Thanks, Paul, for your reply.

And indeed thanks to everyone who has already posted in this thread. I really appreciate it. I'm definitely not your caliber when it comes to survival ideas or technologies, so I appreciate the help you're all giving.

I'm reasonably sure I would want an A2. However, the 50 lumens of brightness does scare me a little bit -- as Surefire says, I'd like to have around 60. That's why I originally wanted to go for the L4. The problem with the L4, naturally, is that it doesn't have two modes. I don't want to have to blind myself by using one of the brightest flashlights on the market.

So, as a more direct question: if I am about 200 feet away from a building, will the L4 be able to illuminate a spot on the building? Is the A2 bright enough to do so?

(I looked at the pictures on messerforums.... the A2 seemed dimmer in the garage but all right outside.)