Next to a knife, a flashlight is a sportsman's most indispensable piece of gear.

Much of what we do occurs in the dark. If you can't see, you can't do. We use lights to guide ourselves to deer stands and turkey hides. We often need them to find deer shot at dusk. We use lights to assemble our waterfowl hunting kits and make sure we are packing the correct ammunition. We often need them to repair gear in the dark or to persuade recalcitrant motors to run. We often need them to set up camp. Without a light, forget about trying to tie a fishing knot in the dark.

Like knives, personal lighting exists in many forms. The standard in my youth was my father's Eveready Big Jim flashlight. It was a monstrous device, a lantern, really, with a massive 6-volt battery pack. With that much electricity, you'd think it would light up the night, but it cast an anemic yellow beam.

That was before specialized gear packs came on the scene, so the lowest ranking member of the hunting party -- the youngest -- was assigned to carry it out of the woods. You can find a Big Jim on Ebay for about $10. Even in mint condition, that's too much.

We cheered the arrival of the Maglite in the 1990s. It was long and heavy, but it was extremely bright. It was available in black and later in camo. If it was turned off and you dropped it in the dark, you wouldn't find it again until daylight. Thank goodness they started anodizing it in blue, green and red. They are still available and they are still good lights, but better lights have supplanted them.

Maglites got smaller and more specialized with the arrival of StreamLight and others. SureFire was the best of the bunch. Powered by a single CR123 battery, a tiny SureFire is as bright as a locomotive headlight. Mine is nearly 20 years old, and I use it often. My one complaint is that it exhausts a battery quickly, and when it quits, it quits right now. Right now is always when you need it most, and CR123 batteries are very expensive.

The light emitting diode was the next evolution. Tiny LEDs require very little power to cast a lot of light. They come in many forms, but the most popular and most useful clip to a ballcap bill or attach to your head with a strap.

The best models come with multiple colors. Red and green lights preserve night vision and don't alarm game. An ultraviolet blue light accents blood, making it easier to follow blood trails in the dark.

Lights are also very popular accessories for shooters. Specialized firearms lights attach to Picatinny rails on AR-style firearms and tactical style handguns. The Crimson Trace Rail Master has a combination light and laser that operate in concert or independently to light a room and paint a target. The Streamlight TLR-6 is another popular rail light.

Personal lamps keep getting better. My favorite headlamp is made by Duracell. Available at Costco, it puts out 575 lumens, which is plenty for a headlamp. It's about two-thirds the size of a GoPro camera and comes with a spotlight/floodlight, a flood beam, spot beam, a red night vision lamp, red flasher and UV beam for tracking blood. It comes three to a pack and also includes nine Duracell AAA batteries, three for each lamp.

The spotlight and floodlight emit 575 lumens and will last up to two hours with new batteries. The spotlight by itself emits 400 lumens and will last about 2 1/2 hours. The floodlights emit 180 lumens and will last about five hours.

Traditional tubular lights are still very useful, especially compact models. My favorite of this type is the Fenix PD35 High-Performance Tactical Flashlight. It emits 1,700 lumens at maximum power. Its maximum beam distance is 375 meters, or slightly more than 1,230 feet. That's almost a quarter of a mile.

The Fenix PD35 has five settings: eco, low, medium, high and turbo. It's tiny, but it's a beast of a light.

You don't think of a light until you need it. If you hunt and fish, you will need it sooner than later. Fortunately, the selection and quality are better than ever.

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