i just purchased the doug ritter photon II, so far it looks like what i need. small, hands-free, and a decent way of keeping it from turning on by accident. my psk is too small for most of the tube style lights, so this smaller LED should do the trick. since i mostly camp and backpack, i always have a bigger light anyway, my psk is only for the unfortunate incident where i might be separated from my gear. since my psk is only intended for an absolute emergency, the photon should be perfect. thanks for all the suggestions, i know i would've wasted alot of money if it wasn't for this place.

the runtime of the zebralight with Energizer lithium is about 2 and half hours. Not to take anything away from the zebralight, I love that light. I just think an ARC would be a better fit for a PSK situation.

The battery life mentioned is on the high power setting. I used my zebralight this AM and was able to light up the entire living room on its low setting. You can use it to see the whole picture rather than just a small portion of it.

Hi dd61999,

Thanks for the runtime graphics for the Zebralight v Fenix using the Energizer e2 Lithium cell. The results are quite interesting. The Fenix L1D Q5 (Hi) is specified at around 107 Lumen according to the Fenix Store website at

http://forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.ph...lat&fpart=5

Do you know if the Zebralight has a higher output higher than the specced 66 Lumen on the Zebralight website when using Lithium Cells. Comparing the two runtimes the Zebralight looks to have an output of around 80-85 Lumen (relatively speaking). This would make sense as a lot of flashlights run brighter with the Lithium Cell when compared to the NiMh cells. This would account for the shorter run times than I would have expected at 66 Lumen.

The Zebralight looks like an excellent performer and when looking at the numbers and comparing it to the Arc AAA premium we have the following;

Arc AAA Premium - 8.9 cm cubed - AAA Lithium Cell - 1250 mAh @ 1.5 V 1875 mAhV - 10.5 Lum 5 hrs

ZebraLight H50-Q5 - 16.8 cm cubed - AA Lithium Cell - 2900 mAh @ 1.5V 4350 mAhV - 18 lum 20 hrs

The ZebraLight is roughly twice the size but lasts 4 times as long at nearly twice the brightness on the medium output setting. That IMHO is pretty impressive compared to a already excellent product such as the Arc AAA Premium and especially when considering the Zebralight has the 3 different lighting level options as well.

The lithium is not really brighter in the zebralight over alkalines, but it does prevent it from going dimmer sooner, here is a graph with duracell alkaline.



I agree that the zebralight is brighter and runs longer.

However the reason I prefer the ARC for the psk are several reasons

1. It is smaller and it fits in most psk
2. It uses different regulation than the zebralight, it allows you to take advantage of dead or poor quality batteries and still have light.
3. The Durability has been proven time and time again. Do not get me wrong the zebralight is very well made but it is still relatively new. The zebralight would probably hold up very well, but I know the ARC is the least likely to fail.

Indoor is going to be a bit different the outdoors.

The flood light of the zebralight tends to get absorbed in the dark more in a outdoor setting.

To give you an example the three fashlights below have similar Lumen rating, However due to its beam pattern they are very different flashlights.

I've found that for quality/cheap, it's nearly impossible to beat these:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1253
Black Flashlight Keychain 22000mcd 10-pack (under $5 before shipping).

I was having problems with my inova coincell light being too easy to turn on in my pocket. These will squeeze as well, but the switch is momentary. You need to apply force and keep it there, and it's fairly focused force and take some squeezing to activate. Not too much mind you, but just enough to keep it from lighting in a pocket. Plus it has a little plastic on/off switch that can set it to hands-free mode.

Mine is still bright and I use it all the time. It's not a DR Photon, but for 50 cents a pop, you can lose them and never look back. I also give them away once in a while.

True, but we aren't always outdoors. Once your eyes are fully dark adjusted that low beam works much better.

I agree but when my eyes are fully night adapted I am hoping everything I need to get done is already done and the fire is going, so I no longer need the flashlight.

I have a Ritter Photon Freedom in one PSK.

A Princeton Tec Pulsar II in one PSK.

A Variety of cheap pushbutton Keychain LEDs in different PSKs and FAKs.

A MagLite Solitaire in one PSK

A MagLite 2AA with Night-Ize LED kit in my Large FAK.

And I EDC a Pelican M6 2330 (too big for a PSK) and an ARC-AAA Premium on my EDC keychain PSK.

Out of all of the PSK sized lights, my favorites are the ARC-AAA and the Ritter Photon. However, I have to admit that the Arc-AAA has the upper hand due to durability, it's waterproof up to 100', brightness, and battery. Really the only drawback for the Photon, and this is purely personal opinion, is that the clip for the Photon Freedom is an odd shape to pack in my hardcase PSKs (Otterbox 1000, Witz Keep-it-clear) and so often gets clipped to a lanyard on outside with my whistle.