I have most of the lights you mentioned and they're all decent lights. The RC-G2 doesn't have as much OVERALL brightness as the C3's...it is using an older p2 Cree and is more of a thrower with a tight beam.
I'd highly recommend the Stainless C3...it's very well made and the regulation seems very good. It's also hefty and feels/looks expensive. But it may be too heavy as an EDC and it's single mode so may be too bright for close up work.
From your list... the Ultrafire 5-mode C3 may be a good pick...the strobe modes can be annoying but you might find a use for them (bike light?). I have two of them and one of them has a very dim low mode which is useful...it starts on Medium, High, Low, Strobe, SOS. The other one I recently received seems to have a different driver and starts at High, Medium, Low, Strobe, SOS...this one is no good as the high, medium, and low modes are very similar with little noticeable difference.
Build quality has been unpredictable lately. It's just luck of the draw but if you get the right one, it can be useful for you. I'd opt for the version that offers a 2xAA extension option...it'll come in handy and the 5-mode is much brighter with 2xAA. Also, not sure if this means anything, but the 5-mode C3 I ordered with the 2xAA extension had the better driver....the one with the less desirable driver was received when I ordered the 1xAA 5-mode C3.
Another great, cheap 1xAA light for your application would be the MTE 5-mode Rebel 100...it's got a Rebel led so you'll get better color rendition, it's a lot lighter (weight) for EDC, it's got last mode memory, and it's well built for around $18...http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.6162.
I'd highly recommend the Stainless C3...it's very well made and the regulation seems very good. It's also hefty and feels/looks expensive. But it may be too heavy as an EDC and it's single mode so may be too bright for close up work.
From your list... the Ultrafire 5-mode C3 may be a good pick...the strobe modes can be annoying but you might find a use for them (bike light?). I have two of them and one of them has a very dim low mode which is useful...it starts on Medium, High, Low, Strobe, SOS. The other one I recently received seems to have a different driver and starts at High, Medium, Low, Strobe, SOS...this one is no good as the high, medium, and low modes are very similar with little noticeable difference.
Build quality has been unpredictable lately. It's just luck of the draw but if you get the right one, it can be useful for you. I'd opt for the version that offers a 2xAA extension option...it'll come in handy and the 5-mode is much brighter with 2xAA. Also, not sure if this means anything, but the 5-mode C3 I ordered with the 2xAA extension had the better driver....the one with the less desirable driver was received when I ordered the 1xAA 5-mode C3.
Another great, cheap 1xAA light for your application would be the MTE 5-mode Rebel 100...it's got a Rebel led so you'll get better color rendition, it's a lot lighter (weight) for EDC, it's got last mode memory, and it's well built for around $18...http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.6162.
Last edited: