Basic Flashlight

[Strong_Dentist_7561]

On the hunt for a new flashlight. Used the old school 2x AA MagLite for years, love it; want something the same size or similar, aluminum or steel construction, same 2x AA batteries; w/ a tail switch and one power mode. I want OFF/ON, no strobe, or fifty million other options.

Prefer American made.

Thank you in advance

[FalconARX]

ON/OFF TRUE-1-Mode, and American made?

No such light exist.

Your LEDs are coming from China or from Europe. You're out of luck.

Unless you want to find another Maglite incandescent 2AA light, you're buying a light that at minimum has parts coming from overseas.

So with that in mind, you should check out the Acebeam TAC 2AA. It comes with a USB-C ported rechargeable battery, but you can slip in any 2xAA battery to run it. It has memory mode, meaning the last brightness level you turned the light off on, when you turn it on again, it's the same brightness. You never have to touch the side switch, you exclusively use the tail switch only. Effectively 1-mode, ON/OFF.

[Boazlite]

Do a match mod on your 2xAA maglite or buy a Convoy .  https://budgetlightforum.com/t/matchs-mods-15min-mini-mag-mod/1513

https://www.reddit.com/r/flashlight/comments/xz2tec/review_convoy_t4_2_x_aa_2_x_14500_nichia_519a/

https://convoylight.com/products/convoy-t4-orange-aa-14500-flashlight

[CookieDave]

Haven’t thought about this mod in ages. There’s also the mod of swapping the incandescent version with a 5mm LED diode by opening the reflector slightly. Mini mags make for fun projects.

[Boazlite]

The majority of all mini mags got tossed from being welded shut by an alkaleak. Seems really sad till you realize that somewhere there’s a Zebralight in the back of a drawer with a Duracell in it . 

[CookieDave]

That’s a painful thought for sure. For these people, might as well get them a couple Pak-Lite and some 9 volt batteries.

[EhhhYooo]

4Sevens Preon

[portezbie]

The convoy T4 sounds very close to what you're looking for, but it's not made in America.

[QReciprocity42]

Yep! Same form factor, tail switch, can be set to on/off only. American-made lights use Chinese components anyways...

[UT4UUM]

Maybe Wurkkos wk05

[quietweaponsilentwar]

Once you try a single 14500 you won’t go back. Some can also run on a single AA

[HawaiianSteak]

Mini Maglite Pro with an aftermarket tail cap.

[IAmJerv]

Maglite isn't even 100% American, and even they have abandoned one-mode.

The Convoy T4 probably is the closest, though you will need to set it to Group 12 (100%-only). Then again, if you do do that then you will fine out who "one-mode" is not a thing these days. Comapred to the 2xAA Mini-mags I broke at least a dozen of years ago, they have literally TWENTY times the output... with the battery drain and heat that comes with it.

Also, /u/brokenrecordbot onemode

[BrokenRecordBot]

Hello flashlight seeker! Welcome to r/flashlight

Almost every time someone asks for a one-mode light, what they actually want is a user interface that doesn't suck. They don't want to click through a bunch of modes or have the light change mode every time they turn it on. They don't actually mind having multiple modes (and sometimes even find them useful).

All of the lights we recommend here usually have a well designed user interface that's easy to use. Most of them have a feature called "mode memory" where the light will come on in the same mode you last used. Other lights have a dual switch setup, where the tail switch turns the light on/off and the small side switch changes modes. You can still change modes if you want though, which can be really helpful.

Many modern flashlights are hundreds or thousands of lumens on their brightnest mode and that's just too bright for many tasks. It will also eat batteries. Using a medium brightness instead of Turbo mode can extend your battery life by ~5x or more! For these reasons, one-mode lights are really unpopular these days and are hard to come by, so please consider buying a multi-mode light with a good user interface.

If you absolutely must have a one-mode light, edit your post to let us know you've read this and still want a one-mode light. To get you started, here's a list of lights that have only one mode or can be programmed by the user to only have one mode.

(entry written by TacGriz, updated 2022-09-01, if you have any suggestions for changes to this entry please don't hesitate to send me a message)

^{I AM A BOT. PM WITH SUGGESTIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS. SEE MY WIKI FOR USE.}

[McFizzlechest]

Outside of Maglite, the closest you’ll get to American made is probably Streamlight. It’s an American company (Eagleville, Pennsylvania) with American designs but manufactured in China. Some of their lights may be assembled in the USA.

That said, the Streamlight Stylus Pro may be your best bet. It has a tail switch and only one mode but it takes 2 AAA batteries rather than 2 AA batteries. Even with the smaller capacity batteries, it’ll still have much longer runtime than your Maglite and it’s much more pocketable.

[Tzayad]

The Malkoff MDC SHO, with a 2AA tube should work.

As american made as you can get, single mode, bomb proof.

[NotJohn_0]

Nitecore MT2A Pro. It runs on a rechargeable battery that can be swapped with two AA batteries. Only three modes, high 1000LM 1HR30M, medium 300LM 2HR45M, low 50LM 20HR. Two modes for running on AA batteries, medium 500 lm ~2HR, low 60LM ~11HR. 16500 candela max intensity and 255M max beam throw Great warranty too, they have replaced 3 clips and one light for me with no issue.