Maglite

Bright lights, burly cases, fail-safe on/off switches, virtual indestructibility: there are very good reasons to rave about Mag Instrument flashlights. It goes without saying that a flashlight defeats its own purpose if it can't be trusted, which is why so many people spend a little extra for this four D-cell Mag-Lite. We've dropped ours off ladders, kicked it down stairs--just generally abused the thing--and it lights up now just as readily as it did when we first turned it on. Speaking of which, the on/off switch is one of the first things to fail on generic flashlights. Mag-Lite's switch is rubber coated and weather protected; frankly, it seems incapable of ever wearing out, even after thousands of clicks. Plus, twisting the flashlight's head gives you an option between a tight beam and a floodlight. More importantly, the combination of a supertough krypton gas lamp and high-quality reflectors provides unusually bright light. There's also an extra lamp in the tail cap so you've always got a backup--how many other flashlights deliver that?