I'm actually in the middle of making my own light with a couple of PVC pieces and a halogen bulb from the hardware store. The "Shack" has cases that hold 8 and 10 batteries. They were out of the single 10 battery casess so I bought an 8 battery and a 2 battery case and glued them together. (Since you need 10 batteries if using rechargables to make the 12V) Might seem like a lot of work but if you're handy it really isn't. Plus with all the parts I'm spending maybe $30 approx. and I don't have to worry about circuit boards and such. Regular AA batteries and rechargable ones aren't going to cry if they get wet. Oh, the battery cases also have a 9V battery style connector so it is easy to unplug, bring in the house and charge or change out the batteries. Everyone has their own reason for needing a particular style, type, brandname or price of a light. For me it happens to be a DIY light that I get the satisfaction of knowing that I made and it gives me more light than a "flashlight" and will last 3 to 3.5hrs. (longer burn time than I need at the present time) Sorry, kind of went off on a tangent here maybe, just saying that there are other options beside the fancy high $ brands out there that seem to need special attention that you can explore.