MacTech
Enlightened
I've always looked down on the Mag C-cell flashlights, saw them as the wimpy little brother to the mighty D-cell bodies, after all, C-cells (primaries) have less runtime than D cells, and i thought the more substantial body of the D-cell light would be more comfortable to hold than the diminutive C-cell light (i wear size XL ski gloves, so my hands are reasonably big)
since i messed up my "Little Red Sleeper" trying to improve the beam quality, by removing the old lens and supergluing in a spare Mag D-cell lens, not giving the glue enough time to dry and smearing it all over the lens when i tried to polish up the lens, then doing the same thing to the original lens when i reinstalled it, i needed a new host for the 2-cell MagLED module
yes, i could have simply purchased another Rayovac ValueBright, but i really hate the "starburst-y" artifacts and rings, they're *worse* than the infamous Mag "rings and holes"
So, i stopped off at Home Depot, looking for a new host, i could tell by looking that the MagLED module wouldn't fit in most of the potential cheapie hosts
then i thought....
"they have C-cell NIMH batteries on clearance for $3 a pack, i could pick up 2 packs, leave one in the charger, and have the other in the light, and i don't have any C-cell Mags anyway, lets see how bad these things really are....
So i picked up a Pewter 2C Mag, a 2 pack of NIMH C-cells, and a 4 pack of Duracell primaries (i just so happened to have the MagLED in the car)
got out to the car, made short work of the stupid clampack with my SpyderEdged Spyderco Tasman Salt Hawkbill (the Tasman laughs at clamshell packages), and pulled the Mag 2C out of the package
it actually has surprisingly good ergonomics, very comfortable to hold, arguably *more* comfortable than the D-cell version, very well balanced (my MagLED 3-D seems tail-heavy, especially with NIMH's), it quite honestly surprised me, how comfortable it feels
the first thing i did was unscrew the head, remove the incan bulb, and drop in the LED module, when i removed the head, it struck me at how "overbuilt" the body tube seemed, the walls of the aluminum body seemed thicker than the D-cell version, everything just feels more rugged on the C-cell body, the tailcap is thicker and more substansial (and still just as annoying to screw back down once you put the batteries in as the D-cell)
when i lit up the 2-c in a dark room and compared it against the 3-D, light output was almost identical, the D having just a *tiny* bit more light output (visually i'd say less than 5% difference), quite impressive, the 2-C had almost the same output as the 3-D, and had a much more ergonomic design, just felt more comfortable somehow
the lines of the C-cell model look more appealing than the D-cell as well, the wide flared head tapering to a narrow body just seems more timeless and classic, the 2-C looks more like what people associate with the word "flashlight"
i had obviously been way off in my assesment of the C-cell Mag, it wasn't a "wimpy little brother" of the D-cell, it was a well designed flashlight in it's own right
i started reading up on the C-cell mags here on CPF, apparently they are being discontinued, as Mag is transitioning to D-cell bodies only, the color models are getting rarer by the day (especially the blue/purple ones), clearly i needed another one as a backup, so i went back to the Somersworth NH HD, where i saw they had a purple 2C, i picked up the purple 2C, and while i was there, i picked up another MagLED module, and another pack of clearance NIMH C-cells.
then since i was heading that way anyway, to the Portsmouth NH HD to see if they had any rare colors
one Silver 2-C later (and another pack of clearance NIMH C's), i headed home with my new haul, the Pewter and Silver 2-C's will be my main users, as the pewter and silver finishes won't show wear as much as other colors, or even black, and the purple one, i'm not sure what i'll do with that one, since it's rare, i may just hold onto it and leave it in the package
Hmm, i wonder, are the silver mags even anodized, or is it simply the bare aluminum, judging from the minor scratches on my 3D silver MagLED, it appears to be just the plain aluminum, maybe with a coat of clearcoat paint....
the C-cell Mags are pretty decent lights, and, as someone here on CPF said, it'd be good to have at least one C-cell based light, in the event of an emergency, it's usually the D-cells and AA's that sell out first, having some lights based on "unpopular" batteries (unpopular to "normals", that is) like C-cells, CR123's (most "Normies" don't even *know* there are lights that use these) insures you'll have some source of batteries
and since i now have plenty of NIMH batteries in AAA, C and D formats, i'm pretty much set, no more expensive primaries for those lights that use these cells
If you have an opportunity to get a C-cell based Mag, go for it, slap in a MagLED and you'll have a great little beater that uses "unpopular" batteries, perfect for extended duration disaster situations
hmm.... maybe i should put one of those MagLEDs in the tailcap of the C-cells and put in one of my MJLED PR's instead, to make a long-running power-outage light....
since i messed up my "Little Red Sleeper" trying to improve the beam quality, by removing the old lens and supergluing in a spare Mag D-cell lens, not giving the glue enough time to dry and smearing it all over the lens when i tried to polish up the lens, then doing the same thing to the original lens when i reinstalled it, i needed a new host for the 2-cell MagLED module
yes, i could have simply purchased another Rayovac ValueBright, but i really hate the "starburst-y" artifacts and rings, they're *worse* than the infamous Mag "rings and holes"
So, i stopped off at Home Depot, looking for a new host, i could tell by looking that the MagLED module wouldn't fit in most of the potential cheapie hosts
then i thought....
"they have C-cell NIMH batteries on clearance for $3 a pack, i could pick up 2 packs, leave one in the charger, and have the other in the light, and i don't have any C-cell Mags anyway, lets see how bad these things really are....
So i picked up a Pewter 2C Mag, a 2 pack of NIMH C-cells, and a 4 pack of Duracell primaries (i just so happened to have the MagLED in the car)
got out to the car, made short work of the stupid clampack with my SpyderEdged Spyderco Tasman Salt Hawkbill (the Tasman laughs at clamshell packages), and pulled the Mag 2C out of the package
it actually has surprisingly good ergonomics, very comfortable to hold, arguably *more* comfortable than the D-cell version, very well balanced (my MagLED 3-D seems tail-heavy, especially with NIMH's), it quite honestly surprised me, how comfortable it feels
the first thing i did was unscrew the head, remove the incan bulb, and drop in the LED module, when i removed the head, it struck me at how "overbuilt" the body tube seemed, the walls of the aluminum body seemed thicker than the D-cell version, everything just feels more rugged on the C-cell body, the tailcap is thicker and more substansial (and still just as annoying to screw back down once you put the batteries in as the D-cell)
when i lit up the 2-c in a dark room and compared it against the 3-D, light output was almost identical, the D having just a *tiny* bit more light output (visually i'd say less than 5% difference), quite impressive, the 2-C had almost the same output as the 3-D, and had a much more ergonomic design, just felt more comfortable somehow
the lines of the C-cell model look more appealing than the D-cell as well, the wide flared head tapering to a narrow body just seems more timeless and classic, the 2-C looks more like what people associate with the word "flashlight"
i had obviously been way off in my assesment of the C-cell Mag, it wasn't a "wimpy little brother" of the D-cell, it was a well designed flashlight in it's own right
i started reading up on the C-cell mags here on CPF, apparently they are being discontinued, as Mag is transitioning to D-cell bodies only, the color models are getting rarer by the day (especially the blue/purple ones), clearly i needed another one as a backup, so i went back to the Somersworth NH HD, where i saw they had a purple 2C, i picked up the purple 2C, and while i was there, i picked up another MagLED module, and another pack of clearance NIMH C-cells.
then since i was heading that way anyway, to the Portsmouth NH HD to see if they had any rare colors
one Silver 2-C later (and another pack of clearance NIMH C's), i headed home with my new haul, the Pewter and Silver 2-C's will be my main users, as the pewter and silver finishes won't show wear as much as other colors, or even black, and the purple one, i'm not sure what i'll do with that one, since it's rare, i may just hold onto it and leave it in the package
Hmm, i wonder, are the silver mags even anodized, or is it simply the bare aluminum, judging from the minor scratches on my 3D silver MagLED, it appears to be just the plain aluminum, maybe with a coat of clearcoat paint....
the C-cell Mags are pretty decent lights, and, as someone here on CPF said, it'd be good to have at least one C-cell based light, in the event of an emergency, it's usually the D-cells and AA's that sell out first, having some lights based on "unpopular" batteries (unpopular to "normals", that is) like C-cells, CR123's (most "Normies" don't even *know* there are lights that use these) insures you'll have some source of batteries
and since i now have plenty of NIMH batteries in AAA, C and D formats, i'm pretty much set, no more expensive primaries for those lights that use these cells
If you have an opportunity to get a C-cell based Mag, go for it, slap in a MagLED and you'll have a great little beater that uses "unpopular" batteries, perfect for extended duration disaster situations
hmm.... maybe i should put one of those MagLEDs in the tailcap of the C-cells and put in one of my MJLED PR's instead, to make a long-running power-outage light....