I recall that. We were probably talking about our Fenix brand flashlights and how awesome they are. Seriously, check out something like the Fenix TK40. I love mine. It has four primary modes (low, medium, high, turbo) and an alternate to each (steady flashing, SOS, intermittent strobe, continuous strobe). Uses 8 AA batteries (rechargeable NiMH works better in high drain "turbo" mode than alkaline). The turbo mode is bright as hell, like at least as bright as a car headlight. The low mode can run for 10 days straight.
The companion tech would be rechargeable batteries. I am a fan of the Sanyo Eneloop batteries. They have advanced nickel metal hydride battery technology to the point that it will retain 85% of its charge even after a year in storage. It used to be that rechargeables were of limited use because you pretty much had to charge them right before you wanted to use them. You couldn't charge them in advance because they would rapidly self-discharge after a few weeks.
