# The Smallest, Brightest, Longest Lasting 4aa Flashlight.



## fefrie (Jan 20, 2007)

I first came to this forum in regards to batteries and chargers, but didnt realize that there is such thing as an "ultimate" flashlight.

Longest lasting may not be really that important since I'll be using rechargables anyways, but a "Man, how bright is that tiny thing?" effect is something that I'd like.

I've been partial to incandecents, I have a unit already from, of all places, Radio Shack, and it casts a decent light, but a newer brighter nifter torch would be nice too. 

I've got a bad opinion on LED's since I've mostly seen cheap imports with that vague diffuse light they provide.

I'd love something that has that super bright "searchlight" effect, but again, anything "impressively" bright would be great.

Plus running on 4aa's would be nice since I have those rechargeable batteries already.

What do you think is the brightest, coolest, light out there?


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## PlayboyJoeShmoe (Jan 20, 2007)

Not quite the coolest and maybe not the brightest, but the Streamlight ProPoly 4AA LUX is a damn tough and pretty bright light.

I am QUITE sure others will shoot me down here directly!


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## asdalton (Jan 20, 2007)

The Streamlight 4AA Luxeon has a bright and focused beam, which is not at all like the diffuse beams that you have probably seen from arrays of 5-mm LEDs. This light also has regulation to run on alkaline batteries for 4 hours at maximum brightness before getting dimmer.

Just make sure that you order the Luxeon version and not the 7LED version.


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## AlgaeEater (Jan 20, 2007)

When you say "4AA", around here that's a big red flag to shout about the Streamlight 4AA Luxeon. Simply put, I think it's the best in that category.

It hits 2 of the 3 criteria, bright and long lasting. Light however, I think not. It's going to be hard finding a relatively light 4AA flashlight considering the very nature of having 4 batteries inside a housing, but other than that, I also recommend the Streamlight 4AA Luxeon.


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## drizzle (Jan 20, 2007)

As tempting as it may be to shoot down the Playboy  , I also heartily recommend the Propoly Lux. If you have your heart set on a hot wire, I also own the Propoly Incandescent and it's very nice too.

These are reasonably priced fairly mainstream (in CPF circles) kinds of lights. I don't know if these are the best but they are really good and in my price range.

Added: Responding to Algae Eater, I would say that they are probably close to as light as you will find. The best way to reduce weight on a 4AA is to use Lithium batteries.


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## MikeF (Jan 20, 2007)

The SL 4AA is great. Is it OK to use with Lithium and NiMH batteries? I recall some warnings about Lithiums, but I may be mistaken.


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## BIGIRON (Jan 20, 2007)

For my purposes, the 7led 4aa is better. Good flood for working under cabinets, etc. If I need a spot for frog gigging, I've got something else.


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## lumenal (Jan 20, 2007)

I have the Streamlight 4AA Luxeon flashlight, and highly recommend it. Theres nothing bad to say about it.

Perhaps what I like most is the RULER FLAT regulation for 5 plus hours using Energizer 2500 NiMH.


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## PlayboyJoeShmoe (Jan 20, 2007)

Wow!

Nobody has slapped me down!

Once upon a time I was in the deep dark woods. We had several lights between two of us.

I had a P60SF module in a Brinkmann Maxfire with two fresh SF 123s and a SL4AALUX with 4 freshly charged Energizer 2300s. The SL let me see everything the P60 did.

The P60 would be dark in about 1 hour. The SL would be just as bright in about 4 hours.

"Nuff said???


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## Newuser01 (Jan 20, 2007)

I have both and I like both.

But they are used differently. Lux is better for walking and pointing and looking at things at a distant. Throw is better them all but may be some luxIII's. 7 LED version is great for work and indoor use! long run time on these are first class. I put one in a mug upside down for candel/indirect lighting needs.

I say get them both and you are coverred.
:rock::rock::rock:


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## fnmag (Jan 21, 2007)

Another vote for the 4AA ProPoly Lux. It is that good! As the Cree/Seoul LEDs filter "down" to the AA level I'd expect to see some competition but not in the immediate future.


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## Flying Turtle (Jan 21, 2007)

I don't have a ProPoly for direct comparison, but from what I've read the UK 4AA eLED, which I do have, is smaller and longer lasting. It will give about 10 hours of flat well regulated output that has a nice balance of flood and throw followed by many more hours of usable light. My particular model is apparently no longer available, but there is a new one (UK eLED Zoom) with two levels that performs like the old model on low and gives more throw on high. The ProPoly will probably still out-throw this light. I believe the prices for this and the ProPoly are similar.

Geoff


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## TORCH_BOY (Jan 21, 2007)

I have a Dorcy Cool blue Led flashlight, they claim it will run for up to 200 hours on a set of 4 AA alkaline cells, it used a single 5mm Led


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## AlgaeEater (Jan 21, 2007)

Flying Turtle said:


> I don't have a ProPoly for direct comparison, but from what I've read the UK 4AA eLED, which I do have, is smaller and longer lasting. It will give about 10 hours of flat well regulated output that has a nice balance of flood and throw followed by many more hours of usable light. My particular model is apparently no longer available, but there is a new one (UK eLED Zoom) with two levels that performs like the old model on low and gives more throw on high. The ProPoly will probably still out-throw this light. I believe the prices for this and the ProPoly are similar.
> 
> Geoff


 
Is this the newer model on the review or the older model?

http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/uk_zoom.htm

Just curious since I'm always looking for other flashlights in the 4AA category.


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## etc (Jan 21, 2007)

princeton tec apex?

no experience with it


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## TigerhawkT3 (Jan 21, 2007)

Squawk! Polly want a ProPoly!

Yeah.

Around January '06, I got sick of Coast-type junk and looked online for flashlight reviews. Wonder of wonders, I ended up at www.flashlightreviews.com/index1.html. After reading about 3/4 of Doug's reviews, I decided on the ProPoly (Luxeon, of course). It's so great that I ended up... well... look at my list of lights. I have zero willpower when it comes to the shiny.

My review of the SLPPL4AA


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## Atomic_Chicken (Jan 21, 2007)

Greetings!

Princeton Tec Impact XL.
Plenty bright, 50+ hours with Alkaline AA's - over 70 hours with Lithium AA's.

Best wishes,
Bawko


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## pedalinbob (Jan 21, 2007)

For an incan, don't forget the Preinceton Tec Tec-40.

You can get them for as little as $8, including batteries. You can mod it with a brighter bulb (the stocker is no slouch), and even for use withe NiMh.


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## PhotonBoy (Jan 21, 2007)

This thread: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/149620

points to this Dorcy page for a new Cool Blue 4AA 0.5W light that is likely dimmer, but longer lasting than the ProPoly. As usual, get both:

http://www.dorcy.com/products.aspx?p=412498


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## Coop (Jan 21, 2007)

*double post*

.


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## Coop (Jan 21, 2007)

Streamlight Propoly 4AA Luxeon or UK 4AA Eled... both for reasons already mentioned in this thread


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## ringzero (Jan 21, 2007)

AlgaeEater said:


> Is this the newer model on the review or the older model?
> 
> http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/uk_zoom.htm
> 
> Just curious since I'm always looking for other flashlights in the 4AA category.



That's the newer model.

I have all three of these lights: the UK 4AA eLED, the UK 4AA eLED Zoom, and the SL PP 4AA Lux.

The UKs feel much more compact in the hand, and also in the back pocket or jacket pocket.

The Zoom and SL are about the same output, but the SL crushes the Zoom for throw. OTOH, I greatly prefer the Zoom over the SL as a walking light, and it's much more usable as a utility light for close up tasks.

The older UK 4AA eLED is my favorite utility light. Very wide usable spill beam and smaller, less intense hotspot and corona make it great for close up tasks. Many, many hours of rock solid flat regulated output. I've never done runtime testing, but batteries seem to last far longer than 10 hours. 

UK no longer sells the older UK 4AA eLED, but you can still buy the LED module which will drop into any UK 4AA body.


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## Roy (Jan 21, 2007)

Read my sig-line! It is generally a very true statement!

*Bright...Small...Long Runtime....Pick Any Two *

You can have any two, but NOT all three!


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## luigi (Jan 21, 2007)

Try the Streamlight Survivor there is a LED and Incandescent version and they can use either 4AAs or a rechargeable pack.
Since the light is designed for throw it may look very very bright.

Luigi


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## carrot (Jan 21, 2007)

Hmm, I'll be the voice of dissonance and recommend the Underwater Kinetics 4AA eLED Zoom. 

http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/uk_zoom.htm


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## jayflash (Jan 21, 2007)

Like Atomic Chicken pointed out: The PT Impact XL is a bit smaller and will run nearly "forever" because it only consumes 150mA from its cells. The Dorcy Cool Blue also has a 150mA drain but the Luxeon of the PT is brighter.

Neither of the, above, lights is as bright as the ProPoly Lux. I'd say the PP has the size/brightness advantage but the PT Impact XL is water proof, nice handling, long run time light better suited to lower lighting needs. Hiking wooded trails, tent lighting and under water uses come to mind for the Impact XL.


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## PlayboyJoeShmoe (Jan 21, 2007)

A few random thoughts;

I don't have any UK LED stuff, but do have a 4AA Incandescent UK and it is definately slimmer and nicer to handle than the SL 4AA.

Princeton Tec Impact (at least the older one) has a magnifying lense and a completely ROTTEN beam. I absolutely hated it from the beginning and tried writeright and a few other things to smooth the beam without success.

Yes, let us not forget the Tec 40 Incandescent. It may not run for hours, but with a KPR103 it is mighty bright! It has a textured reflector for a nice beam too!

Another candidate while bigger is the Dorcy/Craftsman 4AA rubber light. It is the size of a cut down D light. Chuncky but feels good in hand. It uses PR bulbs and has a nice bumpy reflector for good beam.

But still, if you are gonna get one 4AA light I'd still very much recommend the SL4AALUX!!!


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## Illum (Jan 21, 2007)

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/streamlight_4aaled.htm

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/princetontec_impact.htm

might not be the smallest, or coolest...but it's going to be the long runtime contestants


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## SEMIJim (Jan 21, 2007)

Hi All. New to CPF, here .

After reading this thread, I decided to maybe pull the trigger on a Streamlight Propolymer 4AA Luxeon. Question: There seems to be two "series" of these: The 68602/68702 "Division 1" and the 68244/68344 "with white LEDs" (as described by one seller). Anybody know what the differences between the two series are?


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## PlayboyJoeShmoe (Jan 21, 2007)

Unless the first is LUX and the second 7x5mm Led, I can't answer you.

Check Brightguy.com for details!


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## fefrie (Jan 21, 2007)

Wow, thanks for the contributes. Everyone mentioned a lot of brands that I"ve seen in stores, but didn't know if they were good quality or not. I"ll do some research, but after talking to everyone, I think my most important features in order are brightness (max lumens), throw, diffuse (for up close work [ actually i like this feature the least, because I find that diffuse lights don't seem to get to the areas I need to focus on and lose effectiveness at distances greater than three feet]), and lastly burn time, since rechargable nimh's are guilt free mah's.


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## fishx65 (Jan 21, 2007)

Nice to have a Lux and Incan for your rechargeables. Like most said, the pro-poly and Tec-40 are great lights at great prices. If you can still find the Tec-40s for $7.00 each I would scoop up a couple of them. They rock with the xpr103!


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## TigerhawkT3 (Jan 22, 2007)

A Division 2 area is "Where easily ignitable fibers are stored or handled," and Division 1 is "Where easily ignitable fibers or materials producing combustible flyings are handled, manufactured or used." (From http://www.ul.com/appliances/resources/HazLocbrochure.pdf.) Basically, they're safety ratings, with Div 1 being the more stringent. If they mattered in your job site, you would already know about them. If it's new to you, just get the cheaper Div 2. That would be 68244/68344 (yellow/black or plain black).


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## SEMIJim (Jan 22, 2007)

TigerhawkT3 said:


> Basically, they're safety ratings, with Div 1 being the more stringent.


Thanks, TH. I kind of figured it would be something like that.



TigerhawkT3 said:


> If it's new to you, just get the cheaper Div 2. That would be 68244/68344 (yellow/black or plain black).


Actually, at many places the price is about the same.


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## Gnufsh (Jan 22, 2007)

I think the Div1 has a different (and less efficient) regulator. The safety rating is for safety of operation in hazardous environments (eg explosive/flammable dusts/vapors). Div 2 is for environments where these are possible but not expected on a regular basis, Div 1 is for where these are expected on a regular basis.


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