Hi! I am looking for a good pocket flashlight for under $40. Here are some of the features I consider a must have.
Good build quality
Rear clicky on/off switch
150 or better ANSI Lumens on single AA battery
Hi/Med/Lo/Moonlight modes
Decent runtime
Mode memory
Other features I would like to have but are necessary would include:
Strike bezel
Momentary on/off
I look forward to any suggestions. Thanks in advance.
Welcome to BLF!
If you don’t mind the side switch go for Olight S15 L2. It can take both AA and 14500. You can also use extender to make it 2xAA light as well. The UI is straightforward with memory. You can get less than $35 on eBay.
Thrunite Archer 1A is the only thing I know of that seems to fit all of those. I’ve been considering picking one up myself.
The archer is really nice, but it is huge for an AA light !
Olight S15 with extension. U.S. shipper and fast. will except $35.00 on make offer. I have bought three from him. One for me and two guys I work with wanted one each. No rear clicky though.
The Trunites look nice. How durable are they? How durable is the side switch on the Olight S15 Baton?
You have a pretty tight list of features. May I suggest the Sunwayman C15A Dolphin? It is lacking 2 of your requested features. First being price: $66, second being switch location. Its a push button on side.
But over looking those pesky details, it could be a winner. While I wouldn’t classify it as budget, it is a high quality product with lots of flexibility. Put some Eneloops in her & she will purr a long time. One other neat feature is the rear 1/4” mount. This gives you tremendous flexibility. Like, tripod mounts, lanyards, flip up D rings, and the list goes on.
Just some ideas. Good luck on your valiant search.
I have the Thrunite Archer. It is really bright on a 14500 and has an amazing throw. Has no heat issues. If the light was smaller heat would be a problem.
Go for Thrunite Archer 1A, you will like it…
The standard answer of an AA or 14500 flashlight is a Sipik SK 68 clone, but at the moment I favor Sipik SK 58s and their clones, unless you up the amps and leave it on in high mode for long periods. The 58s are more compact and usually have beautiful knurling that is finer on the head to aid in focusing. They originally had Osram leds and a single mode, but are available with XR-Es or XP-Es and three modes.
For maximum output in a small light, you can buy an SK68 with an XM-L already installed.
Of course it depends on whether you want flood and throw at the same time or to have your choice. I favor zoomies largely because I live in a city and don’t want to blind others with the spill of a bright fixed focus reflector light.
d25a is a great light
And solarforce z2 looks good
Klarus P1A, Jetbeam BA10.
Is the SK 58 available in nuclear green
I can’t say, because the atomic nucleus is too small to scatter or absorb visible light.
Amazon has them ranging from just over $50 delivered to US only I assume, to the $60 odd you mention.
ThruNite Archer 1A $25.95
I’m looking forward to getting a T10S to see how it compares to the Archer 1A but from the specs I’m expecting them to be opposites.
The Archer is slightly higher in lumens but throws 178 meters, the T10S says it throws 80 meters and it also has a OP reflector so I think it will be a nice flooder.
For me I don’t need to pinpoint things nearly 200m away so I think to fully illuminate a small area is better for a EDC than to have a small blinding bright spot.
I also own a Sunwayman R10A but I wouldn’t recomend it, 2 were defective out of the box and the 3rd one was dropped from about 1.5m and never worked agian.
I just picked up an archer 1A. It’s hard to resist at 26 bucks! It looks like another nice single cell sub lumen light to ad to the collection.
Olight S15 or sipik sk68 clone, and you can almost buy two with $ 35 :bigsmile: