What's a Good Alternative to the MAG 3 "AA" LED??

LEDBE
N

Nalapombu

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jun 2, 2005
Messages
22
Location
SPRING, TEXAS....
Hey all,

I haven't been here in a LONG time. I wanted to get some recommendations from all the PRO's here that KNOW their stuff.

The light I use most of the time is a MAG LED 3 watt that takes 3 "AA" cells. I picked it up a couple years ago and I think it's a great light. I especially like the ability to adjust the beam. I find that it will throw usable light to about 50 yards or so, maybe a touch longer. I see that MAG is no longer making this model and it amazes me that they would drop such a great light. So I thought I better start checking out some alternatives because the little "finger" type things in the tailcap have had to be bent back into place a few times and I am afraid they are gonna break and leave me without a light.

I like the adjustable beam, but it's not a mandatory thing as long as the replacement throws a good beam at a decent distance. I also like to use readily available batteries, but I do have lights that use the CR batteries so I could go with those if I had to. I have never had a CREE light and would like to try one out if they aren't too much, remember I am in the BUDGET forum for a reason....:)

I will be using this light for pig spotting in large fields at night and possibly trying to find a dead pig at night (hopefully.) You can also add some general light work in there too.

From what I have been able to read on here a couple seem to be mentioned pretty often, the RQ CREE Q5 and the UltraFire WF-008. Any thoughts on which of those would be best or others that I should check out?

Thanks for your help and time.

Nalajr
 
The average Maglite and walmart lights use very outdated emitters for the most part.

The lights that we discuss are very powerful in comparison and use updated emitters.

One big weakness though is that Flood to Throw lights are fairly far behind the tech curve for the most part.

Also, many lights use specialized batteries that I think you would rather avoid. Rechargable is the best for frequent usage.

Almost all lights discussed here are multimode. They have several brightness levels, unlike the standard ones you are used to. This gives you the ability to conserve battery and gives the capability of really puttin out the light, but not forcing the user to be stuck with 'overkill'.

I would recommend AGAINST the Deal Extreme and Kaliedomain lights. The customer service sucks and quality control is poor. I recommend getting a decent light that will last a good long while. You might get lucky, but it is very risky. Most of their lights use the CR123s and 18650s too.
-----------
A 2xAA light is a good form factor and gives you good runtime and brightness.

A 1xAA light can be plenty bright for your purposes and moreso than your 3xAA Maglite. It is also a lot more portable.

A few lights are very powerful and cost 72 bucks or more, but they are very useful with the capability of putting out a wall of light. These use 6 or 8 AA batteries in a special battery holder.

The CR123 lights are going to be brighter than a 1xAA light because the voltage is twice as high and they can deliver more current. However, they are expensive and rechargable variants require more care and concern than you will want to deal with.

Finally, keychain lights exist that are VERY workable and very compact. I myself use one that is much stronger than any maglight and 2.3 inches long!


I am going to throw out a few budget offerings:

http://goinggear.com/index.php?main...id=255&zenid=7bef7c819200a0b88800711c05ea3af5
$20 bucks, keychain light uses 1 AAA. 2,18,80 lumen modes. Very small and light.


http://goinggear.com/index.php?main...id=372&zenid=7bef7c819200a0b88800711c05ea3af5
A serious keychain light. Uses a CR123 for 3,30,200 lumen modes. Shorter but fatter than the one above. $25 bucks.


http://goinggear.com/index.php?main...id=287&zenid=7bef7c819200a0b88800711c05ea3af5
The big daddy. One of the best lumens per dollar ratio of the big lights. Probably overkill. 12, 160, 700 lumen modes. strobe. Still, this is pretty much the only light you will need and it is awesome to be able to light up huge areas so effectively. I bought 3 people these so far.


http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-180/**NEW**-Romisen-RC-dsh-29-II/Detail
$22 bucks. 1xAA. A true adjustable flood to throw light. Uses the latest small emitter and is very efficient. Probably just 1 mode, but this is WAYY more adjustable than anything youve ever seen ranging from just a small spot to full flood with no hotspot at all.


http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-84/ITP-C7R-Cree-Q5/Detail
32 bucks. Fancy 6 modes with infinite brightness adjust. 1xAA. Moderately new emitter, but not the latest. Great electronics and user interface though.


http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-149/Romisen-RC-dsh-G2-II-Cree/Detail
A nice standard $18 1xAA light. Nothing fancy. Moderately new emitter.


http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-212/Romisen-RC-dsh-N3-CREE-R4/Detail
$24 bucks. This is a cool light. Can be used with 2xAAs, OR a single CR123 which makes it much more compact. Uses the latest XP-G emitter! A great buy. I think only 1 mode though.

http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-186/ITP-SA2-Eluma-Cree/Detail
A bit dated but a great 2xAA light. $40 bucks isnt as cost effective, but offers a strong user interface with infinite adjustment.





Batteries: Eneloop AAs are considered the best. You can get them and chargers (if you dont have one) packs on Amazon for pretty cheap.
 
Last edited:
Wow, a 5 year verteran :eek: Welcome back :wave:

Is this the flashlight you are talking about? A *3 AA LED MiniMag?

It seems like your looking for a small flashlight that accepts disposable alkaline cells. And that also has good throw.

The WF-008 you mentioned takes only rechargeable lithium ion cells, and uses an outdated Q5 LED. If you want a budget DX light that meets your posted requirements, I would recomend this light. Its flood and throw is adjustable, great for spotting dead pigs. It takes three AAA batteries. And its only $13. Unfortunentely it uses a P4 LED and only outputs about 120 lumens.
 
Last edited:
I agree with going for the X-2000! If he got along with a MagLED, I'm sure 120 lumens would be enough. And personally I've never had a problem with DX. They've always been fast for a HK company, and the one time I got a bad battery they sent sent a new one immediately, without question. :)
 
Hey Smurf,

Yeah I've been a member for a while but not posted very much.

The link you posted is the light I own. At least I am pretty sure it is. Mine is silver and on the package it said it was 3 watts. I asked MAG what the output was and they told me that since they were never intending on making it for very long they never sent it out for pro testing. I would at least like to know how much light it puts out so I can compare numbers if you know what I mean.

Thanks everyone for the info. Those are some really nice lights. It is amazing what these little battery wonders can put outa and they sell for good prices too. I have been out of the loop for far too long I guess. I need to pick up a new light for sure and see what all the new technology is all about.

One thing about the MAG is that I can see why it is being discontinued. Even though it is a great light (I think) it is a bit on the LONG side which makes it pretty unwieldy for carrying in a pocket or in a fanny pack when you are hunting. I want something that carried easily too. Down here in Southwest Florida there are all kinds of crawlies that if you are walking when the sun goes down you need something quickly to tell if your life is in danger or not. So that kind of capability is important.

One other thing about what I need. As I understand it hogs come out and do most of their feeding at night. I will be going out and looking in fields from the roads to see if there are hogs in the area before I hunt it. That takes a light that can put out a good beam and have some power. The problem is I am on a budget and can't afford one of the super duper powerful lights that are out there.

Keep the recommendations coming guys.

Thanks for your time.

Nalajr
 
So what is your budget? I tried to include the cheapest lights I could find that were not DX or KD.

I would look hard at the flood to throw that I included over the X2000 or similar. It has the same focusing capability and uses an XP-G. It is extremely rare to find a flood to throw with the latest emitter! Or even the second-to-latest. XP-G should trounce the P4 in the x2000.
At 22 bucks it is only slightly more expensive.

Still, if I were you, Id consider saving up for an itp Polestar A6. It is really nice to have that kind of power at your disposal and for your tasks it should save you a good amount of time.

Dont forget coupon codes. "ggcpf10" I belive is the 10% off at goinggear. WHoever you decide to go with, ask around and see what the coupon codes are. They are posted somewhere but it has been moved around.
 
Nalapombu said:
Hey all,

I haven't been here in a LONG time. I wanted to get some recommendations from all the PRO's here that KNOW their stuff.

The light I use most of the time is a MAG LED 3 watt that takes 3 "AA" cells. I picked it up a couple years ago and I think it's a great light. I especially like the ability to adjust the beam. I find that it will throw usable light to about 50 yards or so, maybe a touch longer. I see that MAG is no longer making this model and it amazes me that they would drop such a great light. So I thought I better start checking out some alternatives because the little "finger" type things in the tailcap have had to be bent back into place a few times and I am afraid they are gonna break and leave me without a light.

I like the adjustable beam, but it's not a mandatory thing as long as the replacement throws a good beam at a decent distance. I also like to use readily available batteries, but I do have lights that use the CR batteries so I could go with those if I had to. I have never had a CREE light and would like to try one out if they aren't too much, remember I am in the BUDGET forum for a reason....:)

I will be using this light for pig spotting in large fields at night and possibly trying to find a dead pig at night (hopefully.) You can also add some general light work in there too.

From what I have been able to read on here a couple seem to be mentioned pretty often, the RQ CREE Q5 and the UltraFire WF-008. Any thoughts on which of those would be best or others that I should check out?

Thanks for your help and time.

Nalajr
Click to expand...
walmart sells Coleman Max 2cr2, or 3aa, or 2aa cree (iirc), i have cr2 one for few years, great light, will outperform 3aa mag, it costs $25.
it is rated 115lm, it is not beam adjustable.
google it, you'll pbly find reviews on it somewhere on the net.
 
If you have a costco available, the Maglite LED 3D/2AA combo is $30 and most definitely worth the money. The multimode 2AA is certainly usable for general work, though it has its shortcomings - PWM flicker, hard to defocus w/out shutting off and changing modes. However, the 3D is adjustable and the new versions have an updated, deeper reflector which gives a smoother beam. It has 100+lumen output, and runs FOREVER.... well not forever, but it will certainly be more economical to operate than a light running on CR2s... :poke: :D

I know the maglites don't have the brightest, newest, bestest, most superest emitters, but they're certainly not to be brushed aside. Especially considering the price (if you can get the costco (and maybe Sam's) combo).

I have both a 2D and a 3D rebel LED maglite running on 2xAA adapters w/ nimh & Energizer lithiums and couldn't be more pleased.

bottomline: Maglite 3D is big and heavy, but it has a lifetime warranty, excellent runtime, has adjustable focus w/ great throw, is adequately bright for most tasks, affordable, rock solid, and it's made in America, if that's your thing.
 
Last edited:
This might already have been mentioned, but my vote is the Maratac AA light. I had one recently given to me (by a member of this forum, actually) and I love it. One of the nice things I like about the MAG AA LED's was that they were kind of dim, so you could read or whatever with them. The Maratac has three settings so you can use it in this way or on the highest setting as a nice flood with decent throw.

I'm not sure of the price, since it was gifted to me, though. I don't want to link to the product as I know there has been a problem with shilling lately (and my account still isn't "active" :mecry:), but I would highly recommend it.
 
Also, remember that the Q5 or R2 WILL out-throw the XP-Gs easily. The "newest and best emitter" isn't always the best for a specific task.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

K
Alternative to jetbeam mk1? Button clicky
Replies
15
Views
2K
kfxguy
K
R
Is this flashlight any good?
2 3
Replies
47
Views
4K
scalpel_ninja
scalpel_ninja
MTHall
Bigger, brighter alternative to Thrunite Archer 2AA light?
Replies
12
Views
2K
ilikeguns40
ilikeguns40
A
Very high quality high energy efficient led strip bulbs for poor communities
Replies
2
Views
345
Dave_H
D
K
Looking for a rechargeable light
Replies
9
Views
1K
bluflaam777
bluflaam777

Latest posts

Top