Best LED for $50 or less

Hey Guys,
Well I have decided to buy my first LED, I have always been an incandesent guy for the power and throw, just recieved my Thor 10 million yesterday from Cabellas! God that thing is awesome! Was out on my front porch ligthing up the sides of houses almost a half mile away last night! Anyway back to the LED question, while the Thor is awesome it is also impractical for the night dog walks and I don't like burning my Surefire or Mag 2 C Mod for extended periods. Also my wife likes to walk with the flashlight on constantly to light her path so we're talking a half hour to 45 minutes at a time , I only fire up when I need to flash a car, other dog or find out what my dog is trying to eat or sniff. LED came to mind because of the longer battery/bulb life, what would be the best LED for me for under 50 bucks and a cheaper LED for her for around 20. I saw a no name 7led 2X123 model at batterystation.com for 17.00 would that be a good choice for a woman who does'nt appreciate the beauty of flashlights!? Also I thought of rechargeables, are there any decent rechargeables out there for under 50 bucks? Thanks to all

Metro

For me, I started with an inova x5t, arc AA and then arc LS.
And there's the new inova xo3 and Elektrolumens models...

One way to go would be the Inova LED lights. You could get an Inova XO for 45.00 and a Inova X5 for your wife for 30.00. They are great lights built like tanks and a good starting point for LED lights.

I like to have lights with long throw and the 1w Luxeon LED's I have fallen in love with are the Streamlight Jr. Luxeon (runtime is a bit short though), 3AA SL Tasklight, SL TL-2 LED (a bit over $50) and the Pelican M6 LED. I also picked up a Nuwaii Quantum III 3w Luxeon LED for just over $50 and it's a great little light too.

The Inovas are impressively built and look gorgeous. While the rugged appearance of SureFire attracts us guys, I think the Inovas might have more chick appeal.

My Jr.Lux runs at least three times as long [hours] on rechargable NMH 2000ma batteries as alkalines, at the same brightness throughout. Streamlight three AA tasklight is a little brighter with a much longer throw, but the beam is not as good for closer up since hotspot is narrower and has circles in the corona. Also, it's not regulated, although alkaline cells will last many more hours than in the Jr. The length and extra weight may be a problem, as well.

pm 6 led.

The Pelica M6 LED has very good throw and good useful spill, good if you need the spill for walking/navigating. However, the battery burn time is about 2 hours IIRC.

The Inova X0 is essentially a spot light, so it doesn't gives much sidespill, only a bright hotspot. It throws pretty well too. Battery burn time is a tad over 4 hours.

Batterystation have both for sale at bargain prices, the Inova going for $39 and the Pelican for $45.

Yea I was checking out that Pelican M6 at batterystation, I like the look of it too, kinda like a Surefire. I'd like to stay true and faithful to Surefire but I just don't want to spend 150+ right now especially when I need to add an order of batteries and a light for the wife onto the order as well. Thanks for the input and keep'em coming if anyone has more suggestions.

Metro

Go for either the UK 4aa ELED (10-12 hours runtime, regulated), or the Streamlight Jr (2-3 hours runtime, regulated)

UK 4aa eled Inexpensive, long burn time, good regulation.
Depeneding on what surefire you have you might consider the KL1, KL2 or KL3.
Everled.

Check my review of the m21 21 led lights from cpfer Waion in the reviews forum.
That would be a good second led light for under 20 bucks including shipping.
The pelican 1 watt led has gotten many positive reviews so far.
My big gripes about it is that; frequent use will run up a battery bill on cr123 batteries, and it's only a 1 watt.
The elektrolumens xm3 2 AA 3 watt looks like an even better candidate in the Elektrolumens forum (presale) at $39.
There's also a 2AA 3 watt unit from waion in the B/S/T lights forum for $39.
Then there's the Gerber 3AA 3 watt from batterystation for about $40.
Click on thier link in cpf for the link to thier cpf members discount page. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I also recommend the UK 4AA eLED.

It's a great walking light! Not the prettiest thing out there, but mine always seems to be in arms reach.

I need to get a second one........

Check out this review.

Mark