Need help with Peak Matterhorn decision

I'm going to buy the Peak Matterhorn lug style. The problem I have is I can't decide if I should get the single or 3 LED. High power or ultra power. This light would be used on my key chain. It would be the only light I EDC. So basically it would be used whenever I need light. Any thoughts of what route to go would be great.

What would be more important to you, brightness or long runtime?

Personally, I would get the 3 LED Ultra - if it's the only light you carry you might need the extra brightness. I love my Arc AAA but sometimes it seems a little anemic.

I have the high power and ultra power 3 led. I can't tell a significant difference between the two. They are both very bright. Peak themselves recommend against the ultra power though, because of decreased led life. I would go with a 3 led high power. I also went with a stainless head on a black body because the stainless is a much better reflector for the leds.

I own the 3 LED Ultra and it is really impressive for a single AAA light! It's a lot brighter then my Arc AAA. It is also my only EDC and I use it all the time.

I have not heard about Peak dissuading people from buying the Ultra power, and can't find anything about that on their website. I'm sure the increased output does shorten the overall life of the LEDs however.

By Peaks ratings (posted on their website) the 3 LED Hi Power is twice as bright as the 1 LED Ultra and still runs for 3 hours to 50%. The 3 LED Ultra is about half again as bright as the 3 LED Hi Power and runs for 2 hours to 50%.

In my book that makes either of the 3 LED versions the best values. If you want the brightest go 3 LED Ultra, if you are concerned about the lifespan of the LEDs, go 3 LED Hi Power.

Honestly though, LED technology is advancing so rapidly, and I like buying flashlights enough that I don't worry too much about LED lifespan. I doubt I'll have this flashlight on for more then a hundred hours total runtime before I end up buying the next great little flashlight in another year or two.

-Brian

I own the Peak Matterhorn 3 Led Ultra Power. I bought the stainless steel head, HAIII lug body, and HAIII pocket body. It is a great light. Buy it over the 1 LED version.

I agree with GuyZero, by next year an ex-girlfriend will have this light, and I will be on to another light.

When I talked to Peak about the Matterhorns (I'm considering a 3 LED Lug/Keychain style for constant use on my keychain), they said the life of a Hi Power was about 5000 hours, while the life of the Ultra was about 1000 hours. I'm thinking about going with the Ultra since 1000 hours is still a very good lifespan and the increased brightness should be useful.

Oh and I'll probably go with the Lug style over the keychain style since it's a bit lighter and 1/2 in. shorter (even though the keychain style has a neat detachable feature, 1/2 in. is a lot for an EDC keychain). If I needed the keychain style for any reason, it's only $5 to order it separately, so it's not a big deal.

Grubbster -
How much better is the reflection of the SS head over the HA? How much does the flashlight weight? Also do you have any pics of it? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I've asked this before in another thread, but had no luck so I thought I might have more luck this time /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif So here goes:
Does anyone know if there are any beam differences between the 1 LED and the 3 LED version? Does one of them have more spill?

Thanks

Took me a while to decide too, but I just ordered the full stainless steel pocket 3 LED Ultra, there's no pic on the webite anyone got a pic of one to share /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif