Ok, just ran onto this thread, and it looks like a good place to show my new Mags.
Over the years, I've mostly collected vintage D and C cell Maglites. I do have all of the sizes, 2 through 7 cell D & C, and some of the old "paten pending" pieces. Also have some of the D sizes with company logos, such as Harley Davidson, Boeing, Mr. Goodwrench, Chevy Trucks, rainbow & checkered flag Nascar, Vari-Beam, etc., as well as lots of cool colors. Many of these I have posted in the rare Maglite thread at some point.
I also have some older hopped up 2C - 300 lumen Mags that I keep in the vehicles and around the house as backups, and really like them for their durability and dependability. I have a sort of sentimental connection to Maglites, being made in America, being the first higher quality lights that I owned back in the day, and having used them for many years as a Realtor before the Li-Ion era. I can't count the number of times that a Real Estate client said, "Hey, lemme see that light for a minute", or "wow, other agents never have a flashlight". (I always have a light, a 30 ft. tape, a 100 ft. tape, a ladder in my truck, and a business degree. Housewife Realtors have a purse, and nicer legs). Anyway...
I now use various models of high power Li-Ion lights for daily use, Real Estate, and camping, such as Malkoff, Fenix, Acebeam, and Imalent. I'm very much enjoying the technology advancements in LEDs and batteries, so I never really got too interested in the modern era LED Mags, as they do seem to lag a bit behind in bang for the buck.
Having said all of that, I had been eyeballing these three for a while, mostly for collecting purposes, because I think they look cool, and because I want to give Maglite some business, hoping they will survive. The red and blue Liberty models seem to be showing up less frequently, as well as the green ML50LX, so I figured now is a good time to spring for them.
I mostly plan on keeping them for my collection, not wanting to bang them up, and since I have much more powerful & efficient modern lights for normal use, but here are my observations. The ML25LT seems to impress me more than the ML50LX, as far as performance. At 177 lumens, the 25LT seems to dial in a pretty tight spot, offering some pretty impressive throw.
The 50LX offers 611 lumens, but doesn't have the tightly focused spot, and for the amount of lumens, the throw seems to spread out and dissipate at a distance. I also don't really care for the UI, with the 4 different groups, and not being able to access all 5 settings (high, low, eco, momentary, and strobe) in any one group, and I don't really find a group that I prefer. Each group seems like an undesirable trade-off. It does look cool though. I like the grip, the matte green, and the resemblance to the Mags of yesteryear. I didn't really expect it to compete with the modern imports, but I did expect it to do a little better. I do wonder if the light & switch are overall as durable and dependable as the older Mags. I have some doubts about that.
@Bykfixer, Does the ML50LX have the parasitic drain?
Here they are:
Love the look and design of these.
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The somewhat unimpressive mode groups:
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The old and the new. 2C and 3C
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