The Price: AA/AAA ($25) and CR123 ($35)

The Verdict: For this review I am using the most powerful of the three new Duracell Daylite flashlights—the 160 lumens CR123 version. The bottom line is that this thing is blindingly bright and it gives off a clean white beam. Plus, it is small enough to fit in a pocket and it seems sturdy enough to take a beating.

Unfortunately, I did not have a comparable LED flashlight to compare against the Daylite, so I was forced to use an old school 2 D-Cell Maglite. Still, the images above should give you an idea of how powerful this little flashlight really is. To be honest, the only thing that I could find to complain about is the fact that the Daylite would be useless as a weapon. So, if you like a bulky flashlight that can double as a club, you should look elsewhere. Otherwise, the Daylite would be a good choice in its class.

Laser Flashlight Hack! - video powered by Metacafe

[Instructables]

Powered by a trio of AAAs, the Nightlighter lets you use the front and down lights either individually or together, using a high-output Luxeon LED bulb for the top light, and a couple of 5mm white LEDs shining on the ground. It's available now for $29.95. [firstStreet, via Oh Gizmo]

Follow me for the deets on this light-on-lighter action.

Since we quit smoking, that cigarette lighter has looked rather lonely, as if it could use a worthy object inserted into it every once in awhile. Size does matter in this case, because this light's nice and small. Just under 2 inches long, it's loaded with one of those unusually powerful LEDs that will give you plenty of light to find whatever it is you dropped on the car's floorboard. Not a bad deal for $19.74. – Charlie White

Product Page [Discount LED Lights and Knives]

It's bright, too, and although it's rated at 30 lumens, Surefire is still testing its output and says it might even be able to emit as many as 65 lumens. We are really fond of that titanium body, with a rock-hard sapphire window on the front. Before you read about the downside to all this on the next page, check out photographer Shelby Chan's gallery below, which truly is nothing but a gorgeous septet of flashlight porn shots.

Hate to break the news to you, but this baby will run you $499. It's practically a collector's item, where only 1,000 will be made, and each will be individually numbered. After that production run, Surefire will switch over to an aluminum body rather than this luxo titanium. They were scheduled to be shipped sometime last month, so with a little luck there may be a few left. – Charlie Whitea

Product Page [Surefire, via LA Police Gear]

Designed for the LAPD, the Pelican 7060 uses 10,000 hour LED bulbs that run for 90 minutes per optional car charge. Plus, the weight is 50% lighter than standard issue police lights (we're guessing due to smaller batteries and lightweight Xenoy resin body). But the feature that we're most excited about:

First-of-its-kind three-way switch technology gives officers a choice to readily switch from patrol to tactical mode in seconds.

– Mark Wilson

Pelican 7060 [Pelican]

This is not just any ordinary flashlight. Carved out of a solid block of aircraft-grade aluminum, it's waterproof and shockproof. You'll pay dearly for all that quality, though: $100 for the two-cell 3-watt model, $80 for the single-cell light that lasts two hours on a battery, or you could go all-out for the $220 five-watt two-cell light (available in May) that cranks out 110 lumens. – Charlie White

Product Page [Brite-Strike]

Modded handcrank flashlight powers phone [MAKE]

Not only is each of its 79 parts precision machined, its brightness can be dimmed using a little controller on the back. Here are a few more shots of this over-engineered oddity, plus pricing info, if you have to ask:

You'd better be serious about flashlights to want one of these Gatlight V3 TI units, though—the flagship model will set you back $370. – Charlie White

Product Page [Lumencraft] Thanks, Douglas!

The whole thing can be juiced via crank if you run out of batteries in the middle of a Mary Tyler Moore marathon, and it also has boring stuff like AM/FM radio with auto storm alert. Only $40 for the peace of mind that comes with knowing you'll never miss your shows, no matter what happens. You hear that, terrorists? No matter what. –Adam Frucci

Product Page [via Ubergizmo]

TicTac flashlight [Grynx]

Swiss Army Night Vision Watch [Chip Chick] (via Mobile Whack)

Victorinox's website

Swiss Army Night Vision watches for $310 [Amazon]

You may (or may not) remember when we reported that MAG was going to release LED-based flashlights. Well if you or Johnny Law just can't wait and demand the battery life and power of LEDs, this is for you. TerraLUX (hmm, perhaps they made the Luxor's huge beam? That's where the Gizmodo-ites are staying for CES, BTW. Stop by and ask for VV cause he'll be taking clients all week!) has released a replacement LED conversion for Maglites that use AA or AAA batteries. The brightness and ability to focus the beam will stay the same and no mods are needed, so put that soldering iron down. A replacement bulb that uses an LED is $20, but you know you want to be the first kid on the block with the LED Maglite.

TerraLUX LED Replacement Bulb [Cool Tools]

MAG Product Page [via Diggdot]

Specs and pricing for Maglite LED converter [Amazon]

Cellphone lovers can rejoice next time the power goes out. Thanks to the Electrilite, a hand-crank-powered flashlight and cellphone charger, you'll never be without juice for that phone of yours ever again. This baby comes with seven different cellphone chargers so your phone has an excellent chance of getting the juice. Crank the handle for a minute and you'll score 30 minutes of light, from up to five LEDs. Want that cellphone up and running? Start cranking for three minutes and you can get about eight minutes of talk time. Excellent for emergency situations. This blue lifesaver goes for only $25, so grab one for the cellphone enthusiast you know this holiday.

Electrilite Wind-up Torch and Phone Charger [Treehugger]

Product Page [MiiFlashCam]

Site [AngusNoble via GadgetBlog via OhGizmo]

The Army Wants You...To Enjoy Cheap Electonics

Growing up in Los Angeles, I had few greater pleasures than strolling the aisles at my local Army surplus store—a dank, musty joint called Doughboys. Amidst the shelves filled with thermal undies and canvas tents, you could find all sorts of interesting military flotsam; I have rather fond memories of discovering Korean War-era gas masks and empty mortar rounds stashed behind mounds of battle fatigues. And, Lordie, all those compasses!

Doughboys is long gone, replaced by (if memory serves) another "much-needed" Blockbuster outlet, but Army surplus stores still offer some gadget-freak goodies. For this week's column, I perused stores both online and off in search of the finest, cheapest electronics that Uncle Sam no longer needs. And he's passing the savings on to you! The highlights after the jump, along with the obligatory Simpsons reference. PLUS: Reader's respond to last week's price-drop challenge!

It's worth mentioning that surplus stores—and Doughboys was no exception—are often staffed by clerks of dubious mental stability. (Or, to be more colloquial about it, folks who are one beer short of a sixpack.) The stereotypical storeminder is Herman, the one-armed, bayonet-obsessed character from, yes, The Simpsons. Okay, so there are plenty of perfectly normal surplus-store workers out there. But if you'd rather not risk getting monologued about the Battle for Pork Chop Hill, I'd recommend turning to a reputable online vendor. I've been particularly delighted with Canada's Forest City Surplus, which also offers lab equipment (beakers, anybody?) and security cameras. Who knew the Canadian military was getting rid of so many gadget goodies?

The most scintillating item I came across, though it's a little more expensive than Low End Theory's typical price cutoff, was the Night Detective Night Vision Monocular ND Argo 3 (picture at the top of the post). If you've ever wanted to peer 1,000 yards into the distance at 3 a.m. and make out distinct shapes, this is the product for you. And it's a relative steal at $179.95, by far the cheapest night-vision solution out there. Best feature: an "automatic light protection circuit," which shuts down the gadget should your gaze settle upon an especially brilliant light source. No sense going blind while just out for a friendly post-midnight raccoon hunt.

Another illuminating product potentially worth your while is the Cyba-Lite Sport LED Head Torch, on sale for about $30 from an online British surplus depot. I have no clue as to why they felt it necessary to add the word "sport" to the product name, as I can scarcely imagine wearing this contraption strapped to my noggin' while playing anything. But with 100,000 hours worth of burn time, this is definitely the head-mounted torch you want when the End of Days finally arrive.

Multiuse gadgets are a Low End Theory favorite—you can't spell "special values" without "U-S-E-S"—so the True Utility LED Torch Watch deserves a mention. With the carabineer attachment, you can hang from a rock face, check the time, and light your cigarette all at the same time. But answer me this: what does the hype sheet mean by "Japanese watch movement"? I've been to Japan, and the watches seemed to move in the traditional clockwise motion over there. Little help, someone? Domo arigato.

I could go on and on, but suffice to say that there are some tasty surplus bargains to be had if you're willing to sift through stacks and stacks of slightly stained longjohns and peacoats. For example, who wouldn't like to pop open their next Michelob with the aid of the U.S. Army Musical Bottle Opener? It can be had for under $8, plays a rousing march, and is (according to the very limited hype sheet) both "fun and functional."

Got other military surplus finds that'll make your fellow Gizmodo readers envious? Drop me a line. But, please, no tales about knives and the animals you gutted—we're a family publication.

THE PRICE-DROP CHAMP: At the end of last week's column, I appealed for info on products that have gone low-end faster than the portable DVD player. The metric I decided to use was percent drop in price over the last 4 to 5 years; I found that the portable DVD player had plunged 92 percent since 2000.

Lots of great contenders came down the pike. The two best candidates, though, are GPS receivers and USB Flash drives. The latter could be the winner; a reader pointed out that the Simple Tech 128MB drive is going for around $14 now, while equivalent units were priced at $200 or above in 2003.

Impressive, indeed. At this rate, they'll be sticking USB Flash drives in boxes of Cheerios by 2008.

Brendan I. Koerner is a contributing editor at Wired and a columnist for both The New York Times and Slate. His Low End Theory column appear every Thursday on Gizmodo.

Read more Low End Theory

Anyway, if you want one for yourself, they come in a variety of colors, with different color LEDs. The Pak-Lite Basic with the white LED costs $12.99, the color LEDs cost $25.99, and the Ultra-violet, Infra-red, "Patriot" and "Flasher" editions costs $29.99 each. And of course, they come with the 9-volt battery already included.

Official Site [Pak-Lite via