Who is the best EDC light and why?

Guys,
Who is the best EDC light and why? (also includ. custom lights)
Maybe this is stupid quastion, but I really like to see your opinions about that.
:lolsign:

The best EDC light is the one you have with you when you need it

Since I am biased (and just blew $161 on a FF-III with spare chargers/batteries) I would say an at least two output level single cell LED light so it can be attached to your keychain, dropped in your pocket or a tiny holster.

The high/low output options allow for long runtimes if needed in an emergency and decent punch if you need to see what is out there. At the minimum, a keychain light with decent runtime since it is generally always with you is decent.

Although I have been keychain EDC'ing a AAA light around for the last 3.5 years I am switching (the horror!) My wife bought me a DSpeck Fire~Fly III for my birthday present with three RCR123A lithium-ion batteries and two chargers. Battery in the light, spare charger/battery combo at home and work to keep it fed. Swap out the RCR123 battery once a week or, if I plan on going somewere, swap on Monday and swap on Friday night for the weekend.

Why the FF-III? Simple, the batteries can be topped off without degrading performance so I'll never be caught with a dead battery. I'll program the high level high enough to get decent light output at least an hour/hour and a half of runtime and cool operation. The max level is for short term use to see what is out there. The low level is to walk around the house at night or get dressed in the morning without waking up my wife. I like the twisty operation since it will not break or get activated by whatever is in my pocket. When I go back to the desert, it will be reprogrammed for a lower low level and a slightly lower high level to handle the increased ambient temperatures. It will be lanyard mounted and be on me 24/7 with one charger/battery at work and the other charger/battery by my bunk. A few dozen CR123A primaries spread around in case I get stuck in a situation that needs extended runtimes. The primaries will be carried in a holster.

That is just me though, I am a flashaholic and that must be taken into account. For my wife, she carries a Peak Brass 5 LED AA light in her purse. The brass is very classy, it always works and she gets 6 months of runtime on a lithium AA cell. The guys at work use either a Peak Matterhorn AAA with 3 Snow29 LEDs or Matterhorn with one red LED.

For me, EDC generally means the light that is always with you. Work EDC is something different and it depends on what you do with it.

When Peak makes a two-stage high/low switch for the Pacific AAA... that will be the EDC for "normal" people I would recommend. It will run a few hours at max brightness on a single alkaline AAA, has a 50% drop off in level for battery saver mode (also tells you to get another battery!) and will decline in brightness for the next 12 hours until there is enough light to get around slowly for another 10 hours. Sounds perfect for people that just keep going and don't pay attention to when they changed the cell in their lights. Yes, it does have a rather large head but the extra reflector size/efficiency makes up for it.

Once I quite bouncing around the world, I would say a multiple output Pacific AAA (running lithium AAA) on the keychain and the FF-III in a tiny belt holster would be perfect for my needs.

I carry a peak Matterhorn 3 led snow ultra brass and like it a lot. The pocket style is very small in the pocket and it is very bright. But ARC AAAP is very popular on this board too. There are a lot of choices so you will probally need to do it the CPF way and buy several.

Although I am a fan of lights with adjustable levels, for EDC I think the Arc AAA-P or the Jil DD are just about perfect. The Arc lasts 5-7 hours and the Jil DD has an incredible runtime of more than 20 hours. If you only have one light with you that you need to count on in an emergency, runtime is paramount.

The Jil puts out much more light than the Arc, and lasts longer, too.

For me, an EDC means on my keychain. For that, I prefer the ARC AAA-P as it is thinner and fits better in my pocket. The Jil is still tiny--shorter, but fatter. I like the Jil DD so much that I think it should be in every woman's purse. In fact, I have done that for every woman in my family.

There are lots of great lights out there. Try a few until you find one that meets your needs. :wave:

IT depends on what you need!! Right now, I'm kinda in the air between my Aleph2 and my KL4 on a VG2 body. If there was a bezel down Aleph2 pocket clip there'd be a winner, 2-stage lighting with bezel down design would just rock my socks..

The answer to your question is impossible. Too many personal preferences to factor against hundreds of available options. My eyes are bad, and I get best results from a bright incandesant light, almost any quality 2 cell "tactical" light meets my needs.

for me, it is currently the Jil Intelli, because it is always with me at all times. It used to be the Peak Caribbean and Fenix L1P at various times, but the size, durability & multi-functionality of the Intelli has won out the "EDC spot" for me. This may or may not change now that I've gotten the FireFlyIII, and have the Orb RawNS on the way, and my 2nd Chameleon coming back to me =)

But all in all, I fully agree with BentHeadTX, if you don't have it on you, then you really can't use it can you [regardless of how fancy it is]? =)

For me the best EDC light is the McLuxIII-PD.

Why?

- small size goes anywhere, even in my tux at a wedding once
- uses lithium primaries or rechargeables
- pocket clip is strong and secure; easy access without worry
- dim and bright levels
- good runtime on high; great runtime on low
- lots of throw, but can also use SureFire BeamShaper
- waterproof, very durable
- made by small US industry and good people

The PD is pleasure to use and own.

Scott

I cary my Arc LSH-P. If you have the money to buy one I would higly recomend doing it. It is extremly light and small. It has a decent throw with stock parts. But it is easily moddable. You can have one head with an optic in it and another reflector. For an easy switch out for spot vs flood. Also it has several different battery tubes if you want to vary the size of your EDC. If you have the money to spend on it, I would highly recomend it.

I would agree that the best light for EDC is the one you take with you everyday. Personally I still see the ArcAAA as the pinical of EDC technology. The ultimate end all EDC? No, but it gets MOST jobs done very well.

Arc AAA-P for me! Small, long runtime, bright, durable.

Though I'm thinking of getting a Mc-Lux III PD. I just need to scrounge up 250 bucks somewhere...

The best EDC light for me is my HDS EDC U60XRGT. It has 20 levels of brightness, is small, waterproof, and has a great beam. I use it all of the time. I use the dim modes for reading and other close up tasks, and the brighter for inspecting things in the dark. Great flashlight. I also have an ARC AAA premium that is great for up close stuff and very easy to carry.

SureFire E2L works best for me.

I also like the Jil Intelli for EDC.
I don't have a whole lot in my collection to choose from, but so far I am really happy with my Jil.

• Its very small and light weight.
• Has user adjustable multi-brightness functionality
• Can use rechargeable batteries.
• Beam type and quality fit my needs very well for EDC.
• As a bonus it has a few neat features like strobe and SOS
  you can use to impress people with.
  

i started with a 6P, jumped around with several other lights. now, my mind is set that my EDC must be an LED. my EDC, a Lionheart, is set so i control the brightness levels when needed. ie, from off, press and release for high (when i need the brightess right away), or from off again, press and hold then release for the lowest setting (sneaking around and dont want to been seen or to save my nightvision) or keep holding to scroll up for the 5 preset levels. i love the pila battery. long lasting battery life and Rechargeable which is a Plus for me now. brightness on high is bright enough for all my needs. gets alittle hot after some time but rarely do i ever use it for a long period of time (more then a couple mins) on high. things i wish would be better is the clip. wish i can use the ARC4's clip (was thinking of epoxying it on). wish the button can be a bit bigger and the body was made from Ti.

now my next light i would like to get, which i hope a second run would go through, is the Mxlux Ti. PD Ti would be nice (i didnt win the raffle...sigh...). alittle nitpick i wish the Mxlux would have is having 3 level instead of 2. high, med and low. another is i wish it can use a Pila battery instead of the R123 or cr123. i would gladly pay the price for those options for the Mclux-PD Ti and i'll have to say that would be my Ultimate EDC making my LH a backup. i would have to sell my other lights to pay for it though which i'm ready to do so. of course it would be hard to make it 3 levels though, so i'll setting with 2. hope Don would be reading this, *coughcoughASecondRunOfMcluxPDTicoughcough*........ excuse me~~ *coughPLScough*...

For me, the HDS is excellent. Just got back form a 20 day trip in southern Japan and I think I used the Peak 3-LED Matterhorn maybe 3 times the whole trip. Was easy for me to deploy the HDS and adjust to the light level I wanted for the task. It was cold and dark in the countryside this time of year, I often was wearing gloves and operation was smooth.

Pretty much the same as Beezaur mentioned in Post #8 regarding the McLux.III.PD (EDC:8/10)

Also the 3[M]iniMag (EDC:10/10) w/Kroll. Small, light, easy to manipulate and bright for my uses. Decent flood coverage with a great runtime, plus uses a single rechargeable un-protected Li-Ion 14270. :wave:

Aleph PD. Small, dependable, two useful beams, uses r123 and built like a Sherman tank and excellent workmanship!!

Who, you ask. I would vote for uncle Fester with the light bulb in his mouth. Either him or a Russian nuke submarine sailor. I think they glow in the dark fairly well. You may also want to check with Art Bell.