I carry a 2 C-cell Maglite flashlight in my car. The last time I checked it, it was bright. I checked it today and it was dead. When I opened it up, I found that the batteries had leaked, and corroded the inside of the light into a useless mess. It's scrap.
So now I have to decide whether to replace it, or just move one of the 2 D-cell Maglites from the house to the car. If I replace it, do I pay the premium for an LED model, or buy another of their traditional Xenon bulb units and reuse the LED conversion I had in the one that died?
Decisions, decisions.
I'm leaning toward replacing it. Looking on Amazon, I see there's one LED 2 C-cell model that costs less than the incandescent (Xenon) unit -- but the cheap LED one doesn't have a switch, it turns on and off by rotating the head, like the Mini-Maglites. I've never cared for that system, and I have converted my minis with the third-party LED kit that includes a tailcap switch. The 2 C-cell LED model with a switch costs almost 50% more than the incandescent, and it apparently requires a PhD in programming to figure out all the operating modes it offers. Since I only want to to turn on and off, I'm leaning strongly in the direction of buying another of the conventional Maglites, just like the one that got destroyed.
Lesson learned. Through destructive removal techniques I was able to get one of the batteries out. It's a no-name battery, so no guarantee that if it leaks they'll replace the device. I don't even know where those batteries came from -- I can't recall ever seeing the brand in a store or on-line. I think it makes sense to always buy Energizer or Duracell.