Prime example of a once-dominant product not keeping pace with the times: At one point Maglite was the only name worth knowing in flashlights--every cop and security guard carried one--but they've now been supplanted by companies like SureFire and AE Light, which specialize in powerful LED flashlights that the military's taken a shine to, no pun intended.

While Maglite has updated their "torches" with LEDs, it was little more than a retrofit to the existing plain-Jane design; SureFire and AE products are more well-thought out and have better design features. Surefire's Kroma, for instance, has an integrated clip so it won't fall out of your pocket if you're scaling something or crawling around, a "high-beam" feature that's so powerful it can actually be used for self-defense, and red/blue secondary LEDs that can be used without disturbing the rest of your platoon's night-vision goggles.

AE Light recently released their LED Tactical Light model, which can be charged in-car and features two switches: an adjustable one on the side, for when you have time to hold it like a regular flashlight and futz around with it, and a sort of "panic" button on the back that you can hit when someone's shooting at you and you need immediate 100% illumination. There's also a red LED (viewable to the operator, not the enemy) that starts blinking when you've only got 20 minutes of juice left.

Check 'em out: AE Light, SureFire.