Been away a while, a few questions ...

Guys,

I've been away from this board for several months.

What's the status of Arc? Still in business? Is there a decent alternative to the Photon or Arc AAA these days?

We've got an Inova T3 that works great.

Thanks in advance,

Chris

Welcome back Chris,

ARC is back in business www.arc.com they only have the AAA out now, with plans on introducing other lights. I will let you be the judge for the light yourself as my opinion is not all that great of the beam.

there is no real replacement for the ARC AAA in the repective category.

there is a new AA light out (just came out) called the Fenix (check 4sevens thread), they are a dang good light 1w bright and with decent throw they all use "R" binned Led. Durability: one dropped down a 17 story elevator shaft and servived (sorta).

hope it answers your questions

Doug

Some CPFers prefer the Peak LED Solutions Matterhorn to the Arc AAA. The Matterhorn flashlights use "Snow" LEDs that are purported to be whiter than the blue-tinted Nichia used in the Arc AAA. The single LED Matterhorn is supposed to be a tiny bit dimmer than the Arc AAA. There are "High Power" and "Ultra Power" versions which drive the LED harder. These are brighter, but the lifespan of the LED suffers. You can also get a 3-LED version of the Matterhorn, which is brighter at the cost of shorter runtime.

Peak LED Solutions is supposed to be releasing a Luxeon AAA light soon.

For keychain carry, also check out the Jil light and Orb Raw, which are Luxeon lights that use CR2 cells.

The Fenix L1P is the new hotness on CPF. Excellent bang for the buck. The beam quality compares very favorably to my Arc LS lights. It's a little too large for keychain carry IMO, but is an excellent light for pocket carry. There are lots of threads in the LED and Reviews forums. 4sevens is conducting a groupbuy right now. Don't buy just one, you'll regret it!