I looked closely at the D10 and L1T, before buying my LF5XT. The D20 is supposed to be shipping at the end of the month if you wanted a 2xAA. It's only 2xAA though, so not as flexible as the Fenix. Fenix has the accessories advantage - body, body cap (use extra as a battery carrier), red lens, and diffusers (without looking for the right bottle cap
).
LF5XT:
- I can do everything one handed. D10 can be one handed, except I use momentary a lot, which gets me back to playing bezel games when I want constant on.
- It's the only one of the three that doesn't offer a potential path for water into the light when working the switch. The switch itself doesn't seem to mind being used repeatedly underwater, or in the pressurized stream right out of my shower head. Not that the South African veldt is a rainforest.
- With momentary enabled I have not had it turn on accidentally carried in a pocket with other stuff. Between the logic used in momentary and the relatively protected switch lockout hasn't been an issue to save batteries. You can still lock it out for extra protection or to avoid pocket flashes (although I haven't noticed any).
- It's got it's quirks - pause to on with momentary off, flash of light before on with momentary on. I wouldn't have bought it if I wasn't planning to use momentary.
- Absolutely no issue for me using gloves despite the switch being recessed enough to tail stand.
- The grooves in the body provide decent grip despite the knurling being mostly decorative.
- No 2AA body available. Since it would require the inside battery sleeve as well don't hold your breathe on seeing one.
- If it's on a simple press and hold gets you max. It's the absolute simplest for that sudden
oo: "Oh @$#* !!!" moment the way I have mine setup (85% and just barely distiguishable from 100%, momentary on, memory off). I am ALWAYS just a press and hold away from getting bright light. It doesn't matter what I am doing with the light or how I left it the last time I turned it off. A squeeze is the simplest action to execute when adrenaline surges. That setup has also been really useful for the times I am doing something at arms reach on a lower level, and want to just take a quick look further away with more light.
- I didn't find it confusing to program at all. It just took a little patience and attention to detail. I wouldn't suggest my parents who are email challenged buy one though. Since you said you saw it as challenge I'm betting you'll do fine.
All good lights, just with different strengths. Hopefully you get the info you need to make the choice that works for you.