AA light to complement Olight S1A...

kpatz

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Jan 6, 2018
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I just got my Olight S1A yesterday... great little light especially for its size.

Now I'm looking for something that "complements" it... something that does well what the S1A doesn't, and vice versa.

I'm thinking something with 2AA - 4AA that is throwy, since the S1A is floody, and ideally breaks 500 lumens with AA cells. Maybe the Thrunite TN4A?

Since I have plenty of NiMH AAs and chargers for them already I don't really want to go the lithium ion route.

Suggestions? Thanks...
 

kpatz

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Interesting coinkidink... I was at Walmart and on a whim I grabbed a Coast Polysteel 250 for $16... then I come home and jumped on the forum to read up on it and I see your reply recommending its bigger brother.

So, I guess I took your advice, sort of, without realizing it. :)

I may still grab a Thrunite TN4A in a month or two.
 

LightObsession

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Nov 12, 2004
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Good deal on the Polysteel 250.

I got my Polysteel 600 paired with an FL73 for $20 at Sam's Club at Christmas. That set is now $29 on the Sam's website.
 

kpatz

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I got my Polysteel 600 paired with an FL73 for $20 at Sam's Club at Christmas. That set is now $29 on the Sam's website.
Interesting... there was a two flashlight combo pack at Walmart but I don't recall the make or models... I don't think one of them was a headlamp though, so probably not that set.

Looks like Walmart does sell the 600 though, so I may have to look again some day. Now that I've tried a light with adjustable focus, I think I'll go with the Polysteel 600 over the TN4A. I don't need 1100 lumens anyway. :)

A couple quick questions for ya: (1) Does the 600 have 2 or 3 brightness modes? The website, and Amazon aren't clear on this (they list 2 lumen levels, but then they mention High/Medium/Low). (2) How's the PWM on low? It's quite noticeable on the 250.
 
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LightObsession

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The Polysteel 600 has 3 power levels.

My iPhone camera sees PWM in both medium and low. I don't notice it without the camera.
 

sbslider

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Jan 8, 2017
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I like my TN4A. I use it primarily for my bike light at 550 lumens. Just about always bright enough for my needs, and when it is not a double click gets me 2x lumens. It does make a difference. Great thrower too, but also a very nice spill for illuminating things around the hot spot. I am not familiar with the Polysteel, so I can not compare.
 

kpatz

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When you mentioned bike light, I remembered I have a Bontrager Ion 700 on my bike, which has 700, 240, 200 and 50 lumen modes. It's compact and shaped like a flashlight, and it easily detaches from the handlebar mount, so it could be used as one. So if I need that many lumens for a flashlight task, I can always use that.

In experimenting with my lights last night, I found that 3 of them are already good throwers... not to TN4A or Polysteel 600 levels, but good enough for what I would use them for.

One more thing to ask about the TN4A: If you are in a power outage, is the TN4A a good light to stand on its tail and ceiling bounce to illuminate a room? Or would a floody light be better to do this?
 

sbslider

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One more thing to ask about the TN4A: If you are in a power outage, is the TN4A a good light to stand on its tail and ceiling bounce to illuminate a room? Or would a floody light be better to do this?
I don't have a way to quantitatively measure light, so I ran a simple test. I compared the light on a piece of paper with writing on it in a 10x10 room using my TN4A at 550 lumens (neutral white, so actually a bit lower) and my cool white Olight S1R at 600 lumens. The S1R is definitely more on the floody side of beam pattern. To be honest, I might have given a slight edge to the S1R, but barely noticable. I ran a second test, the TN4A on low (15 lumens in cool white, something less in NW) and my S1R (12 lumens). Reading was definitely easier with the TN4A as the ceiling bounce source, about 6' behind where I was sitting for both lights.

Hope that helps, Matt
 
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