Where to start?

armyhooah

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jun 19, 2009
Messages
9
Hello all, I am new to this forum.

I have two Maglites. One is a mini mag and the other is a 3 cell.

A gentleman that I work with is on here somewhere, he was talking about what all you can do to maglites.

I have looked online for some basic stuff and having a hard time finding anything beyond your basic LED kits at wal-mart.

Any suggestion or experiences?

Thank you.
 
I have two ideas.

One mini mag for work/protection bright as h3ll and the other 3 D for home.

I have already put the three LED kit in the mini mag you can by from wally world. It did ok, I do not like the color or how far I cannot see with it. Anything past ten feet is kind of cloudy.

Budget: ? Less than $100 for the 3 D and less than $30-40 for the mini mag.

I am just testing the waters on lighting. I started to test the waters on reloading ammo, now I have about $800 dollars worth of just equipment and a pissed off wife. It is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission!
 
You should consider getting brand new lights too. With that amount you can get a HUGE selection of lights that can fit you. Check out the LED section.

Not a bad idea. Not sure where to start.

I am still looking around this forum, there is a lot of STUFF on here.
 
While they are pricier than you say your budget is... I would suggest taking a look at the Fenix product line. They have some very well made lights, and are generally well received here at CPF. The LD20 is just slightly longer than an incandescent Mini Mag, has a very useable user interface, works well on alkalines (tho I wouldn't suggest using turbo for more than a few minutes at a time).
If you order fron 4sevens (online store, just google it), you get a lifetime warranty, an 8% discount code ( CPF08 ), and free shipping. It'll blow any mag lite away (a stock one, at least).
 
You said, you just didn't like the color of the LEDs in your mini maglite. In that case, forget about Fenix. Even the "natural white" is still very, very white.

Well, join the club of INCAN-lovers if you like their color of light :D

Be sure to check out the INCAN section of this forum, to find out why incans still rule, when used with some caution. Let's put it this way: incans get hot, consume lots of energy, have a limited lifetime, are likely to be dead when dropped in the "on"-state, but.... give wonderful light :whistle:

My secret tip, if your budget is a total of about $140,- : totally forget about the mags and go straight for the finest illumination tools: try to fetch a Surefire C3 HA. The standard P90 Lamp Assembly is very, very useful.
Take a look at it here:

http://www.surefire.com/C3-Centurion

The only drawback of this light is, that it consumes three expensive CR123 batteries each hour (!)
Yes, that's the price we have to pay when we don't want to use LEDs.... but there's a very good solution!

Get a decent charger and some AW-brand 17500 rechargeable protected Li-ion batteries, ($10,- each and you need at least 2) and you have guilt-free Lumens :)
Runtime is nearly an hour this way.

This was my very first Surefire, and still, because of its versatility, one of the most-used! You'll never regret buying a C3. You can make whatever you want out of it, because it uses the most widely spread dropin-system: the D26-sized dropins (nearly) all fit. You may even fit a LED if you want later....


Timmo.
 
You said, you just didn't like the color of the LEDs in your mini maglite. In that case, forget about Fenix. Even the "natural white" is still very, very white.

The light is not White it is very very Blue.

It just does not have the same clarity as what the yellow light has. Maybe it is just cheap. I would need to see some of the better ones in person in a dark room or at night to be sure.
 
I would seriously try a neutral white LED - perhaps a Fenix TK20. You will not be dissapointed. I love powerful incans as well - they are absolutely great if you like to have a high CRI - but don't dismiss LEDs just yet. Buy both!
 
The light is not White it is very very Blue.

It just does not have the same clarity as what the yellow light has. Maybe it is just cheap. I would need to see some of the better ones in person in a dark room or at night to be sure.

I have the same drop in. The LED's are very cheap. It produces a very clouded, murky blue. Does wonders for battery life, tho. I currently have a red LED drop in from Nite-Ize (same style, 3 LED's in a plastic holder, some small circuitry i n the base). I am currently using the red as a night time bathroom trip light. By the time I'm done in the bathroom, and walk back down the hall to my room, , my night vision is returned. But yeah, the LEDs used in the Nite-Ize drop ins are very cold.
My Fenix LD20 has much better color rendition. (Somewhat lacking in the red's, tho. I understand most cree's are. The LED in my mag led is beautiful, somewhat colder, but it seems to pick out reds, brown and greens slightly better at medium ranges (5-15 feet).)
 
the simplest and cheapest method i did for my 19 yr old red 3D mag was:-

1. get 3 cheapo 3xAA - 1D holders from Kaidomain

2. get a 6D cell maglite bulb

3. get a cheap 52mm glass lens from Kaidomain/Dealextreme wherever

4. get 9 eneloops and a charger

change the lens, change the bulb, charge the cells, put them in the holders, place holders in the 3D and there you go.

oh and :welcome:
 
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