Luxeon minimag drop-in bright enough for camping?

M

meta4

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When I go camping in the woods, I usually take a Mag 3D with me for wandering around at night. Would a Minimag with one of the Luxeon drop-ins be bright enough to replace it?
 

IlluminatingBikr

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Where exactly do you buy the drop in your talking about. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif I have a 3D mag right by my bed and would like to try out the mod your talking about. Thanks for the help. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 

shipinretech

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A good bit depends on the quality of your night vision. If you have poor night vision, a small flashlight may not be the answer. From my own experience this summer in Alaska, leaving and InReTech adapted AA Mini-MAG on all night in candle mode was of substantial benefit to my 70 year old father, who has severe medical complicatons, when he got up at night. Since the InReTech adapter can run for weeks on a standard alkaline batteries, leaving the light on all night was a definite option. Of tremendous benefit was that the light did not draw mosquitoes because unlike candle lanterns, LEDs do not produce substantial heat and carbon dioxide. LEDs also do not drip wax. The InReTech adapted AA Mini-MAG was more than sufficient to find the outhouse from the cabin for my parents.

InReTech also produces adapters for 3D Mags, the focussed TRILIGHT and the floodlight Super6. These adapters produce a heck of a light for a long time and are certainly acceptable for wandering around.

If your lighting needs trend to the extreme, and who on this forum can say that theirs don't, the InReTech HELIOS and MEGA6 certainly fill the requirement. The HELIOS is acknowledged by many as the brightest LED flashlight available in the world.

If you need more portable light than that, I suggest you go to a constuction supply company, purchase a portable floodlight system, and have done with it.
 

RonM

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One of the most sophisticated Minimag LS drop in's can be found at Dat2zip's Sandwich Shop.

The Badboy 400 and 500 use custom circuitry to drive the LS at 400 and 500mA, respectively. To me they put out a lot more light than a stock Minimag, but I doubt they equal a Mag 3D. Also, since they use voltage boosting they work very well with NiMH despite the lower voltage of these batts. For the price of two music CDs you get one of the coolest LED systems available.

The Inretech product seems nice, but since it is a direct drive it won't be anywhere near as bright as a Badboy. I view the two products as serving different purposes.
 

Blikbok

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My experience while camping has led me to carry three lights: one always with me in a pocket, one headlamp, and one reach-out-and-touch light. I'm guessing your use of the Mag 3d would fall under my "reach" light. It depends on how you use your light, though.

I've got a stock Mag 2D, 4D, and a Surefire E1/Kl1 for a Luxeon Star right here. There's no way my LS can compete with the Mags for reach, but the smooth beam of a LED is much more useful than the beam of the stock Mag bulb.
Grab one of the Nite-Ize headbands ( http://www.niteize.com/head.html ) or something similar and you'll probably not need another light. Did I just say that? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif

It won't do everything a bigger light will, but it will likely meet 90% of your needs outdoors. Plus it's a lot easier to work with when you need both hands. If you can share more about how you use the Maglight, maybe we can help more.
 

Empath

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On outdoors use of the Luxeon I've found that if there is much ambient light, the beam is lost pretty quickly. In very dark areas it's okay. For long range use I haven't found any LED as useful as incandescent.
 

Ralf

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For wandering around at night a e.g. bb500 is almost too
bright. Last night for star watching I used a modded old
flashlight with a single blue led and we were able to see
more than enough in the woods to find our way out to the field. I didn't want to disturb my night vision, therefore I didn't switch on my minimag with bb500.

But for general purpose camping I would recommend an opalec
drop in for minimag. long runtime, easy to install, low bat indicator (good for use with NiMH)...

And an ARC AAA is always with me anyway :)

Best regards
Ralf
 

SilverFox

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My take on camping lights

Hello meta4,

Here is my take on camping lights.

In the woods, I find a light that works out to 20 feet or so is good. The Mini Mag drop in Mod falls in this range. If you have ever taken a Mini Mag on one of you trips, the LED MOD has about the same reach, but a lot more light. The LED produces a smooth beam.

When climbing or hiking in thick brush, a head lamp is desirable. I started out with the Petzl Tikka (3 LED). It is fine close up, but has no throw. I now have a Streamlight Trident that has both an incadescent bulb for throw, and 3 LED for close up. The Trident also has an option to run with only 1 LED for use around camp.

Once you have camp set up, any 1 LED key chain light will work fine. Around camp the Mini Mag Mod may be too much, unless used in candle mode. I should point out that I camp in areas that have established fire pits, and we usually have a camp fire at night (the Boy Scouts in our Troop are required to learn fire building skills and demonstrate them). This limits some of the flashlight use at night.

After lights out (sometime around 2:00a...), almost any light is too much. I have a PALight and an ExternaLight XRay. Both have a "night" light that is just right for finding your way around camp in pitch black. Note that I had to modify my XRay to get the "night beacon" LED to shine through the case (I just bent it into position) so that it creats a useful beam similar to the PALight.

If you are on the water, or in the open planes, LED lights do not have the throw needed to light up a distant object. Incandescents rule in those conditions (although I have a BlasterII that puts out a good beam out to 150 feet and beyond). I have a UK SL4 that I use in those conditions.

Tom
 

StoneDog

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Re: My take on camping lights

The BB500 drop-in is plenty bright for anything up to 30 feet (at least!). Your mileage may vary, but as an example a few nights ago I used mine to check the paint job on the side of my two story house. It easily lit up the trim at the top of the house (gables?) and gives a nice, wide and smooth beam compared to anything a stock Mag will do. A benefit of the Inretech adapter is that you'll get very nice run times. I would suggest the cyan or maybe the amber if you like the Inretech and want a little extra brightness.

But, none of these mini-mag drop-ins will throw a tight spot like your Mag though. And, I would feel safer in a primitive camping situation if I also had a light with some real throw (maybe a PT Surge or any of the xenon 2x123 lights). I'd also bring along some smaller task lights like the LED headlamps mentioned above or even a few CMG Infinities.

Jon
 

Rifter

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Re: My take on camping lights

For camping i usuay take ALOT of lights, they tend to come in useful. I take a 3 Cell surefire with turbohead for long range work. A 5D mag W/ Cyan 5W LS for trailwalking. And also a mini-mag with badboy 500 for upclose around the campsite work, and a 1W red mini-mag mod for more covert work.
 
M

meta4

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Re: My take on camping lights

Thanks for all the great replies! It sounds like no compact LED light is going to match the throw of an incandescent like the Mag 3D. However, I like a smooth beam, and I usually set my Mag on flood anyway, so something like a Badboy 400/500 might suit my needs.
 

Entropy

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Re: My take on camping lights

I've found that a BB400 with a McFlood can compete in brightness with a 2D Mag. The 2D Mag beats it with fresh batteries, but it doesn't take long for the Mag to drop below the BB400.

Of course, the Mag will last a LOT longer.

A Luxeon driven at spec is REALLY FREAKING BRIGHT. But it will eat 2 AAs in about 2 hours or less.

The Inretech's last a lot longer, but are nowhere near as bright.
 

BuddTX

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Re: My take on camping lights

[ QUOTE ]
meta4 said:
Thanks for all the great replies! It sounds like no compact LED light is going to match the throw of an incandescent like the Mag 3D. However, I like a smooth beam, and I usually set my Mag on flood anyway, so something like a Badboy 400/500 might suit my needs.

[/ QUOTE ]

With the exception of the New 5 Watt Luxeon Stars and a InReTECH Tri-lite, no LED is going to compare to the "throw" of an incandecent. Short story, if you want to get a drop in replacement for your 3D (or maybe 4D for even brighter results) Mag, get the InReTECH Tri-light. 3, 1 watt Luxeon Stars in your Mag.

( I have a 5 Watt Luxeon Star custom made light from fellow CPF member, Mr. Bulk, and it blows EVERY other incancedent that I own out of the water, including my Princeton Tec Surge, and my modified Brinkmann Legend LX with a SureFire P61 Hi Output Lamp Assembly (HOLA), and both of those lights are VERY WELL respected, very bright lights!)

BUT, LED's are great, actually prefered by me, over incandecents when walking or hiking, in total darkness.

I say this humorously, but you have to "become one" with the LED lights to understand this. Why? Well, unlike the Mag 3D, that punches out a thin but strong beam of light (abit, with rings and shadows) for a long distance, the LED's produce a very wide "glow" of light all around you. Depending on the LED light that you get, the light will ight up everything, from 0-15 feet to 0-100 feet. AND, it will be a very very white light, not yellow, and very even, no rings and shadows.

For this to work very well, it need to be completely dark, and camping would fit that description. No ambient light at all. If you can see clearly in front of you, without any extra light, then a LED light probably is not going to do all that much for you.

What happens, is that you do not "loose" your nighttime vision when using a LED light. I use one of my favorite lights, a custom made, limited availability, 3 AA Cell light from Mr. Bulk, called the LGI, almost nightly when walking my dog, with my friend and her dogs. Sometimes we go to places that are totally free of any ambient light. When I turn on my LGI, everything in front of me, gets flooded with this pure, snow white light. It is totally awesome! NOW, when my friend turns on her light, a Streamlight Stinger HP (an incredible, rechargable, 40,000 CP incandecent and supprisingly small), All the light from my LGI seems to "Dissapear"! WHY? Because, her light is soo bright, that my eyes have to adjust, and they loose their large dialation, or nightime vision, and they have to adjust to the bright light.

The first time I experienced this LED effect, was when I took a trip to Vermont, Skiing, last Spring. I was walking my dog, outside the cabin, and there was lots of snow, and absoultely NO ambient light. I had a 1 LED light, No super, custom made, ultra bright LED, just a standard Nichia 1 LED light, and I turned it on. MAN, you would have thought I had a 2,000,000 cp spotlight in my hand! Why? Well, it was totally dark, so the only light around at all was from the 1 lone LED, and the entire ground was covered in pure white snow, so all the light relfected back off the snow. I just stood there in amazement! How could one little LED put out all that light? Well, your eyes were helping out, that is why it seemed so bright.

Now the side benefit of this is, that you can still see "in the dark", so turning your head away from the light, you are not blind, but rather can make out shadows etc.
 

Inverse Square

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Re: Luxeon minimag drop-in bright enough for campi

Please don't count out the Inretech 2AA dropin. I have one in an older Mini Mag combined with a McFlood and half-round acrylic ball. The acrylic ball gives me pretty decent throw and I can remove the ball (it's held on with a Mag rubber lens holder) when I want a smooth, even flood from the McFlood. I have been told that the 2AA dropin is even better with lithium batteries. I am content with alkaline.
I use an Opelec + Mini Mag + yellow lens when I want to preserve my nightvision.

Hmmm...some many good choices in this thread. I gotta go flashlight shopping! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 

steve_vance

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hey...it depends on what kind of camping you're talking aboout...car-camping requirements are a lot different from hiking in or extended backcountry camping. IF you're not interested in light weight, a maglite is fine. but...here's my "suggested-characteristics" list for any kind of camping:
1. waterproof
2. light weight
3. led-powered for the following reasons:
a. bulb durability
b. run-time (maybe a 4- or 7-led would be better than luxeon?
c. color purity (if you're a geologist or naturalist)
 

spyder

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I've pretty much narrowed down to a mod for my mini mag using NiMh batteries. Looking for good runtime and decent light. How does the Inretech compare to the Opalec? Been searching all the threads and haven't found one that directly compares the two. I'm a newbie so please be easy... Been lurking for a couple of weeks and feel my wallet opening up.
 

sunspot

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Re: Luxeon minimag drop-in bright enough for campi

ewick. When you go to the reply screen, there are instant UBB Codes. Click on URL and just follow instructions. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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