Where’s your American patriotism? Of course, it must be Made in America. Or was that just a natural assumption, that a dumb Canuck failed to realize?
such a short and perfect answer 
If you are dead set on having a screw in pill, make similar to Sinners host as in to have all the fins in the pill itself. also if you are going to have mode groups include a beacon strobe, and or possible a biking strobe where it stays on medium and pulses high, posibbly one where it stays on low and pulses med
Who's keeping the spread sheet on all this? My HDD is not big enough. 
Another excellent suggestion, Illumination Supply can start selling 4TB hard drives
- Moonlight, low, med, turbo (200-300 lumens)
- Always start on moonlight.
- One hard press for turbo 
- Good spot.
- Current controlled.
- Max $30
It should start on low, in non nighttime conditions you can mistake a moonlight for off
Tight head lights on always on turbo.
Loose head, light on always on moonlight.
Max. 4 modes. (turbo over 200 ANSI FL1 lumens with NiMH)
Momentary on allowed.
Quality clip, reversible.(without the clip, the light should not roll).
XP-G2, smooth reflector.
No PWM.
Tailstand allowed.
And please, different colors to choose.
NiMH and 14500 compatibility.
:heart_eyes:
That’s a good idea. Hmm … I think it’s the Roche F12 I’m thinking of … like that? Nice feature. Once in a while it seems to reset on its own, though it’s not really a big deal.
My preference would be for none at all on the low modes, since I think the efficiency makes for a good emergency / survival light. On the high modes, I don’t personally care as long as I can’t see it and it doesn’t affect the run time. My thoughts from a survival stand point are that an extra hour on low could mean the difference between life and death. Especially for a bugout bag where you are carrying the means of your survival on your back. I’d rather use the extra weight of the batteries I don’t need for those pouches of Astronaut strawberries I snagged from my sister’s stockpile.
That would be my preference. I don’t own the SC52 but I do own the Spark SF3/SF5 and that style of switch has made me a big fan. The Olights are wonderful but they tend to turn on in my pocket, even with the lockout. Either way, I just think that the electronic switches offer more of an opportunity for a much richer user interface than you could get with a mechanical switch. Double clicks, shortcuts; those are all extremely practical once you get used to the interface.
But it’s hard to argue with the D25A paradigm either. Those two models have the biggest following, right? Both are fantastic designs. The thing I like about the D25A is that you can get it as a twisty also, so I guess that’s another thing to consider.
I mean its a 1 AA light. You guys surely don’t expect to dis-orient people with it? At best, SOS/Beacon might be useful and that too in rare instances 
What everyone else said, and it absolutely must have a Foybezel.
Let’s see, what would make me buy it.
1. Moonlight
2. Nice and tough anodization. Maybe like Spark, zebralight, or Armytek. I realize they’re all different, but something that sets it apart.
3. Waterproof, IPX-8 or better.
4. Clip. EDC’s should come with clips.
5. Option of a spare tail switch like Sunwayman
6. Neutral or Warm Emitter options.
7. No visible PWM
Agreed, i think a sample should be sent to Foy to lure him back to the (un)dark side
Some people above have described lights that are out there already (I hear the Thrunite Archer in one of the wishes).
I'm a fan of the AA-size, my perfect AA:
-preferrably brass :-)
-small!! no unnecessary wall thicknesses, choose for a short switch and short pill, I like a good size reflector though
-narrow battery tube, wider head (form factor of a C3, but a bit smaller if possible)
-tail reverse clicky switch, no side switch
-smooth reflector or light OP or narrow TIR
-Nichia 219B 92CRI
-high quality boost driver: very good output on a NiMh-battery, modes are current regulated, 14500 compatability is nice but not necessary.
-3 modes, always start on moon: moonlight( <1lumen)-low-high
Please ignore all other wishes in this thread, just make this one 
Olight S15 with:
High CRI Nichia 219 A/B
Can use extension too
Higher current on high (1.5A), step down after 3 minutes (1A)
Several colors with good anodizing and knurling.
Max. +/- USD 30.
Shipping cost would be the deciding factor for me if I wanted the light, I wont pay $15-20 shipping for a $20 light. Also with our Australian dollar taking a dive it would cost around $50 AUD for a $20 USD light by the time its delivered.
Maybe shipping from China or HK as a option if its possible.
This whole thread is going to be people conflicting with each other about what they what.
But for me this is what I would want, just small and simple but nothing fancy so cost for the buy can be kept down.
Wide angle TIR - to give it a smaller size and good flood
Twisty - to keep it small, I don’t like a clicky that will bring the length of it to about the same as a twisty 18650 light
219B or high CRI XP-G2 - sometimes the right colours are important (eg. I’ve wired 2 car stereos recently by the power of a AA light at night)
Low-High - moonlight is useless (to me anyway) and no one is going to be using a AA light as a emergency light to need SOS or strobe
No 14500 compatibility - its going to add costs and size due to allowance for a bigger heatsink and extra length for protected batteries
Bare aluminium - finish as an option or as standard, less cost and looks beautiful
Square threads - robust and less prone to stripping or cross threading
Thats just my preferences/opinions.
I might add more if I think of anything else.
Exactly this.
Plus:
- hi-cri option
- clip designed for deep pocket carry
I emphasize on this kind of UI: no other manufacturer offers such an UI, and it would be a brilliant and very desirable one suitable for the noob as much as for the pro user.
+1
The Quark Regular have a somewhat similar interface but no momentary.
Tight head lights on always on turbo. YES
Loose head, light on always on moonlight. YES
Max. 4 modes. (turbo over 200 ANSI FL1 lumens with NiMH) YES (with 14500)
Momentary on allowed.
Quality clip, reversible.(without the clip, the light should not roll).
XP-G2, smooth reflector.
No PWM.
Tailstand allowed.
BUT you have to buy parts and LEGO it…
well here are my thoughts on the matter… since you’re gonna take the trouble of designing a flashlight from the ground up why not make it really interesting? i’m sure you could quickly put out some kind of semi-custom from an an existing OEM design but it wouldn’t stand out enough from the crowd. and you do know there are tons of (mostly boring) 1AA flashlights out there
on the other hand it doens’t make much sense to copy the sc52
so… how about enhancing the classic Quark / D25A design? tail clickies still have many advantages over side-buttons. make it a bit bigger than D25A but smaller an a Quark
have certain features be possible to enable/disable, but ship the flashlight in a default state that is usable out of the box by a non-flashaholic so if a user doesn’t wish to reconfigure it the flashlight would work just fine. the configuration mode could be entered by loosen/tighten 5x, for example
configurable options:
- moonlight on/off
- ascending/descending in head-loose
- MAX->strobe, or MAX-only. in head-tight
- memory on/off
other features:
- forward clicky but tailstandable
- hidden blinkies i.e. cycle 2x to get to it
- screwed-on deep-carry clip
- no PWM
- regulated on 14500, and no sudden-off (i.e. have low-voltage warning before the protection trips)
and please give it a battery meter, very important
What driver are you using in this light, an off the shelf one or a custom designed one?