87burban,
I have gone thru a lot of flashlights over the years. I currently have two I use on a daily basis. They do not use aa batteries but are worth a look possibly. They do not have tons of features that complicate them and they are affordable.

The first is a streamlight strion led. This is a rechargeable compact light. It has three settings of brightness adjustable by the power switch and a strobe option. It holds it charge a long time and is bright.

My other lite is a fenix tk11. This uses 123 batteries, (2) and is super bright for it's size. The batteries last a long time and the output is bright and clear.

If you carry these on your person or in your bag I highly recommend giving the end caps on both a twist , counter clock wise to avoid accidental activation. When you need it a slight twist one handed and you have your lite ready.

I had a sure fire 8x turn on accidentally and start to melt a pocket. So I'm cautious these days.
Hope this helps
Take care