Many of the cheaper AA lights ran fine on AA , but after using a 14500 ( which the light was supposed to support ) , they have developed flickering , or the driver has simply fried . So with the last few AA lights I have avoided the 14500 altogether , and they have been trouble free . ( Coincidence ( ? ) , possibly )
But then I am happy with their output , and I dont need the boosted output that the 14500 offers .
Seriously , a modern AA light is almost as good or as good as a P60 host from 5 years ago ...
5 Years ago people used to rave about 200 Lumens like it was a gift from God , now they scoff at it like its nothing . ( How quickly things change )