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Based on the largest catalogs currently available, comprising 6090 contactbinaries (CBs) and 2167 open clusters, we determine the near-infrared $JHK_{\rms}$ CB period--luminosity (PL) relations, for the first time achieving the lowlevels of intrinsic scatter that make these relations viable as competitivedistance calibrators. To firmly establish our distance calibration on the basisof open cluster CBs, we require that (i) the CB of interest must be locatedinside the core radius of its host cluster; (ii) the CB's proper motion must belocated within the $2\sigma$ distribution of that of its host open cluster; and(iii) the CB's age, $t$, must be comparable to that of its host cluster, i.e.,$\Delta \log (t\mbox{ yr}^{-1}) <0.3$. We thus select a calibration sample of66 CBs with either open cluster distances or accurate space-based parallaxes.The resulting near-infrared PL relations, for both late-type (i.e., W UrsaeMajoris-type) and---for the first time---early-type CBs, are as accurate as thewell-established $JHK_{\rm s}$ Cepheid PL relations, (characterized bysingle-band statistical uncertainties of $\sigma < 0.10$ mag). We show that CBscan be used as viable distance tracers, yielding distances with uncertaintiesof better than 5\% for 90\% of the 6090 CBs in our full sample. By combiningthe full $JHK_{\rm s}$ photometric data set, CBs can trace distances with anaccuracy, $\sigma=0.05 \mbox{ (statistical)} \pm0.03 \mbox{ (systematic)}$ mag.The 102 CBs in the Large Magellanic Cloud are used to determine a distancemodulus to the galaxy of $(m-M_V)_0^{\rm LMC}=18.41\pm0.20$ mag.

Contact Binaries as Viable Distance Indicators: New, Competitive (V)JHKs Period-Luminosity Relations