant 3C and done.
At the range quoted above, the only AA-powered light worth considering would be the Fenix TK41, and it's four times the cost of the Defiant.
+1 on the defiant 3c, it could also be used for forcing doors and if anyone did wish to step up to li ion, a simple spacer could be made leaving the option of 1 18650 or 3 c cells.
I dont believe they’ll get similar primary performance without spending much more cash.
I guess I will have to agree to disagree with you here. I never said you called anyone stupid. What I am saying is that someone would have to be real stupid not to be able to learn to fully press one button one time to turn on a light. I don’t personally know one person that can’t learn this in 30 seconds but who knows? Maybe everyone I know is an intilectual giant. And I doubt anyone I know couldn’t learn in 30 seconds that if they accidently bump a switch and the light goes into a lower mode, (a switch that takes a fairly hard press by the way) they need only fully press the button once and the light goes off. Once more and the light is on in high mode again.
I also fail to see where a split second or so is important in search and rescue. If I’m looking for someone that’s lost, I’m most always at it behind the flashlight for a long period of time. How long the batteries last is far more important than how long it takes me to turn on the light.
Why would anyone think that a volunteer was someone less capable to learn than someone that was geting paid to do the same job?
And lastly, I would think that anyone that is smart enough to be in search and rescue, is smart enough to learn and turn on a flashlight. And a flashlight with only one button and not particularly complicated in the first place.
i can’t believe i didn’t think of this before
Another vote for the EA4. ;)
The cost of alkalines seems excessive, if only to get a smaller light. Two hours run time on high doesn’t seem like a lot:
AFAIK, the runtimes above were obtained using 2400 mAh NiMh.
This forum is we are all supposed to get along. , nothing here on this particular thread is worth getting ugly over, what I do know from speaking to my son and chief about is this is search and rescue not a law enforcement entry unit where split seconds do count and all the member also have headlights as back up and carry tons of extra batteries, the searches are in the majority looking for lost hunters, hikers etc in the rollin hill of the Sonoran desert .I was looking at at clone of Poppas W878XML-T6 what do you all think of thia it can run on. 3AAA’ s
I would stay away from AAAs, as the energy density is very low. One AA is close to three AAAs in that regard.
Actually, it takes very little pressure to activate the half press. And even when it is locked out, a half press hold, will turn it on. I wouldn’t pack the EA4/8 in anything but a well padded soft holster for fear of having dead batteries when I might need to use it. I don’t think the UI makes it too hard to use, but I can imagine how it could be irritating for some, especially if it’s the first time they’ve encountered this type of UI. Sometimes things that might be intuitive and possibly even obvious to us, don’t always appear the same to others. I can’t keep count of how many times I’ve asked a person to hold down the power button on their computer to force a reboot and they just turn the monitor off instead.
KuoH
This might be true, but the higher voltage of 3AAA vs 1AA means that very few 1AA lights (and almost none in the budget arena) manage to out perform the 3AAA ones. At least in my experience.
How about utilizing 4AAA carriers in the Poppas W878 type light? Would that help with runtime and output?
Or for more throw you could choose the 57mm UltraOK 4xAAA (or 18650/26650) mentioned here. The pill is hollow under the star, but people have reported it runs fine on 4AAA's. I wouldn't run 18650/26650's in it with the hollow pill though. Here is a review on the Aleto version.
-Garry
Ahh, thanks! I haven’t tested the runtime of mine yet, on eneloops.