The Ideal EDC Flashlight: A Comprehensive Essay and In-Depth Comparison

[Keitho]

Very well written, brave essay. Any proclaiming "the best" are treading on dangerous ground, but you did it very well. Of course, I don't agree with every single point for my particular definition of "EDC", and my budget, and my preferences; but, that didn't diminish my enjoyment in reading the article at all. Thanks for the work putting your thoughts together.

 

[mbw_151]

You've done a lot of thinking about your circumstances and based on your essay, I can't think of a light that fits your criteria better. If I could have only one flashlight it would be and HDS EDC. It does so many things well. Ultra low output, check. Immediate access to Hi, check. Runs many hours at 10-20 lumens, check. Reasonable size to pocket, check. Thankfully the circumstances of my life allow me to have many flashlights than one. As such, I carry the smallest thing that makes sense. Most days that's just a Photon Freedom, larger lights and headlamps are not far away. If I do venture out away from my flashlight saturated zone, I take what's appropriate for the occasion; a Titan-A, HDS, C2/Malkoff, C3/Malkoff and/or maybe a Minimus MV. The ideal EDC is what works for you.

 

[mickb]

its a good read but shows the immense span between the mindsets of hobbyists, duty users and the regular guy for EDC.

What is carried mostly EDC by regular folk would probably be budget lights numbers wise.

Work, Duty and more serious users branch into higher levels certainly, but I am still not seeing many (any) at the mcgizmo level in my lines of work due to cost, risk of loss or theft. And for issue gear a great many organisations out there, even military may only be packaging a budget/chinese level EDC item to stay in budget.

Hobbyists or SAO's( specialised applications and occupations) certainly, they can afford to EDC the highest quality and spec they might like.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[marinemaster]

It seems this thread is taking a turn about reliability instead of EDC. They are both extremely important no doubt. We try to combine both as we expect both. EDC does not mean a light is necessarily reliable.

 

[dmattaponi]

You almost had me there. I was looking forward to a good EDC flashlight tutorial, and I thought that's what I was reading for the first few paragraphs...but it quickly turned into just another not so thinly veiled excuse to post about the authors favorite lights (albeit a very lengthy example). No offense intended.

 

[the0dore3524]

You almost had me there. I was looking forward to a good EDC flashlight tutorial, and I thought that's what I was reading for the first few paragraphs...but it quickly turned into just another not so thinly veiled excuse to post about the authors favorite lights (albeit a very lengthy example). No offense intended.

None taken at all! I don't deny that I wrote this for the sake of writing about my favorite lights haha. But, I do think you might be misinterpreting the definition of an "essay" itself. You stated that you were looking for a tutorial. Essays are written predominantly to persuade. When you read an essay, you are tacitly leaving yourself privy to the author's own prerogative and agenda. That's generally why you read an essay, and why I labeled it as such in my title.

 

[marinemaster]

If there is definitely something that has helped the EDC lights in general, is the advent of efficient LED. This has allowed flashlights to be made smaller. I do remember the days when EDC pretty much meant a Maglite with a 3D batteries.
I would say the 18650 battery has done its part and helped as well with EDC.
And one last thing the ever trusted Eneloop AA battery makes EDC an easy task.

 

[dmattaponi]

None taken at all! I don't deny that I wrote this for the sake of writing about my favorite lights haha. But, I do think you might be misinterpreting the definition of an "essay" itself. You stated that you were looking for a tutorial. Essays are written predominantly to persuade. When you read an essay, you are tacitly leaving yourself privy to the author's own prerogative and agenda. That's generally why you read an essay, and why I labeled it as such in my title.

Agreed, you are right.