Where is Maglite in all of this high power LED action?

[Sharrack]

Hey everyone,
First time poster here........ but I'm far from a lighting Newb.
I do a lot of night hiking in the jungle, deserts and forests so i'm always on the hunt for the next brightest headlamp or flashlight

My buddy asked me to adapt this bicycle LED light into a handheld unit so I
fabricated this and made it clamp to a steel tube with another tube at a 90 degree angle with a rubber handle on it . He loves it.

Anyhoo..........I've taken a liking to the coast lights along with some of the Husky stuff. I like the adventure of cheap bright lights and knowing next year there will be something brighter.
My girlies I-nova is bright as heck but it heats up like a furnace and takes
crazy batteries.

I strapped 2 of the 3.5 watt Coast penlamps together for a 6watt crazy light. Not a great run time though.
I just grabbed one of the new husky STAR WARS LIGHT SABRE lights from HD today. Crazy Design !

Where is Maglite in all of this new less expensive technology?
My LED D cell Maglite is currently retired forever!

Great Forum !!

Kenny S>

 

[hyperloop]

er..... lagging pretty far behind?? don't get me wrong, i love my mags but it takes some modding for them to become powerhouses, just do some searches here for ROP (Roar of the Pelican) mods, Mag85 etc and you will see what i mean.

But for stock MagLEDs? I don't think they're all that hot, there are some Mags modded with P7s and those seem pretty nice but i don't own any of these .... yet.

 

[StandardBattery]

There are a couple threads on the new Husky as well, you'll want to read those.

 

[LukeA]

Where is Mag? Selling tons of MagLEDs to people who don't know any better.

 

[EngrPaul]

Host.

 

[Sgt. LED]

Yep!
High powered LED and Incan mod hosts. And possibly an impact tool.

 

[wildstar87]

As already mentioned, Mags make GREAT hosts for mods. A P7 mod is quite easy, and not that expensive if done right, and BRIGHT.

 

[jzmtl]

If they would just start using seoul emitter in their current LED offering, they would actually be pretty decent. On D cell light you are talking about 120 lumens out front initially, and 60 lumens for over 20 to 40 hours. Even the 2AA LED models would have 80 lumen diminish for over 2 hours.

 

[carrot]

Give Maglite a break. They Just Figured Out What This LED Thingamajigy Does Anyway.

 

[metlarules]

Magled is a great runtime emergency light. Nothing more.Nothing less.

 

[Cuso]

Its a shame M@glite is soooo sleeping on their laurels, even Coleman has gotten in on the Cree action..

 

[wildstar87]

Well in some ways it's kinda nice, fairly cheap high quality hosts for mods. I can live with that, let everyone else do the innovation..

 

[NeonLights]

Where is Maglite in all of this high power LED action?

I believe they are probably sitting back and happily selling more flashlights than every other major flashlight manufacturer combined (not counting those cheapie $1-2 plastic lights, those might sell more).

They'll eventually come out with something brighter and better than their current MagLed offerings, but don't rush them (I'd give them another 2-3 years to get Cree Leds). In the meantime just be glad they make such a bulletproof for all kinds of LED and incan drop-ins and mods.

 

[toolpig1]

Maglite receives frequent verbal assaults on CPF for not being state of the art with their choice of emitters. Funny thing is, just about every single person who reads these forums owns at least a few. If I counted up my minimags, 2D, 3C, and 3D Maglites, I'll bet it's close to 20 total. Maglite is not without its attributes; great runtime with the right upgrade, not very expensive, decent switch, common batteries, durable and proven, and easy to use. Furthermore, for the price, Magled makes a pretty good gift for non-flashaholics (normal people).

 

[Yoda4561]

My guess is that maglight bought more luxeon LED's than the eye can see and is trying to use them up before going to the next best thing.

 

[Swedpat]

Sharrack,

When I saw your construction I thought: "what in h-k is that?" It reminds of some sort of optical instrument...

Does the company Maglite still exist? What I know Maglite hasn't came out with any new product since several years. And at a dealer which carry flashlights they said that Maglite is almost impossible to sell nowaday.

Regards, Patric

 

[ja10]

I wonder if part of it is a supply issue. I'm just guessing here, but how many LEDs would mag need? 100,000 ... 500,000 ... 1,000,000+? The only way to have their demand met might be to use LEDs that are 1 or 2 generations old.

 

[rushnrockt]

I wonder if part of it is a supply issue. I'm just guessing here, but how many LEDs would mag need? 100,000 ... 500,000 ... 1,000,000+? The only way to have their demand met might be to use LEDs that are 1 or 2 generations old.

Judging by their revenues, they would need 3-4 million units a year at most, which is a nice quantity, but not hard to supply in semiconductor industry.

As far as Maglites not selling, I am not sure which dealer that would be, but Home Depot seems to be doing just fine with selling those.

From what I've gleamed, it seems they are working on some sort of regulated design (boost?), but are doing it slowly for whatever reason.

They might not want to mess with a good thing either, as any new flashlight would need some sort of an advertising campaign, while right now they don't need to do anything, everyone knows about their flashlights as it is.

 

[Swedpat]

As far as Maglites not selling, I am not sure which dealer that would be, but Home Depot seems to be doing just fine with selling those.

It was a dealer here in the north of Sweden. Maybe Maglites are more popular in USA and other countries. I think many people don't take in consider the long runtime of Maglite LEDs but only go for brightness. Nowadays there are several even lowpriced nonbrand lights who are brighter than Maglite and also are smaller sized. I suppose it can be one explanation.

Regards, Patric

 

[NightFlyer]

Maglite is in business for the same reason any other company is in business - to make money. They have a good solid product that sells well here in the US. They are at most of the big box and hardware/home stores and have built the reputation that markets flashlights to the general consumer public. In this economy, I imagine they are resting on their laurels and selling current product for decent profit which keeps them in business and keeps their people employed.

I had a MagLED quit on me and their customer service was good. It was replaced quickly and the new light works fine. It's a standby emergency light that I occasionally use around the house. Provides plenty of light for that task.