I currently have a Peak 3 LED AAA on my keychain and am considering ordering one of the new premium ARC AAA's. Which is better? Is the ARC worth the $39.95 + shipping and end of September wait or should I stick with the Peak 3 LED [which is no longer made]? I don't want to consider Photons for the keychain because I want to stick with AAA batteries.

There are several big threads about this over at CPF. Basically the Arc has somewhat more efficient electronics and will get you more total lumen-hours from a battery. The Peak "snow" leds have much more neutral tint. Also, you can buy Peaks online and they've always been able to ship promptly, while Arc is usually backordered (like now). Arc has always made excellent lights but has had trouble shipping product out the door, leading to its old incarnation's collapse. Hopefully the current incarnation will get the bugs out of its process soon and be able to fill orders promptly.

Either way, by most people's standards (i.e. people who are used to minimags and whatnot), the performance of both these lights is amazing. Whether they're worth the expenditure is subjective. I'd say if you already have one, it's not worth "upgrading" to the other, unless you're a flashaholic and are willing to buy lights just because you like them.

Note also that you can buy Photon-style lights for well under a buck apiece. Ten of them in your BOB may in some circumstances be more useful than one AAA-powered light.

I've been carrying the County Comm lights for a while now. That being said, I just received my Peak Matterhorn in the mail the other day. I guess I'm turning into a flashaholic. The Matterhorn is a primo light, and is built like a tank. I should add that it was in stock, and I received it in about three days.

Personally, I find the knurled head on the ARC AAA easier to turn than the (octagonal? -- don't have one with me) head on the Peak AAA. -- Bear

Yeah, I noticed that it's hard to turn. It definitely isn't made for tactical deployment <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Hopefully it'll loosen up the more I use it.

I think ease of turning is mostly a matter of how tight the head is. If yours is tight, try wearing it in or adding a little silicon lube. I have an Arc AA that's a bit stiff, but an Arc AAA and two Peaks that are fairly easy to turn on and off.

Thanks for the tip, I'll give it a try.