I'm curious ... How are you carrying an EDC two AA flashlight? They seem kind of big (long) to me for EDC, unless you're carrying it in a bag of some kind.

My EDC is in pocket, so I carry a one AAA ARC light. It is not super bright, but enough if needed. Honestly, these days I usually carry my smartphone, and I've started thinking that with a flashlight app it is actually brighter than my ARC light. Maybe I'd be better using that ARC pocket space for something else (like a tiny compass?).

I've pretty much moved 100% to using LED headlamps (Princeton Tec EOS using three AAA batteries) since they allow me to be hands-free, are amazingly bright at high, just right amount of light in pitch darkness at low (think inside a tent), and allow use of alkaline, nickel metal hydride, or lithium batteries.