Flashlights that accept 1xCR123A or 1xAA

Candle Power Forums

Help Support Candle Power:

enomosiki

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 13, 2011
Messages
1,109
I like having a 1xCR123A/1xAA light as duty backup and EDC primary. I recently lost my Quark X with 1xAA tube in Guam during FTX, and settled on a SRT3. In the process of searching for a suitable replacement for the Quark, I noticed the distinct lack of list showing flashlights that can feed from 1xCR123A and 1xAA sources... Which led me to create this list, in case if there are people sharing the same mind.

Flashlights
de.power DP-024AACR-C (battery tube can be flipped to switch between AA and CR123A)
Dereelight Javelin (C2H tube with AA extender required for AA/CR123A compatibility)
Foursevens Quark Pro/Tactical (low voltage heads with 1xAA tube required)
Gerber Cortex (no accessories required)
Gerber Omnivore (no accessories required; can also accept 1xAAA)
Hugsby P2 (extender)
JetBeam RRT-0 (extender)
JetBeam RRT-0 SE (extender)
JetBeam RRT-01 (extender)
Jetbeam TCR20/TCR21 (extender)
JetBeam WL-S1 (extender)
JetBeam WL-S2 (WL-S1 battery tube required to use 1xAA/1xCR123A)
Lumapower CT One (comes with 1xAA battery tube, so you need to get an IncenDio V3 battery tube to use CR123A)
Nitecore SRT3 (extender)
Peak Logan 17500 (battery adapters/sleeves required, available at Oveready)
ShiningBeam I-Mini (battery tube)
ShiningBeam Spark (battery tube)
Sunwayman M10R (extender)
Sunwayman M11R (extender)
Sunwayman V10R (extender)
Sunwayman V11R (extender)
Zebralight SC80 (internal battery spacer that needs to be flipped)

Headlamps
Fenix HL50 (extender)

Helmetlight
Streamlight Sidewinder Compact II (spring-loaded internal battery spacer)

If anyone has more lights to add to the list, please feel free to add!
 
Last edited:
I'm looking forward to a review of the new Fenix PD25 1xCR123A, which I think looks great from the specs.
 
Zebralight SC80-I love mine! This is the only one I know of that needs no extra parts to use either too.
Not a Headlamp though?

Peak Logan 17500-123,AA and AAA
 
Zebralight SC80-I love mine! This is the only one I know of that needs no extra parts to use either too.
Not a Headlamp though?

Peak Logan 17500-123,AA and AAA

Yeah, that was a mistake. Thanks for pointing it out.
 
Yeah, that was a mistake. Thanks for pointing it out.

No worries.

There was also that odd Gerber light that had a stepped interior and I think wold take AA,AAA and 123?

Really low output but interesting concept too,not only needed no extra parts,none were removable either!

The Omnivore!.....Yeah thats the one.
 
The Zebralight SC80 was a great idea. I don't know why they didn't keep doing that. You didn't need an extension tube and could use AA or CR123 in it by reversing the little cup inside.

The problem I have with extension tubes is that you need to have it with you to be useful. If your CR123 dies, you have no way to switch to AA without the extension tube. For that reason I just go with lights that can handle 14500 batteries, so I get the CR123 performance, but can switch to AA in a pinch...






Sent from my iPhone using Candlepowerforums
 
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change.
I EDC a LV Quark X on a 16650 that will run any cell that fits in the tube (and ANY cell without the tube in lantern mode). I suppose one could use the Logan adaptor kit and/or the various Overready sleeves/spacers, but I don't like carrying spare parts for just-in-case, so I just keep a piece of tinfoil in my wallet and make my spacers/dummy cells on the fly.

Another nice option are 3V CRAA lithium primaries (same as CR123s) in certain AA/14500 lights. These can also be used to power any 2AA device.
 
The Zebralight SC32 takes 1xCR123. I think it's fairly new. Other examples I can think of that are not on your list would be fenix PD22, PD12, and E15.
 
No worries.

There was also that odd Gerber light that had a stepped interior and I think wold take AA,AAA and 123?

Really low output but interesting concept too,not only needed no extra parts,none were removable either!

The Omnivore!.....Yeah thats the one.

Oooh... Good one! Adding that to the list. Thanks.
 
By the way, does anyone know if Thrunite's Archer V2 series can be lego'd? It looks like Archer V2 1A, 2A, and 1C share the same running voltage, so wouldn't it be possible to just swap the battery tubes to make it work with 1xAA, 2xAA, or 1xCR123A configuration--just like the Quark Pro/Tactical LVH?
 
One CR123A, and a very nice rotating lockout:
http://www.opticsplanet.com/5-11-tactical-tmt-l1-flashlight.html


  • Output: 212 lumens on high and strobe, 16 lumens on low
  • Runtime: 2 hours on high, 3.25 hours on strobe, 25 hours on low

opplanet-5-11-tactical-tmt-l1-flashlight-53031.jpg

spumwuzzle
 
The Olight 2008 model T10 when combined with T15 body (or the other way around) can run 1XCR123 and 1XAA. I have that combo within my E&E on BOB duty.
 
The Zebralight SC80 was a great idea. I don't know why they didn't keep doing that. You didn't need an extension tube and could use AA or CR123 in it by reversing the little cup inside.

The problem I have with extension tubes is that you need to have it with you to be useful. If your CR123 dies, you have no way to switch to AA without the extension tube. For that reason I just go with lights that can handle 14500 batteries, so I get the CR123 performance, but can switch to AA in a pinch...






Sent from my iPhone using Candlepowerforums

I wrote Zebralight to ask about a new version of the SC80. The reply was that the Zebralight SC82(new version of the SC80/ compatible with AA or CR123) design was complete, but has not yet been given the go ahead for production. Perhaps if they received enough inquiries/requests they would??
 
Me too and they told me the same.

It really is a brilliant and simple design.
 
I wrote Zebralight to ask about a new version of the SC80. The reply was that the Zebralight SC82(new version of the SC80/ compatible with AA or CR123) design was complete, but has not yet been given the go ahead for production. Perhaps if they received enough inquiries/requests they would??

Oh, interesting! I'll keep an eye out for that...


Sent from my iPad using Candlepowerforums
 
Armytek Prime A1 XM-L2 (Warm)

Seems like quite a tough light, what I like about it is the moonlight mode, waiting for this to arrive in the mail.

Yes, I really like one I got this month. Two very useful moonlight modes. Both are less bright than listed, which is good for moonlight modes. I estimate about 0.05 lumens and 0.5 lumens. The dimmest is great for middle-of-the-night. (The other medium and high modes are very close to what is listed.)

Also love the warm tint. Though, it might be too warm for some.

The build is great, and the UI makes it easy to get to all 6 modes, without having to step through them all.
 
The Zebralight SC80 and SC5 are so close in size. They should bring that one back. But I'm not sure they can get 500lm out of the Eneloop AND still make the CR123 efficient. But I know nothing about electronics, so that's just a guess.
 
But I'm not sure they can get 500lm out of the Eneloop AND still make the CR123 efficient.

Given that the whole '500 lumens from an Eneloop' thing with the SC5 is not all that impressive, (as far as I'm concerned), I could do without that ability.
 
Back
Top