<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by geepondy:
This should be the best lights that were introduced in the year 2001. In that case my nominations would be the Princeton Tec Surge for the incandescents and the Arc AAA-LE for the LEDs.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I have to agree with your nominations. I thought a lot about the SureFire E2, but it's so similar to existing SureFires, it's more of an 'improved' model, than a new light. It's a 'compact' 6P, with an integral reflector, and some well engineered size reduction, but it's still almost the same light. Not groundbreaking, but excellent R&D and engineering. The Arc-AAA, and Are-LE, are groundbreakers witout a doubt. There sinply isn't anything else that they can be compared to. And the Princeton Tec Surge has to be the about the best lumen/size for the dollar. Here's a light that rivals some SureFire's that cost over $100, at about 1/4 the cost. It's small for it's output, against any flashlight that isn't powered by 3 volt lithium 123's, and given it's light output, using conventional alkaline batteries, it's still a very compact light. The Brinkman LX breaks ground only by virtue of it's low cost, which is not to say anything bad about it. But it is essentially a very economical copy of several other 6 volt, 2 lithium 123 powered lights. The fact that it does so at around 1/3 the cost is a major acheivment in manufacturing economy, but by itself, it doesn't have the uniqueness that distinguishes the Arc-AAA/Arc-LE and the Princeton Tec Surge. If rechargeables get their own category, then the UltraStinger wins that category. Again, it's not any new technology, but a vast improvement on an existing design, which puts out a very large amount of light in a package that costs under $100.
But Flashlight of the Year for 2001 has to go to the Arc-AAA/Arc-LE. It stands by itself, with no other flashlight even comparable to it. It's the obvious winner, IMHO, for 2001.