In reply to vasandra:
You won't go far wrong with Petzl or BD as folk above have said. LED Lensor torches are also good quality. I'm not a fan of the Alpkit torches - the quality seems lower and from my group of friends, we've seen a much higher failure rate than amongst "name" brands. Alpkit do replace very quickly and almost without question if you do have a problem though.
I don't agree with avoiding separate battery packs - for climbing / mountaineering I've never only ever had these and never once had a problem with a connector failing, even with pretty harsh regular use.
Be wary of power / duration quotes - they are normally extremely misleading. The standard most companies apply allows them to keep the clock running in their test until the light output has dropped to 10% of it's starting value (e.g. 200lumens for 4 hrs would only be running at 20 lumens by the time you reached 4 hrs.). If you search individual torches then you'll find reviews where the light output over time is measured independently.
Petzl are a notable exception to this - if you buy a torch with their "constant lighting" sticker then you get the claimed value for the quoted duration.
Batteries are the other thing to think about. Are you going to be out for days at a time, when a rechargeable battery will start to be a problem? If so stick to AA or AAA batteries, if your unlikely to have a problem charging batteries (and mostly people wont - it's rare you need to run on full whack for hours at a time.....) then rechargeable cell torches can be handy (my running / cycling torches are all usb rechargeable and it's much less hassle and waste than non-rechargeables I used to have!)
Personal favourites would be
Petzl Myo RXP - great balance of power/duration/weight - my current personal torch.
Black Diamond Icon - heavier but longer run times and very robust.
Petzl Tikka RXP - great for running, but lithium ion batteries which I prefer to avoid for mountaineering torch (personal opinion though - others will disagree I'm sure!).
I've used LED Lenser 14.2, good torch but heavy - the 7.2 would be a better one I think.
Petzl Pixa3. Designed as a "working" torch, but really good general purpose / walking torch! Very robust, great switch for use with gloved hands and a mechanical locking mechanism (twisting the torch body 180 degrees) that prevents it being accidentally switched on.
As Alasdair said, most modern torches are pretty awesome pieces of kit, you won't go far wrong if you by from a reputable brand.
Cheers and hopefully useful!
Stuart
