A radical break from the norm, sort of
I have a background in optics and photonics, and that's gotten me a few gigs testing flashlights for several flashlight vendors and one well-known
survival-education site. One of the results has been sort of a "geek's dream" of a growing stockpile of dozens and dozens of flashlights to use and play with. And *of course* part of me getting dressed each day is picking out which flashlight(s) will go well with today's occasion, like picking out the tie and cufflinks, but much more interesting.
Over time I've mostly gone down what seemed the "obvious" default, meaning an LED light requiring one or two 3-volt lithium batteries (Surefire E1x, E2x, and similar), or the occasional 3 x AAA or 2 x AA. I like very much the concept of the the Gerber Omnivore, which can accept AA, AAA, or a 3-V lithium battery and when I travel I always have one of those as backup.
But in the last couple years I've gone radical and mostly carry several (at least two, often 4 or 5) of the E-Gear Pico lites:
I just clip one of these tiny things on to every thing where it might useful. I have one clipped my house keys, another on my car keys, my pocket camera case has one clipped to its zipper pull (as do most of my jackets and parkas), etc. I have them on gun cases, range bags, day packs, and so on. Result is that whatever everyday stuff I pick to go out the door for the day, along with me are several little flashlights and I always have one or more within direct reach. I've given some to my wife and kids and they use use them the same way.
Granted, these are not big-powerful combat lights. But they're remarkably capable for the everyday uses of a flashlight. They're waterproof, virtually indestructible, are surprisingly bright for the first 2 - 5 hours, then taper off very gradually, most still bright enough for close work in the dark out past 30 or 40 hours. (Disclaimer: I did pre-production independent testing of these lights, but I'm not connected with the company and make no money from them. OTOH, I can certainly vouch for the tests first-hand
.)
I usually do carry one more light, often a Streamlight Stylus or PolyStylus "pen lite." (The smaller Stylus is more convenient but AAAA -- four A's -- batteries can be really hard to find.) The ubiquitous weapon-light type of flashlights (reflector front, 2 x 3-V lithium battery tube, cap with thumb switch on the back) are very capable, but a bit too big to nestle in a regular pocket with the pen and cellphone or whatever.
If I do carry a weapon-light type (other than on a weapon, that is), these days it's usually an Insight H2X -- it's proven durable and reliable for me and I love the various capabilities. But there are so many great lights of this type that selecting is a bigger problem than finding.
All that said, the light I use the most by far -- around the house at night, take with me when I travel on outings, the everyday-task go-to light for me, is a Streamlight Sidewinder. Good bright white beam, useful mutiple colors (green, blue, red on mine; other configurations include IR), swivel head that stays put, easy-to-find AA batteries, and -- very, very important to me -- the ability to dial down the brightness of any of the LEDs to levels low enough not to affect my night-vision adaptation. (I spend a lot of time doing things in deep dark, so the most common disqualifier of a light for my use is that it doesn't go dim enough.)
Streamlight Sidewinder:
These little lights were originally designed for the military and are extremely popular with the troops in the Middle East. I have no connection with Streamlight or their products in any way, but I highly recommend this light as the best all-around small light, particularly if you need to preserve your night vision in use (which has the side benefit of extending battery life to > 100 hours using any color).
Remember that free advice (like the above) is usually worth what you paid for it
. Critiques / corrections / contrary views / reality checks are truly appreciated -- thanks.