It arrived this morning- I wasn`t expecting it so soon either, and I am fairly well impressed...
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I was a little worried that it wouldn`t be very good- but don`t worry for it is. It fits the AA cell MiniMag very well, and when tightened on, it won`t unscrew while turning it to switch between modes. Knurling makes it easier to screw on and turn too.
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Very solidly built, the turn-action switch is smooth with a "click" between each position. It doesn`t come with its own battery spring- you have to use the one from the Mag`s tail cap, but it fits in there quite well. I didn`t get it in right the first time so it flickered a bit to begin with, but putting it straight cured that minor mishap
A nice thing I thought, was the fact that there is still a space to store a spare Mag bulb- I thought its internal workings would have meant this was lost, but no- your spare still has a home.
How does it work then? Well simply, fit it in place of the Mag`s tail cap, and turn it to select modes. The Mag head acts as the on/off switch- when the LEDs are used, current flows through the bulb (low enough not to light it) so you need an intact bulb or it won`t work. With the "tuner" in the anticlockwise position, the normal Mag bulb lights with no noticeable reduction in brightness- but I wasn`t expecting any. It acts like it wasn`t there.
Turn the "tuner" to the centre position and you get the white LED. There must be an inverter in there as it`s actually quite bright. Not AAA-Arc standards but it is a bit brighter than my Infinity (perhaps 7 candela?) so probably perfectly useable as a long burn time, low output lamp- though I`ll have to wait till after dark to take beam comparison shots and have a general play with it to see how well it does.
Turn all the way clockwise and you get the red LED- this was a little dissapointing, I was expecting it to be brighter than the white (they usually are) but it is dimmer- and has a few rings too. But- for night vision preserving applications it is ideal as it won`t dazzle you and the beam is wider than the white so it`s good up close. Again, night will have to come before I know exactly how well it does.
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An interesting feature is that as you turn between the white and red positions, in the middle both will light- and happlily stay there too. Not sure what applications you would need both for, but it`s there all the same. Unfortunately you can`t have the Mag bulb and an LED together.
I havn`t metered it yet to see how much power is drawn. I`d expect the red to take less power than the white- stay tuned, I`ll do this before long as soon as my meter`s test leads surface....now where`d they get to....
Things I didn`t like. Well it is not anodised or coated in any way- just plain aluminum. Looks OK at the moment but it will inevitably tarnish a bit and lose its shine. And the bare silver doesn`t match my blue Mag so it stands out a bit as being "not right"- it would have been nice to offer them in matching anodised colours. Perhaps they are planning to do this in the future? I`ll have to get in touch and ask.
Also, a suction-test showed it wasn`t waterproof (air leaked in round the LEDs so water will do so too)- but keep it way from the streams and seas and you`ll be fine. Pity really, since the MiniMag is water resistant normally. It should be fine in light rain, but don`t hold it LEDs upward for too long.
Overall, a nice little accessory- it gives a reasonable light and extends the versatility of the MiniMag. It is solidly built, the LEDs are deeply recessed away from harm and it won`t afect normal operation of the main Mag beam when required. The two different colour LEDs are handy to have and it doesn`t add to the weight or bulk
too much. Your Mag grows by about an inch in length though which some may not like, but it`s like carrying 3 flashlights in one so I`m not complaining.
I`ll write a full review when I get the chance (well there`s a lot to do here besides the 30+ other flashlights and the rest of the site too, so it`ll be a while) but a preliminary page will show on my
LED section within 3 days.
