Flashlight Reviews and LED Modifications

Headlamps

I don't use headlamps very much, but these are the ones I prefer.
They have a full set of features and generally can handle a wide variety of tasks.

Rank	Maker	Model (click for review)	Rating	Review Date	LEDs	Luxeon	Battery / quantity	Beam	H2O	Elect	Graph
1	Princeton Tec	Apex	5.0	2005-11	04x	1x (Luxeon 3)	AA x 4	2	3	1	1
2	StenLight	S7 Headlamp	5.0	2006-01		2x (Luxeon 3)	Rechargeable	2	4	1	1
3	Nuwai	Luxeon Headlamp	4.5	2004-11		1x	123A x 2	2	3	1
4	LRI	Photon Fusion	4.5	2006-01	08x		AA x 3	3	3	1	1
5	Petzl	Tikka XP	4.5	2005-07		1x	AAA x 3	4	2	1	1

Hybrid Incandescent/LED

There's only one I would choose out of this category, and the A2 is usually one of my standard "traveling" lights.

Rank	Maker	Model (click for review)	Rating	Review Date	LEDs	Incand.	Battery/ quantity	Beam	H2O	Elect	Graph
1	Surefire	A2 Aviator	5.0	2003-07	03x	Xe	123a x 2	1	3	1	1

High Power Incandescent

If I want a LOT of light, at least more than an LED can produce, these are my "go-to" lights.
If I need a smaller light I generally go with a Luxeon LED light instead of a 2 or 3 cell 123A incandescent.

Rank	Maker	Model (click for review)	Rating	Review Date	Incand.	Battery / quantity	Beam	H2O	Elect.	Graph
1	AE Powerlight	PL24/6-S, 24 Watt	5.0	2006-06	HID	Rechargeable	1	2	1	1
2	Wolf-Eyes	Rattlesnake M90 13V	4.5	2006-06	Xe	Rechargeable	2	2		1
3	Surefire	10X Dominator	4.5	2004-01	Xe x 2	Rechargeable	2	3

1 Watt LEDs

Excellent general purpose lights with good feature sets and longer run times.

Rank	Maker	Model (click for review)	Rating	Review Date	Emitter	Battery/ quantity	Beam	H2O	Elect	Graph
1	Streamlight	ProPolymer Luxeon 3C	5.0	2005-07	1x	C x 3	2	3	1	1
2	Fenix	L2P	5.0	2006-01	1x	AA x 2	2	3	1	1
3	Streamlight	ProPolymer Luxeon 4AA	5.0	2005-02	1x	AA x 4	2	3	1	1
4	Heliotek	HTE-1 rev.2	5.0	2005-03	1x	AA x 2	2	4	1	1

3 Watt and 5 Watt LEDs

These are often my "standard" choices with bright output and good runtimes.
Frequently these lights are the brightest of lights for their size which makes them perfect for every-day carry.
2x123A lights in this category are fantastic 2x123A incandescent light replacements.

Rank	Maker	Model (click for review)	Rating	Review Date	Emitter	Battery/ quantity	Beam	H2O	Elect	Graph
1	Fenix	P2D-CE	5.0	2006-12	1x (Cree)	123A x 1	2	3	1	1
2	Fenix	L1D-CE/L2D-CE	5.0	2007-02	1x (Cree)	AA x 1 AA x 2	2	3	1	1
3	Huntlight	FT01XSE Cree	5.0	2007-03	1x (Cree)	123A x 1	2	3	1	1
4	Lumapower	M1 Hunter	5.0	2007-02	1x (Cree)	123A x 2	2	3	1	1
5	PeakLED Solutions	Caribbean	5.0	2005-07	1x (Luxeon 3)	123A x 1	2	3	1	1
6	HDS Systems	EDC Ultimate 60 XR	5.0	2005-08	1x (Luxeon 3)	123A x 1	2	4	1	1
7	Surefire	L4 Digital Lumamax	5.0	2003-07	1x (Luxeon 5)	123A x 2	3	4	1	1
8	LEDLogic	Striker-VG	4.5	2006-03	1x (Luxeon 3)	123A x 2 AA x 2	2	3	1	1
9	Night-Ops	Gladius	5.0	2005-09	1x (Luxeon 3)	123A x 2	2	4	1	1

Replacement LED Bulbs / Other Bulbs

These are some great bulb upgrades for lights.

Rank	Maker	Model (click for review)	Rating	Review Date	LEDs	Luxeon	Host Light Body:	Beam	Elect	Graph
1	BugOutGear	P60/P90 Luxeon III	4.0	2005-01		1x	Surefire P60 or P90 Lamp lights	2	1	1
2	Diamond	3W LED Mag Bulbs	3.5	2006-01		1x (Luxeon 3)	Mag C or D x 3	4	1	1
3	EverLED	Replacement bulb	5.0	2004-04		1x	PR bulb lights 1 to 6 cell	4	1	1
4	TerraLUX	MiniSTAR2 TLE-5	4.5	2004-04		1x	MiniMag	2	1	1
5	BugOutGear	P60 Luxeon V	4.5	2005-09		1x(Luxeon 5)	Surefire P60 lights	2	1	1
6	Opalec	NewBeam	5.0	2002-04	03x		MiniMag	2	1	1

Clustered LED Lights

These lights use a cluster of small LEDs for light.
There are only a couple that I like and use frequently.

Rank	Maker	Model (click for review)	Rating	Review Date	LEDs	Battery / quantity	Beam	H2O	Elect	Graph
1	LRI	Proton	4.5	2006-06	007x	AA x 1	3	3	1	1
2	Inova	X5	5.0	2006-04	005x	123A x 2	2	4	1	1

0.5 Watt LED Lights

Frankly, I was not overly impressed by any of these lights, and don't use them.
I'll leave this space here in case one comes along that I really like.

Rank	Maker	Model (click for review)	Rating	Review Date	LEDs	Battery / quantity	Beam	H2O	Elect	Graph
- none -

Single LED Lights

There are a lot of single LED lights on the market and many of them are absolute junk. These are, by far, my favorites.
Generally these are superior pocket lights or general use lights (in the case of the X1).

Rank	Maker	Model (click for review)	Rating	Review Date	LEDs	Battery / quantity	Beam	H2O	Elect
1	ARC	AAA Premium	5.0	2005-07	01x	AAA x 1	2	4	1
2	Inova	X1	4.5	2006-03	01x	AA x 1	3	4	1
3	LRI Photon	Freedom (Max)	4.0	2005-12	01x	2016 x 2	3	3	1

Markers / Beacons / Lanterns

These make great power-outage area lights.

Rank	Maker	Model (click for review)	Rating	Review Date	Type	Battery / quantity	Beam	H2O	Elect.	Graph
1	Emphasis	light:night	-----	2006-01	06x	Rechargeable	5	1	1
2	Nuwai	20 LED Lantern	3.0	2005-05	20x	D x 4	5	2	1
3	River Rock	LED Lantern	3.5	2005-09	01x	AA x 4	5	3	1	1
4	Nuwai	16 LED Lantern	3.0	2005-07	16x	C x 4	5	2	1

Self Powered (Shakelights, Dynamo, Solar)

For battery-less lights, these are the ones I look at over all others.
I wouldn't recommend anything but the NightStar and the Freeplay lights from this category.

Rank	Maker	Model (click for review)	Rating	Review Date	LEDs	Luxeon	Battery/ quantity	Beam	H2O	Elect
1	Freeplay	Jonta	4.0	2005-12		1x	Dynamo/ NiMH	1	2	1
2	Freeplay	Sherpa Xray	4.0	2005-12	007x		Dynamo/ NiMH	3	2	1
3	A.I.T.	NightStar	3.5	2005-01	001x		Magnetic Shake	2	4
4	A.I.T.	NightStar CS	3.5	2006-01	001x		Magnetic Shake	2	4

Other Stuff

This is a miscellaneous catch-all category in no specific order.
This covers an assortment of accessories, batteries, etc. that I find very useful

Maker	Model (click for review)	Rating	Review Date
Pila	123A Rechargeable Cells	Good	2004-02
Titanium	Primary 123A Cells	Good	2005-10
Surefire	SC3 Spares Carrier	Good	2003-08
FlashlightLens.com	Glass Replacement Lenses	Good	2003-06
A.I.T.	Glow Flashlight Holder	Good	2004-10
Diamond	Dummy Cells	Good	2006-01

Top Picks may change over time. Your preferences may vary.