Question about Maglites

This might be a pointless/stupid question but why do many people write the word Mag with an asterik in it (M*g)?

double post

The question is a hot button for discussion. Fair question for someone new to this board. I'll bet it does look strange.

Some members dislike Mag's litigous business practices. Some dislike the output of the stock Mags. Some don't wish for people working for Mag to be able to easily find their discussions. You might also see Muglight or Gaglight.

I used too do M*g or Magl!te. Stopped because I guess I'm a little lazy and discuss HotWires or modified incandescant Mags often so it would be a pain to call a Mag85 a M*g85 everytime I referenced it.

Mags are the most popular host for modified lights...incan or LED.

Like Icebreak said, and doing it out of spite, loathesomeness against said company.

Mag Instrument is truly the Rambus or RIAA of flashlights. But they make a quality product at a fair price.

bfg9000 said:

But they make a quality product at a fair price.

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Much unlike the RIAA and their constituents :thumbsdow

As being new in this forum, I wondered also and I thought it was like people writing "Micro$oft"; avoiding the company reading our posts was not so obvious for me!

But I prefer writing it rightly, because it helps people who use the search engine. Then, first I think flashalcoholics are not a market for Mag; second if such forums provide them useful information, they read many messages about various flashlights including competitors.

I just don't wanna get sued for using their name...

I think it's completely ridiculous to change the name when talking about them. Sure makes searching for Mag-related facts and mods 10x more difficult.

GreenLED's right. If the search function of this site actually worked, finding Mag-related stuff would be much harder.

The "M*g" thing is a dig at the company. It makes zero difference as far as the company reading posts, legal stuff, or any other BS people like to believe. I can see someone using it as other similar words are (Crapsman, etc) if you're complaining about something specific ("my lousy M*g Solitaie crapped out again") but in general folks just look like nitwits. Although feel free to continue if you like appearing that way to others.

Call it for what it is before you mod it, (Mag), but AFTER you mod, ie; 85 or whatever, it is no longer a mag in the true sense; but if you want to call it a mag 85 or m*g 85 go for it; who cares, except maybe Mag-Lite.

They can sue me all they want; can't get blood from a stone

I d*n't mind lo*oking like a n*itw*it and h*ll I really d*n't mind app*aring that w*y to others...perh*aps some people h*ere just ne*d to relax a b*t and try to sm*le once in * wh*le?
:buddies:

Why are Mag lights referred to as M*g lights? It could also just be a way of suggesting that Mag is a "bad" word, since you're writing it in the way that people often write 4-letter words in print: by substituting a letter or two (sh*t, f*ck, etc.).

Just my two cents! I'm sure there are a myriad of other reasons (most of them already discussed above)...

So now I have to ask....why don't people like Mag Instruments's lights? They used to be the best ones out there commonly available! The police still carry them.

Because "Mag" is an insult! A bad word. So we have to censor it.

Genxsis said:

So now I have to ask....why don't people like Mag Instruments's lights? They used to be the best ones out there commonly available! The police still carry them.

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Mainly because of Mag's overactive lawyers, but also because Mag's "best light available" marketing hasn't been valid for 10 or more years. The basic product line hasn't been added to since 1986 or so.

Very few police carry normal Mags, unless they're issued them and don't have the choice or the cash. Those who do carry Mags use Magchargers, but it seems like the majority of cops now use Streamlights of various types. Tigerlight is making inroads, too. The traditional PR-bulb, D-cell police flashlight was on the way out in 1980.

greenLED said:

Sure makes searching for Mag-related facts and mods 10x more difficult.

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Mag, M*g, M@g, M_g, MM

LEDninja, I have no trouble following the different iterations of the Mag name. But if I'm looking for a "Mag 2D mod LuxIII" and the maker chose to spell it as "M$g", the search function won't find it. Yes, when doing a search, I use all the alternate forms that people use on CPF, which was precisely my point: I shouldn't need to do 6 different searches for the single term.

AshA4 said:

I just don't wanna get sued for using their name...

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I'm no lawyer but how could they sue you for using their name, wouldn't they want people to use their name?
There's no such thing as bad publicity.

ABTOMAT said:

Mainly because of Mag's overactive lawyers, but also because Mag's "best light available" marketing hasn't been valid for 10 or more years. The basic product line hasn't been added to since 1986 or so.

Very few police carry normal Mags, unless they're issued them and don't have the choice or the cash. Those who do carry Mags use Magchargers, but it seems like the majority of cops now use Streamlights of various types. Tigerlight is making inroads, too. The traditional PR-bulb, D-cell police flashlight was on the way out in 1980.

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When I was looking to buy a light (i'm not a LEO), I came across numerous articles where police depts. are moving away from big lights (i.e. mags) that can also be used as a club. Ever since the rodney king incident, I think that there's been a lot of litigation about brutality involving flashlights. Whether or not it's true is besides the point - police depts are spending lots of $$ on lawyers - whereas it could be better spent IMO on pay raises and equipment. Those of you who are LEOs - am I off base?