chaosmagnet: i look forward to hearing your comments too. just because i like 'em and they fit my needs doesn't mean they're right for everyone. hope you'll post your thoughts here after you've had a chance to try them. (ps - it shouldn't be long either, because seller ships via Priority so i had them two days later)

I don't know whether I'll have time this week, but I certainly am planning to write a review. I'm not Selfbuilt http://www.sliderule.ca/cpf.htm and I don't try to be, my reviews are in no small part subjective to my tastes.

ha! who is? his reviews are always stunning. best of the best.

na, all we can do is add our two-cent.

Eric, how long does your three led matterhorn last on one battery?

I haven't tried a runtime test on it. Various reviews indicate something like 2 hours to 50% and 10-12 hours to below 25%. In EDC usage I usually end up replacing the battery every 6 months or so, more to be sure I have a "fresh" battery in case something would come up. Back when I got this, it was pretty respectable and it still feels like a pretty good balance of light and runtime for me.

-Eric

Let me make another vote for the Fenix e01.

I'm going to be ordering another tonight- my EDC one had a battery rupture in it. Thought I had it cleaned out, but... not looking so good.

Good light, bad battery. Bad Raven, bad, bad- from now on, lithium.

Was it one of the silver & black Rayovacs? I know the e01 is AAA but their AA's didn't have the best reputation with me after several blew before their dates a couple years ago and had what may have been one of their AAA's take out a light this week.

I have this little Streamlight Microstream:

http://www.amazon.com/Streamlight-66318-...422&sr=8-10

It meets all your criteria except it has a pushbutton switch.

It is $16 shipped. It is very bright, simple, and rugged.

I really trust the Streamlight brand, which makes some very high-end tactical lights. I also have a larger Streamlight Strion LED, which also happens to be what the city cops here carry.

I also have the Arc AAA, which according to their site is still made, and is about $30. It is a bit shorter, has a twist switch, but is nowhere near as bright. I had one that I had some trouble with, that they fixed no problem.

David

The 4Sevens Mini 123 is a nice light in a small package and is great for pocket carry. IMO it's a bit big for a keychain, but I like a small keychain.

I was just thinking, it's really not that long ago when you'd have to fork over a pretty serious wad of cash to get an expensive Surefire brand flashlight that required expensive CR123 batteries which was marketed as "tactical" because anything over 30 lumens was considered "tactical" by them. And here we are talking about a $16 Thrunite keychain light that can do 60 lumens on a common 1xAAA battery. Pretty darn amazing how far we've come with flashlights.