Neither of those lights are going to be compatible with the Lithium Ion rechargeable cells. I think (as a fellow UE enthusiast) that you probably want to start with a
SureFire G2 (~$30). Since those are difficult to obtain at the moment (supply shortage), another option would be the
Pelican M6 (which is readily available and also ~$30). I believe that either of the aforementioned lights will fit your bill quite nicely. The 1mCP light is obviously not that, and is probably not robust and sturdy enough for the kind of use you'll be putting your light through, anyway. I think (for starters) you probably want to go with non li-ion rechargeable lights, mainly because they're cheaper and easier to deal with. Once you find yourself not thinking too much of spending more than a hundred bucks on batteries, you can start thinking about rechargeables.
BTW, Lithium and lithium ion are NOT the same. The lithium 123 batteries we're talking about are non-rechargeable, while lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable (and are usually much more expensive). The spot where the 1mCP light says it comes with lithium ion batteries is obviously a false claim and increases my skepticism of it's output claims (which are really physically impossible, with today's technology).
The PM6 is a nice light, and has slightly more throw than the G2 (when focused) but has a slightly less nice switching mechanism (in my opinion). Both make great first "real" lights, great "beater" lights, and both provide ample amounts of illumination for what you'll probably be doing. (Just as an example, the PM6 provided more than enough light for the exploration of an entire aircraft carrier, which has some very large spaces, especially the flight deck).
In addition to one of these lights, I would also recommend getting a
madmax sandwich from the sandwich shoppe (
www.anlighten.com/shop ). This will provide you with a secondary light that is still quite bright (you'll end up using it more than the really bright light) but that runs on cheap, easily available batteries (works well on rechargeable NiMH cells, too). And when it gets dinged up from being dropped in cruddy water, thrown out windows, etc. you just replace the minimag body with a new one and poof! you have a nice looking light again.
The thing you really want to remember is that for doing tunnels (and actually, for most things) you really don't need the absolutely brightest light you can afford. What usually ends up happening is that your eyes adjust to whatever light you're using, so you end up seeing about as much (in most situations) with the drop-in sandwich light as you do with the PM6, because with the dimmer light, your eyes adjust more efficiently.
Ok, a recap:
Don't buy either of the lights you mentioned at the beginning of the thread.
Get a Pelican M6, and as a secondary light, I strongly recommend a sandwich from the sandwich shoppe, preferably on top of rechargeable NiMH batteries.
-Paul
p.s. oh, and welcome to the board /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
