Non-CR123 Line-up?

I am putting together my flashlight line-up, mainly for use with nighttime hikes and wildlife spotting, and am wondering how many others have decided to construct their own torch collection without those expensive little CR123s?

My tentative line-up is:

1) Vectorlite 117 lightwt. aluminum spotlight---1 mil. CP, 55w halogen lamp, 6v battery (rechargeable). On sale recently at Best Buy and Home Depot for around $17! I know this is no "Thor", but I just want something considerably more powerful than a flashlight, lightwt., inexpensive, and rechargeable.

2) a couple of Maglite 5Ds, with the upgraded Xenon Star bulb---supposed to increase brightness ~15% or so, and the much-maligned Mag is already far and away my best distance spotter (other than spotlights).

3)Either an Elektrolumens FT-3C (whenever the new model is in stock), or the upcoming Inova T4 rechargeable, for my best-spotting pocketable model.

4) A Gerber LX 3.0 for its wide and bright flood for hiking through the deep woods, high grass, etc.

5) A Gerber Trio for easier hiking, along dirt trails and such, where modest light (with a great, wide perimeter) is what I need.

6) A SL JR Luxeon, which I keep at home for short dog walks, trash taking out, and other misc. chores. A great all-round light.

7) A couple of Infinity Ultras, for car (with long-lasting lithium battery), and for pocket/back-up, etc. A fabulous little light, soon to vanish from the dealer shelves.

8) A couple of original Infinity Task lights, for reading in bed (because the Ultra is so bright it bothers my wife!)

Anyway, that's where I'm heading right now---subject to change at any time as new ideas/temptations present themselves. I'm really inclined to go with a combination of rechargeables and cheap/available AA and C cells, which would also allow for later going with the rechargeable MiMh versions, and just doing away with the CR123s altogether (and if I do, there will be some good deals available on B/S/T!).

I would welcome any thoughts on the subject, especially from those who may have gone through a similar thought process.

Thanks very much to all on this great forum!

I have 123 lights, but I have AA lights for battery commonality when camping. My GPS and even one of my stoves use AAs.

ARC AA
CMG Infinity Ultra-G
CMG Infinity
CMG Infinity red LED

MiniMag/ Opalec Newbeam
MiniMag/ Sandwich

Princeton Tec Yukon HL
Princeton Tec Corona

Princeton Tec Tec40

Energizer 4AA 2LED folding lantern

I don't take all of these on any one trip, but I take what I want for each trip. My minimum would be a Ultra-G and a Yukon HL.

UK 4AA LED; great trailway light.
EM XM-3...great all around light

PT Surge Its bright and has a long throw.

XM3 has my vote as well for AAs. The Pelican Sabrelite 2020 (Recoil Led) runs 3Cs and is nice and bright, good throw. The Anglelux from Elektrolumens makes a nice, long running and bright light too, running 2Ds. Else get a sandwich from the sandwich shoppe and convert your miniM*g into a nice bright Led.

For WSAR, when you're out in the woods for an extended period of time, battery sharing is very important. Like the rest of you guys, I like my AAs, with the Ultra-G, modded Minimags, Matrix headlamp, and the radios and GPS all using the same batteries.

I also have my D-Cell modded Mags, my dive light in C cells and my USAR HL rated light from Pelican (soon to be LED). .

Almost everything that I find interesting is 123. A person interested in good lights should be buying their 123's for $1.50 or less each so cost is not an issue. OTOH for a light that you are going to use frequently then AA's make sense because you can run NiMH's.

I started out with large D-cell lights (and still collect old ones) and then got into 123s. Now everything's sort of stabilized.

Main light is a Magcharger. I don't use D-cell lights much now because the MC must be twice as bright as a 6D Mag. Also have an SL-35X when nothing else will do. Haven't yet warmed up to bulkt spotlights.

I have a Scorpion, a 6P , and a 9P that get belt carried when I know I'm going to be needing a light but don't want the MC.

Recently got an Ultra-G for real EDC, and I'm very happy with it. Maybe an Arc AAA would be better but that's in the future.

The other use catagories are filled out with a Makita tool light for outdoor/mechanical work (aimable, doesn't show damage), a Mini-Mag for light general use, and some good 2D lights to set on shelves. The little Mag isn't a good fit for my use so I'll be getting a AA Luxeon mod/light soon.

I like to wilderness camp. For that I try to rely on night vision as much as possible. I'll keep a little Dorsey or Arc AAA handy for finding dropped things quickly, but otherwise depend on fire, moon, or starlight -- God's light. I do however keep an e2e in the pack for emergencies. Oh yea, there's a couple of tritium dots where it counts, also for emergencies.

MicroMags are awesome little things /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif (the black, copper and blue ones)

I kept the blue one, and it is a fire breathing lil demon that is much brighter than 5mm based LED platforms while still taking AA batteries - anything from carbon zinc to alkaline to lithium and even 14500 lithium ion - that's when it becomes a real flamethrower. And it only needs one cell.

There are even hard anodized versions running around if you want one that can take the pounding.