Well, it's not exactly Moore's Law, but the rechargeable spotlight Costco is selling this year for $29.99 is 50 percent more powerful than the one I got for Christmas just last year. (And it costs the same, one of Santa's elves tells me). Last year's model, shown right, produced a sissy 10,000,000 candlepower. The 2005 model boosts that to eyeball scorching 15,000,000 candlepower. It makes me feel sooooo tough to have one of these in the back of the Explorer. Yeah, sure it does.

What can you do with a giant spotlight powered from a small motorcycle battery? That the question I see on the faces of guys who stand, looking sort of perplexed, in front of the pallets of these things stacked at the front of the store. It's this, "I know I need one of these, but what for?" look that also appears when some guys venture into the Craftsman tool department at Sears.

As for that this light can do, let me first warn you: You are talking about a very bright headlight which can be seen forever and runs almost as hot as the 15,000,000 candles would. So don't let it set something on fire, OK? My light came in handy during a camping trip when we knew we had coyotes in some bushes near the camp, but couldn't find them with even our most powerful flashlights. The Thor-X spotted their shiny eyes almost immediately.

I haven't measured battery life, which can't be too long, though I've also used the lamp to light up after-dark building projects long enough--minutes not hours--to get the job done.

You probably don't really need one of these, but it makes the biggest stocking stuffer I've ever seen and the price is certainly right. Recharges from 12v or a supplied wall-wart.