Obviously there are tons of great lights on the market! But even so, it seems like "perfection" is elusive. Okay, I suppose nothing made my man is going to be "perfect" but that doesn't stop us from striving for it.
Like most folks here I'd love to find the mythical Perfect EDC Light. There are some that come oh so close but fall just short in one or two areas. A few of the noteworthy ones to me:
Surefire E1b- This one is an EDC classic! I think it's a fantastic light, and in many ways better than the larger EB1 that replaced it. The light is very small and very bright (for the time). Even today it holds up well due to the TIR reflector. The E1b as what I consider to the best pocket clip ever designed for a flashlight; it's the reversible kind that lets you carry it bezel-up or bezel-down or even clip it on the brim of a hat (although it's a little heavy for that). It rides at the perfect depth for me when carried bezel-down.
But it falls a bit short of perfection. First the stock emitter is a little too green for my taste. And the switch isn't idea, either. You press the button to toggle back and forth between HI and LOW. Initially I liked this but as I carried it more I came to dislike it. Worse it has no shroud and tends to come in when carried, and not just in a pocket but also when I bend over. If this had the old classic twisty that early Surefires had I'd run it with the Malkoff head and my EDC problems would be solved. But this option was never offered. Lastly the head of the battery rests directly against the circuit board of the head/light engine. It's stood up fine but this is an engineering shortcut that I'm not crazy about.
Elzetta Alpha- This is a really really fantastic flashlight! I like it better than the E1b which is saying a lot. It's incredibly well built, nigh-on indestructible! The light is very powerful for one CR123A and the tint is superb, pretty close to neutral white. All of the electronics are potted. There are tons of options, too. You can get it with either a spot or flood lens and several different bezels and tail cap switch options. Mine has a HI/LOW tailcap which is almost perfect. The boot is pretty stiff, stiff enough that I've never had it accidentally activate. And modes are changed by rotating the tail cap a part of a turn. To me this is ideal or close to it. Elzetta calls it "uncoupled binary control". The idea is that there are just two modes and the modes are controlled independent of the ON/OFF switch. Under stress the button just does one thing, turn it on or off. I won't own a serious light that doesn't this general UI. I hate multi-mode lights where you need to tap the switch to cycle through options. The one I want never seems to come up when I want it. I'll stick with a button + a bezel or tailcap turn to change levels.
So what don't I like? The clip sucks! It ships without a clip, you can buy their Speed Clip to add to it. But that clip is a kludge- bulky and not easy to mount. The Prometheus Ti clip is fantastic but there's one minor issue; it mounts between the tailcap and body but on the Alpha that puts it about 40% back from the tail. This means when clipped in my pocket almost half of the light sticks out making it very insecure. A better clip would make this like maybe a 10/10. But as it is I don't find myself carrying it as much as I wanted to.
Malkoff MDC- I don't actually own one of these lights but I have a ton of other Malkoff stuff so I'm confident the light itself is superb. Plus I have a Scout head by Malkoff on one of my Surefire E1b lights; this head is adapted from the MDC head. So I have a good sense of how the light works. Malkoff light engines are fantastic. The color is good, they're all fully potted which makes them bombproof and they have superbly designed reflectors (designed by Don McLish of McGizmo fame). It runs on one CR123a and the size if great for EDC. But it has a goofy deep carry pocket clip that's not ideal. There is a new version shipping soon that looks a lot better though. The main thing I don't like about this light is that it has two modes that cycle with the ON/OFF switch. I hate this arrangement! At least the clicky seems to be shrouded well enough that it shouldn't come on accidentally. And at least it always comes on in HIGH mode so I can probably live it. However it doesn't ship with any warm or neutral emitters, just the cool white.
Surefire EB1- This light replaces the venerable E1b but doesn't really fulfill the same role. The head is huge and not sculpted like the older E1b, plus despite being a one cell it's as large as most two cell lights. Just what is it a "backup" to? The tint still isn't great compared to the offerings from Elzetta or Malkoff, either. However is appears to be available with the old classic twisty tail format- press lightly for LOW, fully for HIGH, twist for constant-on LOW or HIGH. Not perfectly decoupled binary but a good compromise. If the light wasn't so large I could probably live with it for EDC but it's so big for just being a one cell. And the price is ridiculous for what you get (eg poor tint, non-potted electronics).
JETBeam BC10- Despite being only $35 this light actually meets 85% of my expectations! The controls are nearly perfect. The tailcap is forward clicky that just turns it ON and OFF. There are two modes- HI and LOW- selected by twisting the bezel about 1/5 of a turn. I consider this to be the perfect UI. However the light has a few flaws, a couple of them fatal to being relied on as a primary EDC. First off the BC10, like many Chinese lights, is biased a little blue. It's whiter than most budget lights but not as white as a Malkoff or Elzetta. Certainly it won't be mistaken for a Nichia 219b! But while I can live with the tint I can't deal with the clip and the switch. The clip is just a bent band of metal formed into a "C" that attaches to the body by friction. You can seriously push it off with your index finger! It has no holding power at all, and if you bend it a bit it gets even worse. And it attaches to the light way too far from either end- no matter which way you try to carry it about 1/2 the light sticks out of the pocket. And while the basic UI is perfect the clicky is waaaay too soft; the very soft touch and the short throw of the button means it has a bad tendency to turn on in my pocket.
So what would my dream EDC light be? I'm not sure but there are some important criteria for me:
Like most folks here I'd love to find the mythical Perfect EDC Light. There are some that come oh so close but fall just short in one or two areas. A few of the noteworthy ones to me:
Surefire E1b- This one is an EDC classic! I think it's a fantastic light, and in many ways better than the larger EB1 that replaced it. The light is very small and very bright (for the time). Even today it holds up well due to the TIR reflector. The E1b as what I consider to the best pocket clip ever designed for a flashlight; it's the reversible kind that lets you carry it bezel-up or bezel-down or even clip it on the brim of a hat (although it's a little heavy for that). It rides at the perfect depth for me when carried bezel-down.
But it falls a bit short of perfection. First the stock emitter is a little too green for my taste. And the switch isn't idea, either. You press the button to toggle back and forth between HI and LOW. Initially I liked this but as I carried it more I came to dislike it. Worse it has no shroud and tends to come in when carried, and not just in a pocket but also when I bend over. If this had the old classic twisty that early Surefires had I'd run it with the Malkoff head and my EDC problems would be solved. But this option was never offered. Lastly the head of the battery rests directly against the circuit board of the head/light engine. It's stood up fine but this is an engineering shortcut that I'm not crazy about.
Elzetta Alpha- This is a really really fantastic flashlight! I like it better than the E1b which is saying a lot. It's incredibly well built, nigh-on indestructible! The light is very powerful for one CR123A and the tint is superb, pretty close to neutral white. All of the electronics are potted. There are tons of options, too. You can get it with either a spot or flood lens and several different bezels and tail cap switch options. Mine has a HI/LOW tailcap which is almost perfect. The boot is pretty stiff, stiff enough that I've never had it accidentally activate. And modes are changed by rotating the tail cap a part of a turn. To me this is ideal or close to it. Elzetta calls it "uncoupled binary control". The idea is that there are just two modes and the modes are controlled independent of the ON/OFF switch. Under stress the button just does one thing, turn it on or off. I won't own a serious light that doesn't this general UI. I hate multi-mode lights where you need to tap the switch to cycle through options. The one I want never seems to come up when I want it. I'll stick with a button + a bezel or tailcap turn to change levels.
So what don't I like? The clip sucks! It ships without a clip, you can buy their Speed Clip to add to it. But that clip is a kludge- bulky and not easy to mount. The Prometheus Ti clip is fantastic but there's one minor issue; it mounts between the tailcap and body but on the Alpha that puts it about 40% back from the tail. This means when clipped in my pocket almost half of the light sticks out making it very insecure. A better clip would make this like maybe a 10/10. But as it is I don't find myself carrying it as much as I wanted to.
Malkoff MDC- I don't actually own one of these lights but I have a ton of other Malkoff stuff so I'm confident the light itself is superb. Plus I have a Scout head by Malkoff on one of my Surefire E1b lights; this head is adapted from the MDC head. So I have a good sense of how the light works. Malkoff light engines are fantastic. The color is good, they're all fully potted which makes them bombproof and they have superbly designed reflectors (designed by Don McLish of McGizmo fame). It runs on one CR123a and the size if great for EDC. But it has a goofy deep carry pocket clip that's not ideal. There is a new version shipping soon that looks a lot better though. The main thing I don't like about this light is that it has two modes that cycle with the ON/OFF switch. I hate this arrangement! At least the clicky seems to be shrouded well enough that it shouldn't come on accidentally. And at least it always comes on in HIGH mode so I can probably live it. However it doesn't ship with any warm or neutral emitters, just the cool white.
Surefire EB1- This light replaces the venerable E1b but doesn't really fulfill the same role. The head is huge and not sculpted like the older E1b, plus despite being a one cell it's as large as most two cell lights. Just what is it a "backup" to? The tint still isn't great compared to the offerings from Elzetta or Malkoff, either. However is appears to be available with the old classic twisty tail format- press lightly for LOW, fully for HIGH, twist for constant-on LOW or HIGH. Not perfectly decoupled binary but a good compromise. If the light wasn't so large I could probably live with it for EDC but it's so big for just being a one cell. And the price is ridiculous for what you get (eg poor tint, non-potted electronics).
JETBeam BC10- Despite being only $35 this light actually meets 85% of my expectations! The controls are nearly perfect. The tailcap is forward clicky that just turns it ON and OFF. There are two modes- HI and LOW- selected by twisting the bezel about 1/5 of a turn. I consider this to be the perfect UI. However the light has a few flaws, a couple of them fatal to being relied on as a primary EDC. First off the BC10, like many Chinese lights, is biased a little blue. It's whiter than most budget lights but not as white as a Malkoff or Elzetta. Certainly it won't be mistaken for a Nichia 219b! But while I can live with the tint I can't deal with the clip and the switch. The clip is just a bent band of metal formed into a "C" that attaches to the body by friction. You can seriously push it off with your index finger! It has no holding power at all, and if you bend it a bit it gets even worse. And it attaches to the light way too far from either end- no matter which way you try to carry it about 1/2 the light sticks out of the pocket. And while the basic UI is perfect the clicky is waaaay too soft; the very soft touch and the short throw of the button means it has a bad tendency to turn on in my pocket.
So what would my dream EDC light be? I'm not sure but there are some important criteria for me:
- Fully potted electronics- The head has to be potted. Non-negotiable for me!
- CR123A- One cell is ideal for EDC but two cell is fine if it's efficiently designed.
- Good pocket clip- It has to have a good clip that rides fairly low and it has to keep the light secure. The old E1b clip was perfect IMO.
- Neutral tint- I prefer something around 4000k, and if it has to err I'd prefer to err on the side of warmth. Good CRI is important, too.
- Controls- If it has more than one mode it has to have uncoupled binary controls. This could be done on the tailcap or the head. On the tail it can changed one-handed, a plus, but on the head it doesn't affect the clip (if the clip is something like the Prometheus Ti). So I would choose switching by rotating the bezel. Otherwise it has to have just one mode. In any event I prefer a twisty (ie press for momentary-on, tighten for constant-on). A twisty is less likely to fail and won't come on and stay on in a pocket or bag.
- Output- In the modern day circa 2016 I think it's entirely reasonable to expect 200 or so OTF lumens. By this I mean real lumens! I'm leery of going much over 300 though as run time suffers, especially for one cell lights.
- Beam quality- This is subject, of course. I'm not a "white wall hunter" so the beam doesn't have to be immaculate but I do want a good combination of spill and throw. A quality reflector is fine but I am kind of partial to lights with an optical lens such as the Elzetta Alpha and AVS. I don't want a light that achieves throw by shooting a laser/pencil beam nor do I want a mule-like flood.
- Size- Lastly the light needs to be of a size and weight that allows it be carried comfortably. A one cell is ideal but my Elzetta Bravo is actually pretty easy to carry even though it's a two cell.