Still no Led Maglights?

[Jaslight]

I've noticed a lot of people on here modify there maglights to accept leds, and there seems to be great interest in Led lights in general for their superior light output. So does anyone know why Maglight still dosent make there flashlights with leds?

 

[TrueBlue]

My theory why Mag doesn't make an LED light is simply that Mag is in the business to make money and not make lights. Through great marketing the normal folks think that the Maglite is the end-all to lights.

I don't know if I would want them to make an LED light. The incandescent lights have a poor beam so can you imagine what an Mag LED beam would look like?

 

[chiphead]

Don't hold your breath, companies like MagLight are some what slow to change. Case in point...MONTGOMERY WARDS.

chiphead
MiniMag AA mod w/ BadBoy 1000

 

[Lynx_Arc]

I figure when LED lights start cutting heavy into mags profits they will consider making them, but for now they will keep cranking them out and selling as many as they can so when they do start making led versions every mag lover will have to start over again buying new maglites

 

[JonSidneyB]

If mag were to make an LED light I would not buy it out of principle.

 

[kongfuchicken]

They'd get modded anyway so why bother... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[idleprocess]

I imagine Mag makes more money on replacement bulbs than on the actual lights (like most flashlight manufacturers) - which are very durable as far as consumer goods go.

LEDs are just starting to materialize as a blip on the radar as far as the average consumer is concerned. Mag probably doesn't feel a need to hurry into a business that would hurt their profitable replacement-bulb business.

 

[Stainless]

It is about that time of year for someone to publish the ANNUAL email from Maglight emphatically stateing that Maglight is working 24/7 to bring LED lights to market... maybe someone can post a link to last years "urban legend" email...

 

[leukos]

The first time I emailed M*glight about offering a line of LED lights I was told to look for them around Christmas 2002. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[WilLux]

I'm kinda surprised that some deep-pockets company hasn't moved in on Maglight's turf. Their products leave so much room for improvement.

 

[RayT]

[ QUOTE ]
leukos said:
The first time I emailed M*glight about offering a line of LED lights I was told to look for them around Christmas 2002. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[/ QUOTE ]
Maglite just told you when to start looking, not when they were actually planning on delivering. Silly You! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[greenLED]

I'm guilty of e-mailing them a long while ago. The rep replied saying they were not ready to jump on the LED bandwagon until their reliability issues (?) were ironed out.

 

[TrueBlue]

I emailed Maglite around this time last year and never got a reply.

 

[bwaites]

WilLux,

Just what would you change about a maglite to make it better?

They are just about the most dependable, toughest, aluminum light out there. The bulbs are cheap, but it will accept just about any appropriate bulb from anywhere.

Many have tried, none have succeeded.

A friend of mine tried marketing a light made in China, essentially the same quality. Just got swamped. Pricewise he was competetive, but they could put lights in so many more places, just because of their volume, that he couldn't make it work, even in the Northwestern US, much less nationwide.

When you try to place them in a large market store like Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, etc. you are about 90-120 days from shipping to payment. Someone would have to have DEEP pockets to put 200-300,000 lights on the shelves all at once and then get paid MONTHS later.

Never mind you would have to make sure there were NO patent infringements on your lights, or risk losing them all!

For the money, I would defy anyone to make a better light for the price. Yes, they can be made better, but not for what they sell for, and most people complain about paying 20 bucks for a maglite!

Bill

 

[Lmtfi]

It seems to me that a Maglight is a MAINSTREAM light, sold to a mainstream audience at a price point that works. The average Maglight buyer doesn't think "hmmmm, incandescent or LED?". Maglight is selling what people what to buy at a price and performance point that works for their target market.

Idleprocess mentioned the profit that Mag is making off replacement bulbs. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that a fair percentage of people would buy a new complete light instead of replacing a burned out bulb. Thr 90 percentile market wants it quick, convenient and for the light to go on when the want. They don't get sucked into "how much light?" or "what is the throw?".

Mag may be like Kodak has been with film. Hang onto your proven market as long as you can and then make the switch to the new technology only when it starts to cut into your profits in a big way. As a "for profit" firm - that makes sense to me.

 

[soloco]

Mag is probably putting quite a bit of money researching LED technology. I just don't expect an LED light anytime soon. They probably want the technology to mature further. When Mag releases something they want to make sure it will pay off for years and years.

 

[Mags]

I dont want think I want MagLites to improve. I like the fact that a MagLite is recognized, well.... as a ..... Maglite. The Maglite is the benchmark for the crappiest lights around. I dont understand how it got 3 stars on Quickbeam's website. There always has to be a MagLite out of every category. There is the Maglite of flashlights, the MagLite of, guns, authors, sports teams and so on. What I mean is that MagLite is MagLite. They are easy to compare to and everything. I cant make it any simpler.

 

[Gene]

Though we here may think otherwise and make fun of people that carry mags, the general public thinks they are just fine. The perfect case in point is my wife!

I've been into LED lights since before there was a CPF. I've had or have most of the great lights by our wizard modders here and most of the Surefire models and my wife has checked them out.

We live extremely rural and live on a mountainside and believe me it gets black dark here! I can't even count the times I've tried to get her to carry a small, powerful LED light. She won't even consider it. She loves her little purple stock solitare that she carries on her keychain! I even tried to swap her solitare for a FireFly and showed her how superior it was. Nope. She loves her purple solitare and won't even let me have it modded!

We're really in the minority here and 98% of the general population think mags are just fine. Oh yeah, I MAKE my wife carry an L4 in her glovebox just in case! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[MikeLip]

I don't see a problem with Mags. We have one that has been kicking around forever, and so far seems to be immortal - the only thing I've ever replaced are the batteries. The original spare bulb is still in the tailcap. My wife uses it for night walks, I've run it over with my Saturn, it gets dropped and beat up on, and it still works. No, it's not as neat as my Blaster 3P or Surefire, or even my Streamlights, but for the money, how can you beat a 3D light that does such a decent job? It's a perfectly fine mass produced light that works with minimal fuss and bother, and it's not intended to be anything else. I don't hesitate to abuse it, while my big buck lights get babied - I can't see myself using my incoming Lionheart to grub around under the house or in my cars' innards, that's for sure - I'll save that for a light that costs less than 1/10th as much! If I were paying $50 or so for a Mag I'd be bothered, but I'm not - they're less than $20 at my local Sams Club, and you get batteries and a Minimag in the same package! Such a deal /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Mike

 

[greenLED]

What MikeLip said. Plus, they have a great form factor. They're just pretty and they do what they're supposed to do when you can't (or don't know you can) spend $120+ on another flashlight brand. There, I said it for the n-th time.

Stock LED Mags would be cool. In the mean time, there's tons of stuff to choose from, courtesy of our fellow modders and some visionary companies. At least we can agree they make great hosts for mods. Or, we can agree on disagreeing. I still like my stock 4D Mag, and the mini-mag I bought in the early 90's (propely modded now) is by my bedside.