Help pick an ideal replacement for my old 2d light

[cottonpickers]

I'm replacing my old lights one be one. My wifes solitaire is now a lovely itp a3. Next up is the trusty maglite 2d

My ideal replacement would be fairly chunky, a bit smaller but similar proportions and brighter with a few settings -ideally no strobe. It would have a simple interface. It needs to sit on the shelf for much of the year and get picked up to walk down some unlit streets ; head out camping and be reliable when needed. The current maglite batteries last a year or two. I don't like to throw batteries out so use rechargeables. I've got eneloops in aaa and aa and nimh in other sizes. I actually charge these with solar, so it really is free lights

From this I've narrowed it down to these 'vague' requirements - nothing is fixed, but here is where I'm heading:
High setting over 300 lumens
at least 3 settings
long runtime (3 hours + on over 100 lumens)
long shelflife (low parasitic load)
quality to last 10 years +
A joy to pick up
less than $150

I think my heart wants a TK40 because it looks great and seems to tick most of the boxes I have. The parasitic load is the killer for me on this.

The Polestar A6 Christmas special with another itp a3 is a bargain at £60 in the UK but the strobe and general comments on quality here put me off a little, and I wonder if I will continue to call it a joy to pick up or if I will end up wishing I had held out for a better light.

I also wander if a cr123 light would be nice (I have a nano 123 charger) but I don't like the idea of buying li-ion batteries that aren't used much and lose 20% capacity in a year.
Any thoughts? comments? other lights that I could look at?- hoping for some comments on where I'm heading and any other suggestions.

 

[hiuintahs]

Hi Cottonpickers,

Your request sounds similar to something I've recently gone through. My main kitchen/utility light has been a Mag 2D for years. I upgraded it to a mag led, but really didn't like it either so I got rid of it and have been in search of the perfect utility light.

At present I have a Streamlight propolymer 4AA Lux in there but I think there are better lights out now. So I've been on a quest to see what's good these days and I've limited my looking to the 2AA cell lights because I've standardized on Eneloop batteries.

Everyone has their preferences but I personally don't like the strobe and sos functions and don't like having to cycle through them.

I've noticed some lights come with those 2 modes in a sort of hidden fashion which I like. I also like the forward switches rather than the reverse clicky type.....thus tactical versions are my preference.

So for me I've run it down to the ITP C8T, or the Olight T25T......for the most bang for the buck and the features I like best. The Fenix LD20 intrigues me but I'm going a little cheaper to start with. The continuously variable output also intrigues me even though they have just slightly less efficiency than current mode driven LEDs. The ITP C8T is a great price on Batteryjunction right now along with their 7% coupon this week.

There's lots of pluses and minuses. Thus I think I'm just going to have to try few out. I should have it in a couple of days.

 

[grunscga]

I prefer tiny lights myself, so I don't have a whole lot to say, but I recently saw that Lumapower released the Mentor MT-E. I know it runs on C batteries and has an MC-E (which should easily provide over 300 lumens), but I didn't really look into it beyond that, so I can't tell you if it matches your other criteria.

The Marketplace has some sales threads for both the regular and MC-E version of the Mentor. I believe Lumapower has a manufacturer's forum there as well, if you're interested in more info. I'm pretty sure links to specific vendors are frowned upon here, so I'm just going to give you a link to The Dealer's Corner.