Editor’s Note: Sorry for the delay here. I had been wanting to try the new Limited Edition Mini Mk. 3 Turbo before I posted. I got it about two weeks ago and I have been carrying it since. I feel like I have enough experience to evaluate it generally and see if it alters the information here.

State of the Industry

Flashlights are much more complex than knives. As a result, the industry and marketplace are correspondingly more complex. Modern lights are, with no exaggeration, computers. Instead of a video screen, they output light via LED emitters and instead of a keyboard they have a switch. This means staying abreast of the modern market is difficult. For a blow by blow, light by light accounting, I would strongly recommend Zero Air. His reviews are the best on the planet, regardless of the item being reviewed. I will, instead, track trends.

My flashlight archnemesis, Anduril has finally relented to other UIs. In particular, I like Anduril II significantly better than its predecessor. But other UIs are spreading as well. This is absolutely a good thing. My first Anduril II light was a great experience.

The same increase in capabilities for small machines that has made innovations like Grimsmo Knives possible in the knife world has similarly impacted the flashlight world. I have long been wanting a JC-Customs torch and their 14500 (AA) sized light looks very tempting. Of course this means that other folks can do this too. Looking at Laulima, they have released a new light, also in the 14500 format to go along with their classic line up which includes one of the very best lights in the world—the Hoku.

Emitters, like computers, continue to change and improve at breakneck speeds. The current best emitters are like dreams—high highs, great runtimes, and good color rendering. I am still waiting for my special edition 47s Mini Mk. 3 Turbo (I wanted to see if it changed the line up below, but I couldn’t wait anymore), and I can’t wait to see what a master light maker like Jason can do with updated stuff.

The budget end of the market still cranks out crazy great stuff. Lumintop has ported their FW design to multiple battery formats and have even started making lights as an OEM for County Comm. They all look good to great for very reasonable prices. Their 14500 light I referenced above is wonderful in so many ways.

Surefire has continued to stagnate. It is sad to see the once Titan (get it?) of the industry lay dormant for so long. Trying to think of what they could do to come back into the EDC space, I am hard pressed to create a plan that would match what they are doing. One idea, which I mentioned before, is to resurrect the old Titan T1A, the one with the twist-twist more potentiometer UI and pair it with a modern emitter. That form factor and that UI with 500 or 1000 lumens would do quite well.

Fenix, oLight, and Thrunite continue to revamp and incrementally improve their line ups. This isn’t bad, its just boring and so I have had a hard time mustering the focus and energy to follow their model line ups.

The most interesting light I have seen over the past year, and, in fact, the most interesting piece of kit period has been the Fraz Lab’s Tiny Nugget. It is hard to express just how amazing this little grenade of a light truly is. With a really well implemented, flicker free QTC interface, user-swappable emitters, and construction that looked designed to last until we are fossilized dinosaurs, the Tiny Nugget would dominate this list, if I didn’t put an artificial constraint on it, allowing it to only appear once.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the drop in I got from a reader for the McGizmo Haiku. It is my first drop in ever and it will definitely not be my last. The Haiku is a world class light and the drop in updates the emitter and the UI (four modes instead of three with a real moonlight low now). It is, once again, one of the best lights I own.

LuxRC is working on a new gen of lights, so watch him. George Kemenes has also released a run of his TiHany lights recently.

Ten Best

Best Light for Most People: 47s Mini Turbo Mk. III (review)

As the market searches for ever more lumens, the Mini Turbo looks a bit antiquated for this choice, but after a summer and fall of night hikes, I am confident that nothing works as well for its size and price. The choice of the Mini Turbo over the regular Mini comes down to a better throw and beam pattern for very little extra size and weight.

The LE version came and went so fast and then got snared in some supply chain issues, but I can tell you that it is both handsome and a worthwhile upgrade. I can’t tell you how much of a premium it is worth, but it is better than the stock version. The emitter is different, an XPL-Hi with a color temp of 4000K and it is just wonderful and warm—like the sun on a mid-June afternoon. The titanium is more precisely cut and it has a new knurling pattern on the head. Its not a totally new light, but the best version of a great light.

Best High End Light: Laulima Hoku (review)

Sure, sure the BOSS 35 is an absolute gem of a light and a technical achievement that even now, five years after it was introduced, nothing is better. But the Hoku carries better. As the old saying goes—the most useful gear is the gear that is on you. With a form factor that renders the light less than half the volume of the BOSS 35 and a rock solid clip and tail standing base, the Hoku great. The taper in the middle of the light also helps when using the light. Both are great, but the Hoku has been in my pocket more since I got it. It also hits and holds 600 lumens, so there is that.

Best Value: Lumintop FWAA (review/buy)

The FW series has been around for a while and thanks to its original design blueprint, culled from suggestions on BLF, the foundation of the light is solid. I hated the Anduril UI of the originals and I wished it wasn’t so big, as 18650 result in large lights no matter what you do. Then the FWAA showed up and it was like putting on a new pair of jeans and realizing they fit perfectly. The UI is markedly better, the size is smaller, allowing for coin pocket carry, and everything else you liked about the FW3A is still there. It also is really inexpensive for what you get. Most people don’t want the lightsaber look with lights festooned with gearing, knurling, and castellations on the bezel. They also don’t need throw heads and the like. Just about everyone could pick up this light and be happy with it.

Best Keychain Light: Nitecore TIP SE (review/buy)

Having recently carried the ultra compact Veleno Designs 38DD, which was a prototype for the Quantum and Q2, I would easily prefer that light to any of the retina searing ultra compacts on the market today, but alas all of those designs are long since out of production. The appeal of a tiny QTC gem is hard to ignore. But ignore it we must and among the rest, I still like the Nitecore TIP SE. Sure the proud buttons can lead to some hot pocket problems, but for me, that was rare, and the output and charging are still really nice.

Best Full Size Light: 47 Maelstorm MXS

I have a full review of this light coming soon. Suffice to say it is very, very good. Jason Hui designed it so that fact shouldn’t be a surprise. But it is a surprisingly complex light to review as it does a bunch of different things—throw, charging base, lots of high quality lumens. The auto on feature, however, is really an innovation and something that makes this light substantially better than the rest of the crowded market that is chasing lumens. I have had the review sample for many months, going through a New England winter, and the notion that I can immediately find the light when power goes out is just perfect. Honestly, if you have a fire detector and a generator at your house, you should have one of these lights. Any form of power interruption can be bad, especially for people with medical devices and having a light that both lights up a room AND makes itself easily found changes the equation for what you should expect in full sized lights.

Best Muggle Light: Prometheus Magnetic Quick Release (review)

Yes, this list is starting to look like a fanboy’s letter. But each of the lights on the light does something really well AND fundamentally different from the rest of the competition (or with the case of the Mini Turbo Mk. 3, just better in every way). The Magnetic Quick Release is truly the best Muggle light ever. Everyone with opposable thumbs can get this thing working. It also works brilliantly as a keychain light, but for me, this is the torch I give to people that grumble at multimodes and debounce times.

Best Runtime: Muyshondt Aeon Mk. 3 (review)

I still haven’t changed the battery since last year’s post and I do carry this light a lot when I am not reviewing a new light. Its hard to overstate just how long this light can go. It is also funny that even now, years later, no one as come up with a package as compelling—great color rendering, small size, and easy carry. The near infinite runtimes are a great cherry on top.

Best UI: HDS Rotary (review)

Like the Aeon Mk. 3, this UI is great. But like Star Wars, there is another. The JetBeam RRT series now has a light that operates just like the HDS Rotary (and as a non-weird clip and probably can tailstand). I liked the RRT series, but the output is more noticeably stepped than the HDS Rotary and so, for now, at least, the Rotary is still the king. But challengers abound.

Best Lantern: Fenix CL30R (buy)

I had a laundry list of features I wanted on a lantern and, in the end, I got them all. First, of course, it has multiple brightnesses, from “chase away all of the wildlife” to “won’t steal your night vision.” It also can charge devices which is handy and the batteries can, of course, charge in the device. The attachment point is steel instead of plastic and the window is nice and foggy for wide dispersion and artifact-free light. Finally, and most importantly, it can run on a bunch of battery configurations—both primaries or rechargeables. It can also run CR123As or 18650s. Finally, and most critically, it can run them in parallel—that is you can use the light with just one 18650 (or a pair of CR123As) or with two, or with three. Basically if you have a battery of either designation you can get light out of this. Runtimes and outputs vary depending on chemistry and the number of cells. I couldn’t find a lantern that did as much as this one. Its a must if you are a camper or a pepper.

Best post-WWIII Light: Fraz Labs Tiny Nugget

Ah, best for last? Fraz Labs is a very small maker with very small output and huge stretches of time between releases. But what they do release is so unique, so innovative, and so well thought out that everyone reading this post should go sign up for their email. The Tiny Nugget displaced my HDS Rotary as my nightstand light. For me, this is a big deal. The nightstand light is the “no bullshit, absolutely must work, and never fail” torch. It has to be dead simple. It has to be easy to turn on in low, but capable of getting really bright. When I am coming out of the fog of sleep, I don’t want to mess with half presses. I want something to work and work right now. The fact that it is basically immune to becoming obsolete is just the cherry on top. Oh, it also happens to be pretty inexpensive compared to the competition. Finally, in some testing videos on their Instagram page, Fraz Labs used one as a baseball and hit it multiple times at full speed with a bat. No damage. This is an easy winner.

Other Thoughts

The flashlight world is wide and varied. I love to see a CWF Micro Arcadian and a Kemenes TiHany, but the price for both is pretty high. I’d also love to see a Cloud Defense torch, but in the end, I can’t justify the size when the Mini Turbo Mark III is so tiny. I also have to confess an irrational love for the Ti Beta. It is not on the list, but it is a really good light, an ideal pocket light. Since we carry our stuff about ten times as much as we use it, carry really does matter. I would love to see a competitor to Jason’s product lines. I want another brand that is design-focused as opposed to lumens or gadget focused. The problem is that the enthusiast flashlight market, both custom and production, has very different tastes and preferences than I do. The enthusiast market has never met an exotic material, extra mode, or some extra tritium spaces they didn’t like. I just like compact, bright, easy to use torches that last a long time. Finally, you should really check on Fraz Labs. Their lights are BIG, at the limit of what you can reasonably pocket, but they are very, very good.