if price is no issue go with made in usa 'surefire'.... i however am on a budget plus require that any of my edc lights use commonly available cells - either aaa, aa or d-cells...
with preference towards the ubiquitous aa.... i use an energizer lithium aa cell loaded within my light and carry 4 spare eneloops in a holder....
my main edc light is now a fenix ld12, a small single aa cell light with over 100 lumens but besides the tactical end-cap "on/off/momentary" switch, it has a side mode switch that offers 4 different brighteness settings [it also has 'strobe' and 'sos' modes but i don't care for those too much]... it lasts 2 hours on highest setting [impressive] but even better - at 60 lumens setting it'll shine for waaay over 4 hours , at 11 lm it'll go for over 10 hrs, AND [factory listed]...................... 97 hours of continuous operation at 2 lumens!!!.... using the lowest setting you can turn it on on monday morning and it'll shine until friday morning continuously, all on a single aa cell... that's a great emergency feature and what makes a kickass edc light.... i also carry a snap-on red filter for it....
my back up edc to my recent fenix is a zebralight sc51, another tiny single aa cell super light and both - it along with the ld12 - are outstanding and interchangable edc lights... the sc51 is truly tiny and ultra short but it shoots out 200 lumens for almost an hour, will continuously shine for 10 hours at 30 lm and go for 3 days at 2.5 lumen... there is also a secondary setting that you access also through its single side switch, and it can lower the high, medium and low outputs still for extended shine time to 100/8/0.2 lm... at 8 lm it'll go for over 24 hours and a crazy 16 days of continuous operation at .2lm... 0.2 lm is still usable in total darkness so it's a great little torch to have in case of some emergency.... oh, and you can slightly twist the end cap in all my lights in order to make the cells inactive for 0 power drain...
now, i'm a light freak hehehe so i carry more than just those two [in my waist pack] but those 2 lights are instantly accessible at any time and are the ones i use constantly; especially the fenix ld12...
i also have a jetbeam bc25 riding at the bottom of my waist pack's secondary compartment... that is an impressive light which is still a small sized light yet it shoots out a blinding 650 lumens [i think it goes down to 450 lm after 5 minutes though] for about 1.5 hour and it'll happily shine at 100 lm for about 7.5 hours.... however, it uses the 18650 cell [or one can substitute 2 123 cells] so not a battery you'd readily find in a small grocery store somewhere off the beaten track.... hence i wouldn't recommend it as a true, main edc light....
for a relatively low priced, rugged, small, powerful edc light that will last for an impressive shine time continuously on a single cell that's easily obtainable, i can't think of a better one than either the fenix ld12 or the zebralight sc51.... i own close to 20 lights, all top rated and fairly recent ones that range from micro size single aaa cell lights [olight o2, ti illuminati, plus several more] , to single aa [fenix ld12, e11, zl sc51, et al], to 2 aa [terralux lightstar 300], to 18650 single cell [zebralight sc600, jetbeam bc25, jetbeam iii m 3m], to 8 aa cells [fenix tk41], to 4 d-cell [fenix tk71], and more, all of which put out from at least 60 lumens all the way to 2200 lumens [tk71] but as a true edc light the ld12 or the zl sc51 are my choice hands down....
i researched a few different flashlight forums and tests therein, many youtube clips, manufacturer's sites, etc. before i bought my first flashlight sometime late last year and am glad i did because you can really get your money's worth armed with some solid knowledge and get a true pocket rocket of quality [or waste it on crap witout it].... i'd recommend the same course of action to anyone looking to purchase a good light rather than just go by random recommendations.... such are quite subjective and strongly tainted by personal preference of individuals... mine included hehe....
surefire makes badass rugged lights long proven under combat use by military and it's made in usa so if money is no object you can't go wrong with it... however, just about all surefire lights use the 123a cells so you MUST carry several spares and/or have a charger available at all times, and that precludes using commonly available cells, once yours are depleted in an emergency... sf brand lights are costly too.... just about any of my aa and 18650 lights are just as rugged for hard/combat use, they cost much less and are at least as powerful [typically more] as the similarly sized sf lights and last as long or longer....
[EDIT] all of my edc lights have a solid clicky on/off switch and most also change brightness modes via clicky; either a separate one or via the main on/off switch... that is important to me because i hate twisty action to either turn a light on/off or to twist in order to change brightness modes.... typically however, a clicky will add slightly to the light's length... if you're looking for the smallest of the small models then there were a couple other good lights suggested in this thread by others as long as you don't mind twisting the head to operate the light and change the brightness settings.... if you prefer the clicky switch however, make sure you'll pay attention to the light's specs carefully prior to a purchase....
finally, whatever light/battery type you'll go with make sure to get the top of the line charger for the specific battery type, and several spare sets of top rated rechargable cells...
Anything from them that you recommend? I would love to add an "overbuilt" light to my edc - especially when I felt like what I have now is somewhat overbuilt. I hope I never have to hit someone in the head with the E2D because it'd split them open pretty good I'd imagine.
