Modern Maglite collections

[bykfixer]

It seems Maglite has broken ties with big box stores. It was a sad day for me when a stroll down the flashlight row at Lowes or Home Depot meant no more Maglites.

WalMarts seemingly only have the 3 cell ML50's and Targets cleared them out long ago. Hardware stores like Ace or Grainger still have some but those are usually covered with dust. But Grainger was the only source for 2 setting ML25's and classic 2D upgrades from 019 for a while. Wal Mart had some 2 setting ML25's for a while.

Solitaires are long gone from store shelves.

 

[Katherine Alicia]

Bykfixer, is that some sort of TIR ontop of the LED dome in that prototype #10? it looks kinda cool but also somewhat delicate at the same time.

 

[Beamhead]

Bykfixer, is that some sort of TIR ontop of the LED dome in that prototype #10? it looks kinda cool but also somewhat delicate at the same time.

It appears to be a Luxeon Batwing LED.

 

[bykfixer]

I do not know the exact model etc but obtained it from Don Keller himself a while back.

It's riding in a 2c Kel-Lite from around 1973.

Here's a tailcap thought to have been produced by Tony Maglica

A 4c I bid on at eBay and won
When conversing with Don Keller I mentioned a silver 4c I won at eBay and asked about the unique tail cap. He said "oh that was you that won? I stopped bidding at $35" he said. lol.
Anyway when orders exceeded Kel-Lite's ability to keep up an unknown machinist (Tony Maglica) who crafted brass shells for the US Navy at the time was asked to machine some of the tail caps for Kel-Lite. Don said he thought that was one of them. It's been said that Tony began thinking about building his own flashlight after making some parts for Kel-Lite and in '74 created Mag Instruments. By '78 he had some ideas that he set out to have patented. By '81 Mag Instrument was known as Mag-Lite.

 

[treek13]

Bykfixer's prototype #10 has a side emitting Luxeon. It was one of the three original types. First came the batwing (low dome), then the lambertian (high dome) and the side emitter. They were never as popular as the other ones at least as far as flashlights.

 

[Katherine Alicia]

I have a couple of dozen low dome types (mostly deep red) I`v never seen a side emitter though, I love this place!

 

[bykfixer]

I had always been a Maglite fan while a member here, but for a time only a few brave folks would speak well of their newer ideas. There were more "why I hate Maglite" type threads than anything else. A little here, a little there I'd buy a Maglite product at Wal Mart mainly to give away as I knew they were solid flashlights for a non flashaholic family member or friend. Along the way limited edition numbers were added or really old ones. The minimag I bought circa '91 was restored to stock and placed on a shelf among retired favorites from long ago.

I tried the XL200 but gave it away as I just didn't get the interface. But not long ago a thread about being a Maglite fan again was created and the vibe was pretty cool. Information in that one piqued my curiosity so I hit the clearance section at MagSite and scored a few early versions of the ML series and a couple of XL models. Then Maglite had a black friday sale with nearly 1/3 off everything. That was when I tried stuff that had been beyond what I was willing to pay. They also lowered their prices on some items to match the price they had at big box stores. Combine that with a 25% off for 25 days before Christmas and next thing you know the brown truck was stopping at my house once a week for the entire month of December.

One such package was scheduled to arrive on a day Mrs Fixer was slated to work late. Cool, I can wrap it while she's at work. But UPS bumped it up two days. Oh no, that's her day off and she's definitely going to want to know what's in the box. A gray 2 cell ML50LX. She said "I'm going to meet so n so at the mall and will be back in 30 minutes". As she turned to corner out of site the brown truck pulls up and drops off her Christmas present. Note, she has more tools than I do so a flashlight is a natural. I grab the box, fumble around with wrapping paper as I suck at wrapping presents. I finish and stash it under the tree amonst other items then pour an ice cold beverage as Mrs Fixer pops in the door "I'm baaaaack"……
Phew, that was a close one.

I ended up giving away a bunch of modern Maglites. The mailman, the UPS man, the garbage collector, the recycling man and some neighbors. Every one knew of Maglite.

 

[madmardigan2]

First time poster :wave:I've got two Maglite C2s. One in hunter orange and the other is black. Tried to post a picture of them but can't figure out that function just yet. My son calls the orange one his "cheeto flashlight" lol. I'm digging seeing everyone else's collections - wow.

 

[xxo]

First time poster :wave:I've got two Maglite C2s. One in hunter orange and the other is black. Tried to post a picture of them but can't figure out that function just yet. My son calls the orange one his "cheeto flashlight" lol. I'm digging seeing everyone else's collections - wow.

Welcome to the forum.


To post pics, you need to upload them to a photo hosting site like imgur then copy the direct link and click on the little picture icon and paste your pic's link in when you post.

 

[bykfixer]

Using a sharing site:

Here's the box xxo spoke of

Click on that and see this.

Click on from URL

Uncheck box, past URL and hit ok

'Cause we really, really, really want to see that orange Maglite……

 

[LiftdT4R]

Welcome to the thread Lift'd. Your input is greatly appreciated. For those who don't know, Lift'd is a world class Maglite collector and a walking Maglite encyclopedia. He played a big part in the vintage california cop light thread as well.

You raise a good point about when Maglite became modern. Some would argue "They are? Really?" as in some ways they lag behind like no USB charge ports or 18650 friendly. Now to me that's kind of like saying Colt's newest M1911 Combat Elite Commander is outdated because it uses old 1908 German 9mm Luger sized rounds. "The Kimber Rapide Black Ice uses 10mm rounds so it's better" some say. And Maglite still aims much of their line up to be powered by 1950's alkaline fuel cells. Yet like the 9mm and the M1911, the alkaline fuel cell is still pretty popular out in the wild.

So when did the Maglite of 1979 become the modern Maglite? In '92 when they stepped up the accuracy of barrel size and resulting in a lighter weight flashlight? Instead of a sprinkler pipe sized barrel they became more svelt resulting in a tube with less battery rattle. Was it when Tony Maglica and Don Keller developed the LED drop in for the big lights? When the lineup up went all LED? Or when the ML series were introduced?
Hmmmmm.

You are far too kind Mr. Fixer.

I suppose after enough time has passed all of these will be considered classics.

I really have a soft spot from Mag's hey day from 1996 to 2006. Maglite was selling upwards of 10,000,000 lights these years and I remember them being sold everywhere! You couldn't walk through a Sports Authority without seeing at least 3 displays of lights. Now you'll be hard pressed to even find a sporting goods store.

Here's a couple of my favorite from that era, 2 - Y2K Maglites.

In 1999 you really had to be prepared for the upcoming digital apocalypse and what prep kit wouldn't be complete without a Maglite!

 

[bykfixer]

I've been watching a tv show called Jerico recently and after a couple of episodes an emp killed all of the power in Kansas and every computer, cellular phone and nearly every thing else. Yet the local police and some others have 4D Maglites that still work in the show. Incan. You can tell by the ugly beam. No donut hole mind you, just Maglite rings and filament shadow. Now shortly after seeing that in an episode I saw your Y2k edition Maglites and chuckled.

BTW Jericho is a short lived tv series about a small town in Kansas after America was decimated by a hydrogen bomb attack in several places. So I'm looking at my assortment of ML's and think "hmmmm, at least they'd make for good piggy banks in the event of an emp attack.

Hopefully the classic 2D LED from 2019 with hi and not so hi settings would be ok because the not so hi would be my mega run time flashlight in a bad time like the apocolypse. Fast forward 30 minutes and it looks like Maglite still has some 4D xenon and 3D krypton lights in stock. So……

 

[bykfixer]

In honor of national law enforcement day

aaa minimag LED and solitaire LED
Proceeds go to the national law enforcement memorial fund.

 

[Guitar Guy]

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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[bykfixer]

All of the ML series with pushbutton switch have a standby so yes they do use electricity when turned off. Simply loosen the tailcap around a half turn to stop it.

Now one thing not a lot of people seem to notice (but you might GG since you have an ML25 to compare) is when you turn the ML50 to the mid setting (called low) it turns into an ML25 style beam. By turning down the output the spot in the center is nearly the same throw without all of the side spill brightness.

You can use the tailcap of the ML25 for on/off or signaling.

For your real estate use check out the triple a minimag sometime.

 

[xxo]

I use mostly momentary on my ML50LX, so I keep it set to function set 3 because I also use eco mode very often. When I use it as a lantern (with a 3D printed stand and defuser), I switch it to set 1 to get the medium mode. If I were using it with a traffic wand or as a warning flare out on the road, I would set it to function set 2 to get strobe. I find that changing function sets is easier than trying to remember some flow chart to get to all the different modes. BTW, the E switch is great for momentary.

I would like it is Mag added a function set that started in eco and went to medium and high. I would also love it if Mag came out with a extended range ML50 with a lower lumen throwier LED, like on the ML25 or maybe one of the Osram LEDs.

In addition to the 2 AAA Mini Mag LED Byk suggested, you might want to look into a 192 lumen 3 mode 2C ML25 as a user - there's no beating these two for simplicity and value! And you can run the ML25 (and ML50) on eneloops or even a 18650 or a 21700 in adapters to keep from using alkaleaks.

 

[bykfixer]

I was asked my thoughts on Maglite products recently and I requested a 5th setting array called "power out" (or something like that) that would be the opposite of mode 1. I stated how tail standing an ML50 or 300 on eco can provide enough ceiling bounce to light a small room well enough to read by and that was what got me hooked on the ML 50 and 300 to start with.
They tout the 4 cell ML300 runs for up to two weeks on eco so I figured why not suggest an option to start that one on eco.

 

[Guitar Guy]

Thank guys. @XXO, Yes, I did experiment with the different sets, and I agree that set #3 is a good one. Having the momentary is something I always liked about Maglites. I probably like #3 better than set #1. I think a better method would have been to eliminate the sets, and have the settings ramp up from momentary, to eco, low, high, and then strobe. It wouldn't have been any more difficult to access strobe or different settings, because currently, you still have to turn the light off and then press several clicks to access a different setting.

Speaking of diffusers, I have one that I bought for my Fenix TK47-UE that works well for Maglites. It doesn't snap on, but when tail standing, it sits down over a C or D Mag head and works very well.

@Byk, thanks for the info. It's not that hard to loosen the tail cap. Seems like ¼ to ½ turn is all it takes. I've started doing this with some of my pocket lights with tail switches to keep them from turning on in my pocket when I sit down. I heated up my thigh one day and it almost had me dancing. I guess the ML25s don't have the parasitic drain with the rotary switches?

To be honest, for inspecting houses, and general EDC, I've gone to the Fenix LD30. It is not much larger than the 18650 inside, has a great beam, five nice modes from 30 to 1600 lumens, great runtimes, and a great 2 way pocket clip – for deep pocket carry or hat use. I barely can feel it in my pocket, and if I'm crawling around an attic or crawl space, it's not to heavy to clip onto my Century 21 hat. I've also used it on the hat for carrying groceries, taking out garbage, etc., with great results.

Of course, I carry some spare CR123s in the truck, for extreme cold weather, along with a hot rodded 2C Mag with NiMH Tenergy low self drain cells that I really only have to re charge once or twice a year. I can use the LD30 on the 2nd​ or 3rd​ mode, and it's more than enough. I can go to 4 or 5 for the wow factor and to light up every cobweb & hairline plaster crack. I've come to accept the fact that most of my Mags, for now, are shelf queens.

Also, I've used my Fenix E15 and E16 for tail stand / ceiling bounce. Works great. I have so many Li-Ion lights these days that I've practically eliminated the need for my oil lamps and many spare bottles of oil. I also picked up the Fenix CL26R camping lantern, which runs on an 18650. It's magnetic top slaps right onto the metal center cover of my living room ceiling fan, or onto my metal bathroom cabinet, or kitchen range hood. It also has a fold down metal hook for hanging. It's small and has great mode choices / runtimes, and even can go to red & red flashing, if you want to stick it to the side of the car while changing a flat. I've probably used my Fenix lights more than any other over the last 10 or more years.

You guys didn't mention the Liberty designs and star etchings on the red and blue Mags. What do you think? I think they are beautiful and very cool.

JT

 

[xxo]

GG Those Liberty ML25's are real nice! I can see keeping them pristine for a collection, though I would have to have a plain ML25 to keep me from using the collectibles.


I disagree on putting a ramp on the momentary, I would hate the light flipping through modes – when I want momentary I want it to stay on full power for however long I keep the switch pressed regardless if it's a few milliseconds or an hour. Come to think of it, I wouldn't mind a "tactical" momentary only function set that only did momentary no matter how many times you quick click the switch. Oh and a optional dual switch tailcap would be real nice too.


I like that the Mag function sets keep things simple while still being customizable. Most people don't want or need a bunch of modes. One of the things I dislike about Chinese lights is that many are way too complicated, I'm glad Mags are not.

 

[bykfixer]

I like the Liberty Bell and Lady Liberty editions of the ML25. They've been in "my cart" a few times but when buying limited editions I end up buying lights where a portion goes to a good cause. Mostly cops or veterans and recently St Judes.