Since this got zero traction 'elsewhere' I'll ask the more budget minded (and IMHO more inventive) members of the flashlight community...
I'm traveling overseas soon (Thailand to be exact) and have decided to finally get around to getting a small light for my adventures. I have plenty of big bruisers, but I want to run this light off readily available batteries so AA would be the best.I'll carry this light in the jungle, rafting, snorkeling (probably not diving) or just with me when I'm out on the town. I have a 4Sevens QMini CR2 but this isn't robust enough for my tastes. Plenty of lights seem submersible to 2m....are there any smaller lights that go deeper?
I'm rambling a bit - basically I'm just after a light AA powered tough and waterproof EDCer. Will I find a budget light along these lines, or am I going to have to pour in some $$$?
Single AA preferably just because they are much more readily available in the far flung corners of the world (if you're lucky enough to find a battery!) or if you need to scavenge then you're much likelier to find AA's than 14500s.
I scoured DX and most of the dive lights are larger. I know some double o-ringed lights used to exist but were not specifically listed as such, hence why I'm asking because it seems my search may only be resolved through experience rather than just by looking hard enough.
If I can't find what I'm after in stock form then a light with 'potential' is also on the cards. I'm an experienced modder and ripping out the guts and starting from an empty tube is not alien to me
I've used it in the rain and tortured it a good bit, I'll also dunk a bunch of other AA lights. Have you thought about a solar panel and a lion charger?
I think I'd take a Xeno E03. It has less points of ingress than the Balder, and its most vulnerable point - the body-to-tailcap joint - has double o-rings which makes it a little more secure.
I don't know if it would survive snorkeling - I never took mine below 2m and never submerged it for more than a few minutes at a time. But I think it's a good candidate for everything else.
One inconvenient thing about the Xeno is that it doesn't have a clip.
Trustfire R5-A3.
It uses 1 AA NiMH, alkaline or LiIon (brightest when using liion).
It has 3 modes, full, medium (has slight pwm), strobe.
Fully waterproof (I’ve submerged it in water for an hour, no leaks or signs of humidity inside.
$15 at dealextreme, so on the off chance that you lose it you won’t be too sad.
I’ve replaced most O-rings with oversized ones, Teflon tape in some parts like the threads at the head. Tighten up those boot rings, grease all threads. My Solar Force L2 has survived driving to 40’ for an hour without moisture getting in. ThruNite and Xeno also waterproof well.
For about $30 the Klarus PA1 or Jetbeam BA10 are two of my favorites. I’ve dunked them but never went swimming them. I think they would be better than most. IPX-8 rated and the quality is very good.
I had the pleasure of a couple of months in Asia a couple of years back. Personally I took a Petzel Tika running on 3xAAA over my E20 as I wanted light weight and hands free. While you can get batteries anywhere it makes the perils of buying Chinease 18605’s of eBay look like a walk in the park, even in Malaysia I had trouble getting genuine cells that had any sort of charge in them. I’d even gone with a camera that took 2xAA so I didn’t have to worry about chargers and the like. Funny thing is that not once in 2 months did I end up spending more than 24 hours away from a power socket and could happily have run the lot of rechargeable cells.
If I was doing it again I’d look for a decent head torch, carrying bags and trying to use a light can be a pain. Maybe suplimented with a micro AAA light or even smaller for taking out on the town. USB rechargeable would be fine, most hostels and hotels have computers to use and you can normally leave stuff charging if you ask nicely.
