I guess you are right Maximum Minimalism. Love it
The combination of USB charging and AA would of course be perfect but I've not seen or heard of any as yet.
Minimalism - Getting by with the absolute least or smallest possible.Maximum Minimalism - The term goes back at least to the SOSAK days, though I am unsure who first coined it. As I understand it, it means we're really looking to maximize the utility to size/weight ratio. So, larger/heavier items could be considered, as long as the increase in actual utility truly justified the trade-off. But, it's sort of related to the Pareto Principle in the sense that if we can handle say 90% of the problems we encounter with a tool that is 50% the size, then that is what we are going to do; we aren't going to choose the tool that is twice the size to get to that last 10% of the problems.Maximalism - Go ahead and carry that Swisschamp, Work Champ, Swisstool, or Surge. You'll be sure to have everything you might need.
Good explanation!I have a vague recollection of Carl (jackknife/cbl51) and maybe UnknownVT (?) using the term on sosak. Don't know if either of them coined it, though.
I've carried the D25AAA (a year) and D25A Clicky (years). Forget the features, AA is far more readily available if you're thinking battery shortage situation. In addition it's nicer in hand due to the size and even if the lumens are not important (as I'd argue once you get past 100 lumen for a pocket life) the runtime is a real factor. In addition a clicky is considerably easier and quicker to use one handed and I'm almost always using a pocket flashlight one handed while the other is busy doing other stuff like holding a tool. Stay with me while I try to make sense of a novel idea. I would advance the suggestion that USB charging in this day and age is the correct option for a minimalist solution. No need to carry extra spares or chargers. Use whatever charging solution or cables you are already carrying for your phone. If you have power then a USB outlet adaptor is considerably smaller and easier than a battery charger. In addition it is easy to use with portable chargers and portable solar chargers. The combination of USB charging and AA would of course be perfect but I've not seen or heard of any as yet. I'd hoped for the addition to the mkII version of the D25A but it didn't happen, they decided instead on running usb charging on a new line with a very different form factor.
Check out the Fenix RC05:https://www.fenix-store.com/fenix-rc05-led-flashlight/
No experience here with the RC05 yet, though I did have an RC11 at my last job. The magnetic charging is pretty neat, and addresses one of my dislikes about many USB rechargeable lights: namely that they have basically a standard mini or micro USB port with some type of cover, which could get smurfed up if it got water, dirt, or other crud in it. The only downside, of course, is that it requires that special Fenix cable.For a number of reasons (the most important of which are probably cold weather performance, shelf life, and leak resistance), I prefer to run my pocket, outdoor, and emergency kit lights on non-rechargeable lithium AAAs or AAs (but of course could use alkalines or whatever was available in a pinch).When I said AAA was the smallest readily available battery size, I wasn't so much thinking SHTF or shortage scenario. Rather, I was thinking that every gas station, convenience store, mom-and-pop shop, etc. that sells batteries generally stocks at least AAA, AA, C, and D size alkaline batteries. Other battery types and sizes are less of a sure thing. On the topic of battery shortages, though, I do recall a few years ago when a "major storm" was predicted for my area, and the C and D cells disappeared from store shelves almost instantly, while the AAA and AA batteries remained available. Fortunately, the storm was nowhere near as severe as predicted. While I won't be giving up my D-cell-powered lanterns any time soon, it certainly gave me peace of mind to know that I had a good supply of AAA- and AA-powered lights (and corresponding batteries).
Anything but AAA and AA are hard to find here. AAA itself harder than AA. Even in a store that sells both, you'll find triple the amount of AA than AAA.
Interesting. Perhaps we should consider AA to be the smallest readily available battery worldwide...