It's also L>M>H without memory, just the way I like it. It's exceptionally good at this price point; certainly the best 1xAAA light I've owned that cost less than $60. No affiliation.

I bought the stainless steel version.

Chaos... the aluminum version is $19.95 at Fenix Outfitters...

The stainless steel version is $30. Aluminum lights have significant advantages -- they're lighter, less expensive, and dissipate heat better. But the anodizing gets banged up and scratched when kept on my keyring.

I found one guy to make me a custom leather keyring sheath for a flashlight but he's out of that business and it wasn't a great solution. Keyring lights need to be stainless steel or (preferably) titanium so that they don't look awful after a few weeks of carry.

shrink tubing?

I ruled that out for more expensive lights because I was afraid it would make the light too hard to use and not look good. At this price point I'll think about buying an aluminum version and try it out.

The stainless model has held up admirably for the last several days and looks great.

Regarding cheap headlamps vs the EOS ... I wouldn't trade my EOS for SIX cheap headlamps. No way!

I guess I don't understand how you'd lose it. Are you whitewater kayaking at night?

I still have my original EOS purchased quite a few years back and lots of camping nights ago. It was always either in my pack, in my pocket, or on my head. Works as good now as the day I got it. Even the elastic is still in great shape (was one of my worries back then).

I would always choose quality over cheap, especially for something as important as a light.

I also find that I don't loose expensive things nearly as often as cheap ones. I have had a very expensive pen for about 30 years and in the same time I have lost probably dozens of cheap pens.

"Keyring lights need to be stainless steel or (preferably) titanium so that they don't look awful after a few weeks of carry."

I prefer to say that my LD01 and PS4 have acquired character and experience. After all, their owner now sports a few dents and scratches.....

I'd definitely prefer a better light, and I don't really anticipate losing the light in the river (but then I didn't really anticipate losing my glasses in the lake at summer camp but it happened). At this point, I can't get anything shipped to me in time for the canoe trip, so I'm gonna make do with what I have on hand for now.

For fiscal reasons (we're already out quite a bit of money getting some needed gear for this trip) and as a stop gap, i'm getting a cheaper headlamp/flashlight combo for now that's on clearance at walmart (they won't get here in time for the trip but we'll have them for some other campouts this fall), similar lights to what i've been looking at, I'll see how well I like them, and keep considering all the fantastic options you all have given for a better light for the christmas stockings. Thanks for all the help and suggestions, it's been a real eye opener for me as to the options available, I'll keep looking, and if anyone has more suggestions I'd love to hear them.

Being able to transfer batteries from low priority equipment to high priority can be invaluable. It means the luxury gadgets you carry can also be considered as spare battery holders for survival items. At one point I had electric shaver, electric toothbrush, and camera all running on AAs.

Picking AAs to standardise on brings further benefits, because they are so flexible. You can own a mix of alkaline, lithium and LSD rechargeable for different situations. In addition to having fewer batteries to "bring", you'll need fewer rechargers and cables, and you can keep a stockpile of rechargeables always charged up at home.