Just how durable are Mini Maglites anyway?

carrot

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Inspired by the "Can a Surefire really saw through another flashlight" thread, I decided to do my own (very unscientific) testing... whether a Maglite bulb is really as fragile as people say.

I threw my Mini Maglite while lit 16 times before it broke. I estimate each of those throws is equivalent to falling 10-12 feet. The bi-pin lamp unseated itself twice. I put the bulb back in both times. The third time the bi-pin bulb came out, I tried to put it back in, but the plastic "DO NOT REMOVE" cap had also come off, and one of the contacts had bent irrepairably. The bulb and filament did not break.

My conclusions: The Mini Maglite is a nice tube of metal.

Pictures if wanted later. (Saturday or Sunday, camera is packed away).
 
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greenLED

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carrot said:
My conclusions: The Mini Maglite is a nice tube of metal, but I wouldn't trust it for lighting.

ummmm.. dood, you'll need to do a comparative test, with repetitions, against another brand for your conclusion to hold. The fact that it survived 16 tosses says a lot about the light's resistance to abuse. Incidentally, horizontal tosses are not the same as vertical drops. :nana:
 

IsaacHayes

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You can re-bend those contacts if you take out the bulb holder.

My bulb broke on the first fall. Another fall it stayed lit but then short time after it went out. I'm surprised it survieved throwing it all those times. If I threw mine, it'd be a lot harder than a 10-foot drop!! Probably it would deform the head!!

I have the nite-ize drop in and it's now a donor light for when people are with me and want a light to hold too...
 

carrot

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greenLED said:
ummmm.. dood, you'll need to do a comparative test, with repetitions, against another brand for your conclusion to hold. The fact that it survived 16 tosses says a lot about the light's resistance to abuse. Incidentally, horizontal tosses are not the same as vertical drops. :nana:
Okay, who wants to volunteer to "stress test" their lights? If no one wants to, I'll try flinging my SF G2 after I get my A2 (hopefully very soon).
 

carrot

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IsaacHayes said:
You can re-bend those contacts if you take out the bulb holder. ...If I threw mine, it'd be a lot harder than a 10-foot drop!! Probably it would deform the head!!
Nope, contacts were bent enough that I can't fix them properly, they're all crimped up.

I didn't want to damage the floor -- parents would be mad. And it's cold outside.
 
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zespectre

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I do know that I bugged out ahead of a nasty storm once while camping and when I got home I couldn't find my mini-maglight anywhere. I was a little upset 'cause that was the -good- light back then. Two years later I take a girlfriend out camping in the same area. We put up the tent and do the "roll" test to see if there are any sticks or rocks and sure enough something jabs me in the ribs. I get out and move the tent and voila there's my mini-maglight...and it still worked (though very dimly). I put fresh batts in and it was fine (after I cleaned all the mud/dirt off) and I still have it today.
 

mossyoak

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you know i think that people need to give more respect to the mini mag i think of it sort of as the honda civic of flashlights true stock it sucks but a few modifications and they are quite nice i mean how many of you guys found this forum becasue of the mini mag?
 

Navck

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I used to teeth on them as a child.
We have over 4 dead miniM*gs that can't be fixed by replacing bulb or batterys. (Rust from saliva maybe.)
That and JSB from what I hear killed one with a 2x4 a long time ago (As in 10 years area)
 

Pydpiper

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Last year I bought a new Solitaire, put a battery in it, turned it on, and kicked it, over and over on my 3 mile walk around the cement/gravel path that surrounds my campground.
The light looks like hell, but works fine. I only picked it up to take it off the grass and off I would go again. The key ring no longer works.. :)
 

IonFire

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A fellow mechanic in my shop once..

Finished working on a much older ford 3/4 ton, did a minor tune if i remember correctly.
Anyways, i walk up just as he is about to slam the hood, the motor is runnin, so slam it goes as i get there, then theres a noise, and it appears in the form of a shape, not once,twice,but about 10-15 times.

It was his new 2xAA
mag, was sitting on the fan shroud, when he slammed the hood, it jumped up and into the fan, then it danced on it and the hood as its floor, it would hit the fan, jump up an hit the hood, fall back down into the fan again and repeat.

It proceeded to make about 10 really nice shaped cones in the hood, it did not rip through, just stretched the hood to look like a hand had been shoved into it. It finally came out, mind you whilst he scrambled to shut off the truck it happened pretty fast, well it comes out ,hits the floor and shoots across the shop, through the drywall and into the front parts room.

about 30 seconds later, jerry from parts, comes back with this shiny looking hacked to hell an back mag, which was still lit.

Head was managled an tube was destroyed, but it worked after that.

First thing buddy says, i was going to use my 3-D on that one too, glad i didn't.


IF
 

CLHC

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Now that's a "To Hell and Back" flashlight story that I've ever heard. Thanks for sharing that IonFire!

Also, I remember reading about a fellow CPF member here who threw (not just drop but threw) his SureFire G2 on the floor/ground while on, to show his friend how durable and well built the "plastic" flashlight is from said company. His comment was that the light remained on and that the "perfect beam" is now "football shaped" after his demonstration. Just wondering how many times one can "throw" onto the ground the SF.G2 while in the on position and last. Not long I think. . .
 
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