I’d stick with my original suggestions (post #32).
But there’s only 7 left… lol
Yeah I will need 40-50. I do like the idea of a simple AA light that will happily eat dead batteries. Ideally I’d like to stay under $10 each, and the cheaper the better as long as it isn’t garbage.
The nitecore tube is certainly in the running if I can’t find something AA powered.
EDIT: Found the Inland R22 at microcenter for $3 as lightbringer said, so that is certainly in contention. Have to see about getting 50 of them.
Nice, bro. Hope you get a discount on bulk purchases.
I will recommend the ultrafire sk68
Congrats. You may want to contact the seller of this light. It's a very nice light and comes in a nice gift tin with a clip, key ring, spare o-ring and manual. I find AA lights too big to carry much of the time. I pretty much always have AAA on me, even if I'm carrying a larger light (or 2). I think you would be getting a lot of nice feedback down the road after folks start using them.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LZN0VHX/ref%3Dox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A4DI0C83URB3Z&psc=1
There was a special for $5 for the black model, but that is probably expired. Announced here:
https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/29803/106
Yeh, dunno if they have any stores near you, but they might be able to ship them, maybe even give a quantity discount?
They might still have those huge packs of Rayovac AAs to feed them, too. Preload them, make sure no duds, ’though the 5-6 or so that I’ve gotten were all 100%.
I do indeed have a store near me, only a couple miles from my work. I will probably stop in sometime this week to pick one up for evaluation.
I also found this one on KD and will buy one to check out also. I like the colors and that it appears unmarked. This means I can engrave it with my laser to have it personalized which is a big plus.
http://www.kaidomain.com/p/S023253.3W-LED-1-Mode-50-Lumens-Flashlight-Brown
While I like the SK68 for its AA power source and simple 1 mode interface, I personally really dislike zoomies, so that’s probably out.
I will also consider AAA powered lights, but I really prefer the extra runtime on AA lights. That said if I could get a Lumintop Tool or Worm for under $10 it would probably be a no brainer. I love the worm I have on my keychain.
Keep the suggestions coming!
^
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that light is almost certainly junk. Pretty sure it will have a pressed in plastic lens that holds a plastic pill and a very poor emitter. Finish looks poor too. I haven't handled that specific light, but many similar lights. Hopefully, someone here has and can give a more definitive response.
I doubt it is true, but the KD page claims a coated glass lens. Even just a plain glass lens would be good enough, I do agree that plastic is not ideal though.
I bought one to see how it is, not expecting much, but I do like the size, color options, and lack of markings. The finish doesn’t have to be perfect, I expect something similar to the cheapy 9-LED lights you can find everywhere, which is probably good enough. Even if it is total garbage I’m only out less than $5 for now.
The emitter is probably just a boring old style 3W LED from the looks of it. I’m not paying too much attention to what emitter is used, as swapping them all out for an XPG2 or XPG3 isn’t out of the question. I would say definitely XPG3, but the tint on that without a TIR or OP reflector might not be up to par.
Lumintop Worm in many different colors….gotten it for around $10 or a little less with coupon or flash sale before. 3 modes and they come with a cool GITD ring now. Just throwing my 2 cents in……and gratuitous bump for 2 year old thread. 
Yeah, Lumintop worm would be an obvious choice, especially since its the light I choose to carry on my own keychain, just a matter of finding it for the right price. Until then I’m still exploring my options for AA powered lights.
The Sofirn SF10 is a decent ~7$ 1xAA, maybe you can see for a bulk price
I do like the SF10, thanks! I will contact Sofirn on here to ask about bulk pricing.
Picked up an Inland R22 today too, for $3 the initial impression is that it’s not completely terrible, will tear it apart to get a better idea.
Good luck with that. My poor little bobofett has been beat to Hell, and it’s still going strong. I just overdrained an alkaleak to the point where <gasp!> it actually leaked, and after using rolled-up napkin as a pipecleaner of sorts to get out the syrup, I just hosed it out, tailcap and battery-tube, dried it, and it’s still going.
I love these little lights…
I already got mine apart. They used an awful lot of red goo to try to seal it up though! Looking forward to checking out this driver. Bad, but not unexpected news, is a plastic lens/reflector and hollow pill. Emitter is a standard old SSC style 1W. The host itself actually feels pretty nice though, despite how cheap it is.
Still excited to see what the KD $4 light is like for the possibility of doing my own custom engraving since it appears to have no branding.
Easy choice.
Small, classy stainless finish, good output and great machining——
Singfire. SF-348
Gearbest has ’em for under $4 with M4DM4X code.
Noticed this was already suggested by Jack the Clipper, so I 2nd this light.
Looks like lots available in the regular emitter version-not sure about the pricier
Boxed, Nichia version ( but I wouldn’t bother for Non-Flashaholics)
Yeh, Rat Shack had an assortment of plastic-body LED flashlights (think it was 1 2×D, 2 2×AA, and 1 1×AA), and the 1×AA was pretty decent for a craplight. Small boost circuit along the lines of a joule-thief, more or less unregulated, but enough oomf to light up the LED pretty well.
I suspect the R22 has the same kind of, if not the exact same, boost circuit.
Btw, works exceptionally well with an LFP cell (3.2V), nice and bright, but I wouldn’t chance a 14500.
Can’t speak about the SF version, but the BLF348-219 has a huge caveat, if you ask me (or even if you don’t ). The threads used to screw the tube together are so hair-fine and easy to strip and/or cross-thread, that mine’s already almost a press-fit light.
The clip (unless you “rearrange” it as someone suggested to me, but too late), puts enough pressure to try to “bend” the pieces off-axis that you really have to hold them tightly and forcefully try to keep them coaxial while screwing them together. Otherwise, it’s Strip City.
Clean simple design (classy, as you say), beautiful Nichia goodness out the front, but extremely limited AAA runtime, and those damned fragile threads.
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For 5bux a pop (if the code’s still good), I’d recommend the Glaree (E03?) lights someone mentioned on the amazon-goodies thread.
The Orcatorch EA01 really impressed me, but I see it’s out of stock, and I don’t recall the “discount” price.
Astrolux A01 / Manker Boney, nice lights, but a bit over the ~10buk price-point. Avoid those with NMM.
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To me, AAA lights are really only better-than-nothing emergency lights, for situations like dropping something at night and trying to find it after it rolls under your car, or looking for something that fell on the floor in a movie theater, but not as an actual useful EDC light.
No idea how muggles feel about the subject, but that’s just my own observation/preference. I’d rather have at least an AA, or better yet an 18650, powering any EDC light. Then, when it’s SHTF time, I’d have decent runtime to actually use it.
With a keychain ring and the light itself, though, “normal” people might just love an AAA light.