Don Kellers last hurrah- the Brinkmann Legend

[Chauncey Gardiner]

Nice discovery. Did you dremel out the Legend bulb holder?

Hi sgt253,

I recently purchased a 4D Legend, and yes, I needed to Dremel the bulb holder and the reflector for everything to fit.
Four

are scheduled to arrive in tomorrow's mail.

I also realized I didn't have a charger that D batteries would fit. Quick! Off to Amazon.

One 4D Legend Flashlight - < $7
Nitecore Charger - $18.95
Four Tenergy Batteries - $32.10
Malkoff XM-L Drop In - $80.25
Total = Flashaholic

~ Chance

 

[ven]

Very cool guys, you dont mess around CG:rock:

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

Very cool guys, you dont mess around CG:rock:

CG's had a real tight hold on his wallet lately, so this was a fun way to help boost the economy.

Adjusting Big Red for the best balance between hotspot and flood left the head a little too loose. :thinking: Two layers of teflon tape proved to be just the ticket for securing it, while still allowing for some future adjustment. :twothumbs

~ CG, Not just a pretty face.

 

[bykfixer]

Good idea on the Teflon tape.

I noticed a bit of wobble in the Legend, also one called "Great Lite" and a 3c Radio Shack number, neither of which are 'Malk-off-able' but still worthy of going into the "California Cop Light (or inspired by) display.

 

[bykfixer]

Bump:
Post Don Keller Brinkmann products.

A couple of classics mostly forgotten about.
A 3D Brinkmann Code 4 and a 2x123 Maxfire.
Both made outside the US.

Long ago a company called LA Screw built a cop light called Code 4. At the time it was a pretty nice light. Later others built better products and LA Screw was bought by GT Price. GT Price went for cheaper/ faster production so the Code 4 fell through the cracks while Streamlight, Maglite and others built better stuff. Later Brinkmann bought the rights and design of the Code 4 and produced them for a time.

Meanwhile Brinkmann also produced a polymer light kinda like a SureFire G2 or Streamlight Polytac. It had a special bulb/reflector set so if the bulb blew they usually got stashed in a drawer or tossed in the garbage. I malkoff'd mine with a M61N4L. A similar output to the original bulb with a million billion hours of run time from 2 CR123 batteries.

The SST20 LED has that old school light bulb throw.

 

[jz6342]

I bought a 2D and a 2AA (with the switch on the tail) back in the late 80's/early 90's. I really liked both but the rubber grips didn't last too long - less than a year as I recall.

 

[bykfixer]

Don's concepts from the budding Kel-Lite days depicted rubberized sleeves that never made it to the light until his days at Brinkmann where the Legend series had them.

He did the 2aa Legend with a clicky because he never could convince Tony Maglica to build the minimag that way when he worked at Maglite.

The Legend series were never built to his standards because Brinkmann insisted on less cost to produce and when they decided to go over seas for production Don left Brinkmann. After that about the only durable light Brinkmann built was the 2xCR123 Rebel LX6 (6 volt, xenon bulb).

That one flopped because they chose the bi-pin route and the pin holder used a soft metal that oversized in time so the bulb would fall out leaving the user in unexpected darkness. If you bent the pins in a zig zag fashion they stayed in pretty well. It was destined for the mega sales of the box store market but never caught on.

Edit; in post #1 I called it Legend LX6 but I'm pretty sure it was one of the Rebel series not Legend.

 

[this_is_nascar]

I still have one of these sitting on my dresser.

 

[bykfixer]

Does yours have a tail cap button that's really stiff?
I think I read somewhere that some had a head that could focus the beam. Mine is the non focus-able kind

 

[rrego]

Bump:
Post Don Keller Brinkmann products.
View attachment 31577
A couple of classics mostly forgotten about.
A 3D Brinkmann Code 4 and a 2x123 Maxfire.
Both made outside the US.

Long ago a company called LA Screw built a cop light called Code 4. At the time it was a pretty nice light. Later others built better products and LA Screw was bought by GT Price. GT Price went for cheaper/ faster production so the Code 4 fell through the cracks while Streamlight, Maglite and others built better stuff. Later Brinkmann bought the rights and design of the Code 4 and produced them for a time.

Meanwhile Brinkmann also produced a polymer light kinda like a SureFire G2 or Streamlight Polytac. It had a special bulb/reflector set so if the bulb blew they usually got stashed in a drawer or tossed in the garbage. I malkoff'd mine with a M61N4L. A similar output to the original bulb with a million billion hours of run time from 2 CR123 batteries.
View attachment 31578
The SST20 LED has that old school light bulb throw.

Byk, does that Malkoff drop-in work with no modification in the Brinkmann?

I have a couple of these Maxfires, one with a 3.7V swapped incan drop-in and it would be super cool to use the other one with a Malkoff.

 

[rrego]

Don's concepts from the budding Kel-Lite days depicted rubberized sleeves that never made it to the light until his days at Brinkmann where the Legend series had them.

He did the 2aa Legend with a clicky because he never could convince Tony Maglica to build the minimag that way when he worked at Maglite.

The Legend series were never built to his standards because Brinkmann insisted on less cost to produce and when they decided to go over seas for production Don left Brinkmann. After that about the only durable light Brinkmann built was the 2xCR123 Rebel LX6 (6 volt, xenon bulb).
View attachment 37024
That one flopped because they chose the bi-pin route and the pin holder used a soft metal that oversized in time so the bulb would fall out leaving the user in unexpected darkness. If you bent the pins in a zig zag fashion they stayed in pretty well. It was destined for the mega sales of the box store market but never caught on.

Edit; in post #1 I called it Legend LX6 but I'm pretty sure it was one of the Rebel series not Legend.

I also have a few of these lights (bought a small lot on eB), but mine are labeled Bluepoint and they are black on black (black body, black head sleeves).

 

[chillinn]

the only durable light Brinkmann built was the 2xCR123 Rebel LX6 (6 volt, xenon bulb).

Legend LX6
ledmuseum review
flashlightreviews archive

I had one of those 2xAA with the fat tailswitch, in matte silver and blue rubber. Could it have been before 1978? I was too young to understand the lockout, but I remember it. The lamp didn't last through the first set of cells, and as a kid there was no way I could figure out what to do about that. I remember coming across it a couple years later and changing the batteries, thinking it would work, then rediscovering the lamp was burned out. Prior to late 2013, when I got two Maratac AAA, in Al and Cu, that Brinkmann was the only other flashlight I personally owned previously. It was a stocking stuffer.

 

[bykfixer]

Byk, does that Malkoff drop-in work with no modification in the Brinkmann?

I have a couple of these Maxfires, one with a 3.7V swapped incan drop-in and it would be super cool to use the other one with a Malkoff.

I put a Malkoff M61N4L in mine with no modification required. Some had said in the past they could not get it to fit. Perhaps there's more than one version of the Maxfire? I just plucked out the bulb retainer stuff and reflector and viola, it fits.

Chillin' the LX6 was done post Don Keller. He reportedly left Brinkmann in 2000 if I recall correct. That is to say he went back to work at Maglite in 2000.

 

[aznsx]

He did the 2aa Legend with a clicky because he never could convince Tony Maglica to build the minimag that way when he worked at Maglite.

JMHO, but if we ever voted for the single biggest error in judgment ever made by a U.S. manufacturer in flashlight history, this would get my vote - no question - not even a second thought. I know the 2AA Mini had other attributes unmatched by most others in that market space, and thus was still incredibly successful in spite of this, but personally I've never been a fan or dedicated user of them, for exactly this reason. I might argue that Mag could have offered both (2 versions) very easily, and they would likely have sold ever more of them; certainly to me. I'd probably still be buying / using them today were it not for that shortcoming (lacking a 2-stage momentary / maintained-on tailswitch) [again, in my opinion], so they could have sold even more than they have. TM should have listened to DK on that one.

 

[bykfixer]

The pressure switch for the minimag was a marvelous invention. And I'm pretty sure ole Tony wasn't going to be told a clicker tailcap was a better option. Especially when they were selling like 1 every 36 seconds or something like that.

 

[chillinn]

I like tail clickies, but honestly I prefer tail twisties to tail clickies. Both often have momentary, but the twisty is silent, has less moving parts so it is more durable, and it usually can handle more amps without failing. The minimag is really a hybrid of both kinds, though still nothing like a tail switch. It is a mechanical switch, and yet it is activated by twisting. Kind of miraculous.

 

[aznsx]

tail twisties

Done those too. Same issue. Almost always require a second hand for me (not to mention often a change in grip, which is also 'out' for me), and I usually don't have a second hand to spare, and even when I do use one successfully, it always takes longer, and more important, has to be a pristine (uncontaminated) hand, which mine often are not. Simply not an option for me. No such issues exist in any case with a pushbutton. My Elzetta uses a twist tailcap for 'Low', but I fortunately seldom use low. My Strion incan used one for maintained-on, but fortunately, in the environment I used that one in, I only rarely used maintained-on. 'Bout the only time I used it was when others (frequently) asked to use my light, and I had to do it for them because everyone found it non-intuitive if I didn't. User-dependent, but the pushbutton likely works for most anyone, under most all circumstances. No unnecessary ergonomic limitations for me. I have enough problems without those. My lights are critical to my work, and the conditions are usually sub-optimal to say the least.

 

[chillinn]

Almost always require a second hand for me

 

[aznsx]

You're clearly very different from me. Agreed

 

[aznsx]

The pressure switch for the minimag was a marvelous invention. And I'm pretty sure ole Tony wasn't going to be told a clicker tailcap was a better option. Especially when they were selling like 1 every 36 seconds or something like that.

We're peas in a CPF pod man

Although I'm all American, I also much prefer cherry to apple pie, for the record.

Differences of opinion and unresolvable speculation aside, I have a factual history question:

Is or was the AA MM 'rotate head for on / off' element covered by a patent?