Mag love or hate?

[Monocrom]

Love.

If not for Mag most of us wouldn't be here.

Respect.

"Most" being the key word. I'm here due to a $1.99 G.E. Halloween-colored light. (Black bezel and side-switch with orange body. All plastic, with raised circular grooves on the plastic lens.) In terms of performance, reliability, and price; it put my 3D-cell Mag to absolute shame. The Mag barely lasted 3 years with practically zero use. The G.E. light lasted 12 with occasional use. Still.... 12 years in exchange for two dollars?? Best value I've ever encountered.

I actually stayed away from lights for a few years because of Maglite. Thankfully my addiction was stronger than my negative experience.

 

[ForrestChump]

"Most" being the key word. I'm here due to a $1.99 G.E. Halloween-colored light. (Black bezel and side-switch with orange body. All plastic, with raised circular grooves on the plastic lens.) In terms of performance, reliability, and price; it put my 3D-cell Mag to absolute shame. The Mag barely lasted 3 years with practically zero use. The G.E. light lasted 12 with occasional use. Still.... 12 years in exchange for two dollars?? Best value I've ever encountered.

I actually stayed away from lights for a few years because of Maglite. Thankfully my addiction was stronger than my negative experience.

I loved my 2D.

A Maglight, reading Calvin & Hobbes, listening to Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell, thinking about where I was going to hide my homework.

 

[Str8stroke]

I have several & I love the Double Ds! :devil:

 

[mudcamper]

Mag lights? There are so many options that are better. Why bother?

Curious: What better options are there that run on alkaline D cells?

 

[Bullzeyebill]

Wow. What I can say is I started out with mags as a junior flashaholic, used them for years and was satisfied with them. Later when I became involved with CPF, I still used them and enjoyed the mods that can be done with them. Of course, later I moved to the awesome lights that CPF exposed to me, but I will never diminish the value of those mag bodies, and still use some of the cut down mods with LEDs. It would be good indeed if Mag does not do away with those Incan models so we can enjoy modding them for awhile. BTW, if I missed something,maybe they may have stopped their production Please correct me re this.

Not sure the value of this thread, not from my perspective as a flashaholic, but my perspective as a moderator. Maybe it needs to end.

Bill

 

[rayman]

I would say I really love Maglites especially the D-Maglites. I modded quite a few and have XM-L 2D Maglite right beside my bed. Also my first flashlight was a green 2AA Minimag .

I really like that it is easy to mod them and as the host are pretty simple you got plenty of room for drivers etc.

rayman

 

[torchsarecool]

My first love of torches is thanks to maglite. I got a 2aa mag for my birthday when I was 13 years old and it was amazing!! I still have it, it still works.....I never use it, relegated to the shelf by a choice of sunwaymans, fenixs, olights and eagletacs.

my son will be getting a 2aa incandescent for his 7th birthday. It was a simple choice amongst the many options. Its a keep sake though and will probably not be used as he likes to borrow "dads mega bright torches"

Therefore for me maglite=ornament/keepsake


ps. Respect the guys who have the ability to modify these things into monsters. Thats not something Im capable of.

 

[Bullzeyebill]

Well said.

Bill

 

[martinaee]

I've come full circle back to maglites again since they were favorites as a kid. The current 2aaa is especially good, & has simultaneously replaced both my Fenix e05 as an edc & 6p for around the house/general use at a fraction of the price.

I agree. The latest 2aaa led mag is nice for general around the house stuff. It come on fairly easily so I wouldn't necessarily carry it around say in my pockets all day loosely, but it is great for general purpose stuff and has a nice beam tint surprisingly.

 

[bdogps]

My first torch(flash light) was a 3d cell Maglite. To me, when I was 11-13 years old, this was the brightest and best light in the world. Other brands were crap and they were the best, period. I remember when they came out with the first led 3d cell, but said to myself, "nope, don't like led, they look bright but do not really shine much light." I bought a torch for my wife, then girlfriend a snap on torch. Costco were only selling 3d led Maglites.

Fast forward to 2014, I love led lights. I have one nitecore, 3 thrunites, 1 Olight, 1 fenix, and 1 Armytek. I love using the 18650s and how cost effective they are.

I loved my Maglite, but running cost were expensive. I remember getting about 1-2 hours run time from 3d and those batteries were expensive. I only used Duracell, because they would give me the best run times. That was when I lived in the US. I live in Australia now, 2 D cell batteries cost about 5-8 dollars. It would be nice if they made 18650s more main stream, but until then, people will chose maglites due to ease access and 3d cells being easily accessible.

I don't know if this happen to anyone else, I really hated those back up bulbs in the tail cap, I use to always break them because I use to not position them correctly.

Great thread.

Sent from my iPhone using Candlepowerforums

 

[Treeguy]

Carried a 3D Maglite on my belt for years as a rent-a-cop in the city back in the 80s. Wore it for so long the knurling was rubbed smooth where it brushed against my pants.

When you're down five levels into the underground parking at 3am, the heft of that light was very comforting. :thumbsup:

 

[Poppy]

Carried a 3D Maglite on my belt for years as a rent-a-cop in the city back in the 80s. Wore it for so long the knurling was rubbed smooth where it brushed against my pants.

When you're down five levels into the underground parking at 3am, the heft of that light was very comforting. :thumbsup:

Yes, a bit of an equalizer :thumbsup: For years, I carried a 3D, or 3C mag in my car. A legal club, with a purpose. Today, a 2AA indestructible will make a nice fist loader, I know SOME people really like those indestructibles

 

[akg414]

I think the Mags are a must for any collection. Even if a little old-school... They certainly feel good in the hand and can used in a defensive manner if needed. I keep a 3D cell in my truck and small AA in my shop. A classic all the way

 

[MCK0704]

I just started getting into flashlights recently and bought a Maglite last week. It's worked fine so far, but I plan on getting other lights in the future, so we'll see how I'll feel later on.

 

[MidnightDistortions]

Maglites are good for old school lighting, mostly nostalgic feel, they hold up to the test of time (some i have seen working 20+ years) and they work great for basic use. They should be taking advantage of the current flashlight technology though, it kinda puts them into a corner of those cheap dollar flashlights you can buy at a fleamarket. Their LED counterparts are nice but they all produce less than 200 lumens which is weak, there are far better lights out there.

 

[mudcamper]

it kinda puts them into a corner of those cheap dollar flashlights you can buy at a fleamarket.

I think this is an inaccurate and unfair characterization. Dollar store lights will last a year, maybe, if you're lucky. My Mags never die. I have a couple that are over 30 years old and still going strong. I doubt ANY of the current generation of Chinese lights will ever do that.

Their LED counterparts are nice but they all produce less than 200 lumens which is weak, there are far better lights out there.

Well two things here. First, the 3rd gen Mag LEDs are over 500 lumens. Second, the reason you don't see the crazy high lumen numbers is because these lights are running off low voltage alkaline consumer D cells. And that is their target market. The unwashed masses have no interest in exotic lithium ion rechargeables. And another thing, while the lumen levels may not be all that high, the candelas and beam distances outshine most more expensive lights.

 

[Monocrom]

You're fortunate. Q.C. clearly slipped at the place from 30 years ago. My 3D model barely lasted three years, then completely fell apart in my hands after doing nothing but riding underneath the driver's seat of my car.

 

[hhmoore]

I've got three 4D MagLites - one in each truck, and one in the house. I've had them for nearly 20 yrs. I also had a basic, cheap light in the house for when I didn't want to deal with the bulk of the Mag. I really didn't use a flashlight much; so I was basically oblivious to this world until about a year ago. My single AA LED lights are at least as bright as my old Maglites; and I've got 5 (soon to be 6) that simply blue them away. I'll keep the 3 MagLites where they are, partially for their non-lighting potential; but, if I want to see, I'm more likely to reach for something else.
I haven't explored their newer offerings; but I have toyed with the idea of updating/converting mine.

 

[MidnightDistortions]

I think this is an inaccurate and unfair characterization. Dollar store lights will last a year, maybe, if you're lucky. My Mags never die. I have a couple that are over 30 years old and still going strong. I doubt ANY of the current generation of Chinese lights will ever do that.

Well i didn't say they were not durable, in fact besides the AAA Mini Maglite i never had any problems with Maglites. They're also pretty easy to repair if something goes wrong.

Well two things here. First, the 3rd gen Mag LEDs are over 500 lumens. Second, the reason you don't see the crazy high lumen numbers is because these lights are running off low voltage alkaline consumer D cells. And that is their target market. The unwashed masses have no interest in exotic lithium ion rechargeables. And another thing, while the lumen levels may not be all that high, the candelas and beam distances outshine most more expensive lights.

That i had no idea, i just happened to notice current Maglites being sold never goes above 200 lumens according to the package but i half assumed it was fairly accurate considering i found the run times in the ball park area. It's a part of my ignorance on my part though considering i see people talk about 3000 lumen flashlights over the internet and wondering what am i doing with 400 or less lumens flashlights when there are better ones out there. But considering you say the 3rd gen Mags have over 500 lumens, how would i go about doing that providing that i carry a 3rd gen (that i bought a couple 2D ones and the LED+ AA Minimag around a year ago) without burning out the flashlight in the process? Never tried Li-Ons but i want to make sure they are not going to fry them in the process.

 

[Poppy]

I've got three 4D MagLites - one in each truck, and one in the house. I've had them for nearly 20 yrs. <SNIP> I have toyed with the idea of updating/converting mine.

Dorcy and Rayovac, each make a 4.5-6V LED bulb replacement for about $5-6. Not worth it for the 3 cell mags 4.5V (except to increase run-time/battery life) but in the 4 cell lights, 6Volts, the increase in output is dramatic.