Flashlight Newbie - Advice Needed on 1AAA flashlights and 1AA or CR123 flashlights

LED Flashlights – General Info
1

Hello all! This is my first post - I’m looking forward to learning from you folks. I find myself in need of some buying advice, as I’m in the market for a few new flashlights…

I currently carry an MXDL 3W 1AAA mini pen light I picked up from T-Mart for about $4. It has served me well for my daily uses, but the rubber tailcap has seperated from the rest of the light, and the anodizing has seen better days. Claims to be a 50 lumen light, but that’s nonsense, I imagine. I’ve looked at a few other options, but need help deciding whether I should stick with low budget or a little more. My only “nice” light is a Streamlight TLR-1 which is on my SR9 for home defense duty. I am very happy with that purchase, but I’m reluctant to spend that much again - $20 is my cap. So without further ado, here is what I’ve considered to replace my 1AAA daily carry:

Streamlight Microstream - Can be had for less than $15. Not impressed with the stated lumens, but I am a fan of Streamlight’s products. My TLR1 and Enduro headlamp, while not the brightest lights out there, are very well-built and reliable. I do like the fact that Streamlight’s products have a lifetime warranty. Wary of using rechargeable 10440s as it would void the warranty - I don’t even own any rechargeable batteries. Which brings me to another topic…

- Am I really going to get that much better performance out of rechargeable Li-ion batteries? Is it worth it to buy a few batteries and a chargers?

TANK007 TK-703 - Don’t know much about this light except that it’s well-reviewed on DX, looks to be the right size, and a step-up in brightness from my MXDL. Rated for rechargeables, so if I go that route this is definitely an option. However, I’m not a fan of paying more than $10 for cheap Chinese crap. And to me, “cheap Chinese crap” is a term of endearment. I love a bargain as much as the next guy, and life or death reliability is not something I need. However, I do like my things to last, and the MXDL pen light lasted about as long as I would expect a $4 flashlight to last.

Any other suggestions I should look at? If I’m going to go the CCC route, I’d like to stick to less than $10.

I’ll write more about my dilemma regarding a 1AA light later on.

2

Ok, picking up where I left off: the other lights I have are as follows:

LED Lenser V2 Dual Color - 3AAA light. I have an aversion to anything that takes more than one battery. And has multiple LEDs. Yet I own this light, because I needed a flashlight and it was cheap at Home Depot. However, I do like the dual-light feature and the forward click switches. Rated to 100 lumens, and it’s adequately bright. Unsure as to whether or not it would be advisable to run rechargeable 10440s in this flashlight - if anyone has any experience, let me know, otherwise I’m happy to leave this one in a drawer or something.

Ultrafire Mini CREE Q5 LED Flashlight (SK68 clone) - Bought from ChinaBuye. Loved the price. Claims to be a 300 lumen light, but I guess to get anywhere near these numbers I’m going to need some rechargeable 14500s. Hate, hate, HATE the way the beam looks when zoomed all the way in - I don’t want to see the emitter. However, it is acceptably bright, and for $9, I can’t complain much, I guess.

So, seeing as how I’m not happy with either of these, I’m also in the market for a 1AA or possibly a 1CR123 light. Love the form factor of the Sipik SK68, and considering getting one from DX, as the price is right, but I don’t necessarily want a zoom light. 3-way mode is nice, though. I would like something that’s 100+ lumens, and I am not averse to plunging into rechargeable batteries, but we’re starting to push my limits of cost if I do so - $20 or so. Seeing as how I buy my disposable AA and AAA batteries in bulk from Costco/Amazon/Monoprice, and I have a ton of CR123 disposables from when I bought my TLR-1, I’m not too worried about the “cost” of using disposables, which is what I would do were to I spring for the following:

Streamlight Protac 1L - 1CR123, right size, right brightness, right modes, trusted brand - and $40. More than any other light, this one seems to fit the bill, but if I can get more light for less money then why the heck not?

Thanks for your input and suggestions; you guys have already been a wealth of information.

3

Welcome to the site!

For my keychain light, I was first running a Fenix E01 (13 lumens, horrible tint). I just upgraded to the Black Shadow EVA - https://www.fasttech.com/product/1316300. Single mode, works great for looking under the hood, helping someone find something in their car, etc. However, there are a ton of other options in the AAA and AA format - it just comes down to preference.

As for batteries, you will certainly get a lot more output from a lithium primary (CR123 3v) or lithium-ion rechargeable (3.7v) battery. Lights that run on NiMH AA (1 to 3 cells) are usually limited to 1 amp max, just because if you use alkaline batteries there's a good chance they will leak if you're running over an amp (plus they won't push much over an amp). So you're looking at about 250 lumens max.

For me, I like having my every-day keychain light being an AAA light with an Eneloop. I don't need that much light. Then all of my around the house and glove compartment lights use 18650 lithium-ions, because that's when you can get 3+ amps out of them, and the hosts are larger so they can handle the heat better.

There are soooo many options out there. Your wallet is in for a world of hurt ;)

4

You may want to look into this light;
http://www.fasttech.com/products/1699/10004109/1300400-uniquefire-uf-k21-cree-xm-l-u2-5-mode-500-lumen-mi

Has a clip and a very nice beam. I run mine on a 16340 for most power, but it handles CR123’s just fine as well.
As far as the Tank 703, I have a bunch of them, killer output for a 10440 but it comes at a cost of run time. Don’t know what run time is on a primary AAA cell, Still a very nice small flashlight.
HTH
Keith

5

I’ve been looking at both AAA and AA lights as an EDC. Still didn’t bite the bullet though, but here are my recommendations.

As for the AAA light, I would recommend either an Thrunite Ti2 or Olight i3s. Of these 2 I think I would prefer the Olight, more modes and starts on medium.

As for the AA light, the ones I was looking at you can see here: comment #25
Where 3 were on the top of the list: Nitecore EA1, Sunwayman S10A and Olight i2. The EA1 and S10A have great modes and light output, whereas the i2 has great value for money. It is $16 with a coupon at banggood.

Maybe instead of an AA light you could get an 18650 light, but that does come with the extra cost of batteries and charger. But a (Convoy) C8 or S2/3/4, good protected 18650 an decent 1 or 2 bay charger should set you back a around $40. And it will provide you at least triple the lumens and throw then the streamlight would. But it is bigger and you would not be able to get to use those stocked AA batteries.

6

Looks like I’m gonna go with the TK-703! Looking at my AA options, I came across the TK-566 from TANK007:

http://www.fasttech.com/product/1359503

Any thoughts on this light? It seems to have everything I’d like to have in a man-purse light - 1AAA or 14500, multiple modes, small size, lanyard hole, etc.

7

as 1xAAA i like my tank007 E09 that i carry with my keys, i prefer it to my olight a3t (just a titanium version of i3 i think?)

my favorite 1xAA would probably be olight i2, since it’s so tiny and has a quality feeling to it. unfortunately banggood is sold out, so you can’t get it for only $16 anymore.

8

Howdy and welcome aboard.

To get much more power out of your SK68 you will need to go with 14500’s. However, there is an alternative that makes that light much better if you have a soldering iron. You can put in an XP-G2 they only cost a couple bucks from Fast Tech. It’s just about the simplest mod that can be done. Just take it apart pull out the old one and solder on the new one. Use the old paste to keep it in contact with the bottom. This will make it not only brighter but also it will get rid of the ring that comes with these in the flood mode. You will still have the square beam in zoom mode. With this mod you will get much more lumens even if you stick with AA.

http://www.fasttech.com/products/1609/10001905/1311501-cree-xp-g2-r5-1a-472-lumen-6500-7000k-led-emitter-

For my keychain light I have a trustfire mini 01. It’s VERY bright and has three modes.

http://www.fasttech.com/product/1264800-trustfire-mini-01-cree-xm-l-t6-3-mode-280lm-led-fl

9

It looks like the TK-703 fits the bill in this regard - but there’s no clip. The Tank007 E09 does as well, but it’s a twisty. The Olight i3S EOS does as well, but it’s a twisty. Any suggestions south of $20?

10

subscribed

11

For AA, you might want to check the recommendations on this thread:

12

Get the tank007 e09 and never look back! :wink: (for a few months that is!) since you already have the AAA cells…