Ok, ok. This horse has been beaten, but I still am not satisfied with the small flashlights I have.
Photon clone--not bright enough, I do admit I have not tried the newer Photon 2x, but I dont like the batteries
Streamlight Keymate-nice light, again dont like the batteries.
Gerber Sonic--like the size and battery, but not powerful enough.
I want that elusive light that is small enough, uses a standard battery, and has lots of light!!! Arghhhh! <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

How about one of the small Maglites with an LED drop in?

A brighter small light, on "normal" batteries? I guess the Fenix L1 series would fill that bill. It's a flashlight with a Luxeon I LED "bulb" (luxeon III for the T model), which is about the most powerfull "bulb" you can power with a single alkaline battery. Slightly cheaper models are availible from other manufature's.

If you want more light, you will have swich to other battery types.

Have you, or someone you know used the Fenix??? I have looked online at it, and it appears pretty good, but dont know anyone who actually has used it? Fenix has a new L1T that also looks good. Either of those might be my solution or possibly the new Inova X1?

Go over to www.candlepowerforums.com and search on it there. There should be a ton of info.

The new Inova X1 might work for you. Takes a single AA battery and is pretty bright for an LED light, not to mention being tough. Here is a great review:

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/inova_x1.htm

For $20 at Target stores you can't really go wrong. The old version throws a very narrow beam and has a dark-colored lens. The new version has a clear lens and throws a nice flood beam.

Only catch is some of the X1 lights are a little tempermental with the momentary-on switch. But that's a flaw I can live with.

Best $20 I've spent in a while!

I have the Fenix L1P[aa], L0P[aaa] and just got the P1 [cr123] and have the Fenix L1T regulated [aa] coming in the mail -- I love these lights and they can't be beat for the price -- I get them from this link:
http://www.fenix-store.com/

he never charges shipping!
disclaimer I am not affiliated with his store

that is a much cheaper way to go, I have that setup too, but the Fenix lights are far superior. depends on what your budget is

I know this is one of the standard answers, but the new Arc AAA Premium is very sweet. This time, the "premium" designation is about more than just tint. It's much brighter than the standard version. $40. Uses common AAA batteries. Water proof. Extremely tough. Only a little bigger than the AAA battery inside.

I bought one. Now I'm done looking for keychain lights. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

(Until the next Arc version with an even brighter LED.)

For me it's the Arc AAA-P. I'd love to carry a Fenix L0P, but I'm sure the battery would die when I needed it most. I love the bottom right graph here. At a certain point, there's "enough light". The Arc puts out plenty of light to do almost anything I needed to do. For the few things I can think of where I'd want more light, no keychain light would be enough.

I'll echo what 7k7k99 said. I just recieved each of the fenix lights from fenix-store, they're pretty nice.

I personally like the P1 the best, it's one of the smallest CR123 lights I've ever seen. I used to carry the arc-LS, but the P1 just blows it away. Too bad it doesn't use a common battery.

But if you want to go with standard batteries, which i assume means AAA or AA, the other fenix lights are great.
The LOP is slightly larger than the ARC-AAA, but puts out a lot more light. I used to have an arc-AAA, but it just wasn't bright enough most of the time. Even though it has a long runtime, I really don't use a keychain light for really long periods, so it was replaced with a photon clone which gave the same amount of light in a much smaller package. I also never really liked AAA lights, they're not small enough to be considered tiny (like a photon), and for just a little more size you can step up to AA and get a lot more power and runtime. Plus AAA's are usually more expensive than AA's, which is one of the reasons for going with a common battery in the first place.

The L1T would be my replacement EDC light, but it's a little too big to carry on my keys. But the fact that it has 2 light levels makes it really useful, because you can choose between a bright light or a long runtime. If you don't mind the size of AA, it's a great light

Underwater Kinetics make a good mini light. It uses 2 AAA batteries and is very bright.

I have plenty of LED's and they're fine for most uses.... but for real work, I still use a Surefire. Brinkmann maxfire delivers an almost identical beam (focus free, no rings, same brightness and beam diameter) for $19.99 with batteries, and while it's not as well constructed (plastic instead of aluminum) I haven't broken one yet!

CR123 can be expensive depending on where you look, but if you order from Surefire or have a local distributer near you, you can get 12 for $15 which isn't too shabby at all <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I have 2 Fenix L1P. I carry one of them everyday on my belt everywhere, as a matter of fact i'm having one on my belt right now.

i wrote a review of the P model (now discontinued):
http://outdoors-magazine.com/s_article.php?id_article=253

If you want a nice pocket sized light that uses standard batteries, I'd have to agree with a few of these others and vote for the AAA powered Fenix LØP. I love mine.

Here is another vote for the Fenix L1P. I carry it in it's case in my back pocket next to my wallet and space pen. Don't even notice it there. I also have a Photon Freedom on my key chain. Unlike others, I do like this light for it's batteries. I can carry two in a little paper pouch in my wallet, so I always have a backups if needed. Since you do not need a screw driver to change the batteries they are easily replaceable.

I can't say enough about the Fenix lights and they are so reasonably priced too.

Ready

For a true pocket light with commonly available batteries, I would stick with a single AAA or AA battery. I run lithium batteries in all my crucial AA or AAA flashlights for long runtime, long shelf-life, and no worries of leaking and corrosion.

recommendations:

Arc AAA-P, bright, very small, rugged, decent runtime.

Fenix L0P (AAA) small, very bright, short runtime.

Gerber Infinity Ultra (AA), rugged modest output, long runtime.

Fenix L1P (AA) Very bright, short runtime.

Fenix L1T (AA). I don't have any personal experience with this light, but the option of 2 levels may make it a superb choice.

Inova X1 New style (AA), good brightness, good runtime. good all-around light. I put a light film of conductive grease (penetrox or Ox-Gard) on the battery contacts and the end of the body (with the end cap removed). I don't have any problems with the momentary switch.

I use conductive grease on all electrical contacts I can access on all my flashlights (battery contacts, bulb contacts, tube ends, etc). I have had increases in output in some cases and never hassle with intermittant output (having to shake or pound the light to get the output to full).

Not my first choice for a pocket, but some don't mind carrying a 2AA light.

MiniMag with Nite-Ize conversion. Inexpensive, decent output, flood light, long runtime.

The L2T may be another good solution (no first hand experience) with the 2 levels of output. The head is smaller than a minimag making it more pocketable.

For more info than you know what to do with:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/index1.html

Good luck, TR

For $12.97, a Princeton Tec Attitude is a great deal. Stoke it with 4 AAA lithiums, and it weighs very little over two ounces. They are 4.8 inches long, including the little lanyard holder on the tail end; the body is an inch wide and about 0.5 inches thick. The yellow case is the easiest to find when you need it.

I've purchased eight (yes, 8!) over the past few years (for myself, family, and friends), so you can tell I've been happy with them.

The ones at Campmor are on closeout because they are the older model. I have both the older model and the newer one, and the only difference I can see is a slight change in the plastic housing. The new model has a pocket clip molded in. Frankly, I like the older model better as it seems less bulky.

Last, but not least, Attitudes fit very nicely in the crassly-named Jakstrap flashlight holder, so you have an instant headlamp. Get the smaller Jakstrap, not the larger Jakstrap II. Happily, Campmor sells the smaller Jakstrap.

call me a nut - but...
Keychain - original Arc AA
Altoids Tin - Original Arc AAA Premium

Left fron pocket - EDC Ultimate 60 (almost never use the other 2)
EDC Packpack - Original Arc LS - with both the CR123 and 2xAA tails
second altoids tin in backpack has another Arc AAA

Yeah - I EDC 5 flashlights, plus cylume sticks

Yeah, but you're in New York, so it's probably a good idea. :-)

I carry two (HDS U60, Arc AAA premium) but I never think about the Arc. It's on the keychain and serves as a "too small to notice" back up. I decided a while back that a flashlight was the most important urban tool for me, so it's the only thing I carry two of.

Wish Arc would make the AA again, using the same LED as in the current premium model...

The Attitude isn't as bright as a Photon Freedom 2x, according to my experience and the measurements at Flashlight Reviews. I'd hesitate to recommend it to someone who thinks Photons aren't bright enough.

Why would it be discontinued? It's a great light. Always on backorder.

-- Craig

I just pre-ordered one of these:
Proton Personal Flashlight

-- Craig

the L1P is replaced with the L1T, which has a luxeon III and a 2 stage switch. The normal L1 is still availible.

For those of us who are flashlight nitpickers, and I count myself as one, is the L1T truly worth it?

The reason I bought and heavily use my L1P is the batteries it takes, easily available AA's. I heard the L1T does not perform its best on plain alkaline batteries. Is this true?

-- Craig

Flashlight nitpickers? Not me <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I haven't been using mine for very long, but I like it, and i think it's coming close to being my favorite light. It's true it won't perform to it's fullest potential on alkalines. it will work, but you won't get a very long runtime on high mode becuase the it just draws too much current, but the same could be said of any of the small higher power lights currently available. On low mode (which is still fairly bright) I doubt if it makes much of a difference.

I don't really think of that as a problem though. If you carry a flashlight everyday, you'd would probably want to use rechargables in it. If you needed to use it in an emergency, and for some reason your battery was dead, you always have the option of putting in a regular alkaline battery. For me, that's the main advantage, even though I never use alkalines, if really need to I always have that option. The only thing you are really sacrificing with alkalines is some runtime.

Good enough.

Look at the Underwater Kinetics 2AAA eLED
http://www.pocketlights.com/uk2aaa_eled.asp
http://www.pocketlights.com/uk2aaa_eled_penlight.asp

Peak solutions "Atlantic" all for the "long reach" flashlight. VERY nice light, check it out on flashlightreviews.com . very bright and rechargeable batteries work well with it. Unlike some other long reach lights the bulb will never burn out because it is LED and it still is extremely bright

I also like Arc AAA and Arc AA
I have both of them too

I like both the Peak Matterhorn and the Arc AAA Premium, I've got both lights. I bought the Peak when I grew tired waiting for the Arc. I've never seen an Arc AA. Considering cost though, the UK 2AAA (up thread) is a good deal.

For a keychain or even an EDC pocket light, I really think the photon freedom is unrivaled. It's tiny, bright, very durable, long lasting, and has dimming and other modes that can be useful without being too complicated to use. For less than $20, I don't think you'll find a better value for an EDC light.

You can get them here for $20 with shipping: http://www.photonlight.com/

Or here for $13 plus shipping, I think it comes to about $17: http://alphanet.zoovy.com/category/photon_microlights_by_lri.photonfreedom/

I'm not sure its the Arc AA but it looks just like the Arc AAA but bigger and with a AA battery.

You must mean the Gerber Infinity Ultra. It's another very good light, but definitely bigger than either of the 1xAAA models.

Thanks to everyone who posted, there were some good ideas. I have decided to buy one of the new Inova X1s, and see how I like that. I still am very interested in the new Fenix L1T, but will wait on that. Again, thanks. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Nice light. The run-time sucks but that's the price you pay for the brightness of a Luxeon III LED.

Here's a photo showing some relative sizes, and you can see the ARC AA next to the black Minimag.

Arc with Miller Mods? Must have missed that over on CPF - what's Miller Mods?

Well, I'm sitting here contemplating the pocket flashlights.

I just finished replacing the CR2016 batteries in my Ritter-yellow Photon Freedom microlight whose batteries had died. I'm assuming that the light got flipped on by accident while in my pocket.

First, changing the batteries was really a pain. Opening up the case was easy, but getting the top button battery out was like pulling teeth. I whacked it on my palm, then on the desk, then tried using tape to pull it out, then tried using a small screwdriver to pry it out. I finally got it out using the screwdriver.

I have a Arc AAA-P that has been sitting on my dresser for a few months. I chose to use the Photon instead since it was so tiny, but now I worry that it will accidently turn on again and it will not be working when needed most. I tried to put the lanyard clip on like describe by Doug on ETS, but it interferes with the split ring and hangs at an odd angle.

I suppose I could put the Photon into demo mode - also described on ETS, but then it won't be available for regular use. Sigh.

It may be time to start carrying the Arc AAA-P. I'm thinking trying to slip a plastic 1/2" end cap over the lens to protect it (if I can find such a cap at Ace Hardware).

Ken K.

I have many Photon IIIs, but none are (is ?) carried in my pant pockets.
They are either in kits, packaged against a hard flat surface, or hanging from my belt pouch. One is clipped to my keys ring (this one doesnot go into a pocket either).
Other are hanging from backpacks and so on ....
And I get no pb with battery discharge...

I just pulled the batteries in my photon light. Wanted to reset it to demo mode. I actually find the difficult battery extraction reassuring. It mean that the batteries wont drop out if the cover pops off for some reason.

{Yeah - I EDC 5 flashlights, plus cylume sticks }

Impressive! I own a lot of small lights, but I don't carry quite that many on my person! Normally, I EDC a Brinkmann Max Fire LX in my left pocket and a 2 AA MagLite with Nite-Ize LED conversion in my tool bag (for output I use the Max Fire; for endurance I use the Mini-Mag)

I carry too much "stuff" - averages about 50 lbs every day - this includes not 1, not 2, but 3 different 2 way radios! (they say carry extra batteries - I cary extra radios)

sigh

kc2ixe,
Miller modded Fenix's are L1Ps and L2Ps turned into two level flashlights by Eric Miller. I tihnk they become a twist for on light, with the switch toggling between high and low. I believe the high setting is a bit higher than the unmodded Fenix's output, though I'm not sure.

He has also put some Luxeon emitters into some other flashlights, like the ArcAAA and the Arc "clones" (ie ripoffs). I'm sure he has probably done some other stuff. A search over at CPF should reveal a lot.

KenK,
Put your Photon Freedom into "signal" mode by pressing it rapidly four or four times until the light only comes on for as long as the switch is pressed. If something turns it on in this mode it will only stay on for as long as there is pressure on the button. When you want to change out of signal mode, just hold the button down for a few seconds until the light goes off and you are back in normal mode.

It won't prevent the light coming on for short periods but it should stop the batteries from draining.

Sorry it took me so long to notice a reply. I've been in and out and not checking the forum as often as I'd like. There's a modder who posts regularly on Candlepowerforums who does some nice mods to Arc-AAA lights as well as some high-power mods to 2-cell Maglites. There are various choices, and the price of modifying your existing ARC-AAA can vary from around 30$ to 50$ depending on what you want done. If you don't have an ARC-AAA I believe he will also provide that for a reasonable fee. You can get a single stage luxeon set at either 3/4W, 1W, or 1.5W output. Battery life for the 3/4 watt mod is between 70 to 90 minutes depending on the battery type you use. The higher power 1 & 1.5W lights get shorter run times. A 2-stage mod runs $10 more, and you can select a low level of either 30ma or 60ma drive to the Luxeon LED. The 60ma is a nice setting, and runs between 6 to 7 hours. Another service provided is to polish the reflector ($3) and to regrind the reflector to a parabolic shape, which increases the hot-spot and throw a bit ($10). I have a couple of 3/4 Watt 2-stage models, a 1W model, and I had him modify an ARC-AA with 1.5 Watt drive to the luxeon and a 90ma low drive. The AA ARC is larger, but the output is fantastic for a single AA battery pocket light.
These lights are well made and have a nice "Wow" factor" when non-flashaholics see how much light can come from such a small package", but for EDS there's nothing wrong with a plain everday stock ARC-AAA. Practically indestructible, and with a lithium battery installed they're almost weightless.

Miller Mods ARC-AAA Mod Post

I just purchased:

Inova X1 New style and
Inova X1 Old style

I see the difference just like in the flashlightreviews website. However, I haven't seen their operation in the dark. Only on a bright sunny day here in Chicago. So I will post information later tonight.