I was noticing that on the news here, too -- that stores were stripped clean of "D" batteries.

I haven't used those for years. I'm all AA, AAA, 123 and the little button and wafer batteries -- and have gobs of them.

We have weather-related power outages often enough around here that it is mind-boggling to me that more people don't have multiple functioning flashlights on hand, always.

At the height of "Superstorm" Sandy, I had flashlights (Fenix and Surefire) in multiple rooms and had a Petzl Zipka on my wrist.

And there are other occasions to use them, of course, A couple years ago I gave a friend one of Doug's e-PICO lights. For all I knew she'd thrown it in a drawer. But turns out she threw it in her purse. She e-mailed a few months ago to let me know she and her husband had returned to Dulles Airport after a trip to find that their car battery was dead.

Her husband was lamenting not having a flashlight when she whipped the e-PICO out of her purse. It did the job and after that she asked for recommendations for a bigger flashlight to keep in their cars.

What friends are for.