If you could design a light for EDC what would it be?

[markr6]

EDC - comfort is key for me. It would have a rechargeable Li-Polymer to allow for a rectangular body. That would kill it for most of you, but it would be nice and flat in the pocket. Think Xeno Cube but ~1/2 the thickness. I'm guessing output and runtime would suffer some from that, but that's how it goes. Beam would probably be less than perfect. No B.S. UI - a slider switch like you see on a Dremel multitool with a few nice tactile "clicks" so you know what mode you're in. Pretty much instant moonlight, high, and everything in between.

High CRI, ~4800K. Not real fussy with the material.

 

[NotBrightEnough]

My eagletac d25 clicky and olight m10 are my usual two so I'd probably try to combine what I like best about each of them.

1 - Moonlight/firefly function. This is a must for EDC and for use at home. Max of about 500ish will suffice.

2 - forward tail click with momentary on.

3 - dedicated and separate mode switch while keeping ability to do some limited mode switching with tail cap (instant access to turbo and strobe). While this is not primarily for tactical use, it's nice to have the capability.

4 - tail standing.

5 - single cell, supporting all chemistries and proving flexibility between AA and CR123 (without an extender like the discontinued SC80 did)

6 - reversible pocket clip, preferably ring-through- body style

That's pretty much it. The nitecore srt3 is close, but not quite. If this light already exists, or something pretty close, I'd love to hear about it.

my D25 was one of my favorite lights. loved that if you squeezed the light you could get the light to go into the mode as if you had tightened the head. Was a super awesome UI for me. The things you mentioned would have pretty much nailed it for me too.

I do like the tritium inserts.


I have the DX30LC2 (in neutral) now and it's pretty great. needs moonlight and wish it wasn't 3sec to get it to strobe. I put a D25 tailstanding cap on it, and I think ima put in another grove for a deeper carry spot for the clip.

 

[Caesar Tjalbo]

Mass produced and cheap so the light can be immediately and easy replaced when lost/broken/stolen/given away.

 

[Tre_Asay]

I like the AA size for a small EDC.
But I am comfortable with carrying bigger flashlights.
Everything else is UI, CRI and tint (4000k-5000k).
I use the low modes (>2 lumens) equally with the medium modes (10~100). I tend to only use max output for short times because I am a runtime hoarder even with rechargeable batteries.

I prefer 18650 for more serious flashlights because of the longer runtimes and it is easier for me to carry a spare in my pocket than AA.

I prefer quality over quantity when it comes to light. I decided this because a monochromatic green light would be most efficient while giving almost no sense of color and loosing a lot of preception to that. I would rather be on the opposite side of that and loose a small amount of light or runtime to be able to see colors clearly.

I have tried warm lights and IMO they suffer the same problems as any other color-biased light. They are ok for middle of the nightstand lights but not for EDC where a lot of the use will be in daylight (5000k+).
I really hate the UI that makes you click through multiple indistinguishable brightness levels and one ball away from a disco modes.
Mode memory is a step up (with proper mode spacing).
Infinitely variable off-low<high is better.
I will get to try the HDS rotary hopefully soon.
My favorite so far is the zebralight interface, 6 distinct brightness levels all easily accesed down to 0.01lumens (once programmed)
No eye breaking PWM please.
I really like a mule-type flood light for close up tasks, which is why I EDC a Zebralight h502d.
I don't like lights that have frosted lenses or extreme OP, I would rather have mostly distinct spot and spill or else an even beam all across.
I need a certain amount of light to consider it adequate. In a few situations .25 lumens is enough, in most ~30 lumens, in others 800 or more is usefull.
For the most part I find I don't need more than 200 lumens, If I do it is really because I want the light to throw farther.
As far as actual lights go the only one so far that really was a good edc that I owned was a thrunite T10, I wanted 200ish lumens for a longer time so I bought a thrunite archer 2c. I still EDC the archer but I hate they yellow-green tint and low CRI. The side button mode switch also is not my favorite.
I have an 18650 HDS rotary on order so I hope the interface is a bit better. QC was a bit of an issue for thrunite as well, the lights looked perfect but the electronics were not so great.

I tried a frosted zebralight which didn't work out.
If for some reason I don't like the HDS I will try a new 18650 zebralight flashlight.


I think the others are a givin
indestructible, reliable, waterproof, efficient.

 

[Sidecarist]

Cigar profile, less than 1" od about 4.5-5in oal

UI
Tail cap momentary twisty, with 2 position head 10 lumin low & 300-500 lumin high

OR

Tail cap momentary only for high, and side switch for click on/off with two modes firefly, and low

Potted head/electronics

Deep pocket clip bezel down

Ability to use lithium primary(s) or rechargeable cells

I don't need a scorching thrower, I need a light that will always work if I feed it quality batteries, with reasonable power, and a simple UI.

I want bits and pieces of several lights from streamight, elzetta, malkoff, & armytek

 

[vadimax]

Just some thoughts: primitive G-sensor to light up the switch, fiber optics instead of tritium vials (with an option to switch both features off).

 

[Woods Walker]

Here is my list but not implying it's the best for anyone other than myself.

1. Single cell preferably AA. Should run well on alkaline, NiMH, lithium primaries and Lithium ion.

2. Good tint. I don't really care what so long as it's pleasing to the eye.

3. Simple IU. Two or 3 modes is enough. Modes should reflect practical useful output rather than a silly high which can only be sustained for 30 seconds or .000000000000001 lumen low that even a firefly looking for a date would totally ignore. Low, medium and high or just low and high.

4. Potted electronics and well built.

5. Easily user serviceable. Changing the LED, window or switch.

6. Good anodizing.

7. Good spot for a lanyard but can also tail stand. Clip should be easily removable.

8. No PWM.

9. Great qulity control. No off centered LED. No dusty reflector. No rough threads.

10. No pure flat regulation that just dies. Vampire.........

Basically durability, dependablity and utility over dazzle and disco.

 

[CelticCross74]

If I could design and EDC light it would just be a larger version of the ZL MkIII HI with a deep carry clip. Would be 1/4 larger than the MkII. Much better heat sinking capability and a touch further throw. That would be awesome

 

[eh4]

Utilizing emerging technologies,
I'd have several emitters with several reflectors, and a couple magnetic rings to control the light.
A mechanical clicky is fine, but it should fail as a twisty, and perforation of the boot shouldn't allow entry into the battery compartment; potted tail switch as well as potted head.
The nano carbon filament would be far stronger and more reliable than previous incandescent filaments, and surrounded by a small, curved IR reflective sphere that recycles the heat of the nearly point source incandescent nano filament, while allowing full black body emissions from near infra red to pass on to the reflector.
At the lowest light levels the filament would emit a deep red, rising in color temp as it brightened, maxing out in "turbo" at some 6000K or so.
LED+ efficiency, 100 CRI, steady tint shift as light level increased.
Multiple filaments, at least one shallow and one deep reflector... maybe one dedicated deep reflector and one that "zoomed" with a perfectly lubricated, permanently sealed mechanism.
Also give it big, dumb external charging contacts and some energy dense next generation super capacitor battery system that could charge in seconds and exceed current capacities of Li-Ion.

 

[blanex1]

i love reading thread's like this,i have a malkoff MDC-CR123 that seems to fit this role vary well,and its built like a tank but the battery life of a single CR123 is not that grate! if i could design and make a EDC myself! i would make it run on a single 18650,and make it take one of the malkoff drop-in's!that way i would end up with a little larger MDC-18650 but would fit nicely in my hand/pocket!but there's probably a reason we haven't seen any smaller lights in this configuration!the surefire ED1 and EB1 are nice though seem to have this short CR123 battery life,i have E1L that's in the same family of E series that fails in terms of a little shorter then i like battery run time,but its just my thoughts on the subject.:thinking:

 

[ven]

Other than rotary or infinite control ring(love dialing in the exact output), a programmable drive gives great flexibility. Be it single,high/low or multi levels with memory so a closer output to a desired one..............

Still the HDS rotary for me is the ultimate EDC, options of 18650 tubes for mega run times due to conservative(but adequate for EDC) outputs...........