E.D.C. Flashlight - Cordon & Review

One battery. One lonely little AAA, AA or CR123. What could it do in a flashlight when most of us remember state-of-the-art as those huge two or four D-cell man-beaters? Well, with the latest L.E.D. technology, a little CR123 battery can run a light for hours that's no bigger than your finger but nearly as bright as a car headlight.

All the major players you know, and a few you don't, have embraced the L.E.D. So, we'll give you a primer on the new millennium flashlight tech and offer capsule reviews of 11 lights you can carry everyday without weighing you down or making folks wonder if you're just glad to see them.

Hit the jump for the GearScout's take on everyday carry (E.D.C.) lights.

UPDATE- We used random.org to choose a winner from the comments. Congrats Widowmaker!

Considerations

The Beam: The shape and quality of a flashlight beam has come a long way from the focusable Mini-Mag. Old-school lights made with sometimes off-center bulbs and smooth reflectors produced nasty rings, holes and artifacts that reduced the utility of a beam and caused eye fatigue during extended use.

Perfectly centered L.E.D. modules, textured and specially engineered reflectors, and tuned optics combine to make old-school, focusable, Mini-Mags about as cool as brick phones.

Beams can now be tuned at the factory to produce a tightly focused spotlight, a broad diffused glow or a combination of the two. Let's call the amount of light that surrounds the center hot spot the "spill." Lights that use an optic to define the beam will generally have a tight hot spot with little spill, great for lighting up objects at a distance. When reflectors are used, the beam can have a much larger usable spill area and a less defined hot spot, better for lighting a whole area. A light with no hot spot, like the Zebra H30-Q5, is considered "floody."

The high-end lights like Surefire's E1B and Blackhawk's PL3 XTR contain shatter-resistant Pyrex or precisely engineered reflectors to make beams with defined center spots. More affordable lights will use lower-quality optical material and their beams will appear less defined and may actually change color as you move from the center of the beam outward.

The last quality of a beam to consider is the color. When talking about white light, noticeable tints will range from blue to yellow. The yellow end of the spectrum appears more like a light bulb and is easier on the eyes. Blue tints appear whiter and more brilliant.

One important thing to note with L.E.D.s is that radiate a more limited spectrum than light bulbs. This means that you can't throw an accessory IR filter over your light and use it with your NVGs. If you want an IR light, you'll need to buy an I.R. L.E.D. light or get one that has a separate, secondary I.R. L.E.D. emitter.

Controls: Modern flashlights contain microprocessors to manage their output. This allows a range of function, but having only one or two controls limits the user interface and has created some imaginative control schemes.

The two most popular controls are "clicky" and "twisty." Clicky means the switch is binary: press the button until it clicks and the light remains on with your finger off the switch until you press it again. Twisty means you twist the part of the light in relation to its head to activate the light. Generally, twist it tight and it's on until you unscrew it.

Clickies are intuitive but they can be loud and their contacts will eventually wear out. Clicky variations include reverse clickies, as found on the Leatherman Seracs and Fenix, which only switch the light on during the switch backstroke. On the plus side, the switch has to be depressed completely before it activates, making pocket activations unlikely. The minus? No momentary, or tactical, switching. Forward clickies allow momentary activation with a half-press so that as soon as you remove your thumb from the switch, the light turns off.

"Twisty" switches are very reliable and reduce the size of the light but drawbacks include accidental activation and inelegant interfaces. The Fenix LD01's three light levels are cycled by quickly twisting the switch back and forth. With some practice, you can do this with one hand but it can be a little awkward at first. Some twisties can go on momentary by using the play in the tail cap threads as a buffer.

Brightness and Modes: Most manufacturers offer lights with multiple brightness levels and flashing modes. Nitecore's EX10 gives you two fixed settings and a third setting that you choose by ramping up (or down) the light to any of 100 steps between the extremes.

Don't be seduced by the brightest beam, though. Consider your use: in everyday carry (EDC), you'll most likely use lower light levels to extend battery life and to keep from blinding yourself when using the light during close-up work. Surefire's E1B offers two settings, and the tail switch cycles between the two with a half-click, always coming on at full power after power-down. But if you intend to stun an attacker or light up a house number from the street, make sure your light can put out more than 65 lumens in a tight hot spot; the Blackhawk Sentinel PL3 XTR or the Surefire E1B are perfect for this.

Power Source: The three batteries found in most handheld lights are AA, AAA and CR123. The AA is ubiquitous, cheap and contains a moderate amount of power but it's relatively large and heavy for a pocket light. The AAA carries less power than a AA but its small size and the efficiency of modern LEDs mean it's a tradeoff worth making for many applications. The CR123 has become much easier to find lately, though it's still expensive. But its increased voltage is needed to drive the brightest flashlights to their potential. If you never know what battery you'll have on hand, take a look at the Gerber Omnivore. It can use a AA, AAA, or CR123.

Skip to individual light reviews:

Fenix Digital LD01 Q5 Fenix Digital LD10 Premium Q5 Surefire E1B Backup

PentagonLight Molle Light Phantom

Leatherman Serac S2

Leatherman Serac S3

Blackhwk Sentinel PL3 XTR

Gerber Infinity Ultra-M

Gerber Infinity Omnivore

NiteCore SmartPD EX10 GDP

Zebra H30Q5

The Lights

Fenix Digital LD01 Q5

Virtues: Fenix is a Chinese brand that is becoming the Toyota of the flashlight industry. The LD01 is not much larger than the AAA that powers it, and it's probably got the highest ratio of brightness to size in our evaluation group.

It's lightweight, tough and simple to use. It puts out three levels of brightness in a loose spot with good usable spill. It'll run for 8.5 hours at 10 lumens and for one hour at 80 lumens. Its compact size will make it a constant companion, though it's a twisty that can sometimes end up turning itself on in a pocket.

Value: The LD01 is Fenix's 3rd generation of AAA lights and represents a series of quality and interface improvements that make it worthy of it's $45 price tag, especially when Fenix's US distributor, 4sevens.com, offers a lifetime warranty when purchased directly from them. For a light you can easily forget you're carrying in your pocket, it puts out serious lumens and should be seriously considered as an EDC companion.

See US distributor 4sevens.com for more info.

Specs:

Battery: AAA
Dimensions: 99.3 x 23.5 mm
Lamp Type: Cree 7090 XRE Q5
Optic: Smooth reflector
Light Output: 27/10/80 lumens
Run Time: 3.5/8/.5/1 hours
Weight w/o Batteries: 15 g
Controls: Twisty, 3-modes
Material: T6 Aircraft Grade Aluminum
Origin: China
Warranty: Lifetime when bought from 4sevens.com
Price: $45

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Fenix Digital LD10 Premium Q5

Virtues: The LD10 is a reverse clicky with a lightly textured reflector that puts out a large, super-bright, hotspot with heavy falloff to a decent spill that's useful but not very bright.

The switch is shrouded by an extended tail that protects the light from accidental activation and allows the light to stand up for use as a ceiling-bounced floodlight. Keeping the light from rolling away is an octagonal-shaped outcropping from the otherwise smooth aluminum body. The light is about at the limit of what could be carried in a jeans pocket without "printing."

The interface is two-stage: Once the light is on, a half-press advances through three levels and an SOS flasher. Twisting the head tightly gives access to the turbo brightness and strobe modes. By virtue of the reverse clicky, there is no momentary on.

Value: $70 is pushing it for a flashlight, but there are more expensive lights in this review. If you need a full function light that runs on ubiquitous AA, the feature-laden LD10 is a good choice.

See US distributor 4sevens.com for more info.

Specs:

Battery: AA
Dimensions: 75.55 x 14.45 mm
Lamp Type: 7090 XR-E
Optic: Lens/window/smooth/textured reflector
Light Output: 9/47/94/SOS +120/Strobe lumens
Run Time: 34/6/2.2+1.5 hours
Weight w/o Batteries: 49 g
Controls: Reverse Clicky
Material: T6 Aircraft Grade Aluminum
Origin: China
Warranty: Lifetime when bought from 4sevens.com
Price: $68

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Surefire E1B Backup

Virtues: This one rides the knife edge of simplicity, size and reliability quite well. The light has only a low and a high setting selected by a light touch on the forward clicky once it's on. On low, it's perfect for reading. Its high setting will easily light up the front of a house across the street. The beam is a slightly blue, tight hot-spot thanks to a tough Pyrex lens. Surefire's choice of an optic to spread the light leaves a few rings but no artifacts in the beam. The shape is a medium, defined hot-spot and with usable spill. The beam seems to have no edges. This makes the beam easy on the eyes when scanning a room, since your eyes aren't straining to pick out details beyond a hard edge of light falloff.

The body is lightly textured to offer a good handgrip without being so rough that it shreds the inside of a pocket. The crenulated bezel is enough to see that the light is on when set bezel down on a surface but not nasty enough to raise the suspicions of a TSA screener. It has a novel, reversible, deep-carry pocket clip that will keep the light from rolling on a flat surface.

Value: Surefire means two things: performance and reliability. The high price tag on Surefire products go toward research and development that assures you are getting a light with a thoroughly tested and proven design that will work as advertised, no matter the conditions. The lights are conceived, designed and manufactured in-house in the USA, which means huge quality assurance at every stage of production. Surefires aren't cheap but they do last, and amortizing the cost of a light like this over its lifespan makes the price tag a little more tolerable. This light represents the best overall light in the one-cell group by virtue of its versatility, performance and size.

See surefire.com for more info.

Specs:

Battery: CR123
Dimensions: 100 x 28 mm
Lamp Type: unknown
Optic: Lens/window/smooth/textured reflector
Light Output: 5/80 lumens
Run Time: 37/1.3 hours
Weight w/o Batteries: 65 g
Controls: Forward clicky with soft touch for two modes
Material: Unknown
Origin: USA
Warranty: Limited lifetime from Surefire
Price: $110

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PentagonLight MOLLE Light Phantom

Virtues: The MOLLE Light was already unique with it's small size and angled head, but PentagonLight tried to up the ante by using glow-in-the-dark polymer on all the plastic parts. On paper, this makes it easy to find the light in the dark. But in reality the glow is really not bright enough to notice unless you are in a cave.

But that doesn't take anything away from the utility of the little angle headlight that fits neatly in PALS webbing and runs for more than three hours on a AA. The beam has a small spot with a wide, even spill making it a great admin light to bring out detail in dark corners as far away as 25 feet. It comes with a screw-in filter that stores on the battery cap and covers a tiny compass that might be on par with a zipper-pull model.

Value: For $30, the MOLLE Phantom is at the affordable end of E.D.C. lights. Its simple on-off function and long run times make it a light you clip to your vest or leave in your glove compartment and know you're covered when it gets dark. I'm not sure why the GID version comes with a yellow filter but unless you are a tow-truck driver, you can plan on tossing it and getting a red one ASAP.

See pentagonlight.com for more info.

Specs:

Battery: AA
Dimensions: 90.65 x (23 x 43.93) with angled head
Lamp Type: LED
Optic: Wide textured reflector
Light Output: 40 lumens
Run Time: 3 hours
Weight w/o Batteries: 45 g
Controls: Forward clicky with momentary on
Material: Glow-in-the-dark polymer and aluminum
Origin: China
Warranty: Lifetime of original owner
Cost: $30

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Leatherman Serac S2

Virtues: The S2's beam is a large central hot spot and a fairly smooth transition to spill. Under the hood, it uses a form of regulation called Pulse Width Modulation to control the brightness of the light at its low level. It works by flickering the LED on and off at a very high frequency. When the light is held static, it's hardly noticeable but when the light is moved quickly, it can produce a slight strobe effect. .

Value: If you like clicky switches, stainless steel bezels, and reversable pocket clips, then the S3 is your light because no other light combines those features. So, while they are priced above their function-matched peers, they do offer some unique features not found in other lights.

See leatherman.com for more info.

S2 Specs

Battery: AAA
Dimensions: 88.5 x 14.4 mm
Lamp Type: Cree XR-E 7090 LED
Optic: Textured reflector
Light Output: 5/35 lumens
Run Time: 10.5/0.75 hours
Weight w/o Batteries: 20 g
Controls: Reverse clicky, half-press for two modes
Material: 6061-T6 aluminum with stainless-steel bezel
Origin: China
Warranty: 10 Years
Price: $50

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Leatherman Serac S3

Virtues: The beam is similar to it's little brother, but a little tighter and brighter. Anyone who has been blinded by their own light will be thankful the Seracs always turn on at their lowest setting. The switches of both are reverse clicky that cycle between brightness modes with a half press. The S3 has a removable and reversible pocket-clip. It also has a stainless steel bezel which should help it last a while in some harsh environments. The bezel is pretty heavy, though.

One last thing to consider with these otherwise capable lights vulerable placement of the circuit board. Look at the images and you'll see the circuit board is mounted proud of the interior rim of the bezel. Leaving the board like this makes me worry that if you drop the head during a battery swap,you could end up cracking the delicate circuit board.

Value: The heavy duty bezel should make sure the light lasts a while and there's no doubt the beam shape makes for a very useful illumination tool. The light is very sturdy and functional and Leatherman's 10-year warranty takes the edge off the $70 price tag.

See leatherman.com for more info.

S3 Specs:

Battery: CR123
Dimensions: 82.12 x 22.85mm
Lamp Type: 3-watt LED
Optic: Textured reflector
Light Output: 7/43/100 lumens
Run Time: 36/4/1 hour
Weight w/o Batteries: 59 g
Controls: Reverse clicky, half touch for three modes
Material: 6061-T6 aluminum with stainless-steel bezel
Origin: China
Warranty: 10 years
Price: $70

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Blackhawk Sentinel PL3 XTR

Virtues: Blackhawk took a traditional approach to its pocket rocket. In a product segment where its competitors are throwing down multiple brightness levels and complicated user interfaces, the PL3 XTR is novel in this regard. Its straightforward operation means you have a blinding spotlight without a thought when you need it. It makes a great patrol light, though it's going to blind you the second you try to read a sheet of paper at arm's length. The beam is a tight spot with a large corona of usable spill that will light up a room with ease. The beam edges are defined, making it less floody than the Surefire, though.

Its color is neutral, if a little blue. The forward clicky seems meant for momentary use since the switch is noticeably stiffer than any other clicky I have ever used. There is no chance this thing is going to stay on in a pocket. The light is a bit of a pocketful, though. The bezel size is increased to accommodate the use of the new 3-watt LED. It needs some room to cool off and to enclose an effective reflector. It is grippy and comfortable to hold, though. I did notice that its finish wasn't as durable as some lights in the group and showed dings and scratches readily.

Value: The PL3 XTR is a no-nonsense, heavy-hitter, as evidenced by its crenelated bezel. But at $100, it's a bit slim on features when compared to others in this review.

See www.blackhawk.com for more info

Specs:

Battery: CR123
Dimensions: 97.9 x 32.6 mm
Lamp Type: 3-watt Cree
Optic: Textured reflector
Light Output: 65 lumens
Run Time: 1 hour
Weight w/o Batteries: 85 g
Controls: Forward clicky, single brightness level
Material: Aluminum
Origin: Unknown
Warranty: Lifetime of original owner
Price: $100

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Gerber Infinity Ultra-M

Virtues: Made in America, the Infinity-M is the tortoise in this race. It might be slow and steady, but this light will always finish the race, thanks to its bomb-proof design. Double o-rings on the tail cap and sealed electronics will laugh at water. The twisty operation means there is no switch to fail – and there aren't any fancy modes to access, anyway. The large lanyard hole in tail cap accommodates 550 cord so you can hang it where you like, and the narrow and recessed lens lends a little stealth. The brightness is nothing to get excited about; there aren't any published figures on it so I have to estimate it at about five to eight lumens when compared to other lights in the group. The beam shape has a slight hot spot but is mostly a limp, loose spot that goes from bluish in the middle to yellow on the outer edges. It's a decent beam for close-up work but it loses contrast past about 15 feet, making it hard to judge distances between objects. The upside to such a dim light: it should push past 100 hours on a single AA.

Value: You can find this light for more or less than $30 if you look around the Internet. It's a little pricey for such a mediocre performer. But when you take into account that this light will probably never leave you in the dark, its value should be judged as a survival tool and not as a tactical light. In this regard, the light excels despite its anemic beam.

See www.gerbergear.com for more info.

Specs:

Battery: AA
Dimensions: 87.4 x 21.6 mm
Lamp Type: 5mm L.E.D.
Optic: Lens/window/smooth/textured reflector
Light Output: 8 lumens (author estimate; no published rating)
Run Time: Unknown
Weight w/o Batteries: 43 g
Controls: Twisty; no modes; on-off
Material: Aluminum
Origin: USA
Warranty: Limited lifetime
Price: $30

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Gerber Omnivore

Virtues: It's no surprise that the aptly named Omnivore is the chubbiest light in the bunch. What the big gut is hiding, though, is a tricky digestive track that is set up to swallow three different sized batteries. Peering into the tube, you'll find overlapping chambers for an AAA, AA and a CR123. The light runs off any one of them, and the runtime and brightness are slightly different for each but all hovering around the subjective level of "just bright enough." The heavily focused optic creates a very tight beam shape that is no more than about 16 inches wide at 12 feet and exhibits some color shift and abrupt falloff that is only acceptable when offset by the enormously versatile battery appetite of the Omnivore. It's a fine size for a camp, car or kitchen and will save your tail during a power outage when you need to dig through the junk drawer or plunder the Tivo remote control to replace a dead battery.

Value: The Omnivore is a great concept light. It's perfect for the house but it makes a few too many compromises to head out into the field. For a light of it's size and weight to have such a weak output and no features beyond it's multi-power ability would make me think thrice before putting it in my ruck. Though for $30, it's a decent camp light that won't leave you hunting to replace a hard-to-find battery.

See www.gerbergear.com for more info.

Specs:

Battery: AA, AAA or CR123A lithium
Dimensions: 113.09 x 30 mm
Lamp Type: 0.7-watt Nichia
Optic: Fixed optic lens
Light Output: Up to 18 lumens (CR123)
Run Time: Up to 5.5 hours (AA)
Weight w/o Batteries: 43 g
Controls: Soft-touch forward clicky for momentary on and constant on/off
Material: Anodized aluminum
Origin: China
Warranty: Limited lifetime
Price: $30

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NiteCore SmartPD EX10 GDP

Virtues: For an EDC light, I don't think you can beat the EX10. Its unique piston-driven micro-controller switch is extremely reliable since there is no contact spring to wear out. Its low beam is really low and the switch is dead quiet, something your light-sleeping rack-mate will appreciate when you are hunting for your iPod at 2 a.m. The interface gives direct access to its dimmest and brightest levels with a double button press, while a single press-and-hold lets you ramp up or down through 100 levels of brightness from "Is this even on?" up to "Ouch!"

The light comes in two versions. The one I didn't try is the Cree LED version that has a tighter beam shape. The Golden Dragon Plus (GDP) LED version's beam is an enormous flood with a smooth hot spot and a few slight rings that are hard to notice. The light is a cylinder with a fine, crosshatched knurling that gives a good grip but doesn't keep the light from rolling. It will tail-stand even with a lanyard attached to its base, thanks to cut-outs for a split-ring.

Value: It's the smallest and lightest of the CR123 lights, except for the Zebra H30 headlamp, and displays more functionality than lights costing nearly twice as much. The build quality seems excellent and its operation over a few weeks has been flawless. The only knock I could find is slight: The piston-drive switch works using a micro controller that pulls a tiny amount of power even when the light is off. It's enough to theoretically drain a battery over a year in storage. But in practice, you are going burn up the battery using the light before the micro controller puts a noticeable dent in it. I am calling this the Gear Scout's best value EDC light, thanks to its combination of size, function, reliability and price.

See distributor www.4sevens.com for more info.

Specs:

Battery: CR123
Dimensions: 76.29 x 21.5 mm
Lamp Type: XR-E Q5 WC L.E.D.
Optic: Textured reflector
Light Output: 3/130 lumens
Run Time: 144/1.8 hours
Weight w/o Batteries: 41 g
Controls: "Piston Drive" forward clicky w/o momentary, tap for two fixed levels plus hold to ramp up/down
Material: Type III hard-anodized aluminum
Origin: China
Warranty: 1 year
Price: $59

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Zebra H30-Q5

Virtues: The H30 is really a headlamp, but taken out of its rubber headband mount, it's a capable angle headlight that might be the smallest CR123 light on the market. This is one of the few lights whose beam is wide and smooth enough to read chapters at a time. When I say this beam is wide, I mean it's WIDE. Walking with it is like walking in open moonlight. This is the anti-tactical light; the beam is so diffuse that it carries almost no contrast past 12 feet. But if you are working anywhere inside that range, you will find no other beam that will provide better light for admin use. It also stays put in its mount and illuminates a path well enough to serve as a jogging light.

To choose a brightness level, hold down the soft-touch button on the end of the light as it cycles through its three levels, releasing when it's bright enough for your task. The switch is a light touch and won't resist accidental activation unless you twist the tail cap out a turn to lock it out when not in use. As a headlamp, it comes with a comfortable head strap and a silicone bracket that allows rotation of the light. It also includes a pocket clip, a second silicone bracket with a lanyard for adjustable neck carry and a little split ring for lanyard carry, making it a very versatile package. There is even a glow-in-the-dark switch cover included to help find the light at night in a non-tactical environment.

Value: There are plenty of $20 to $30 headlamps sold at outdoor outfitters with names you may recognize but none are smaller, lighter or more capable than this little wonder. One concern, though: right out of the box, the H30 was acting funny. It wouldn't turn on for a few seconds after inserting a battery. Turns out there was a bug in the first run's firmware that Zebra has since addressed. Firmware bugs like this are easily sorted with some coding, but shouldn't make it out of the factory in a $70 flashlight. The only way to fix the problem was to swap it with the retailer. After trying one from a later run, I couldn't fault the performance of the replacement. The light should be recognized as two lights: an outstanding admin-use headlight and a capable handheld in a very small package.

See distributor www.4sevens.com for more info.

Specs: