Best AAA LED light?

Chiro75

Chiro75

Joined
Feb 4, 1999
Messages
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What's the consensus on AAA battery driven LED flashlights? Sounds like the ARC at $25 or so street price is the way to go, but am I missing something? I want something cheap-ish, relatively bright, well made. For my first real LED light I traded a knife for an Inova X5. I like it, but I'm afraid it's going to get expensive with the batteries. Any good AA or AAA light that throws about as much light, if not more, than an X5?
 
The Arc AAA is a "must own" for anyone interested in high quality LED flashlights. It's got nowhere near the output of the Inova X5, but it's small size makes it easy to carry and use in a pinch. It's clearly THE finest single AAA cell LED torch on the market.

As far as a AA cell LED light that can beat the Inova X5 goes, I'd probably suggest the Streamlight Jr Luxeon which runs on 2 AA batteries. Quickbeam has a good review of this flashlight Here.

I prefer CR123 cell LED lights myself and I currently EDC a Longbow Micra and a Peak McKinley 7 LED light, but I get my batteries from Surefire. For $15 bucks you can get a box of 12 Surefire CR123A batteries which average out to $1.25 per cell.

If you're looking for a compact regulated EDC light with about the same output of the Inova X5, check out the Peak 7LED McKinley (High Power version). It's a classy 1 CR123 powered brass flashlight that's smaller than the CMG Infinity.

CR123_B73-355x291.jpg

Pic from peakledsolutions.net

Here's a size comparision of the Peak McKinley among a few of my other kids. :D
DSCN0210.jpg
 
The best single-battery AAA flashlight is the ARC AAA LE. Nobody does it better.

--SAK
 
Agreed, the ARC is my prefered edc, attached to a Vic Rambler.

A bit bigger is the CMG Task Light or the Ultra model, which is an AA model. I keep one of these because of the burn time with a lithium AA, over 75 hours.

The INOVA X5, which I just picked up, is a great way to use up my partially drained 123's, as has been mentioned.

Not sure of durability, but the Dorcy AAA LED light at Wally World is pretty bright, and only $6 or $7.

Might wanna try one of those.
 
The Dorcy AAA is only 5.97 at my local Wally World. I think it's one of the best lights around, really. It works really well for its size, and for the cost it can't be beat. The Arc is nice, but I don't know about it being that much nicer. And I do own nice flashlights, I'm not just saying these things because I refuse to spend money on a flashlight. I personally like to have a light I can give away if the need arises. .
 
It's the Arc. I've had one on my keychain for over two years. Battery lasts and lasts and the amount of light is quite usable.
 
The Arc's advantage is that it's small and not there until you need it. The finish wont scratch that easily. Infact, it eats the stuff in my pcoket. (Fisher space pen and a SAK got knurling marks from it)
 
hmmm, since you may not be able to get an Arc AAA, you might want to consider the peak led solutions AAA, 3 LEDs, pretty nice.
 
I was going to recommend the Inova X1 and CMG Task light (the gov't issue flavor at countycomm.com), but these are AA and not AAA. Maybe thats close enough for you. Both are LED's and have very long run times, which I favor, and the X1 is an extremely tight spot with no side spill. I use it daily to check on my progeny at night as it doesn't light up the whole room. Being a tight spot, it has excellent throw for a AA LED. I have several of the CMG's as well. Throw some Photons in there, and you have a nice stash of mini-lights. :)

f7c515e2.jpg

Inova lithium X5, top, and AA X1's

f7c515f9.jpg

Single AA CMG Task Lights
 
How does the Arc AAA compare to the Inova X1? I just got an X1, and really dig the spotlight it puts out. But it's a bit large to carry in my pocket daily.
 
Planterz said:
How does the Arc AAA compare to the Inova X1? I just got an X1, and really dig the spotlight it puts out. But it's a bit large to carry in my pocket daily.
Click to expand...

Planterz, if you find the Inova X1 large for the pocket, then the Arc AAA will definately fit the bill. You can even clip the Arc AAA to a shirt pocket and not even feel it.

Here are some a good reviews of the Arc AAA and the Inova X1. There are pics of each light which describe the size so you can get a good idea of what to expect.
 
DaveH said:
hmmm, since you may not be able to get an Arc AAA, you might want to consider the peak led solutions AAA, 3 LEDs, pretty nice.
Click to expand...

Another vote for Peak lights. I have a Peak McKinley (high power) which costs a little bit more than the Inova X5, but it's much smaller, runs on 1 CR123 battery and is just as bright.

DSCN0224.jpg
 
I've got two Peaks, a AAA in brass and a AA in black coming this week. I got the maximum number of LEDs per light, 3 for the AAA and 5 for the AA and also ordered them both in high power. It will be very interesting to see how these compare with the others in my collection. I was talking to the engineer at Peak this afternoon and he tells me to expect them to get rather warm if run for long periods. Also, he mentioned that the LEDs are a little bluish in tint as we have come to expect in a non Luxeon light and that the runtime is drastically shortened by all the firepower that these things will be sporting. He says full brightness for two hours of intermittent usage and one hour for continuous.

So for now I have to go with the Arc AAA like everyone else. :)
 
Here's a beamshot comparison of the Inova X5T (on the left) and Peak McKinley 7 LED High Power model (on the right):

DSCN0220.jpg

The Peak's beam isn't as wide as the Inova's flood beam, but it's just as bright.
 
Actually, I've grown rather fond of my Princeton Tec Impact II. Its integrated clip comes in handy for clipping the light to the outside of my front jeans pocket. It is has nice, bright, focused beam. I like my Arc AAA, too, but I keep that on my EDC neck lanyard.
 
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