Christmas flashlight

I've been thinking about putting an alkaline battery flashlight on my wish list. There are so many out there but I've been kinda looking at these. Anyone have any experience with any of these?

http://www.batteryjunction.com/olight-s2a-flashlight.html

http://www.batteryjunction.com/fenix-e41-xml2-u2.html

https://www.fenixlighting.com/product/ld22-fenix-flashlight/

I have no direct experience with those exact lights but I have owned or own a few Fenix flashlights over the years and they've been very reliable. I have a friend who owned an Olight S15 with and extender to use 2 AA batteries and he really liked it. Eagletac and Thrunight have good reputations as well in 2 AA lights. You might inquire about service/repair with the USA. Having a switch or something else fail on a relatively new light when the only service/support is in Hong Kong is not a happy experience.

I have had my 2xAA Fenix for years with no issues. Bought an O-light Baton a year ago and it's dead. Could have tried sending it in but I'll just stick to Fenix.

Out of curiosity why AA's? My PD25 pushes 550 lumens with a single rechargeable cr123(16340). At 500 cycles it will end up cheaper than AA's. Unless you have eneloops.

My dilemma is between the Fenix Tk20r and the Nitecore srt7! Been driving me nuts so I know how you feel!

Kentos said:

I have had my 2xAA Fenix for years with no issues. Bought an O-light Baton a year ago and it's dead. Could have tried sending it in but I'll just stick to Fenix.

Out of curiosity why AA's? My PD25 pushes 550 lumens with a single rechargeable cr123(16340). At 500 cycles it will end up cheaper than AA's. Unless you have eneloops.

My dilemma is between the Fenix Tk20r and the Nitecore srt7! Been driving me nuts so I know how you feel!

Click to expand...

I'm leaning toward Fenix also...just because it may be better quality.

I'm going to try AAs to see if they give a bit of warning by dimming a bit (haven't tried alkaline in LED light before) to see if they dim but are still usable until you can change batteries. My Pelican 7000 and my Surefire just go dead without warning...well, my Pelican will blip once and go out then blip again when you turn it back on and then go completely out. My over 20 year old Surefire, with the old Surefire bulb assembly, used to dim for awhile before it went completely out. Now you can pick it up and it's out when it worked fine the time before. My old 3 C cell Maglite with the incandescent bulb still works just fine, although it's dimmer than I am.

Going to alkaline with an LED bulb should tell me if it's the lithium batteries or the LED bulb that causes the batteries to just die with no warning. And...you can never have too many good flashlights. I keep a small incandescent bulb one, with the batteries out of it and stored next to it, in my truck. If the alkaline LED one works like I want it will be a nightstand flashlight.

Fenix-Fenix-Fenix.

Just sent one to our nephew ...


AA

My favourite EDC flashlight right now is the Olight S2 Baton ... http://www.batteryjunction.com/olight-s2.html

It uses a rechargable 18650, and I just top up the battery from time to time and never have it run out on me (unlike a flashlight using AA's which you have to either replace before they run dry or run them dry and have to change in the middle of use.)

You can get even smaller Olight Batons that use one RCR123A ... again, rechargeable. http://www.batteryjunction.com/olight-s1-xml2.html

Both are available with models that have a magnetic clip-on USB-charger so you don't have to take the battery out of the flashlight or have a charging dock. (The S2 Baton at batteryjunction isn't this ... but you can see it here ... https://www.amazon.com/Olight-Recha...d=1480823140&sr=8-4&keywords=olight+s2r+baton )

I have a Fenix PD35 too ... also takes an 18650 ... and like it too. I like Olight a bit more. YMMV.

I have the Olight S1 baton , 500 lumens in a very tiny ,lightweight pocket light.Uses a cr123 battery , very cheap these days.....I would only use AA lights in a situation where the flashlight would be in a hot car , then I would go with the safest battery I could find.

I love my fenix PD 35. It will put out 900 lumens but that is the max. The thing about this particular torch is the output is not just bright but wide. You really can light up a large area.

Note with no light before my pics, it is completely dark. I live in the mountains and it is currently raining. That means you can't see your hand in front of your face.

1st pic - My trash can is about 60 feet away.

2nd pic - The wood street sign to the left of the Japanese maple (the small reddish tree) is about 100 feet away.

If you look at the top right hand corner of pic 1, you will see the blackout conditions. If it was possible, I would have taken another picture to give you an idea of how much area (width or flood) this light can produce. It is raining and I didn't want to get wet.

As a counterpoint, I have heard nothing but good things about the Olight brand.

I also prefer the 18650 battery. A bit expensive but its ability to power high output torches and recharge make it my favorite choice. Think of all the $ spent on D batteries in the old days.

Good luck with your search,
Jason

Coast makes some good ones. I still have an old Rayovac 6 volt Light that I going to upgrade with a LED bulb.


https://cdn.instructables.com/FHB/6PR4/H8AZ5EJ9/FHB6PR4H8AZ5EJ9.MEDIUM.jpg?width=614