Interesting thread. My view is this. LED's have come on leaps and bounds and you get an incredible amount of light concentrated from a very small unit, with small light batteries with a very good run time. The light is very precise and I would tend to agree with Wraith over the shooting distances for the Nightmaster and Xsearcher - but you can see eyes a lot further and paint objects at the distances they claim. I feel that I could shoot further under an Xsearcher than under a Lightforce 170. With the coloured LED, definitely so - as much as 100 yards.
However, you can't get away from the fact that the LF170 pumps out a lot of light in a wider beam pattern, so for tracking etc. it is much easier. Some comment on the type of light the two produce, but this is what you are used to. I have both and they are used for different things - I think they provoke different reactions in animals.
Something I have not yet played with is the HID version of the LF - and this looks interesting - albeit expensive. The bottom line is that the LF may have been around for a while, but it does the job effectively - once you've re-wired it (!) - I'd say maybe I am clumsy, but so many people have the same problem. Even with that it is the tool to beat in that style of lamp. I would say try a Nightmaster - I think you'll be quite (pleasantly) surprised.
