I just recently started carrying a flashlight. Took me a while to find the right one, but I did. I discovered that I was either wishing I had one or borrowing one from a friend quite often.
More than that, it's a great defensive tool. Not only can it be used to temporarily blind the bad guy, but it's a great striking tool/force multiplier and legal to carry in every state.
I've landed on the Streamlight 1L-1AA.
I carry the same light in my pocket every day. I have carried some kind of small light for over 20 years. Of course I have bigger lights around the home and in my car which I will sometimes use instead, but the pocket carried light is quick to find, quick to use, and quick to stow when done. So even if a bigger, better light is available, I use the pocket carried flashlight more often.
I use it frequently, at least in part because as I have aged my eyesight is poorer in dimly lit situations.
Here are some recent uses:
Used it on an overnight flight to find things in my carry on bag, seat pocket, or on the floor
Shined it inside a rental car to find controls not illuminated by the overhead light
Read a menu with small print in a dark restaurant
Found my wife's contact lens on the floor in a store
Entertained a grandchild in broad daylight
Identified cords and plugs in a church closet with no light
Found someone's keys under their sofa
Signaled to my wife across an outdoor crowd. Yep, she knew it was me.
Checked my son's throat for infection
Read a date on a worn coin
Checked for lint deep in my EDC gun's action
Found my wife's contact on the carpet at home (I know)
Clamped in my mouth while using two hands to figure out how to open a small clasp on my wife's necklace
Helped an elderly lady out of a store with no power. The emergency lighting was not enough for her to see her way out.
Flashed an annoying free roaming neighborhood cat in the eyes
Numerous times at night for vehicle needs
Read a tire date code (black on black, small type) on my trailer parked in the shade
Punch in my safe code for my gun when I put it away and it's dark and my wife is already asleep
And dozens of other times, including lending it to others who needed it for some reason.
Sure, if I didn't have it I and everyone else probably wouldn't care, because I'd be like 99% of the other people out there. But I get a lot of "Thank Yous", and I like that. Because I do carry a light, life is a little easier and kinder for me.
Maybe some day I'll be a BA and use it defensively. Or fool a traffic light. Or just for fun shine it back in a cop's face at a traffic stop. Well, maybe not.