...but im from europe....
Petzl (a French company, as you probably well know) is a Mfr. of good HLs, as is Mammut (Swedish???). All may be more the $30USD, however.
3xAAA = Petzl TikkaXP might be a good model which is good for both distance illumination and task/proximity lighting with its built-in, deployable diffuser for the hi-powered LED beam.
Petzl TikkaPlus is a good choice for task/proximity lighting if longer distance viewing is not necessary.
happy trails.
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i've checked out those SKU #'s after DM51 Posted that they were from DX.
since you asked, i'll attempt to render an opinion based upon actual experience.
purchased two similar, though NOT identical, HLs off of eBay 1+ years ago (i be forgettin' the exact timeframe).
3xAAA is a too small a power source if you're going to running the HL on its highest o.p. level. if keeping it as light as possible, in terms of weight, is your primary selection criteria, then it is, obviously, the better choice of the two. i gave it away to a nice 12y old boy at church (with parental approval [his, not mine!!] after explaining the dangers of shining the light in his own eyes, his dog's eyes or his little sister's eyes - i was glad to detect NO look of disappointment on his face when i included his lil' sis on the list of DON'Ts; otherwise, i would have been forced to rescind my offer).
my 4xAA had only 5x5mm LEDs located beneath the hi-powered Luxeon, not Cree, LED. mine suffered an "infant mortality" failure (a REAL term, and *NOT* a "half-watt"-ism, normally defined as a premature electronic failure within the first 168 hours of powered use/power application - mine occurred within the first few hours of use; shipped from China to the good ol' USofA, and for the money i paid for it, didn't try to get a refund or ship it back). it was fairly easy (ok, ok, truth be told...trivial - you just need a soldering iron and half a brain [i qualified on both accounts!!]) to convert the electronic switch to a mechanical one (i just happened to have one that fit just right in one of my spare parts bin down the basement workshop/laboratory/dungeon) and make it a very simple ON-OFF HL with both the hi-powered and the 5x5mm LEDs always on at the same time. since the modified HL still looked and worked decent, i gave that one away to another young fella' as well.
sorry, that's all i can tell you about my experience with somewhat similar HLs.
IMO (YMMV), Petzl and Mammut would be better choice in terms of quality and performance (unfortunately, probably NOT price), especially if your life or health might depend upon being able to use the HL when you needed to.
