Can anyone recommend an easily moddable 2xAA LED flashlight? Presumably that would have a boost driver, I think.
I’d like to drop in an amber LED on a 16mm or 20mm board, since those are easy to find.
My hands are getting a bit shaky for swapping emitters, so I prefer doing a simple board swap.
The Archer 1A has passed the Johnson durability tests. We have several in the house, including some for the little Johnsons. One of them has been dropped repeatedly, including on pavement, and it keeps going. It’s used as a nightlight and has over 8,000 hours runtime. That 0.1 lumen mode is surprisingly useful and goes hundreds of hours on a single battery.
I was just discussing this in another thread. My go-to 2xAA is the Jaxman M2. It’s simple. It has two decently spaced modes. Low is usually plenty and lasts a good long while. High is pretty powerful. I don’t know that I’ve seen better throw in a 2xAA either. There are three tints available. I prefer “warm yellow”. It’s not as pretty as some of the high-CRI Nichia and Yuji emitters I’ve seen but I don’t know that I’ve seen those in a 2xAA. I’ve taken mine camping and all over the place at night. I’m very happy with it.
I agree, its one of my go to 2AA lights as well. The large reflector puts it in the size range of a P60 host but like you mentioned helps a lot with the throw. With the original XML2 it offers a well balanced beam just a little throwier than a Malkoff M61L and about the same brightness. I keep meaning to mod mine with some 3535 sized LED, maybe in a high’ish CRI but it just works so well as is…
Everyone who owns one of these seems to really like it. Like you say, it just works so well. For the two modes and amount of power it puts out, I wonder what kinds of high-CRI emitters and color temperatures would be a good fit. If anybody has ideas, what steps would we need to take to initiate a BLF special edition?
Armytek Partner A2
I don’t know how big Jaxman is. The dude has a really firm philosophy he keeps to on his lights. So I’m not sure how a BLF edition would go. You can usually get a host if you message him, though. I’m a huge fan but he’s just a bit small potatoes as far as doing special things goes, sadly.
The XML2 offers a great balanced beam. Maybe an Easywhite high CRI like Zebralight used would be a good alternative direct swap? Of course, your pick of smaller LEDs would offer a much more pronounced, throwy beam. I would expect an XHP to work well though maybe a little floodier than the XML2.
Belatedly answering #26-7 above
The Sofirn SF13 cycles through (starting with whatever is in mode memory) Low/Med/High/Higher with half clicks
The strobe is mildly hidden — 2 half clicks from any mode.
I like it a lot; they’re not making any more of them, they tell me. I bought a few to keep on hand as gifts.
There’s a “v1” and a “v2” but that may be Ali ad hype; nobody at Sofirn remembers any difference in the versions and the engineer who designed them has long since moved on.
Another orphan flashlight (sigh).
If you don’t mind going for a single AA, then Zebralight have no mode memory as standard.
Very efficient driver, the SC53 or headlamp equivalents are excellent lights.
Thanks
Best budget 2 AA flashlight for me.
Some of my first “good” flashlights were 2xAA lights. I bought a couple of 4sevens Quarks, Armytek Prime A2, etc. But over time, I realized that 2xAA really didn’t make a very good solution. They were too big to every-day-carry, and didn’t have the high output or long runtime for serious use.
Instead, I went for 1xAA lights (like Zebralight), and 4xAA “soda can” lights (like Sunwayman, Thorfire, and others). The small 1xAA lights are great for EDC, and the larger 4xAA lights are great for outdoor throwy lights. My 2xAA lights have seen very little use since making that switch.
I’ve now moved more towards 18650 lights, but for AA lights, I’d definitely recommend skipping the 2xAA format. If you need lots of run-time, go with 4xAA. It’s still small enough to comfortably carry or stash in a bag.
For most purposes, an efficient 1xAA light is good enough. You’ll get 8 hours runtime from a small Zebralight (SC53 or SC5) at 50 lumens, all from a single rechargeable AA Eneloop. Or use a AA Energizer Lithium if you want really long shelf-life. Or weeks/months of run-time in a moonlight mode.
Well said. Couldn’t agree more.