Ultra low beam, noob needs help

[cityevader]

I've got an old Princeton Tec Blast that died prolly a decade ago that i could never bring myself to throw away...

I'd like to make a night light of sorts.
.04 lumens (Zebralight) is too bright for me, and high CRI is important...

I'm thinking along the lines of a li'l 5mm LED (or several of 'em aimed differently) with a potentiometer to dial in the desired output, but have NO idea what resistance value would be needed, nor emitters to search for, and that would run on 2xAAA.

Thoughts?

 

[hamhanded]

I've used these 5mm in a Surefire A2 build and I'm very happy with their tint and CRI: https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/cree-led/c513a-mss-cx0z0231

It's floody but that might be what you want. The three of them driven to max current are probably brighter than you would need for a night light.

Yujileds are highly regarded too, but I have been unable to find them.

Use the datasheet, the forward voltage value, the max current rating, and an LED resistor calculator to determine the right resistance to use.

For 2xAAA, you might not need to use a resistor at all.