<html> <body> Jim, David, all - Ditto as to the problem.  My current repertoire consists of: Converted Maglight (as per Jim's comment below) - I've found it to be pretty reliable, considerably brighter than the unmodified unit, though I'm still somewhat irritated by the pattern created by the reflector.  Streamlight  <a href="http://www.streamlight.com/" eudora="autourl"> http://www.streamlight.com/</a>    their Stylus Reach model  <a href="http://www.streamlight.com/reach18.htm" eudora="autourl"> http://www.streamlight.com/reach18.htm</a>  which is a flexible shaft unit.  I've had bad luck with ALL the previous ones. Petzl Zipka    <a href="http://www.petzl.com/petzl/Accueil" eudora="autourl"> http://www.petzl.com/petzl/Accueil</a>   This link is their main page.  The link to the specific page is too long,  This item is an LED head lamp, one of a number they have.  Another company I want to look at is Surefire   <a href="http://www.surefire.com/maxexp/main/co_disp/displ/pgrfnbr/16/sesent/00" eudora="autourl"> http://www.surefire.com/maxexp/main/co_disp/displ/pgrfnbr/16/sesent/00 </a>I'm still not satisfied with my need for strong general area lighting, such as for underlever work or stringing in less than optimal ambient lighting, like for installing a new coil on an already installed pin, and finding the pin hole, for example.  David Skolnik At 10:34 PM 10/3/2005 -0400, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""> Oh, my newest experiment is two days old, so I don't have a firm opinion. It's an LED 'upgrade' kit from NiteIze that retros the ubiquitous AA Maglite into an clustered LED. Details found at < <a href="http://tinyurl.com/73zuk" eudora="autourl"> http://tinyurl.com/73zuk</a> >.   These AA Mags were the only game in town for a long time, and since I have about six of them, I thought I'd try the retro on one of them.   Regards, Jim Harvey  </blockquote></body> </html>