I just got my Fenix L2D CE today, and thus far I'm very happy with it. Granted, I've just been playing around with it and will know more as time goes by.
I was in the market for a light to replace my Pelican M6 2330 LED, which served me well for the last couple of years and still works great, but had a number of shortcomings in my opinion.
My first problem with the Pelican is that the CR123s that power it never caught on like I thought they would and therefore remain very expensive. Sure I can still find them locally, but they usually cost between $9.00 and $12.00 per pair. I found many places online that sell CR123s in bulk for a lot less, but I really had to buy a large quantity to start seeing some real price breaks. I did eventually make a bulk order and so have batteries for the Pelican in case of an emergency, but I soon ran into another problem.
The second problem wasn't so much the Pelican's fault, but my own. The M6 just wasn't made for what I intended to use it for, which is a solid light source for use in an extended emergency or for long repetitive hikes at night. From the second you turn on the Pelican M6 2330 it begins to dim, and at the 2 hour mark it's at 50% brightness. I perceived it as being dimmer than that, but I'll go with the more scientific tests at
Flashlight Reviews. I figured I could never carry enough batteries in my BOB for an extended emergency without making a number of weight related sacrifices. The Pelican just burned through batteries too quickly. In the end I decided it was more bright than necessary in most situations as well.
So, I started looking around and reading some reviews, which led me to the Fenix L2D CE. This light seems to fix the two problems I had with the Pelican M6. The L2D uses 2 AA batteries, which are widely used and so are much cheaper than CR123s, and it has multiple output levels so I can choose between brightness and runtime. There's a good review of the Fenix L2D CE at
Flashlight Reviews.
I have no affiliation with Fenix, Pelican or Flashlight Reviews.