Perfect, but not LED. Yet.

To start, I'm a tradesmen who has to carry his lifelines on his belt. Not only on the job, but I'm also the unnofficial handyman of this apartment complex. Every time I even move to take my workbelt off, it seems to be a signal for a neighbor to bang on the wall saying something is on fire or won't open all the way. And the Mini Mag is the universal flashlight. It's sold everywhere, including this fine site and even family stores, and despite its legendary quality and design, is at the most ten dollars with included holster. I prefer the classic AA design, where CAN'T you find AAs? I've used one of these on my belt for about four years. It's an excellent tool, and I've never had one wear out on me. The bulbs, however, are the Achilles heel. The rest of the flashlight is military, police and trade quality, for civilian price. But these dang bulbs go orange after a couple weeks and last a couple months of casual use. I was considering shelling out forty bucks for a small LED, just to save the money on bulbs.^M
Then, walking through a sports outlet, I passed the flashlight section. And next to the usual Mini Mag with holster, which I own close to six of, was a Nite Ize accessory designed for this same flashlight. An LED bulb. Now, I've seen these online for about twenty to thirty bucks, and this is a ten dollar flashlight! But this one just sitting around on a shelf was eight bucks, about a buck less than the flashlight's shelf price. What the heck, I got one. To quote another review, my trusty old Mag is now a state-of-the-art torch, with nearly triple battery life of the old bulb. And LEDs, as all Mag-haters know, don't burn out or even go out when bumped.^M
So, for a total of twenty bucks, you get an American-quality LED beam that competes and plain out whips fifty-dollar imports with plastic casings. I wouldn't recomend this flashlight if there wasn't there was a way to fix its biggest flaw. Just get your hands on this LED adapter, and put it in like you would the standard bulb. Replace the mirror reflector, and stomp the old bulbs into powder. You won't be needing them, ever again. There's also a combo pack availiable, for the same price, that includes a push-button adapter if you've ever wished you could tap a red button on the end instead of twisting it on and off. I haven't tried it, but it comes with the LED, and for eight bucks?^M
And hey, the flashlight itself comes in six different colors. These things are easily replaced if one gets banged up or your room-mate/girlfriend draws all over it with Sharpie while she's on the phone. I've had these work perfectly even they have been through Hades and back, but some prefer a more formal-looking flashlight. Just take the LED out and put it in the new one, those bulbs last forever. And now, so will this flashlight.

Maglite-The Bright Flashlight

This flashlight is the perfect blend of power,performence, and toughness. My Maglite took a couple hard falls-the diffrence-nothing. The holster is very handy and tough and wont rip easily. The spare bulb in the end of the flashlight just adds to its brilliance.The light of this flashlight is more powerful than some flashlights twice its size. I have tried other Brand-Named flashlights but none equaled this Maglite . You'd buy it if your smart.

Not quite the classic everybody makes it out to be.

Yeah, yeah. Everybody buys these Mini Maglites. Everybody says they're the benchmark, but I disagree, having owned one a number of years and having had time to document it's failings. For one thing, mine simply quit working recently, and when I visited the Maglite website, I learned that returning it under the warranty would cost more in shipping than it would cost to buy a new flashlight. How irritating. My solution was to toss the thing in the trash, and what a pity, as the quality of construction is quite good, notwithstanding the broken switch. But that brings me to my second point: the switch. This is the twist-on/off kind. Do you tend to carry a flashlight in your pack? In your pocket? Then avoid this model. The jostling that occurs during routine movement tend to turn the light on, a bit of a hassle when you're in the middle of nowhere only to find your light has turned itself on and exhausted the batteries. Now if only the manufacturer would adopt the same kind of push-button switch as on the larger models, and perhaps change the bulb to LEDs, then this model would be perfect rather than merely dated. A better bet is to pick up one or two cheap plastic Rayovacs at the hardware or discount store--better switch, comparable durability.