The real advantage to a D comes at much lower discharge rates, 10 mAh or less. A 3D direct-drive LED will be pretty dim at 5 mAh, but it will be a long, long time between "dim" and "dead".
I agree, a low drain light will last a really, really long time on D cells.
My uber long runtime "hurricane" light is to take a one of those plastic, olive drab GI 3D flashlights and stick a NiteIze LRB-07-PR LED bulb replacement in there. Still haven't been able to totally drain a set of D batteries yet, so I have no idea how long a set may last. It's only maybe 10-15 lumens, but with dark adapted eyes, that's satisfactory to see your immediate surroundings or for ambient light. That NiteIze is probably the lowest drain LED replacement commonly available nowadays (like from a big box store) that will work with a D-size light (or many lanterns). It's quite dim and most consumers want brighter, so even these will probably disappear at some point soon.
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