We keep the little aluminum LED flashlights in the shop also. They're a lot handier to put in your teeth than a full size flashlight.

I've had enough of them that I do see a common failure problem, and that's the little rubber-covered push-on, push-off button on the end. Seems to me that's quite often the failure point. For the money, the little blue or silver alum ones seem to last as long as anything.

You're right about the batteries. They last forever. I wonder who came up with the "triple cylinder" method of stacking batteries? Seems forever all the Mag Lites did was make the flashlight longer for more batteries. Then you couldn't carry it in your pocket.