Good single AA/AAA light?

[Lynn LeFey]

I'm thinking about weight in my EDC, and considering a light that uses a single AA or AAA battery. I'd prefer one that could use rechargeables. I'd prefer duration over intensity. Something throwing 20-25 lumens would be fine. Don't need fancy settings, really, and would prefer one-hand operation.

And, of course, I'd like something that wasn't ridiculously expensive. Sad to say that with my very limited experience in the realm of flashlights, I don't know what 'very expensive' might be.

[Mr. Whippy]

County com sells a very nice AAAx1 light (Maratac).  The price is reasonable too.

[665ae]

http://www.riverrockledlights.com/shop/flashlights/1aa_nightfire_led_flashlight_r-ar91aa.php

You can get these from Target if you have one near you.  Sometimes they are on sale for under $20.  I've had one going on 6 years now and it's always been a good dependable light.  It gets a lot of use around the house by my wife and kids.  I use Energizer rechargeables in it.

[16VGTIDave]

I carry an Olight i3 which is a single AAA light with 3 levels of output. 2.5, 20 and 70 lumens. I find that low is fine when moving around familiar areas in the dark. Medium is good for most other needs. I rarely have to use high. I charge the battery once a month and have never had it die despite using it a few minutes most every day.

The twist head UI is simple and predictable - tighten to turn on low. Loosen to off and back on for medium, then again for high, again to low. Off for a few seconds or longer is back to low.

The finish looks brand new after ~6 months pocket carry.

I got mine for about $20 on ebay.

HTH,
Dave


Sent from my iPad2

[dks]

These small sun ZY-5T1 should be cheap enough, around 30 Lumen and around $3:

For more see here: http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,35523.msg595916.html#new

Or a small Fenix (they have a few), e.g E05 for something tiny, with AAA.

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

Anything by Romisen from Shiningbeam.com.  They typically run in the $15 - $25 range. 

For just plain ole EDC and nothing fancy, check this one out:

http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-180/Romisen-RC-dsh-29-II-R5/Detail

Pure flood at the widest setting, and can be narrowed down to throw a pretty decent spot.  Not the most efficient light around, but if I could only have one torch for EDC (I never could... I typically have two on me at any one time, not including what's in my EDC bag), this would be one of my first choices.

[Gareth]

For long battery life on a single AA the Gerber Infinty Ultra is hard to beat.  Gives you your 30 lumen as well.

[gustophersmob]

I carried a Fenix E01 for about 2.5 years.  Rock solid, inexpensive, long-running light.  Blue/purple tint sucks, though.

Now I have a stainless Fenix LD01.  Thing is a tank, and I quite like it.  See my brief review here.

Although it has the HAIII and not the stainless version, a couple of places have an LD01/E01 combo pack for what I think is a good price:

https://www.fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_421&products_id=2900
http://www.fenixoutfitters.com/fenix-ld01--e01-led-flashlight-combo-pack-429

[nuphoria]

For long battery life on a single AA the Gerber Infinty Ultra is hard to beat.  Gives you your 30 lumen as well.

Agreed, when you don't want silly bright, these are a great option.

[Sazabi]

For long battery life on a single AA the Gerber Infinty Ultra is hard to beat.  Gives you your 30 lumen as well.

Agreed, when you don't want silly bright, these are a great option.

Plus, it'll eat dead AA and AAA batteries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.   They're much better lights than the similar Omnivore.

[gustophersmob]

For long battery life on a single AA the Gerber Infinty Ultra is hard to beat.  Gives you your 30 lumen as well.

Agreed, when you don't want silly bright, these are a great option.

Plus, it'll eat dead AA and AAA batteries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.   They're much better lights than the similar Omnivore.

FWIW, the Fenix E01 is also well known for its battery vampire properties.

Having never owned the Gerber IU, I'm assuming it and the E01 are very similar in what they offer, it just comes down to whether you prefer AA or AAA.

[Styerman]

The old skool Arc P AAA , not crazy bright , but pretty much bulletproof . Four sevens is about as good as it gets in Chinese lights , Fenix also has a few that would do the job for you .

Chris

[Sazabi]

For long battery life on a single AA the Gerber Infinty Ultra is hard to beat.  Gives you your 30 lumen as well.

Agreed, when you don't want silly bright, these are a great option.

Plus, it'll eat dead AA and AAA batteries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.   They're much better lights than the similar Omnivore.

FWIW, the Fenix E01 is also well known for its battery vampire properties.

Having never owned the Gerber IU, I'm assuming it and the E01 are very similar in what they offer, it just comes down to whether you prefer AA or AAA.

Very true; that's why I have... three or four, I can't remember which.  The only upside to the IU is that it can take both AA and AAA, whereas the E01 can only take AAA; likewise, I'm a fan of the IU clip, mainly because I find it too hard to take off.  Unlike my Maratac AAA, the UI won't easily fall out of a pocket, despite the clip being closer to center-mounted, as opposed to end-mounted.  I've had my IU slip off from my pocket twice; I've had my Maratac AAA slip off my pocket many times. :/

[Edit:  For a no nonsense light for me, it would fall down to this:
Only one light this purchase round?
If true, then, is it for a keychain?
True >> Fenix E01 in a heartbeat; conversely, E05 for more lumens, but shorter runtime.
False >> Gerber Infinity Ultra.
If false, buy both Fenix E01 and Gerber Infinity Ultra and you have an excellent, insanely long runtime pair that ran about $30 for the two.]

[sergemaster]

Amici,
Once again I have to give a plug for the Stylus Microstream. It's a single AAA and if you upgrade to a Lithium battery, it can easily last for up to 5 hours. Aluminum construction, rugged black finish, plus it illuminates one heck of a bright LED light that's pretty hard to beat. All for about $20.00 USD.

Cheers,
Serge

[gustophersmob]

Amici,
Once again I have to give a plug for the Stylus Microstream. It's a single AAA and if you upgrade to a Lithium battery, it can easily last for up to 5 hours. Aluminum construction, rugged black finish, plus it illuminates one heck of a bright LED light that's pretty hard to beat. All for about $20.00 USD.

Cheers,
Serge

I'm not the biggest microstream fan, now gravitating towards multi-mode lights.  However, I think it has two good things going for it. 1) It is one of the few AAA lights available with a clicky, which is nice to have sometimes and 2) In the US, it is often available locally like in Bass Pro, Cabelas and sometimes Dick's Sporting Goods, nice if you want to play with it before you buy it.

[Styerman]

The Microstream is a tuff little booger , I gave a couple to fellow sparkies a couple of years back - both are still going strong . Needless to say , they have been bashed about a bit .

I ( with big guy type hands ) , find AAA's to small to be secure in my grip , in addition AA are more common/cheaper . Ergo , I would tend to go with the four seven's single AA offering .

Chris

[GForGeep]

I carry a microstream and a preon 1 and I love them both. I run them on 10440s every so often and the output is awesome.

As for AA light, quarks are great lights, but Zebralights are becoming my favorite, the have the highest output I've seen on AA eneloops, they have good run times, really low-low setting, and the UI is great allowing you to get to whatever brightness setting you want within a few clicks (no twisting the head).

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

Totally agree on the Zebralights!  I've had four overall, down to two as I traded older ones, and they've never given me any real issues.  I love the small size and the side clicky design.  Best IU of any light out right now.

Preon 1's can have a clicky, but you have to buy an extra.  The best thing to do with a Preon, is buy a P2 and a spare P1 body so you can use it as either a one or two cell light.

[Lynn LeFey]

I think the price tag I'm seeing on Zebralights is going to rule them out. But I appreciate the input.

[Beerplumber]

I think the price tag I'm seeing on Zebralights is going to rule them out. But I appreciate the input.

Lynn as a cheaper alternative I've got an Ultrafire UF-H2 and really like it. The task light design is something I've been looking for for years. Regular AA's put out some pretty descent light, I don't know much about eneloops yet but if you want to get a little crazy down the road it can use lithium ion 14500's which should put out "advertised" +200 lumens. It's dimmable (*sp?) so infinitely variable. I've only had this one a couple weeks but as I said its one of my favourites! Good luck!


Stay multi my friends

[GForGeep]

If not zebralight, the Fenix E11 is a two mode AA light for around $26. REI sells them if there's one near you. Target also has a single mode energizer tactical led that's pretty good for around $15. Both have forward clickies (momentary on).

[Lynn LeFey]

There's an REI within about 12 miles of us. I might check it out. But the Energizer light sounds like another possibility. I'm keeping a spreadsheet of possibilities, until I make up my mind.

[GForGeep]

I'm a flashaholic... Join me...

On a side note, does size matter?

[Lynn LeFey]

On a side note, does size matter?

You know... if you EVER ask a woman if size matters, the polite answer is 'of course not'... but we ALL know that's a lie. 

As for mind-out-of-the-gutter answer, the intent on the single cell light was to scale down from the LED minimag I have now. trying to cut weight within reasonable budget to free it up for (most likely) better first aid ability.

[GForGeep]

After re-reading my initial question, I should've known better lol.

But as far as flashlights go, I really like the microstream and just use rechargable batteries. It's small but still pretty bright. It puts out more light that a mini 2 AA maglite

[Lynn LeFey]

Okay, so I now have a Gerber Infinity Ultra on the way. It's actually an Infinity Ultra-M Low Detect. Caught it while looking through Felinevet's EDCSource store, and considering the price was about $2 more than I would have paid for a regular Infinity Ultra anywhere else (when shipping was factored in), I decided it was a good cause to put the money into.

I might revisit this thread at another time, after I've evaluated the Gerber light. I am about as far from knowledgeable about lights as one can be, and have to confess that I just have no driving passion to study them to know the market, so you guys are a great help in research. I appreciate your input.

[JAfromMn]

The itp a3 eos upgrade is a good aaa light I did not see mentioned.

I'm no flashaholic but I've
 owned a few 

The best aa or aaa to me is the zebralight sc51w.

 65.00  and well worth saving for a little extra. http://www.zebralight.com/SC51w-Flashlight-AA-Neutral-White_p_45.html

I also like the Nitecore EZAA R5 it's the brightest 1AA light I've owned and has seen a lot of use with no issues. http://www.nitecore.com/goods.php?id=3

 

[New_World]

my 2 fav AAA lights. (I own too many AAA lights, but I do use them daily)

-Leatherman serac S2
-Preon 1 (with clicky)

[Nikos]

Preon ReVo for me.

[airballrad]

Late to the party here, of course, but I EDC a Fenix E01 and have carried it for about 3 years. Tough, gets every last gasp out of the battery, and easily found for $15. I have purchased 4 to put in kits or give as gifts.