Who uses Mag lights?

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rufunky

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I just picked up a Mag light to store next to my bedroom firearm.

Who else uses these?

Is there a similarly priced more preferred option?
 
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I have a 4 DCell Maglite that I've had since... oh... the mid 90's. I still use it for house duty... but have upgraded it to the LED lamp. Much better on battery life... and a bit brighter as well...

I think for house duty it's fine... as it doubles as a billy club if you need one. But most of the time... if I need a flashlight I use my Fenix PD20 (what I carry on me every day) or my Surefire L1 Lumamax. Both are small and blow the maglite away in brightness and battery life.
 
I have one in a wall charger next to my bed. Its bright as hell, has a good battery life, and you can beat the hell out of some one with it if need be lol
 
Same as Hanwei, I've had my 4Dcell black Maglite for over 10 years. Tough as a tank, they are. I carry the Liotech Freedom I got in the group buy. I haven't found a holster big enough for the Maglite yet. [wink]
 
Another guy with a really old 4D Maglite. It's as good as ever, but fairly outdated, except when you need a handy club. I've got a ring belt carrier for it, but haven't really carried it since I got my first SureFire.

Ken
 
I should have mentioned it is a "MINI MAG" LED not much of a club at 7" long with 2 double A's :).. Haha, could you picture that?
 
Maglights have been passed by technology wise. I have a 6D that I've had for years, but it rarely gets used. I have guns now, so I don't need a club. I love my Surefire L1 from the group buy last year. I also have a Liotec Hunter from that group buy, and a surefire G2 LED that lives in a pelican case in my car.
 
I use these. Will never use a Mag again!
20089121091306.jpg
 
For "casual" flashlights, IMO you can't beat the Dorcy LED lights. Exceptionally bright, white light, good beam focus, nice rugged packages, and available at Target for reasonable prices, or online.

Last night I was eying a 220lumen version online...

For carry and bedside I keep my Hunter from Liotec.
 
I have several and love them all. I have upgraded each one to the LED lamp and love the extra battery life. I like them, because I can find then - I have a nasty habit of losing small flashlights. I have 1 4C, 2 2D and 1 4D. I never did take to the MiniMag lights, but have been kicking around their new 3watt LED 3 AA....Can't kill em, so I keep em...
 
I keep a five cell in the car and still have my mini-mag that I used in the Army, As many posters have pointed out, Mag Lights represent old technology compared to newer products available, however the same could also be said for the B52 bomber and the 1911 pistol. The Mag Light will still get you through the night.

Mark L.
 
yep incandecent Maglights, as a flashlight are ancient technology compared to the compact LED lights. I have a LED/Laser pointer combo I picked up for 10 bucks that uses 3 AAA batteries that is my primary flashlight/ dog toy. I have yet to replace the batteries in it!

The mag light is just a stealth club IMHO. I still keep one handy JIC
 
KMaurer said:
Another guy with a really old 4D Maglite. It's as good as ever, but fairly outdated, except when you need a handy club. I've got a ring belt carrier for it, but haven't really carried it since I got my first SureFire.

Ken
Click to expand...

Ditto. I used to keep it in my car but replaced it with an LED. I use it for walking the dog now. Still a great light though.
 
KMaurer said:
Another guy with a really old 4D Maglite. It's as good as ever, but fairly outdated, except when you need a handy club. I've got a ring belt carrier for it, but haven't really carried it since I got my first SureFire.

Ken
Click to expand...

+2 except that my MagLite is a 3 cell that I bought in 1981. I got the ring carrier for it too.

My Surefire is a 6P Defender and a BladeTech carrier.
 
I have several mini mags....each of them collecting dust in the equipment drawer where they went the day I acquired my first Surefire. I fell in love with it almost immediately. When i go to sleep at night I know that there is a pistol and a Surefire right next to me on (not in) the nightstand.
 
I have a bunch of the nice inexpensive flashlights with push button on-off by Brinkmann that I picked up at Wal-Mart. I have them everywhere and make my wife carry one in her laptop bag for when she's walking from the train to her car she can always have light.

When I was traveling to CA last week a woman across the aisle lost something and I asked her if she needed some light. When I reached up, opened the overhead, and pulled my light out of my knapsack without looking -- she was rather impressed! [smile]
 
Here's a vote for the LED Maglights, both full size and AA. I've had (and lost) Surefire flashlights. Yeah, the Surefire is a great product, but awfully expensive. I have a three D-cell LED Mag next to my bed and a four D-cell LED Mag in the truck. I installed a swivel stud in the tailcap of the truck light to attach a lanyard. For the money, you can't go wrong with a Mag LED.


Chris

Blackbear is NES resident expert on flashlights, contact him for more information including info on his Mag rebuilds--pretty cool stuff.
 
I have a 4 d-cell one thats older than me[smile] but I keep the liotech hunter in the nightstand and a fenix L0D in my pocket
 
My brother has my old 6 D-cell maglite that I bought on post back in 1984.
Still works and can be used to club zombies if needed.

I keep a 3D Mag with a high power LED in my truck at all times.

Old design, but still more than capable.

A little trivia. Ever wonder why cops used to carry C-cell Mag and Kel lights?

They were the same diameter as the old wooden batons and left similar bruises.
 
I have a BUNCH of Maglites but none of them are stock. They all have led's or Pelican bulbs with aluminum reflectors and Borofloat lenses or multiple led's. Many have smart drivers for regulation and multiple levels. Some are bored and cut and have tail switches. Modding maglites is a hobby of mine. I have one with a 100watt Osram bulb that will start fires in about 5 seconds [rofl]

There is a member of this board that wishes to remain nameless that has a shop and custom builds all kinds of lights. He is located near boston. You can find his videos on youtube. He is the originator of the firestarting maglite.
 
Do they have an LED upgrade kit/part? I have 4 Maglites around the house and in the vehicles. I checked out their website quickly but didn't see anything.
 
Maglite sells their own LED drop in replacement. Make sure you get the right one for the number of cells in your particular light. Walmart sells them for $10 to $15 dollars each
 
MagLite Still Gots It...

Hogie1 said:
Do they have an LED upgrade kit/part? I have 4 Maglites around the house and in the vehicles. I checked out their website quickly but didn't see anything.
Click to expand...

As Radio said - the LED upgrades are available. Stay away from Nite Eyez upgrades - they pretty much blow. Get the original MagLite LED upgrade bulbs. As far as I know there is no MagLite produced LED upgrade bulb for the AA and AAA models. They do offer the AA MiniMags in LED now and I purchased a 3-cell at DSG tonight, (part of the "DSG Employee Paycheck Reinvestment Program")...[grin] It's really sweet light and 1/4 the cost of more expensive mini lights. It's bright as hell - which is about as scientific as I get...[wink]
 
I have one of these in a 3D Maglight:

http://www.batteryjunction.com/tle-6k2.html

And I also have a Maglight LED upgrade in a 3C Maglight. Home Depot has the the Maglight upgrade and I got the Terralux one from Battery Junction (I know the owner. It's a reliable business.)

IMO, the Terralux upgrade is a bit better but both are good. If you already have the Maglight, definitely upgrade it to one of these LEDs. It's worthwhile just for the added battery life.

If you want an AA sized light, this is a good, reasonably cheap alternative: http://www.batteryjunction.com/tlf-3c2aaex.html
 
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I have some Maglights, AA, AAA, 2C, 2D. They are all pretty good quality, but as others have said, the technology is passing them by. That said, you can go with the Blackbear options to leverage the fine build quality with modern "guts".

I also have a $10-20 Target LED flashlight and a yellow auto store "Million Candlepower" spotlight, which, for $10 bucks with the rechargeable battery, is a great deal.
 
I have a 4D mag light. I thought it was awesome at the time. Then I bought a palm size surefire that seems about as heavy as one of the D cell batteries and it is just as bright as the mag light, has multiple brightness settings, longer runtime than the mag light, and the fact that it is an LED makes it infinitely tougher than the mag light as well. Also the thing is waterproof and shock proof and the beam is infinitely better than the mag light.

The catch? It was about two hundred and fifty dollars more than the mag light.

I'll never use the mag light again. It used to sit in my truck but the bulb burned out on me while I was using it and now I'll either throw it out and sell if for half the price that I bought it just to get rid of it. I've got a little Fenix that I keep in the truck that I bought for $60 bucks that can thow even more light than the surefire and has 5 or six brightness settings as well. I'm starting to like that better than the surefire.

Moral of the story? Mag lights used to be the bees knees. Now surefires take the cake for quality and reliability in my opinion and the Fenix lights take it when it comes to value. There is no comparison between these lights and the older incandescent giant bodied lights. The mag light does make a fine backup weapon though. You could really do some damage with that light if you had to, the finix and surefires that I have are not going to help you out much in a fight at all.
 
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BOBKATT said:
I have a 4D mag light. I thought it was awesome at the time. Then I bought a palm size surefire that seems about as heavy as one of the D cell batteries and it is just as bright as the mag light, has multiple brightness settings, longer runtime than the mag light, and the fact that it is an LED makes it infinitely tougher than the mag light as well. Also the thing is waterproof and shock proof and the beam is infinitely better than the mag light.

The catch? It was about two hundred and fifty dollars more than the mag light.

I'll never use the mag light again. It used to sit in my truck but the bulb burned out on me while I was using it and now I'll either throw it out and sell if for half the price that I bought it just to get rid of it. I've got a little Fenix that I keep in the truck that I bought for $60 bucks that can thow even more light than the surefire and has 5 or six brightness settings as well. I'm starting to like that better than the surefire.

Moral of the story? Mag lights used to be the bees knees. Now surefires take the cake for quality and reliability in my opinion and the Fenix lights take it when it comes to value. There is no comparison between these lights and the older incandescent giant bodied lights. The mag light does make a fine backup weapon though. You could really do some damage with that light if you had to, the finix and surefires that I have are not going to help you out much in a fight at all.
Click to expand...


Stick a MagLite LED Upgrade bulb in there and you might just love your old MagLite again...It will be a thumper with a bright light all in one and you'll never lose it...[wink] For what it's worth, MagLite may be late to the party when it comes to LED, but I bought a 3-cell AA 3-Watt MagLite here at Dicks for $18.00, (after my discount) and this sucker is bright! Certainly, it does not compare to my Liotec Hunter, but it lights up a room to be sure and is $90.00 cheaper....
 
MassMark said:
Stick a MagLite LED Upgrade bulb in there and you might just love your old MagLite again...It will be a thumper with a bright light all in one and you'll never lose it...[wink] For what it's worth, MagLite may be late to the party when it comes to LED, but I bought a 3-cell AA 3-Watt MagLite here at Dicks for $18.00, (after my discount) and this sucker is bright! Certainly, it does not compare to my Liotec Hunter, but it lights up a room to be sure and is $90.00 cheaper....
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. I just checked out this site:

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/maglite_mag-led.htm

This shows the Mag 4D LED at 50% runtime at 43 hours! Holy smokes. That is unheard of in a Mag. One of my biggest complaints has been the ultra-short runtime that I get out of the 4D. I am going to see if I can find the LED conversion for it and if it works like this guy says it does, it might just become my truck light again.

That site has some great reviews by the way. Everyone looking to buy a light should check that site out first.
 
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