Tactical Single AA Narrow Beam Handheld. Recommendations?

Genzod · Jun 2, 2017

I'm looking for a tactical flashlight--a lightweight, compact single AA handheld, no wide reflector or one having an orange peel surface, neither a lens with a diffuser coating, having a very tight, narrow beam for throw (minor spill).

If one exists, I'd really like one employing inductors for boosting voltage from a 1.2V NiMH or 1.5V primary battery.

I want to use it primarily for searching tree markers and secondly as a redundancy back up for my headlamp (using a makeshift diffuser in that case, the lamp does not have to have one built in).

The reason for AA configuration is because my headlamp will likely be AA, and I want to rely on the same size batteries.

I would like it to have a few output options, with at least one in the 50-100 lm range and one in the 400-500 range (unless the beam is so obnoxiously tight output doesn't need to go that high for results).

I'd like it to be a quality flashlight in the price range of $60-100. (i.e. no Surefires

) Cool white tint is okay as long as it's not obnoxiously blue.

:devil: I'd also like to fry an egg with this thing, or tear up Klingon D7 class battlecruisers, :rock: (which ever comes first.) (Not really, but you get my drift.)

Any suggestions?

archimedes · Jun 2, 2017

These types of threads should be in the "Recommend" subforum .... I'll move it for you.

Genzod · Jun 2, 2017

archimedes said:
These types of threads should be in the "Recommend" subforum .... I'll move it for you.

Thanks!

archimedes · Jun 2, 2017

Genzod said:
Thanks!

I think I had already moved it, by the time you edited OP with a request to move this (lol)

Genzod · Jun 2, 2017

archimedes said:
I think I had already moved it, by the time you edited OP with a request to move this (lol)

Exactly, I noticed that!

Modernflame · Jun 2, 2017

General Zod, we rejoice at the news of your release from the Phantom Zone, but your desired flashlight is positively Kryptonian. However, the El Capitan from Peak LED Solutions might get you close. You can choose your optic and your beam tint. Variable output, but I think it falls short of your 400lm - 500lm mark. Should be close enough that it won't matter, though. USA made. Fits your budget.

Genzod · Jun 3, 2017

Modernflame said:
General Zod, we rejoice at the news of your release from the Phantom Zone, but your desired flashlight is positively Kryptonian. However, the El Capitan from Peak LED Solutions might get you close. You can choose your optic and your beam tint. Variable output, but I think it falls short of your 400lm - 500lm mark. Should be close enough that it won't matter, though. USA made. Fits your budget.

I think what I'm looking for is something like a Zebralight SC5c MkII 475 lm AA with the reflector and LED switched out for tighter beam, no orange peel and an XP-L Hi LED instead of XP-L2. But maybe you're right and that is "positively Kryptonian".

Feldacarb.

Thanks for the tip. Checking it out, now.

Genzod · Jun 3, 2017

Modernflame said:
General Zod, we rejoice at the news of your release from the Phantom Zone, but your desired flashlight is positively Kryptonian. However, the El Capitan from Peak LED Solutions might get you close. You can choose your optic and your beam tint. Variable output, but I think it falls short of your 400lm - 500lm mark. Should be close enough that it won't matter, though. USA made. Fits your budget.

There's no indication of OTF lumens, runtimes or lux at 1 m or throw. I'm not really sure what it is I'd be buying. I have a feeling though, that if I asked the company, I'd get the same answer that they've posted--nothing.

Has anyone tested output, intensity and runtimes for this model? Can you provide a link if you know of anyone that has?

gunga · Jun 3, 2017

Genzod said:
I think what I'm looking for is something like a Zebralight SC5c MkII 475 lm AA with the reflector and LED switched out for tighter beam, no orange peel and an XP-L Hi LED instead of XP-L2. But maybe you're right and that is "positively Kryptonian".

Feldacarb.

Thanks for the tip. Checking it out, now.

Hmmm. What about a quark turbo head with AA body? Head too fat?

Genzod · Jun 3, 2017

gunga said:
Hmmm. What about a quark turbo head with AA body? Head too fat?

I imagine you are talking about this guy? The turbos are clearance and the single AA seems to be gone. I'm guessing about a 140m burst range? Yeah the head is probably going to be too big. I'd like to rig something to my sweat band under my watch to wear it on my wrist. If ZL puts out an H33w soon, maybe I'll go with that and forget about AA--go with a single C123 shorty with an XP-L hi that throws.

xxo · Jun 5, 2017

Take a look at the Streamlight 1L-1AA...it's a pretty good compact, throwy 1AA light that will also run on a CR123 cell.

iamlucky13 · Jun 5, 2017

I think you're aware that it's hard to get a tight beam without a large reflector, but it seems like some manufacturers are able to do so with refractive optics (eg TIR) instead of a reflector. To that end, I was going to suggest Armytek, but it looks like all of their small lights have relatively floody beams. I'm not a big fan of their lights in general (blue tint, non-regulated, a few other quibbles), but some of the Coast zoomies can throw a surprisingly tight beam.

Olight S1A is another TIR light, and quite small, but with an electronic side button I don't think qualifies as tactical, and I'm pretty sure also relatively floody.

Because emitter size also factors into the question, lights using XP-L HI or XP-G series emitters are probably going to be your best bet. Using the Parametrek tool with AA/14500 and those emitters selected gave this search result:
http://flashlights.parametrek.com/index.html?led=XP-E2+XP-G2+XP-G3+XP-L HI+XQ-E&battery=1xAA+1x14500

Of those, I think I'd take a closer look at the Nitecore MT1A and the Fenix LD09 and LD12.

If you want 500 lumens specifically from an NiMH, I think Zebralight is the only manufacturer that has achieved that, but I don't think the SC5 II throws more than the lights above. I think it just lights up a larger area. Since as you know, Zebralight doesn't publish center beam intensity or throw figures, it's hard to say how they throw without doing a direct comparison.

scs · Jun 5, 2017

Maybe this will become common one day:

Genzod · Jun 5, 2017

iamlucky13 said:
I think you're aware that it's hard to get a tight beam without a large reflector, but it seems like some manufacturers are able to do so with refractive optics (eg TIR) instead of a reflector. To that end, I was going to suggest Armytek, but it looks like all of their small lights have relatively floody beams. I'm not a big fan of their lights in general (blue tint, non-regulated, a few other quibbles), but some of the Coast zoomies can throw a surprisingly tight beam.

Olight S1A is another TIR light, and quite small, but with an electronic side button I don't think qualifies as tactical, and I'm pretty sure also relatively floody.

Because emitter size also factors into the question, lights using XP-L HI or XP-G series emitters are probably going to be your best bet. Using the Parametrek tool with AA/14500 and those emitters selected gave this search result:
http://flashlights.parametrek.com/index.html?led=XP-E2+XP-G2+XP-G3+XP-L HI+XQ-E&battery=1xAA+1x14500

Of those, I think I'd take a closer look at the Nitecore MT1A and the Fenix LD09 and LD12.

If you want 500 lumens specifically from an NiMH, I think Zebralight is the only manufacturer that has achieved that, but I don't think the SC5 II throws more than the lights above. I think it just lights up a larger area. Since as you know, Zebralight doesn't publish center beam intensity or throw figures, it's hard to say how they throw without doing a direct comparison.

Honestly, I don't know what the "tactical" descriptor actually means for a flashlight. I just noticed that spot angles on some of these lights were smaller than 10 degrees in some cases, and they had a lot of throw.

If ZL is the only one introducing inductors for votage boost right now, I may just have to switch to CR123 mini's that throw in the 100-150m ballpark.

I'm curious about the glass on the 2016 Fenix E15. Is that a curved lens assisting throw? With a lith-ion, it throws an unbelievable 139m considering its size. With the primary, it throws 108m. That's good enough for my needs in either case, and it's very light--probably mount it on my wrist for blaze searches and fog. If ZL pops out an H33c or w in the next month, I might go that route. I figure I need a back up light anyway. I can diffuse it in that case. I've already had my Princeton Tec give up the ghost on a 43 mile run, and had to sack it in until daylight.

Genzod · Jun 5, 2017

scs said:
Maybe this will become common one day:

I was thinking maybe I could make something like this that could be temporarily seated on the bezel of my future headlamp for a momentary blaze search. But I don't know how close I'd have to get this to the actual LED for it to work properly.

iamlucky13 · Jun 6, 2017

Genzod said:
Honestly, I don't know what the "tactical" descriptor actually means for a flashlight. I just noticed that spot angles on some of these lights were smaller than 10 degrees in some cases, and they had a lot of throw.

I'm not aware of an official definition, but my understanding is a set of features suited to using in a self-defense sort of situation, chief of which would arguably be the ability to turn on in max output (or possibly strobe). I also tend to think a forward clicky is favorable. A tight beam/long throw can also be good for the sake of getting the best illumination or most dazzling effect on your opponent as possible, although too tight a beam could be hard to keep aimed at the opponent in a stressful situation.

But since what you're specifically looking for is long throw, we don't need to quibble over the definition of tactical.

If ZL is the only one introducing inductors for votage boost right now, I may just have to switch to CR123 mini's that throw in the 100-150m ballpark.

As far as I know, inductors are pretty much the only method used to boost voltage in flashlights that use batteries below the LED's working voltage. This includes my lowly 10 lumen Sunwayman R01A, which I've had apart to swap the emitter in and was paranoid about damaging the inductor because it was so small and delicate looking.

How well regulated the output is and what kind of peak output they can achieve definitely varies though. Zebralight is going awesome in the peak output category.

Fresh Light · Jun 6, 2017

I think the Manker T01 ver II is selling now is still the highest single output aa with the greatest throw. It also runs 1.2 or 1.5 v aa, with NiMH running at 500L and LiIon producing 900L. Max throw is 20,000 lux for a distance of 283 m. As far as tactical, it doesn't have the tail switch, but strobe is a double click away and you you can get it in black.

Genzod · Jun 6, 2017

iamlucky13 said:
I'm not aware of an official definition, but my understanding is a set of features suited to using in a self-defense sort of situation, chief of which would arguably be the ability to turn on in max output (or possibly strobe). I also tend to think a forward clicky is favorable. A tight beam/long throw can also be good for the sake of getting the best illumination or most dazzling effect on your opponent as possible, although too tight a beam could be hard to keep aimed at the opponent in a stressful situation.

But since what you're specifically looking for is long throw, we don't need to quibble over the definition of tactical.

As far as I know, inductors are pretty much the only method used to boost voltage in flashlights that use batteries below the LED's working voltage. This includes my lowly 10 lumen Sunwayman R01A, which I've had apart to swap the emitter in and was paranoid about damaging the inductor because it was so small and delicate looking.

How well regulated the output is and what kind of peak output they can achieve definitely varies though. Zebralight is going awesome in the peak output category.

I'm not up to speed on how widely used inductors are in general, but the implication when I said "inductors for voltage boost" was the dazzling level of boost ZL attains to compensate for the removal of high voltage Lithium Ion support. Since ZL seems to be pioneering this movement in the "peak output category", it seems I'm left with either lithium ion batteries to get 3.7 volts or CR123As to get 3.0 volts if I want a strong turbo output and substantial throw in a compact. I would probably use the latter during a fastpacked thru-hike, and I would try to have a headlamp that used the same battery.

Modernflame · Jun 6, 2017

Genzod said:
There's no indication of OTF lumens, runtimes or lux at 1 m or throw. I'm not really sure what it is I'd be buying. I have a feeling though, that if I asked the company, I'd get the same answer that they've posted--nothing.

Has anyone tested output, intensity and runtimes for this model? Can you provide a link if you know of anyone that has?

I found this review, but it is a few years old now. Not sure if they've squeezed out more lumens since then. Looks like about 1800 lux and 130 lm.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?252121-PEAK-EL-CAPITAN-XPG-REVIEW

Genzod · Jun 7, 2017

Fresh Light said:
I think the Manker T01 ver II is selling now is still the highest single output aa with the greatest throw. It also runs 1.2 or 1.5 v aa, with NiMH running at 500L and LiIon producing 900L. Max throw is 20,000 lux for a distance of 283 m. As far as tactical, it doesn't have the tail switch, but strobe is a double click away and you you can get it in black.

What's the secret to the Manker T01 II putting out 900 lm with one 14500?

Tactical Single AA Narrow Beam Handheld. Recommendations?

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