My wife let a non-flashaholic use her SRK and the lady went gaga over it. Now my wife wants to give this friend something similar. The stable tail standing ability is important.
I really like that 4AA Defiant that O-L built, but it takes more work than I feel like putting into this.
I could just bore out a SRK to 1 3/8", mod the tail board (add lockout DenBarrettSAR style while at it), and use a 4AA holder. Easy enough, but I'm wondering if there are any existing budget lights out there that would fit the bill.
Great minds . . . The D40a was the first thing I suggested to my wife, but she wants to give the lady "big" light. She wants lots of flood and with decent throw. It's also probably more than my wife want to spend. Thanks for the suggestion. That D40a really is a sweet light. One of my favorites.
There’s a limit to what AA’s can do realistically speaking. If a Nitecore Caveman isn’t enough then perhaps you need to educate this friend about li-ions. I take it you don’t believe she is responsible enough for them?
TGT, I totally agree about limit of AA's, but wife says this person is definitely not ready for li-ion. I figure 3 emitters will do decent as they will be in their more efficient part of the power curve. Also the higher voltage of 4S will help with brightness.
kavawava, not a bad idea. I think it would kill flood too much, but I will have to try it out to find out. The lady has a very big back yard (guessing around 250 feet deep and wide with no lighting). So she needs some throw to see the edge of the yard.
StyXSIS, nice looking budget 4AA light. Definitely one to keep in mind for nonflashaholic gifts. I imagine we are talking very similar beam to the D40a though. So for this application it's probably a no go
Appreciate each of your inputs. Seems like there is a market gap opportunity needing to be filled.
What about a TrustFire TR-09? Not multi-emitter, but a great little light! I got mine from WB when they had it for…I think…$28. It can handle both AAs and LiIons, so she could upgrade later if she becomes a flashaholic. Very bright, nice size (feels great in the hand), plenty of throw and a very nice beam pattern. Heres a thread on it:
I don't think there's anything stock that I have seen anywhere. If you're talking Alkalines, then there's no hope. It won't put out the amps, so she would have to want to use rechargeables.
I think the only way to do this is with the Nitecore Cavemen, 8AA is the only hope you have of achieving what you want with any kind of reasonable burn duration.
You might have to bite the bullet and tell her she’s not ready for the requirements of a high-performance light. If you think she’s going to blow herself up with even protected cells…
maybe a shadow sl3 with a AA carrier? I know there was talk about what carriers fit in a 26650 light, but I can not find it. I think Gary posted the good info on it
I think you could only fit 4AAA in the sl3. That would be cool if I'm wrong though. That Caveman would be a great starting point, but it's way out there cost wise for us. I think O-L is right that it will have to be a mod. I played around a little bit ago powering a SRK with 4AA's. Output was down quite a bit, but I think it was acceptable considering the cell limitation. I had rickety connections. So maybe the final light will have a little more output.
Searched for cheap 4AA holders. Can't seem to find any unless I order 1,000 units. GarryBunk's thread ended in no 4AA's holders being found if I recall correctly. Time to get creative.
Thanks again guys. If anyone thinks of something new, please chime in.
I probably sound like a broken record suggesting the Tr-3t6 again, but it will run 4 AAs in series with both extensions on it. Runtime is significantly less than 18650s, but it is possible. My only other AA light is my defiant 3D 1000 lumen with AA to D adapters in it. Both are right around $30
The TR-3T6 with four eneloops is pretty darn bright (get a genuine Trustfire!), if you were willing to upgrade to XM-L2’s that would be even better. With the power level four AA’s are going to give you copper sinking won’t provide a noticable improvement so that saves money.
Keep in mind that multi emitter well driven lights will have very poor lifetime on AAs, and since she is not a flashaholic, i think a 4AA 900+ lumen light would be almost as good, just say your light is very complicated and uses lithium batteries that require special precautions and lose capacoity after a few years so this light is a bit less bright but runs on AA batteries and can take a lot more abuse and if your feeling very generous get her some eneloop and a smart charger (or eneloop charger)