I've bought Blackcats for others several times and after the Sipik SK68 clones the B'cat is my favorite $8 light. Every flashaholic should have one. My wife has a red one these days as her handbag light.
Just so there's no confusion folks we are talking about this one and notthis one...................LOL
i have 2 BlackCats, 1 Tank007 TK-703, 1 1/2 iTP A3 Upgrades*, and one CQG S1. the A3 and BlackCat are my favorite. one's a twisty, the other clicky. the BlackCat is bigger and less refined with only one mode, but it's built well and has worked well for me. i'm not terribly fond of the twist action of the A3, but it's a nice light, small, and bright. the beam is very smooth too. the Tank i don't like so much because of it's rattly tail switch and the fact that it flickers and loosens every so often. the S1 i just got today so we'll see how it does. it's very thin -- they weren't kidding.
i've pretty much been searching for the same light as you and haven't found anything to match my needs -- wants, really since all my lights do what i need -- exactly. i've been using a AA TrustFire F20 at work but want something smaller so i ordered the Tank E09 and some 10440s so we'll see how it goes. they're twisties so i had to compromise since i wanted a tiny clicky (i don't think such a light exists).
* head is missing on one of the two i have. anyone have a head for an A3 Upgrade they don't need anymore?
I saw you mentioned the Streamlight nano, i really really like the light because it is so small, you don't even notice it on your keys. You can operate it one handed, and i order the batteries from DX (somewhere under $3 for 100 batteries!) But it is not 50+ lumens. It is more than bright enough for fiddling around in the dark finding something you dropped but not for lighting up something more than 20ft away. I've had it over a year now and i have had no problems with it, the paint wears off after a few months but that doesn't effect it's performance.
I have the E01, trusty & lightweight with a runtime measured in years, but my EDC keychain unit, which gets more use than all other flashlights combined, is the Fenix LD01 Stainless, seen here:
After a year of being mishandled & dropped & rattling around in my pocket with keys & change, it has developed a slight patina, but looks as good as brand new. A tad heavy -- roughly 4 times heavier than the ITP -- but then it doubles as a barbell for lunchtime workouts. The added weight is offset by the lighter wallet you'll have when you buy one at list price.
Starts in High. Switches to Low, and then to Extreme. Highly useful.
With dry hands (OK, hand...) it takes some effort to turn the head relative to the body, but I can turn it on & off and switch modes one-handed. It seems to be fairly patient with the off-and-back-on delay. Nowhere near as easy to switch on and off as the E01, though.
If I needed to change modes often, I don't think it would be my EDC unless it loosened up a bit with time, which hasn't happened yet. I suppose I could use some talc on the O-ring and see if that lowers the torque needed.
For me, it's the overall package that I find as close to ideal as it's probably going to get.
You can scream that again......! I have the streamlight nano, I had problems with it turning on while jingling on the keychain and in the pocket, not bright enough for me either, think of floody low mode. I replaced it with the itp, took the long chain off of it and added just a small keyring, I love it! Good luck in your search.