Will I turn into a Maglite fan once again?

[xxo]

The ML125 was the grand daddy of the ML50. $50 is a good deal with the rechargeable battery and charger. Robin Wang did a review on the ML125 over at led-resources back when it first came out:

http://www.led-resource.com/2011/09/maglite-ml125-rechargeable-led-flashlight-review/

....and here's a cool destruction test of the ML125:

 

[GasganoFJ60]

I was a Maglite fan back in the 90's, when they had some very nice incan lights. But they fell about 5 years behind the competition when LED's became available, and never bothered to even come close to catching up. Mags are okay if you compare them to cheap junk available in dollar stores, but they barely compete with even department store offerings nowadays. And when you consider the flashlights available to us on-line for very reasonable prices, why even consider any department-store light?

I still have most of my incan mags. I bring them out once-in-awhile to get that feeling of nostalgia. They're certainly not very bright by today's standards, and have horrible beam patterns, but I really like the look of that old-time incandescent light. But as for my LED mags, I feel zero interest in ever using them again, and most of them have either been tossed or are sitting in a junk drawer waiting to be given away to a neighbor in need.

I dont know if i agree with that statement of them being less than the true junk at the box stores. Those junk lights are truly bad build quality with even worse materials.
If price point is an argument; sure, you can buy a 6 pack of cheap Ozark brand 3 aaa LED lights for $10. Can you say those are a better option than 1 2AA minimaglite for ~$15? Those Ozarks will not be as bring. Their build quality is absolute rubbish. There is no comparison to a Mag in terms of quality. Is it cause you get 6 lights vs 1? Ok, that might be a valid point if your looking for stocking stuffers for a bunch of kids who will likely lose or break them. That comes to the next points; disposability. Those ozarks will likely break on the 2nd drop. Plus, many buy those 6 packs cause their nearly considered disposable. People dont pride themselves in their earnings/purchases like they used to. Many look at items like the Ozarks and think, "Meh, if i lose them, i can just buy more. They're cheap after all." People dont have the responsibility to save up, earn and hold onto something as long as possible and get the most out of something. Plus, you cant compare to Maglites warranty. In a lot of ways, you arent just buying a flashlight with specs, features and maybe some cool colors, you're buying the warranty that comes with it. I've done two warranty claims on 2 differnt lights(xl200 and a 3 AA minimag) and they honored it with zero fuss. You cannot beat it.
I also feel mag gets a lot of hate is due to people like to feel like they're on a winning side. Its easy to badmouth. Not so easy to match the level they're competing against.

That being said, interested in selling your unwanted Mags?
Ill give you $12 for 6 of them, regardless of condition.

 

[GasganoFJ60]

The 2C ML25 is a gem. Considering it's modest cost, I don't know of a better value in the flashlight world....definitely my favorite "budget" light. I don't run mine on alkaline C cells it's either AA eneloops, soshine NiMH C's or 18650 or 21700's in adapters for me.



Other Maglite LED suggestions:


ML50 (C cell) and/or ML300


Mag Tac – over due for a upgrade but a good tactical 2X CR123A light that is often over looked. Has a similar grenade grip to the LX ML50 and ML300 with a electronic tail switch.

I've got the MagTac rechargeable.
Nice light. I got the 1st gen though. The eco mode has a short runtime. But its a perfect nightstand light next to the .45 to always be ready if something goes bump in the night.

I highly recomend the XL200. Its been my edc for about 5 years now. I always read on here how much people love a good user interface. The XL200 quickly became second hand operation. I love the ability to truly select the level of brightness between full power and dim with just a subtle wrist rotation.

 

[bykfixer]

Looking forward to those "late model" Maglites. Both have my fav LED the XP-G. I just hope I don't get that phone call from Esther……the one where she says such and such is out of stock.

I like the idea of being able to stuff some Rayovacs in the 125 while the supplied cell charges. And I can't wait to fool my friends with the twist action of the XL200…… blow on it like a balloon and make it get brighter type thing……

 

[CarpentryHero]

On ig I saw maglite offering a Punisher paint job maglite, so they definitely could get some love from me in the not to distant future 😂

 

[bykfixer]

Shout out to the spectrum 'warm' solitaire. The e-store I bought mine from (coughzbatterycough) also sells parts so I bought a triple a minimag clip and tailcap so it has a black tail cap and a shiney chrome clip that can fasten to a ball cap brim.

 

[GasganoFJ60]

Whats the output on the spectrum solitaire?

 

[bykfixer]

Maglite was pretty cagey about it at first but now they say 32 lumens with 1 hour 15 minute runtime. The aaa minimag warm is sweet too at 68 lumens with 2.5 hour runtime.

 

[bykfixer]

So this Maglite ML25 arrived today and it says to charge the battery at least 24 hours the first time. Ok.
Pull out the 3 cells in an ML50 and give it a go. At first I thought my batteries were near dead because it wasn't very bright. Not as bright as I expected anyway. It should be at least as bright as my 177 lumen classic 2D but it was not. So I started doing some reading to see if it's regulated. I kept seeing "beam adjustment" and figure yeah yeah yeah the Maglite twist head, so what? But upon opening the instruction book (gasp, no not the instruction book, those are for those other people) I noticed a weird set of description photos where they slid the bonnet of the head down the barrel. Candlestick mode, so what? No it is a beam adjuster mode. You can actually move the LED forward or backward to tighten or widen the spot, and sideways (if need be) to make it more round.

Viola!! Now my ML125 is as bright as the classic 2D is now since I tightened the spot up. It comes from the factory set up to be way more floody than the classic LED Maglites were, which is why in daylight it did not seem as bright in the hot spot as it should. To me that's pretty cool. Classic Maglite mega thrower or ML50 floody, you decide. I also set the mode for momentary/high/lo instead of factory high/lo/strobe. I tend to keep my thumb on the switch bulb anyway and probably use momentary the most anyway.

Anyway I'm an ML125 fan now.


The skirt pulled down.
Ring closest to lens twists for forward or backward using a knurled ring between the bezel ring and skirt. The ring farthest from the lens can be 'tilted' to get the most round spot possible.


The instructions.
It took some trial and error but once I knew how I can turn this light into a more floody beam or the classic Maglite search and rescue beam.

 

[LeanBurn]

Before and after beam shots would really illustrate the variability of the adjustments.

 

[Olumin]

Are there lights with a very easy UI, with rugged constructon, easy to grab, powered by simple C-cells, to understand by ANY (novel) user, which are better in overall properties than this Maglite, at this price? I seriously doubt it...

Yes, literally any single or dual-output surefire. Cr123 instead of C-cell but still. Better too because its no Alkaline cell and has a longer shelf life. Of cause its a more expensive option than a maglite, but there are SureFires to be had arround 70 bucks.

 

[xxo]

Yes, literally any single or dual-output surefire. Cr123 instead of C-cell but still. Better too because its no Alkaline cell and has a longer shelf life. Of cause its a more expensive option than a maglite, but there are SureFires to be had arround 70 bucks.

I really like the Mag C cell form factor, it's more comfortable than either the bigger D cell lights and also the smaller 2X CR123/18650 lights. But I don't like alkaline C cells at all; in the pastran C cell Mags on NiMH's, either AA's or full size NiMH C's, now I run them mostly on 18650's or 21700's in adapters.

 

[Bimmerboy]

On ig I saw maglite offering a Punisher paint job maglite, so they definitely could get some love from me in the not to distant future 😂

That would be VERY cool!

 

[greenpondmike]

Wow bykfixer, I think that ML125 is a neat light and well worth what mag is charging for it. I think maglite has really reduced their online prices and except for shipping they are quite reasonable. I wish the ML50 and ML300 also adjusted like that. They don't say how many lumens the ML125 has on the maglite website, but I think it used to be in the lower 100 lumen category unless they also improved it. I also would like to see some eye candy-- whoops, I mean beamshots. Thanks for showing that adjustment technique bykfixer. When you get a new light you never leave us in the dark about it.

 

[bykfixer]

Green, if you have an ML25 in LED format you pretty much already know what a 125 is like beam-wise. With it's supplied battery it's got an output similar (according to Maglite) as a generation 1 and with alkalines it runs a bit brighter according to Maglite so it would be similar to the new generation ML25. The big difference is the runtime versus the ML25 but even that isn't quite as stark of a difference.

I do not know what year it came out but mine has 2015 on the box. The 2016 ML25 3 cell for example was stated to run 17 hours at 177 lumens on 3 alkys. The 125 is stated to run 25 hours at 193 lumens on the same batteries. Candela on the 3 cell ML25 was in the 12,000 range where the 125 is stated to be 18500+ so aside from size of light difference the 125 has better numbers on paper.

I ran some tests on both 2 and 3 cell LED ML25's back in 016 and found the 2 cell to be rock solid regulated until the batteries were well depleted and then you had about 45 minites to find new fuel. Just over 2 hours with no decline, which folks scoffed at back then. But after two hours it was still at 100% output, which was something new for Maglite. The 3 cell ran for the stated 17 hours easily with about a 50% decline in output. Again you had useable light for another 45 minutes.

Now is the ML125 as well regulated as those ML25's? My guess is no they are not since it came out before the maxi-minimag ML25's.


The ML125 numbers stated by Maglite on the box it came in.

Now regarding beam pix of it's adjustability? They were not that stark of a difference and I know my cameras well enough to know it would be very difficult to get photographs to show what you see in real life. Perhaps at some point I'll make a point to do that.

I think the reason I am still a fan of Maglite is the same reason I'm still a fan of the Bendix coaster break bicycle wheel. A fairly simple idea that worked very well at it's inception and over the years has remained fairly simple to operate while minor improvements have not caused it to become unreliable. While the world has gone and gotten itself in a dam hurry so all kinds of newfangled gadgets like bikes with hydraulic brakes and 44 cogs can propel turtle shell helmet wearing people in spandex billboards on their destination as fast as they can muster, I prefer to meander on my fat spoke 2 speed bike truck at a pace that gets me there eventually. But the designs and concepts range between the 1940's and 1960's using tried and true components my geat grandchildren will enjoy (Lord willing and the A-bomb don't melt it).

My pop told me after I was grown that when I was 4 years old I tried to turn my tricycle into a 2 wheeler. Apparently minus a magic adapter that the postal service still to this day has not delivered it would have worked. I do remember having all kinds of ideas growing up that would someday happen. Like balancing on the rear wheels of a wheel chair, or doing nifty tricks with my skateboard that took hours, even days or weeks to accomplish. I'd eventually show my idea to someone who would duplicate it in 10 minutes. It was heartbreaking as a kid but as an adult I tend to appreciate the value of the saying "first one through the wall gets bloodied". A fellow who made brass shell casings for the US government and a former sheriff put their heads together and with some help from others too built what would become the undisputed king of flashlights for quite some time. While others easily employ new ideas and a host of "hydraulic brake wheels" I enjoy the simple upgrades of the tried and true inventions of the past. Like an internal hi/lo gear coaster break wheel or the simple genious of a Maglite product.



My custom 2 speed bike truck.


One less car on the road.


Two speed coaster brake hub
You peddle along and kick back slightly on the brake to change gears. Start in low and when you gain some speed you can opt for a high gear.

The bike was built by my buddy Fred Clark at Retro Cruisers using a Worksman bicycle as a platform with a few tweaks to tube angles and lengths. The cogs are a 22 tooth rear and 36 tooth front that I picked out. The pedals and grips are new old stock from the 1970's and the bell on the handle bar is new old stock from the 80's when beach cruisers were all the rage. The paint is Corvette red acrylic.

I will always be a big PK fan but I was a Tony Maglica fan before that.

 

[greenpondmike]

I like your bicycle bykfixer. I never knew a two speed like that existed. Right now I have a 3-speed with the shifter on the handlebars and a 21 speed mountain bike. Been years since I rode one though. Maybe I still can and I need to prove that to myself since someone negative said I'd never ride again. I think the main thing though is getting used to the seat again. I can't see as well in the darkness as I used to when I was a teen and back when I rode in 2015 I didn't have the same reflexes and alertness as I used to, but some how I managed to ride day or night and even rode a honda xr200. Riding a bicycle and a dirt bike too close together got me confused as far as the lever controls was concerned. I was getting good and cutting rooster tails, but the throttle stuck and I mashed the front brake instead of mashing in the clutch. Front tire shot to the left and laid me down on the right real hard. My head bounced (no helmet) and my right leg got squished a little. My head was bleeding bad, but I oriented myself and got back on it before fear set in. Fear still set in slightly though even though I found out it was just the worn out rubber grips that had that aluminum protector bar mounted up against them.
I like the older bicycles, dirt bikes, vehicles and flashlights. I even like older people because I have more in common with them and it's pleasant to talk to them.
That hub you showed is a quality name brand hub. That might be what's on my 3 speed.

 

[hsa]

Mr. Fixer. I'm not sure which ml 25 you are referencing but I found the original packaging on mine. 2c cell is 177 lumens and 25,300 candella. I believe it is the one with the flat regulation. It runs great on white eneloops.

 

[bykfixer]

Right, I'd forgotten the 2 cell was 4 lumens brighter than the 3 cell version. And the 12k CD was the 3 cell incan version. Please pardon the errors. Thanks for clarifying HSA. Thanks indeed.
Also it was the ML100 I almost pulled the trigger on a few times not the ML125. Maglite had them on clearance along with the XL100 one summer.

I had carried a gray Gen 1 with me in my work truck for a while but just recently swapped it out for a gray gen 2. I just had not used the gen 2 much so I never understood how much better it is for an outdoor light. So the gen 1 is now relegated to an indoor light where it stays warm in the winter and cool in the summer. I also use white eneloops (in both). So much lighter with those than C cells.

 

[xxo]

Compared to the ML25 when fully focused, the ML100 has a smaller hot spot and a very slightly larger spill beam, the ML125's spot is about the same size as the ML25 with a slightly larger spill. The ML50 has a larger spot by far (much higher lumens than the others) with a slightly smaller spill than the ML25.

If the lumens were the same, the ML100 would probably be the best thrower, followed by the ML25. As it is the, two top throwers are the ML50 and the ML25 - the ML50 achieves this by pumping out 3-6X the lumens of the other lights. My personal favorite is the ML25, as it puts out a very nice beam with decent tint without too many lumens, which often work against you producing glare.

 

[maglite mike]

The ML125 was the grand daddy of the ML50. $50 is a good deal with the rechargeable battery and charger. Robin Wang did a review on the ML125 over at led-resources back when it first came out:

http://www.led-resource.com/2011/09/maglite-ml125-rechargeable-led-flashlight-review/

....and here's a cool destruction test of the ML125:

I still have 3 of these ml125s. I beat the crap out the them. Still run like new.