Time to replace the old Minimag

[Russ T. Nutt]

I am needing ti replace my old Minimag incand. What I am looking for is : at least as bright (hopefully brighter), compact ,& reliable. The Minimag lasted a long time, but has issues - sometimes wouldn't light, or flickered when it did; turned on accidentally frequently; bulb life & runtime. I considered a Minimag LED, but concern about the switch is causing second thoughts.

I want to buy locally if at all possible. I can get Inova, Streamlight, & Maglite through work. Other choices locally are lights such as Coleman, Rayovac, Garrity (Walmart). I like the Inova X1, but durability seems to be a problem. The X5 is my favorite at the moment, but I also am looking at a Streamlight Stylus Pro. The light will be carried on my belt all day, and compact size is a plus. Runtime is also a concern.

Thanks!

 

[edc3]

Of the lights you mentioned, I'd recommend the Inova X1. I wouldn't have any worries about the X1's durability. Inova lights are very durable. The X1 is a very nice upgrade from the Minimag and keeps you with the AA battery format. Of course, if you decide to buy online, you have quite a few more options. Good luck!

 

[Derek Dean]

Howdy Russ and welcome to CPF,
First, be sure and check out the CPF Welcome Mat. It has lots of good information to help you in your search for a replacement for your mini Mag:
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=172991

Then hop on over to the CPF review area and read the comparison review for several recent 2xAA lights by CPF member selfbuilt:
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=19
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=214890

Here is another good flashlight review site:
http://www.light-reviews.com/

And because a lot of folks here will probably recommend some lights that use batteries you might not be familiar with, here is another site you might find helpful:
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/

I know, it seems like a lot of reading...... but there have been many advancements in flashlight technology since the good old mini-Mag, so it's worth a bit of time to see what's been happening recently.

Now, to get you started, here is one of my favorite all around general purpose lights. It's a 2xAA light with 4 light levels so you can have it VERY bright with a few hours of run time, or less bright and really long run time, and if you buy it from 4sevens.com you will get a lifetime warranty:
https://www.4sevens.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_65&products_id=397

I'm sure other folks will chime in with their suggestions. Take your time, look around and try to absorb a bit of what's available, and hopefully you will find what you are looking for.

 

[gsxrac]

Haha Well anything is going to be an upgrade. Is there a specific price range your looking in?

 

[Toaster]

Belt carry for me means a compact 1xCR123 or 1xAA light with an excellent clip. There are very few that fit that criteria. The best imho is the Surefire E1B. You can probably find it locally for full MSRP. Or order it online for much less. I'm sure it's more than you're looking to spend but I thought you'd like to be informed anyhow. Oh and :welcome:

 

[deranged_coder]

:welcome:

As ricehaterboi already mentioned, what is your budget? We tend to go a bit out-of-control with our suggestions unless we know ahead of time how much you are willing to spend on this.

I agree with edc3 that the Inova X1 is a fine light. I did get to handle a Streamlight Stylus Pro at the San Jose get together last weekend (many thanks to elumen8 for bringing that) and I thought it was nice, compact, easy to carry and seemed fairly durable. I think either one would serve you well and I think both would be good upgrades from an incan mini Mag.

The Fenix L2D that Derek Dean pointed to is a good light. If you want a more simple, single stage light, go for the Fenix E20. If you want a nice 2xAA that can ramp up and down so you can get just the light level that you want, you can get a NiteCore D20. An advantage of the D20 is that you can "lock out" the switch to prevent accidental activation.

I agree the Surefire E1B Backup is an excellent light but a wee bit pricey (not sure if this is more than you want to pay) and runs on 1xCR123A battery and those can get expensive unless you order them online. If you stick with a AA or AAA powered light, it will be easier to obtain batteries.

 

[Russ T. Nutt]

I am looking for something approx. the same price as a Minimag LED. No larger, runtime is important. I prefer to shop locally, but the selection here is limited. Thanks for all the replys!

 

[Russ T. Nutt]

And I am still considering the Minimag LED (say it isn't so!). It was a good light, other than the switch & runtime issues. Please don't hate me for saying such a thing!

 

[danpass]

Anything will be an upgrade over those minimags (I've had a couple ............. didn't learn the first time).

If you're wanting to get a light from the "same place" (Walmart, Target, etc) I believe Target has the Inovas on the rack.

 

[HKJ]

If your buy from the internet, your get a lot more options.
Here I have a picture of a Fenix L0D and a Minimag:

The L0D is the stainless steel version.

The L0D has 3 settings: Medium, low and high. The low settings gives more light than the minimag and last 5+ hours on one AAA battery. The high setting can empty the battery in less than one hour and gives a bit more light than a 2D mag.

 

[gsxrac]

Well roughly the same price range shopping around home... do you have a Home Depot, ****s(sporting goods store), or a Sears close? They carry Dorcy brand and the Dorcy 3watt is the light that really got me into LED's a couple years. VERY impressive if your used to stock Mags

 

[Yoda4561]

Target may also have a 1xAA Energizer. It's a black aluminum 1xAA light, the new ones have a cree LED and put out 80 lumens for a couple hours.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=217740

If you look for this light make sure to look for the orange peel (not smooth) reflector, this is the newer one with the cree LED. The older one has a smooth mirror reflector and much less efficient Luxeon.

 

[StarHalo]

Some sage bits of flashaholic advice - We wish we would have skipped all the cheap lights in the beginning and had just gotten one or two good lights.

Flashlights are tools, and just like tools at the hardware store, there's the cheap crap and then there's the serious tools.

 

[Russ T. Nutt]

The only stores around here are Walmart & K-Mart. Will see what they have, if nothing suits me, will have to check out the reviews & shop online. Thanks for the info!

 

[deranged_coder]

Hmmm... I believe Wal-Mart carries the Duracell Daylite flashlights. I do not have one myself but I have read good things about them. I think they also have some Coleman lights that are worth looking into. I think K-Mart has some of the Dorcy lights which are good. If you have a local police supply store drop by and check it out. Those are liable to carry some of the more high end brands such as Streamlight or Surefire. Also check out any sporting goods or outdoor stores nearby such as REI, Big 5, Sports Authority, etc. My local REI, for example, carries Photon lights, Gerber and Princeton Tec. Try those and see how well they suit your needs.

If you really want to shop locally at a brick and mortar store, what I would suggest is you check out your local stores and come back here with a list of what flashlights you saw on the shelves (maybe even snap a pic with a camera phone if you have one) that will fit your budget. The community can chime in with opinions on the lights and help you pick out which is the best of the available lights.

 

[Gunner12]

What's your price range?

IMO shopping online gives you much more choices and better lights compared to most of what you can get at Walmart.

Example: Fenix L2D-CE(clearance code is "CLEARANCE25" for 25% off). This light came out around 2 years ago. The L2D-CE Q5 and LD20 are the newer ones with a higher bin LED(more output for same power, or more runtime at same output)
Compared to MinimagLED(2AA) and Minimag. Numbers from Flashlightreviews.

Output(approximate out the front lumen):
L2D-CE: 10-12 lumen low, 35 lumen medium, 70 lumen high, and 120 lumen turbo.
MinimagLED: 38 lumen
Minimag: 8 lumen

Throw(measured at 1 meter):
L2D: 280 lux low, 870 lux medium, 1700 lux high, 2900 lux turbo.
MinimagLED: 1280 lux
Minimag: 880 lux

Runtime(with alkaline batteries and output to 50%, rechargeables give better runtime with high power LED lights):
L2D: 55-60 hours low, 7 hours medium, 1.5 hours high, 40 minutes turbo(12 hours medium, 4.5 hours high, and 1.5 hours turbo with good rechargeable batteries)
MinimagLED: 3 hours 20 minutes
Minimag: 40 minutes

The Fenix L2D-CE is one of the lights you can find. There's also Olight, Nitecore, iTP, Jetbeam, Liteflux, and many others. There are also some good budget brands if you want to say under $30 like the Romisen RC-N3.

:welcome:

 

[DaveG]

Coleman 2-aa at Wal-mart, is a good one.

 

[Turbo DV8]

I have to strongly vote against the Inova X1. I had two. Before long, the amount of pressure required to activate the switch became absurdly great. Even when you tightened the tailcap, it would just sit there and strobe unless you practically used pliers. To Inova's credit, they exchanged them for two new 2AA Bolt's, which are way better, in my opinion.

 

[Russ T. Nutt]

I checked Wal-Mart. Coleman Max 3AAA 75 lumen rating, 3AAA 115 lumen rating, 2AA 115 lumen rating, CR123 115 lumen rating. The 75 lumen light was about $19, the others $26 & up. They also had Duracell Daylite, Minimag LED, & a camo Rayovac Sportsman Extreme, all about $26. I liked the look of the Coleman 2AA. The 3AAA ones were too fat for my taste. Did not go to K-Mart, but I know that the local one carries Rayovac Sportsman .5 watt & Sportsman Extreme 3 Watt. Where can I find out more about the Romisen? Also, suggestions of good online retailers. Thanks!

 

[Marlinaholic]

The Rayovac Sportsmen Xtreme 3W and 1W 2XAA lights are pretty nice, I believe the 3W was recently upgraded with a textured reflector and new emitter (Rebel?) and they are very bright lights for the money. I believe the newer 3W ones are basically this same light:

http://www.lighthound.com/Terralux-...ery-LED-Flashlight-with-batteries_p_2154.html

which by the way is made by Nuwai. I assume Rayovac will eventually upgrade again and be selling their rayovac marked version of this latest Nuwai:

http://www.lighthound.com/Terralux-...igh-Low-Flashlight-with-batteries_p_2841.html