I have two 2D MagLite LED flashlights and they are the best flashlights I have ever owned so far and I have owned quite a few. These things should last forever so that makes them even cheaper in the long run. The LED bulbs are far brighter than incandescent bulbs and put out white light, not yellowy orange like incandescent. Also, unlike incandescent, the bulb will never need replaced. Another advantage is that the batteries last a very long time. I use rechargeable NiMH(nickel metal hydride) D batteries in mine and I hardly ever have to charge the batteries. You could also get AA to D battery adapters and use much cheaper and more common AA NiMH rechargeable batteries. There are also D size adapters that will hold two AA batteries in each giving twice the capacity. At walmart it costs about $10 for two D NiMH batteries and the same price or less for four AA NiMH batteries. Now the problem here is that all those D cells really are is a AA battery in a plastic enclosure to make them the same size as a D battery. Their capacity is the same as the AA batteries at around 2500mah(milliamp-hours). Real D NiMH batteries are four times the capacity at around 10,000mah. NiMH D's are relatively expensive at $7 - $9 each for generic brands. They can be found for just over $4 each on ebay. The problem with D size batteries is it's hard to find a good charger for charging them and they are pretty heavy (all the better to use your flashlight as a club) and to get real ones you most likely would have to order them online since all the ones I've seen locally are AAs in disguise.
Maybe I will have to write a section on batteries, but the reason I cover this is because I see the cost of batteries as part of the total price of a device and I will always recommend rechargeables because you are just throwing away money otherwise since alkaline batteries are so darn expensive these days. That said, if you are using a device for emergencies then you should always keep a set of disposable alkaline batteries on hand since they have a shelf life of around 10 years, whereas NiMH batteries will self discharge in a matter of weeks.
Another reason I cover batteries here is because all a flashlight basically is, is a light bulb, some batteries, and a container. Maglite makes very good containers. The D size flashlights can be pretty heavy and bulky, but D batteries provide very long operating time and the bulbs in D size flashlights are usually brighter. The LEDs that maglite includes with it's D cell flashlights seam to be just the right brightness. They are bright enough that I'm never thinking "Gee, I wish I had a brighter flashlight, this one isn't bright enough" and it's not so bright that I'm thinking "Gee, I wish my battery would last a little longer", it's a happy medium so it works good for me. I have thought about trying out smaller Maglite LED flashlights, but haven't so far. I do have a Minimag that I converted to LED with a Nite Ize conversion kit, but they are low power LEDs so it works but it's not that bright. If I ever find a MAGLITE XL100 for a good price, I would like to try it out.
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