Six years ago I bought a used two "C" cell Maglite at a thrift shop for $4 for my Missus and inevitably took it back a few months later..
Five & one-half years ago I got a pet I walk ten times a week, and evening hour-long walks don't begin until sundown.
Over the last five-plus years that equals more than 2000 trips & hours spent carrying that 2C Maglite. In its current form it has the Maglite three watt 2-cell LED bulb conversion module run by two C-to-AA conversion plastic sleeves with "pre-charged" no self-discharge AA NiMH batteries. Note the conversion module drivers are designed for around 0.9V per cell as end-of-life low voltage for disposables, the 1.5V to 1.25V change from alkalines to NiMH does not make a noticeable difference fully-charged and last 3x longer before the output starts to dim.
It's lightweight, has great light throw power and nearly indestructible. It's seen 30,000 miles of road trips rattling around my truck. It's been dropped on pavement innumerable times, many times at a full run. It can be carried in the back pocket of blue-jeans. It works at -20°F. I call it my dog-bopper since I'm walking a
cat. (Not anti-dog, Airdales rock.) Its also small enough most people (and cops) don't automatically consider it an offensive weapon like the aluminum tubed "D" cell flashlight.
For off-trail woods walking at night the Maglite is only good for long distance, I have a small cold-cathode area light I clip to my belt buckle to keep from getting tangled up and wiping out my night vision looking at the LED throw up close.
