Just curious, Ballonman... have you ever done that?<br>Made a fire from the filament of a maglite bulb?<br><br>But even if you could, why not just short the ends of the battery with the steel wool, rather than ruin a bulb? I'm not too confident that a AAA battery would be sufficient, anyway. What has been your actual experience with this?

My favorite is the Buck 2xAAA in a side by side config. This light is about the same size as a Micra folded. Rugged, waterproof and very bright. The In-line configured model has a tip which sucks up light and glows in the dark. Also has a pocket clip. Both lights activate by rotating the head( no switches to break). We use them a lot in the Arctic because they don't freeze to your skin in minus 40.

Mariner, I'm curious about your experience with LED flashlights in arctic temperatures. Theoretically the light shouldn't degrade as much as a standard bulb in extreme cold. But "theoretically" doesn't mean much in the face of actual experience. Do you have any observations?

LEDs are OK except when you need a lot of light to put a new piston in your ski-doo when your are a million miles from nowhere. Two Batteries give much more light then LEDs. The only use we have for LEDs in the Arctic is to show you where to put the key during our periods of 24 hour darkness. And thats after drinking 65 rums and coke.<br><br>Our experience has been that for real light go with double AA or D size batteries as a minimum. Single battery anythings will not give you bright light. They do power clocks really well. Don't forget this is an extreme enviroment. LEDs may work well for less severe applications without technical work.<br><br>Mariner.

For what it is worth, many of the new LED's are in fact multi-battery systems, including C and D size. Many of the newer Luxon-Star (LS) LED's are brighter that conventional bulbs, with superior battery life and no bulb failure. Soon there will be even more powerful LEd's, so don't count them out for harsh conditions or where significant amounts of light are required. Pete

Note the original poster said the PSK in question was very small - I would assume size is a significaint issue for this application.<br><br>For a extreme condition light (esp in 24hr dark) it would be understandable the selection would be different.<br><br>The other thought is that lithium batteries should work better in cold environments. <br><br>Of course small (coin type) cells just don't have enough juice in them (for primary lights in exterme conditions). They make both AA and D size lithium batteries, although the D cells are 3V so you would need to intermix a dummy battery ( http://www.hdssystems.com/ActionLightAccessories.htm#DummyBattery ) to get the correct voltage for most lights.<br><br>In regard to D cells working best, it isn't supprising -- an AA cell has 2,850 mAh in it where a D cell has 18,000! A coin cells like the CR2016 typically has under 90mAh.<br><br>The gotcha is the D cells output a lot of their power at very low voltages - a regulated light seems the optimal way to resolve this. Blackdiamond makes regulated headlamps, although they don't have any that take D cells directly (NxAA and rechargable). However, the regulated light advantage still applies with other alkalines like the AAs.<br><br>A light to check out for extreme use might be the ARC LS. Very sturdy, bright LED (similar to 10-14 "normal" LEDs), is regulated and takes a variety of battery configurations (1xAA, 2xAA, 1x123A). http://store.yahoo.com/flashlight/arcls.html<br><br>Regarding single cell lights, I would submit that the current crop of single cell, LED lights like the ARC AAA and the CMG Ultra DO measure up. The ARC AAA and CMG Ultra are both as bright as a Photon II because they are (more or less) regulated lights.<br><br>Which of course dosen't mean you want to change a piston on your snowmobile in 24 hour darkness with one, but on the other hand, a full 17-25 hrs (CMG Ultra) of Photon class light when you don't have anything else is a big win IMO. And it's small enough to always live in your pocket, or tiny PSK. They are tough as nails and very reliable. <br><br>I'd be curious how the UK 2L would hold up to very cold conditions. It's quite a sturdy little light, VERY waterproof, runs on 2 x 123A cells and runs for 3 hrs. It's beam isn't great, but not horrible either. I'd certainly recommend it for almost any other emergency kit w/o question.<br><br>http://www.brightguy.com/detail.tpl?cart=103371491286155&sku=UND12005<br><br>-john<br><br><br>3V Lithium D cell:<br>http://www.hdssystems.com/LithiumBattery.htm

Lots of good points, JohnN - I know you recommended www.candlepower.com forums earlier in this thread - I just must warn anyone who has a latent flashlight obsession to think carefully before entering the candlepower site! It is extremely addictive, and you will hear about flashlights you never heard of before (eg: the ArcLS), that all of a sudden you now know you must have. <br><br>I have seen the light!

I wish you would have posted this warning earlier, i am now the proud owner of an ArcLS. If anyone is looking for a recommendation for a small BRIGHT led flashlight the ArcLS is it. It is not inexpensive however, but it is well worth the money.

Send me one and I'll let you know. Wind chills up to -90C. Ambients at -50C.<br><br>Mariner.