New Maglite XL100 review

[ABTOMAT]

Where's it made? I know Mag has been sourcing their components from China, but do they still say the light is US-made overall? That would be a good thing.

Does the emitter move in relation to the body or is the focus purely in the head? From what I've seen in other Mags they sometimes have trouble with bad connections developing.

It looks like a neat light and I'll probably have to get one. Black+anodized+round is my thing. I've never had a "gadget light" before because they either have been very strange form factors or very expensive.

 

[elumen8]

What's up with that Tootsie Roll light???? :laughing:

Ummm...it was a gift. I'm embarassed to say how many goofy lights I have in my stable. (Tootsie Roll, Pepsi, Mickey Mouse etc etc)

I'm hoping that it's a typo and that you can select the brightness that it comes back to when picked up.

Sorry folks, it comes back on at full brightness. An eye-opener when it sparks back up...not enough of a reason to hate an ingenious UI.

JB

 

[elumen8]

Where's it made? I know Mag has been sourcing their components from China, but do they still say the light is US-made overall? That would be a good thing.

Does the emitter move in relation to the body or is the focus purely in the head? From what I've seen in other Mags they sometimes have trouble with bad connections developing.

Here's the the manufacturing quote...but who knows which components were imported.

The emitter does not move at all...only the bezel moves in relation to the emitter by unscrewing it up the barrel. I highly recommend not adjusting the focus, its not a pretty picture. The beam is fine at its normal tightened setting.

JB

 

[kaichu dento]

Sorry folks, it comes back on at full brightness. An eye-opener when it sparks back up...not enough of a reason to hate an ingenious UI.

That's too bad, but I'm sure they'll make an adjustment in the future since they already have dimming capability.
As you say it's not a reason to hate the UI, or the light itself for that matter, but it does turn me off to what was one of the more intriguing modes and I find it disappointing that they didn't think of giving the user control over what level of brightness it would come back on at.

 

[the.Mtn.Man]

The beam is fine at its normal tightened setting.

Beam shots, please!

 

[kts]

The light looks good, apart from its plastic window and reflector, its output seems to be very low compared to others...:candle:

Fenix LD01/liteflux/Quarks will be just as bright with only 1 AAA.

 

[carrot]

The light looks good, apart from its plastic window and reflector, its output seems to be very low compared to others...:candle:

Fenix LD01/liteflux/Quarks will be just as bright with only 1 AAA.

But will they have a mind-numbingly cool accelerometer-based UI?

 

[TITAN1833]

But will they have a mind-numbingly cool accelerometer-based UI?

or longer run times? 😀

 

[petersmith6]

so how do you atatch a yandyard to it?

 

[petersmith6]

and shurly if it has this new tilty uppy down lock out jobby its going to have some sort of parasitick drain to run the sensore and electronics?
nice one muglite..one step forward two steps back.

 

[TITAN1833]

so how do you atatch a yandyard to it?

You could drill a hole through the tail cap :thinking: :laughing:



[edit] Maybe a Novatac ring would fit :shrug:

 

[wingnut86]

The light looks good, apart from its plastic window and reflector, its output seems to be very low compared to others...:candle:

Fenix LD01/liteflux/Quarks will be just as bright with only 1 AAA.

What can an Aluminum reflector in an LED light do that a plastic one cant? All I can think of is add more weight...

80 lumens is nothing special, but also very usable.

How long will those lights (Fenix/Liteflux/Quark) last on Alkalines at 80 lumens?

 

[carrot]

and shurly if it has this new tilty uppy down lock out jobby its going to have some sort of parasitick drain to run the sensore and electronics?
nice one muglite..one step forward two steps back.

HDS, Novatac, Ra, Photon, Nitecore, Liteflux, Streamlight and Fenix are all successful, CPF-approved, popular light manufacturers who offer lights with electronic clickies (with parasitic drain)... There is nothing wrong with using an electronic clicky and it adds a lot of utility that cannot otherwise be achieved without.

 

[TITAN1833]

What can an Aluminum reflector in an LED light do that a plastic one cant? All I can think of is add more weight...

80 lumens is nothing special, but also very usable.

How long will those lights (Fenix/Liteflux/Quark) last on Alkalines at 80 lumens?

Agreed 80 lumen's or less is more usable than 300 to 1000 lumen's most of the the time IMO 😉

 

[Benson]

What can an Aluminum reflector in an LED light do that a plastic one cant? All I can think of is add more weight...

It can be harshly cleaned with less damage? Of course, if you don't take your lights apart and get dirt in them, or if you are careful about how you clean them (Don't touch! Running water and/or canned air FTW!), not a big issue.

 

[kts]

What can an Aluminum reflector in an LED light do that a plastic one cant? All I can think of is add more weight...

80 lumens is nothing special, but also very usable.

How long will those lights (Fenix/Liteflux/Quark) last on Alkalines at 80 lumens?

I think the Fenix LD01 runs 1 hour at 85 lumens on 1 AAA, so that would be 3 hours on 3 AAA :naughty:

An alu-reflector is needed in high power LED lights because of the heat, Alu doesnt weigh much more than plastic, but it helps moving the heat to the body of the flashlight.

How is the heatsinking on the maglite XL100?

 

[wingnut86]

Heat is drawn out the bottom of the Led, but Yes, I agree that an Aluminum reflector is good for extra heatsinking, but really not needed on this type of light.

For some it seems that a plastic reflector is a deal breaker...

 

[TITAN1833]

I think the Fenix LD01 runs 1 hour at 85 lumens on 1 AAA, so that would be 3 hours on 3 AAA :naughty:

I think you missed somewhere that the XL100 runs 5 hours + on 3 AAA :naughty:

 

[the.Mtn.Man]

For some it seems that a plastic reflector is a deal breaker...

Perhaps because plastic is perceived as cheaper -- as in lower quality -- than metal even in applications where the two materials are equally effective.

 

[jasonck08]

Amazing coming from mag. This is there first true innovation in 20 years! Wow!

Seriously they've practically been making the same exact lights for 20-30 years, with the exception of the little LED drop ins.