dwmckee

The Xeno E03 costs less than 30 bucks, is extremely well made and uses a single cell. I once was with a group of 5 riders and was the only one with a light when we wound up riding well past sunset, I had 5 abreast with me in the middle all riding with my single Xeno E03. It has a nice wide pattern and is incredibly bright for a single AA. (It uses AAs or rechargeable 14550 cells which are a lot brighter that the AAs.)

dwmckee

The Xeno E03 costs less than 30 bucks, is extremely well made and uses a single cell. I once was with a group of 5 riders and was the only one with a light when we wound up riding well past sunset, I had 5 abreast with me in the middle all riding with my single Xeno E03. It has a nice wide pattern and is incredibly bright for a single AA. (It uses AAs or rechargeable 14550 cells which are a lot brighter that the AAs.) I think it puts out something like 300 lumens...

sknhgy 

If I was in the market for a new aa flashlight I would go to the local, big name hardware store like Ace and see what they have. Our local Ace has some very nice lights for good prices. For $6 I picked up a keychain light that is splendidly powerful and oh so handy. Go to a name-brand hardware store rather than a Harbor Freight.
I wasn't impressed with the ones I've seen at auto parts stores.

canklecat

After about six weeks with the Serfas SL-255 I'd still recommend it as a flashlight if it might also be used for cycling. It's a properly designed cycling headlight first that can also serve as a flashlight. The mount is well designed, grips the handlebar securely and the light stays put. No problems with shifting, pivoting or popping off on rough pavement, gravel or railroad crossings. But the light is relatively easy to detach and reattach to the supplied mount.

On some recent group rides I've seen some cylindrical metal body flashlights used as headlights, but they tend to pivot up/down or pop off the bikes on rough roads or crossing railroad tracks. And they weren't any brighter than the Serfas.

I've gone through two pairs of AA alkalines and just began trying NiMH AA's. As you might expect with alkalines, there's a long, gradual discharge with the light gradually dimming until it goes out. While the alkalines do last several hours, the final 30-60 minutes becomes so dim it's necessary to use full power to get any usable light. I'd guesstimate with a nearly exhausted set of alkalines the final 30 minutes on the high setting has an output closer to the Serfas on low with fresh batteries.

I'm hoping the NiMH AA's will behave on the Serfas as they do with other devices -- close to full power until they discharge quickly.

I like it well enough that I'll often grab it off the bike for late night trips to take out trash, etc., rather than my older conventional LED flashlight that uses three AA batteries. The Serfas is much brighter on high, with a better pattern, more neutral whitish light and the dimmest setting is often plenty bright enough for walking around. And the side cutouts do enhance visibility from the side, for folks who may need to walk in the street and want to be seen at night.

canklecat

BTW, while the OP specified AA battery flashlights, if you don't mind USB rechargeables, this lightweight little thing costs $12-$25, depending on the vendor, and would make a fine pocket flashlight with the rubber handlebar strap removed (it's screwed on). It weighs almost nothing, is bright (although not the claimed 300 lumens -- I'd guess closer to 75-100), reliable and lasts as long per charge/mode as the manufacturer claims.

The beam is unusual -- it's a roughly trapezoidal pattern, not circular, because it uses a curved mirror reflector that emulates the Busch and Mueller bike lights. It's intended to spread the beam to appear roughly equal in intensity from near to far when aimed appropriately -- but will appear unusually irregular when aimed directly down up close. But it offers better side visibility than any other bike headlight or flashlight I've seen.

tonton09

Try the AOR Sparker F30 5W LED Flashlight , I was amazed how bright this little flashlight is! Very handy, a nice strap, on/off button is big enough to make using easily. And there is the brightness - holy cow!!!! Much brighter than expected. The flashlight itself is very stylish in color, very much unisex.

noglider 

Have you used this? I tried it and found it utterly useless for anything at all.

canklecat

I've used this version of the same light for a year as a helmet light. Mostly as a to-be-seen light on flashing mode, but occasionally as a supplemental trail light on the unlighted tree-covered sections of the MUP, including last night. Weighs almost nothing. Lights where I look. Also handy for nighttime roadside maintenance and repairs.

The beam is a little irregular but the sorta-trapezoidal pattern works best from helmet height, where the brighter upper part of the pattern is farther away so it evens out with the lower, less bright part of the beam. Much cheaper than the Light and Motion helmet light, much smaller and lighter than the various Chinese lights with external battery packs (and I always worry about the battery packs on those things).

noglider 

Well, maybe mine was a copy of a copy. It was pure trash.

canklecat

Ah, interesting. I'd just assumed those were all from the same factory and just rebranded. Maybe the Vivo Bike version is better quality. It's just a lightweight plastic housing, 3-way button, USB port and rubber band. But it's been reliable for a year of frequent use, including in the rain. Lasts as long per charge as it did a year ago. Nothing has broken, cracked, gotten glitchy or wonky.

The beam pattern is useful but the spread could be better. There are a couple of semi-dead spots that correspond with the cupped or scalloped shaped reflector. But I wasn't expecting B+M quality at that price.

BiciMan

I use and recommend this Uco lantern, and I run it with AmazonBasics AAs; https://www.amazon.com/UCO-Clarus-La...candle+lantern

ItsJustMe

For EDC I really don't need or even really want very high brightness. 100 lumens or so is more than enough for pretty much anything unless you're trying to signal boats at sea or something.

I just go with < $10 single cell (AAA or AA) lights from Banggood. They're easy to carry and so cheap that if someone likes it, I just give them one because I order them 3 or 4 at a time. I've been carrying such lights for 5 or 6 years and am totally happy with them.

I also keep a coin cell pinch light on every keyring in the house. They're about $3 for 10 of them on eBay.

FBOATSB

I've been using this for several years now: Maglite XL200 LED 3-Cell AAA Flashlight - Tactical - Flashlights

Papa Tom

Can it be powered by AAA? If so, the $5 32-LED flashlight (three AAA batteries) they sell at Harbor Freight has been working great for me for several years. I also use it as a bike headlight.

no motor?

https://www.batteryjunction.com/tlf-3c2aaex.html
It's held up really well and is the light I keep in my car and for around the house use. If I ever have to go through another mutliday power outage this is the light that's going to be used the most.

fietsbob

Maglight? Mini Maglite PRO LED 2-Cell AA Flashlight - Compact - Flashlights there is a retrofit LED kit too..

Two Fish makes a rubber-velcro strap block to use it on your bars, too..




'/,

noglider 

I think you meant to say:

It actually looks good, and it's one of the few suggestions that uses AA batteries as the OP had requested.

no motor?

Yes indeed, thanks for straightening that out!
I got two of these towards the end of my using AA batteries, and wanted one for the car and one for the bike. I'm glad I got 2, this is a light I'd buy again if I lost them.
We had a power outage at my condo that lasted 3 days and I was one of the few that stayed and could see after dark thanks to those lights and the stockpile of AA batteries I had.

01 CAt Man Do

Yep, if you own a bundle of good 18650 torches that will tail stand and have a number of extra 18650 cells on hand you're in good shape come a power outage. Of course I also own a bunch of programmable ( Li-ion powered ) bike lights push-come-to-shove that will last days if I only use the lowest power levels. In a power outage the smaller EDC torches I can carry on me while the bigger 18650 torches I can set to low mode and let tail stand. One of these will easily provide enough light to light up a good size room. It also helps if you have a car charger so if needed you can still charge the batteries when needed. Of course in a power outage it also helps to have some tealight candles on hand. A bag of tealight candles are dirt cheap and one tea candle lasts a long time.

Three days without electricity!......super bummer! I can provide enough light to see what I'm doing for probably a week but without line-power you have no heat, no AC and no power to the fridge. No entertainment either unless you own a laptop, tablet or smartphone with built in wireless internet access. I have a smart phone but if I had to go days using just that I'd get tired of trying to view the small screen really fast. Lucky me, I've lived in a condo for 20 some years and have only had power outages a couple times and those only lasted a couple hours. That bag of tealight candles I have must be over 10 years old.