LynxArc - I think you made some very good points.
To give a little a bit of additional background - I do lots of activity in the outdoors, including involvement with Search and Rescue. I first heard about the Pak-Lite in a week long outdoor survival/navigation course taught by a retired USAF survival instructor in Montana. One of the things stressed was to have an emergency survival kit on your person at all times when outdoors. Life threatening emergencies often start with the words "I was just gonna . . . " go for a short hike, look over that hill, check out the view, etc The advantage of the Pak-Lite is that it would take up very little space in such a small emergency kit and be ready to go when needed. (People don't carry kits that are too large and/or heavy.) In a outdoor situation where a full moon is the brightest source of general light & often there is only star light available, low level flashlights can be quite useful. The 9v light was to be a back-up, something that was part of that always carried emergency kit. The kit also has provisions for shelter, fire making, signaling, and other items needed to stay alive and to get you home. So, economy of space is a requirement.
But, its been 4-5 years since I took that wilderness survival course. I wasn't a flashaholic at the time. So, I wondered if there might be something out now that would better fill the needs for an outdoor emergency kit light, or do it for less money. I'm going to consider the points you mentioned when picking a kit light. Regards, - - -
P.S. - another requirement is easy one hand operation in case the other hand is injured. 'Easy' because when you're shaking from the cold and trying to make a fire, you don't want the task any more difficult, or take any more time than necessary.