A friend of mine has recently expressed an interest in an EDC flashlight. I have been carrying an HA LD01 R4 version for about 2 years now (see my
quick review of the stainless R5 version), so I thought that would be a good light for him. Unfortunately it looks like it is now discontinued. Apparently (according to CPF) the LD02 is the new Fenix premium AAA, and the E05 with 3 modes fills in for the non-clicky people.
Unfortunately, neither of these lights do what the LD01 does. Both revert to Fenix's penchant for medium-medium-high type modes, and neither use a reflector. I get that a floody beam is good for most pocket light tasks, but for me the throw provided by the LD01 allows it to be my primary EDC unless I'm comping.* Also, all the new Fenix's, as far as I can tell, do not put a glass lens in front of the optic. This allows the plastic to scratch quite quickly in the pocket. Given the floody beam, this really isn't a performance issue, but it certainly seems cheap.
The things I liked most about the LD01 were its: 1) slightly longer length (compared to the Maratac AAA and copycats) to make one-handed use easier, 2) reflector with glass lens, 3) mode levels and 4) the mode sequence (I really have come to like not having to cycle through low to get my most used medium mode.
Now, I can't seem to find a AAA light that has all of those features. I like the build and available neutral emitter of the latest Thrunite Tis, but the moon mode, low-low and high are almost all useless for normal non-flashaholics. Additionally the need to cycle through two modes to get a mode useable in anything but complete darkness is baffling. It also seems like everyone is trying to put a 100 lumen + mode on their AAA lights for high, which then steps down after a few minutes. I find a 50-80 lumen mode to be much more useable, and more runtime friendly.
I ended up getting him an Olight i3s, as it at least has more reasonable mode spacing, comes on in medium and still has glass on the front end (as far as I can tell). I know it's build quality is not supposed to be quite as high as the LD01, it is shorter, and I wish it was medium-low-high instead of medium-high-moonlight (who thought putting the lowest mode after high would work in real life?), but it seems to be the closest.
What say you folks? Did anyone else like the LD01's setup? Do you see things trending like I do on AAA light features? If so, do you prefer them?
*As an aside, one of the 2 stainless LD01's I mention in the review linked above was given to my friend who moved to very rural Honduras (see
this post for his comments on another gift, a modded Svord mini-peasant). Unless he is out after dark for an extended period, his LD01 is his primary light. It has also survived remarkably well in that environment.
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