JAYKI

 This is very much a work in progress but here's some beamshots to be going on with. I like this one a lot. TrustFire F22 Stainless Steel Cree XP-ER2-WC 5-Mode 220-Lumen Memory LED Flashlight (1*AA/1*14500)

Trustfire F22 Stainless Steel Review

 
 
Throw at 1m in Lux.
This is the measurement of peak brightness in the hotspot and represents how far the light will throw a beam.
AA Alkaliine    3120
AA NiMh         2200      
14500               5610


Lightbox
This is representative of total light output.
High
AA Alkaline       
AA NiMh           
14500           

Medium
AA Alkaline       
AA NiMh           
14500   

Low
AA Alkaline       
AA NiMh           
14500           

Current Draw
AA Alkaline 1.524V
High        2020mA
Medium    840mA
Low          200mA

AA NiMH 1.38V
High        1400mA
Medium    650mA
Low          170mA

14500 4.04V
High        780mA
Medium   340mA
Low           90mA

Runtimes
14500 - It turns out the low voltage protection on my 14500s (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.19771) doesn't actually exist. Left one to run relying on the cutoff to stop it at a safe level. Question is, do I try to recharge it just to see if it goes boom? (outside ovbiously). The longer blue ones (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.19626) may actually have a protection circuit - it would appear that these grey ones do not.

NiMH



 
Size Measurements:
Length        103mm
Diameter     21mm    This is pretty big for a single AA light but does give more mass for heatsiking.

Weight
Empty with lanyard and standard bezel    102g
With 14500                                                123g
With Alkaline                                            125g
With NiMH                                               128g
Weight of silly "strike" bezel                     6.5g

At first sight
Niice.
What is that thing wrapped in newsprint? Ah, DX have sent me an "Assault Crown".
Second thought, it's huge.
The body is bigger than an 18650 - 71mm long and 21mm diameter. The head has a removeable bezel so you can screw in the silly assault crown which is going in the bin once I've photographed its silliness. 

The reflector is deep and smooth but gives a good beam for white wall hunting. It has a very tight hotspot so should throw well.
It has a much nicer lanyard than the usual and is considerably longer than usual. I can almost get it over my head.

The light looks like a stretched Trustfire F23 AAA light which is a very nice light too. Because of the split ring for attaching the lanyard it doesn't really tailstand until you discover the slot in the base for this purpose. Remove the ring and it'll tailstand nicely.

Why do people make internal O rings out of GITD material? They are never going to be exposed to light after all. The beam is a nice vanilla colour but it makes the beam from every other light I compared it with look green.

 
Build Quality
There's lots of metal for your money. The stainless steel it is made of is only weakly attracted to a magnet which implies lots of nickel/chrome or both in the alloy. The switch button is easy to operate with the ball of your thumb and is positive in action. However, when you tap the edge of it, it can stick. Easily remedied but annoying.

When white wall hunting at about 2.5m there is a dimmer centre to the hotspot reminiscent of the "donut hole" in Luxeon V emitters. It isn't nearly as bad as the Luxeon hole though.
 
Lght Output

In Use

 
Conclusion

Beamshots

14500

Control

Low

Medium

High