I love my tiny Fenix E11. Battery lasts forever and the light is ultra bright on high mode. Low mode is great, too. Now it's been upgraded to the E12 with 3 modes. At around $30 you can't go wrong. It's my left front pocket EDC.

Another +1 for the Fenix lights.

My current EDC is a PD35 an LD01 (AAA). I decided that I needed a LOT more throw for the primary light last Fall. The PD35 was an upgrade for a LD20 which was an upgrade for a L1D/L2D/P2D set. The last three used either 2AA, 1AA, or a 123a battery with the same head.

I switched from a Fenix E01 to an E05 last year with AAA lithium... to tighten the head lamp assembly, a turn or two of teflon tape... be sure to not get any tape between the contact points

I"m still running a little E01, no problems to date. If I wanted to EDC a larger AA light I'd have no qualms about picking up a Fenix.

I'll echo that; I've had the E01 as a part of my EDC for 5 years or so now without any problems (I don't even use fancy batteries ).

I am also a big Fenix E01 fan. I use lithium batteries and I use the flashlight multiple times a day. An Energizer lithium 9x type lasts me about a year. The 9x supposedly lasts 9 times as long as an alkaline battery.

The Fenix has an o-ring under the cap so it doesn't come loose on it's own--at least it has never happened to me.

When I first started carrying the Fenix, I thought I would only need it for emergencies, but you don't realize how handy it is until you always have one in your pocket.

For an EDC I would stick with a AAA flashlight as it is much smaller than a AA one.

I lost my last E01 to an alkaline battery that was not out of date. I have since replaced all alkaline batteries with either lithium primary or NiMH rechargeable batteries.

I've moved mostly to fauxtons; cheap and reliable. Keychain, briefcase, coat zipper pull.

I picked up a few of these as stand-by beater lights. They work with a single AA, or with a 14500 lithium battery. They have been decent so far. I gave one to a friend, who uses it as a back-up bicycle headlight, which is handy with its three modes (high, low, and strobe) and zoom.

It isn't the best quality in the world. I won't pretend it is. But rain won't kill it, and it's a push-button 200-300 lumens (depending on battery) that can live in the junk drawer, BoB, or glove box without investing in name brand flashlights.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006E0QAFY/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Oh: The image is a bit misleading. The light is short. Just be aware.

I picked up a bunch of those lights to give out during Christmas 2012. I got mine from DX.com for $7 each. Amazon's $3.60 is a good deal. They have a zoom feature, which is cool. Seriously, with the spotlight feature, you can see farther than you should with a cheap light like this. All the flashlights still work, but they are cheap beaters like you said.