I am really amazed how quickly LED flashlights are getting smaller and brighter and more efficient.

I grabbed a Photon light about as soon as I saw them in the early 2000's because I thought it would be the bee's knees. And it was! It was a great backup/area light. I still brought a big ol' MagLite for actual illumination because it threw out about 90 lumens. But in the past few years I've abandoned all of my non-LED lights because now you can get a light at the gas station that is 20 times brighter for $5.

Now that it's staying dark in the mornings, I'm bringing a keychain light on runs for that one very dark sidewalk that cost $20 for three and casts an adequate patch of light. My daughter has a keychain light shaped like a cow that moos and shines a light out of its mouth that is twice as bright as my old Photon. It's a toy, but it works surprisingly well.

Yesterday, I got a new light in the mail that goes to a max of 450 lumens and has 4 or 5 different LEDs on it for front- and side-lighting in different colors and functions. It's the size of my pinky finger. My light truly only needs to go from 'where'd my water bottle go' to 'WHATWASTHAT?'. This tiny thing does that plus far more. The brand I ordered from can't even keep their product descriptions up to date they're moving so fast. I'm going to play with this one for awhile to see if it's tough enough to go on trips.

Since I began researching lights, I've been getting ads for lights that max out at 45,000 lumens. I don't think I need nearly that much power; I'd worry about setting the trees on fire!

I just find it amazing that in only a few years keychain LED lights went from backup/novelty to primary lights and are evolving so quickly. Has anyone else looked wistfully at their MagLite and thought of all the cool stuff it's shown, but wouldn't even consider bringing it outdoors anymore?