I really depends on your uses, needs and requirements. I think you've decided that a two-3V battery light is you max size requirement, which will give you longer run-times than single battery lights. For EDC, I really like single battery LED's, they're more compact and the run times aren't necessarily half of a two-battery version.
Again, I don't know your exact needs, but if you just want a very bright light, than you'll have reduced run times. A lot of the newer LED's are regulated with optional brightness output levels. These give you the option of have a very bright light, or adjusted to a lower, longer lasting output level.
Do you
always need a full-output level? I don't think so. The majority of tasks should be using the minimum amount of light needed. Reading in a tent or looking over a map, rumaging through your pack at night, navigating a large sleep tent with others sleeping, getting the camp stove prepared before sunrise, adjusting a piece of equipment at night, etc. etc. One of the best lumen output levels I've found is anything between 10 and 30 lumen...that's what I would consider optimum utility lighting and it also gives you much longer run times.
Novatac, previously known as HDS, makes a bomb-proof light. I can only relate my experiences in Iraq for over a year, and it's held up well...I had a few to T&E and passed them out to a few users in different units (AF security forces, Engineer route-clearing teams, Commo-teams, and ODA team, Blackhawk piolots and crew chiefs) to use and evaluate. Bottom line, it's built like a Surefire but has the excellent options found on Fenix LED's. It's my current EDC. Now, I mentioned Fenix lights, and for the price, features and durablity, you won't find to many lights in that range with as many features. I have almost all of the original Cree versions and they are absolutely great. I heard that thier construction and design wasn't very robust, but I can tell you if they can make through a combat zone for 12+ months under conditions most people stateside will never see, than they get my full endorsement.
Some also mentioned headlamps. This is another great tool for the tool box. Most likely it won't be your EDC, but you can improvise. I used a Nite-Ize headband that holds regular hand-held flashlights for a simple headlamp. The diameter of the Fenix lights was perfect, the Novatac and thicker Surefire's were a little large (the Novatac did fit though) and most two-battery lights were a little too heavy. Anyways, it gives you a great "no-hands" option of lighting for tasks requiring both hands.
I used both the Petzl Tikka (TAC Tikka Plus) and Princeton-Tec EOS 3xAAA headlamps and loved both. The EOS gives a better throw, but for short range utility (up to 12-15 feet outdoors), they are definately worth it. They do burn batteries a little more, but even at the lower output levels, you get around 5-6 days of lighting...actually that's 24 hours-a-day, so for just night-time use, you can double or even triple that depending on your needs and activities.
Another great little headlamp is the Zebra light
http://www.zebralight.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=183&zenid=9dobtuu9c36s2u5s4p93prepk5. For those that like to use a single battery type (and what I usually take backpacking), I like the Fenix L1D, single AA battery light along with this little Zebra light as a headlamp. I'm quite impressed with the Zebra...it has great output!
Hope this helps,
ROCK6
), relative ruggedness (no deaths in a few years rattling around on a keychain with a wad of keys), and having both a momentary-on pad switch and a constant-on slide switch.
