Can anything replace the ARC LS

The Flashlight world was turned upside down yesterday with the closing of ARC. Can anyone think of a light that can take the ARC LS's place as far as service, size, quailty dependability. I can't come up with one.The Firefly seems like it does not have the quailty (greenys-switch ext..)The surefire,longbow is not as small. Of course service is gone out the window now, But I think there is some work to do to beat the ARC LS-Twisty

Hmm.. a bit early to ask about what could replace it?

The Surefire E1e+KL1 is a close match. Arc's page indicates the length of the Arc LSH/LSH-P being 3.2 inches, I just measured my KL1 combination and it's half an inch longer than that thanks to the KL1 head itself. If you absolutely need 3.2", get a stock E1e, drill out the head, build an eCan/eSink combo with a BB400 and Lux1 emitter of your choice. With a little more work I've seen people fit NX05s and Fraen LPs into the head as well.

A more difficult question: other than the Arc LS, what's going to be replace the ArcAAA which set the gold standard in engineering for its size class? Guess I'd better hang on to mine tight and hope the 25mm BP clip doesn't give way.

very well stated, an Arc LS w/123 twisty is hard to beat for size, performance and overall tuffness.

The Arc AAA is in a class by itself.

When you get a good one, you really don't need service.

Kevin, My Arc ls twisty is 2 7/16 long and 15/16 wide thats quite a bit smaller than the surefire. But I may have to get a K4 anyway. I have the fever for a new light.I have seen the light the K4 puts out and its great.
Trent

The Blackbird IMHO can replace the Arc LS.

It's brighter,smaller, 2-level brightness , etc.

But not cheaper /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif
See this mini-review

Hard to beat my LSL-P and LSH-P, both seconds that I got for $50.00 each for size (with my twisties) and durability. Both have very good beams, fit and finish .... I can't really figure out why they were seconds in the first place.

Mike

how about ledlenser v10 powerchip
it normally runs on aaaas but im waiting to get a Pila 150s to run it on - should be long runtime, very bright, very compact

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A more difficult question: other than the Arc LS, what's going to be replace the ArcAAA which set the gold standard in engineering for its size class? Guess I'd better hang on to mine tight and hope the 25mm BP clip doesn't give way.

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With the exception of the internal electronics, you can buy the Peak AAA "prototypes" that have the identical body to the Arc AAA, but no HA (either brass or bare aluminum). At $14.95 shipped these would be a good thing to squirrel away in hopes of future LED_ASAP mods, for example. The light isn't as good a wuality or as bright as from Arc, but the body is identical minus the HA.

I carried the SF E1+KL1 for a while before buying a Arc LS. I much prefer the small size of the LSP+twisty, but without the twisty, I'd choose the SF switch. If you can get a DSpeck UBH, you can replicate the Arc 2xAA TSP.

I'm wondering if I should retire the Arc as a collector's item, or respect it like the soldier it is and keep using it.

nothing can.
although outdated technically, the Arc LS has some kind of "magic form factor" that makes it so appealing that everyone loves it immediately.
can't beat that. can't replace it.
bernhard

The Firefly is the closest thing to an LS/Twisty replacement. Yes there are issues with the two-level switch, but the stock LS never had two levels, so you can set up an FF the same way. As for greenies, the FF gives you much more flexibility to choose an LED. The FF is also smaller. But I think the FF never reached the LS's standard of toughness.

I guess another possibility is the Surefire KL1 with the Vitalgear 1x123 twisty tail. I'm not sure how that compares in size with an Arc LS. The original KL1's got a bad rap because of the poor LED's that were available back then, but recent KL1's are pretty nice.

Finally I believe there's some hope of improved FF's and FF-like lights on the way, that will make the old stuff seem pretty quaint.

I certainly will miss the LS, but I'll miss the AAA more. It's a shame that Arc went under just at the moment that the L92 lithium AAA battery turned production AAA Luxeon lights into a feasible product that met Arc's runtime requirements. Maybe Peak will do it, but I don't like their form factor nearly as well as Arc's, and Peak doesn't seem nearly as good at electronics.

HDS systems might be able to do so

I like the Longbow, even though it has an inferior regulation circuit to the Arc LS. The user-changeable optics and lens on the Longbow are an advantage over the Arc LS.

Regarding the LS, I'm wondering why no one mentions the HDS light as a possible comparison to the LS 4. Seems like that's the obvious next choice, unless there's something wrong with the quality or price of the HDS light.

Its unlikely to REPLACE the Arc LSH. Its just that good IMO.


However, I can think of one alternative that is very good in its own right (better fit/finish than the Arc LS), but unfortunately lacks in circuit and optics. IMO/IME, that would be the Longbow Micra OD. I don't care for the optics used by the Micra (the beam quality is lacking), or for the short running circuit (none of my Micras stay in regulation even half as long as my Arc LSHs). But, fit and finish on all my Micras is better than LSHs. If Longbow improves the circuit and changes optics, I think it could potentially come very close to the Arc LS.

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357 said:
Its unlikely to REPLACE the Arc LSH. Its just that good IMO.


However, I can think of one alternative that is very good in its own right (better fit/finish than the Arc LS), but unfortunately lacks in circuit and optics. IMO/IME, that would be the Longbow Micra OD. I don't care for the optics used by the Micra (the beam quality is lacking), or for the short running circuit (none of my Micras stay in regulation even half as long as my Arc LSHs). But, fit and finish on all my Micras is better than LSHs. If Longbow improves the circuit and changes optics, I think it could potentially come very close to the Arc LS.

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Hey 357, i saw a reflector for the micra, at UCL site. since i intend to get a micra at some point do know in what way that reflector improves (or not) the LB micra? VDG

Yes, the reflector improves the Micra. Beam quality goes from average to above average, IMO. Some of the bad tint (if you have a Micra with bad tint) seems to be reduced slightly by the reflector--maybe its slightly cancelled out?


One of my three Micras has the reflector, and I like the difference in beam quality.

The Jets22 blackbird looks like a great replacement.

Longbow Micra with twisty, a little bit longer,
good form factor, good price.

I dont think that there is any replacement for an Arc LS w/ 2AA-Pack
too sad i lost mine when arc went out of bussines