Princeton Tec Impact XL

I bought two of these flashlights to use for general camping and hiking, and also to use when snorkeling in the lakes around Stockholm. I was a little disappointed in the dim light (even with good fresh batteries), but worse was to come around 2 months after I started to use them.

The light has a screw on/off head which is also the on/off switch (as with Maglites). But the plastic head of the flashlight is made from very cheap plastic and is very thin, and where the screwed threads are it cracked in no time. This made it useless for underwater use, and another month later it just stopped working completely. Both torches are broken, and it seems to me that the problem is one of cheap materials and bad design.

There are many good torches out there, for a lot less than the Princeton Tec torches cost. Avoid...

This light is bright, tough, and the bright lasts for a long time. I have owned this light for about 2 years and it's the light I depend on.

It has been drop kicked, taken an unexpected swim or two, otherwise been abused performing "crawl through inspections" in various nuclear power plants, made it down 188 miles of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, helped spot skunks behind the house and is the light beside my bed. What else could you ask of a light?

p.s. I only use NiMH batteries in my lights and cameras.