What happened to the Mag C/D Drop-in Market?

RebelRAM · Oct 24, 2007

Not so long ago everybody was converting their Mags to LED with various drop-ins. It seems that most have moved on to other lights such as Fenix and other high powered small LED based lights. The two highly recommended drop-ins at the time were the Diamond DB-3 and the EverLed. I realize this is considered old technology now and also that Diamond was bought out by TerraLux. So what LEDs took their place? What are the Mag C/D drop-in modules that are considered best of the best now?

I still have a few Mags around that I never upgraded and I seriously doubt I'll do any sort of incan mod on them, but it would be nice to convert them to LED, if anything as loaner lights to give out to friends and family.

5.0Trunk · Oct 24, 2007

You may want to look at the Malkoff Mag 2-3-4D dropin. I have one in a 2D configured with 3Cs and this thing is bright, can throw and they have good runtimes. They are hard to come by but just sign up on his site to receive e-mails when he has some available.

Malkoff Drop ins

Bill

Gunner12 · Oct 24, 2007

Many are either modding their Mags or using the Seoul drop-ins avaliable. The best Drop-in IMO is the Malkoffdevices. The cheaper one is the Terralux drop-in. 2-3 Cell and 4-6 Cell.

PERRYinLA · Nov 9, 2007

Mag-Lite LED kits

Darn, I wish I had known about the Malkoff and Terralux options before I just bought the usual Mag-Lite LED upgrade kits at Home Depot.

(At least they didn't cost too much- less than $20.)

I threw away the packaging, so I am not even sure what I have.
What sort of LEDs are they, and how much better are the Malkoff and Terralux LEDs?

NA8 · Nov 9, 2007

They all have different lumens/runtimes. The Malkoff is the brightest but has lower run times in regulation. The MagLED has the lowest brightness but longest runtime in regulation (44hrs with a 4D). The Terralux comes in the middle both in performance and cost. You can modify the MagLED to run even longer at a lower level, or replace the luxeon LED with a Seoul fairly easily if you can solder. There are threads here on how to do both.

I picked up a Maglite dropin for an old 2C I've got the other day. When I was comparing it to other LED's I've got I thought it was pretty weak. Tonight I picked it up and tried it out (it's upstairs in my mother's place) and was surprised at how much it lit up the hallway. Way better than the old krypton bulb. It's amazing how these lights we all rag on actually perform remarkably well compared to the old incan versions.

You can always put your MagLED in your tailcap if you pick up something else

Gladius01 · Nov 10, 2007

RebelRAM said:
Not so long ago everybody was converting their Mags to LED with various drop-ins. It seems that most have moved on to other lights such as Fenix and other high powered small LED based lights. The two highly recommended drop-ins at the time were the Diamond DB-3 and the EverLed. I realize this is considered old technology now and also that Diamond was bought out by TerraLux. So what LEDs took their place? What are the Mag C/D drop-in modules that are considered best of the best now?

I still have a few Mags around that I never upgraded and I seriously doubt I'll do any sort of incan mod on them, but it would be nice to convert them to LED, if anything as loaner lights to give out to friends and family.

RebelRAM,

I got 3 diamond LEDs that I upgraded last year and I just checked e-bay and you still can get them. I bought Malkoff Dropin recently and still waiting fot it to arrive. Lots of good comment on this one and very bright single LED 240 lumens. The only problem is always sold out, the last time I got e-mail from GENE and he put in 125 dropin in the websites only last about a day all sold out. Here is the link http://www.malkoffdevices.com/index.php

Bushman5 · Nov 10, 2007

Re: Mag-Lite LED kits

PERRYinLA said:
Darn, I wish I had known about the Malkoff and Terralux options before I just bought the usual Mag-Lite LED upgrade kits at Home Depot.

(At least they didn't cost too much- less than $20.)

I threw away the packaging, so I am not even sure what I have.
What sort of LEDs are they, and how much better are the Malkoff and Terralux LEDs?

dont be too disapointed with those Mag led upgrades.....When its balck out and you need light its actually pretty impressive. I lit up a house address this morning with a 3D magled drop in, i was standing on the road, the house was up a drive about 300 feet. I lit up the whole front of the house.

Zenster · Nov 10, 2007

To directly address the original question:
What happened to the Mag C/D Drop-in Market?

I do think the drop-in market is not only dropping, but may go away in the next couple of years.

I have some drop-in's myself (Terralux), but the ONLY (emphasis on "ONLY") reason I bought them was to morph my pathetic Maglites into useable lighting tools. If I didn't do that I would have thrown them away.

But another light I have is the Tiablo A9s, and it blows away the converted Maglites as far as brilliance goes, and the A9s is a fraction of the weight and 1/5 the size of my 3-D cell Maglite.

Now that runtimes for Q5 LED's can run a couple of hours on the lights in the class of the A9s (and MRV-SE and Duree DBS), I can't imagine why anyone would intentionally buy one of those big klunker Maglites anymore for any reason.

I have relegated all my drop-in Maglites to being emergency lights that I stash and forget other than for additional lighting if I ever think I need it.
But for on purpose, "grab it and go" lights, I'll pick the A9s everytime, or even my L2D/Q5 that I can slip into a pocket on-the-go, and even IT puts out more light over more time than any of the drop-in Maglites.

Even if/when the drop-ins can offer exactly the same specs as the newer lights like the ones I mentioned, you still have to ask yourself why you want to carry around a 5 pound, 14" when you can get the same results but in just a few ounces and not much over 5 inches.

Gunner12 · Nov 10, 2007

You guys have to remember that out of the public, ver very few people have even heard of Tiablo, even if they have and have heard of what it can do, as soon as you give the price range and that you have o buy online you will loose most of the people who were interested.

To most people, the "pathetic" maglites incans are still top of the line. The main problem I see is that many of the lights talked about here aren't available in stores.

ACMarina · Nov 10, 2007

Quite true, gunner.. I was checking out the flashlight section at Wal-Mart today while waiting for a haircut, and I noticed an older gentleman talking to the wal-mart hunting counter guy about flashlights. Seems his older cheap 2d flashlight broke, and he wanted a better one. Hunting guy brings out 2d Maglite - older guys feels and says "humph, hefty, must be well built" and buys it..

To most all of the world, Maglite is "The" high-end light...

donn_ · Nov 10, 2007

I'm an "older gentleman," and I love Mags. I have a 6D w/terralux mounted in my pickup cab, above the rear window. I have a very old 2D W/Terralux on my bedside table. I have two 3D's with Malkoff drop-ins, waiting for Kiu's custom SS bezels. I have a fivemega 8AA to 2D hotwire which just arrived from England, and a 1D enroute from Ledean.

There's more than light involved in the Mags. They have history as well as heft. If they can't disorient someone with their beam, you can always whack them on the head.

LEDAdd1ct · Nov 10, 2007

Re: Mag-Lite LED kits

PERRYinLA said:
Darn, I wish I had known about the Malkoff and Terralux options before I just bought the usual Mag-Lite LED upgrade kits at Home Depot.

(At least they didn't cost too much- less than $20.)

I threw away the packaging, so I am not even sure what I have.
What sort of LEDs are they, and how much better are the Malkoff and Terralux LEDs?

I did that, too. I went to Home Depot and bought a Mag drop-in, and then, the next day, returned it, and got a Malkoff instead.

You can get one, you just need to have the patience of a <fill in with someone who has a lot of patience here>.

stitch_paradox · Nov 10, 2007

Zenster said:
To directly address the original question:
What happened to the Mag C/D Drop-in Market?

I do think the drop-in market is not only dropping, but may go away in the next couple of years.

I have some drop-in's myself (Terralux), but the ONLY (emphasis on "ONLY") reason I bought them was to morph my pathetic Maglites into useable lighting tools. If I didn't do that I would have thrown them away.

But another light I have is the Tiablo A9s, and it blows away the converted Maglites as far as brilliance goes, and the A9s is a fraction of the weight and 1/5 the size of my 3-D cell Maglite.

Now that runtimes for Q5 LED's can run a couple of hours on the lights in the class of the A9s (and MRV-SE and Duree DBS), I can't imagine why anyone would intentionally buy one of those big klunker Maglites anymore for any reason.

I have relegated all my drop-in Maglites to being emergency lights that I stash and forget other than for additional lighting if I ever think I need it.
But for on purpose, "grab it and go" lights, I'll pick the A9s everytime, or even my L2D/Q5 that I can slip into a pocket on-the-go, and even IT puts out more light over more time than any of the drop-in Maglites.

Even if/when the drop-ins can offer exactly the same specs as the newer lights like the ones I mentioned, you still have to ask yourself why you want to carry around a 5 pound, 14" when you can get the same results but in just a few ounces and not much over 5 inches.

Tiablos are really nice, but like what other members posted above, most "unenlightened" people are not familiar with that light. As to carrying Maglites, different people, different preferences. Personally I like the factory MagLEDs because of their long run times. In a disastrous emergency, like our recent wild fire, I can't afford to change batteries evry 3 hours with the Tiablo. When they gave us the alert for an evacuation, 3 lights came into my BOB, a MagLED, Surefire and Fenix, during the whole crisis I changed so many batteries with the Surefire and Fenix, my stock ran out, plus it's get to a point of being annoying. But with the Mag, I just used one set of 4 Ds and it worked all the way. Considering they where all being used with the same amount of time.
And when you travel alot to other countries obtaining a Cr123 or charging a lithium battery is not really an ease. So when you go to a nearest store what do they have? D, C, and AA batteries. Tiablos and other contemorary lights can't run on those batteries. So IMO, Maglites are here to stay, specially with all the new mods that are coming out. By the way nothing works better for scaring the hell out of "bad elements" loitering in a evacuation center, by carrying a 4D maglite in your shoulders. :twak:

sims2k · Nov 25, 2007

I agree completely...good or bad...Maglites are here to stay. Because the buying public sees them in pretty much in every big stores you can get to. The Walmart in my town ... live a mile from one ... stocks Maglites and Eveready plastic incans because these are the ones that sells. No one in my town that I have comes in contact has ever heard of Surefire much less Tiablo or Dereelight or even Fenix. I surprise people all the time with the lights that I carry with me to work and pretty much everywhere. Fenix L2DCE, Surefire L2, TF2C, and MTE C3. These lights outshines every lights that I have seen so far in my town. About those Mag C/D drop-ins...I use them in my Maglites ... TLE6EX...and they beat my neighbors flashlights everytime.

mdocod · Nov 26, 2007

Now that runtimes for Q5 LED's can run a couple of hours on the lights in the class of the A9s (and MRV-SE and Duree DBS), I can't imagine why anyone would intentionally buy one of those big klunker Maglites anymore for any reason

I can give a very simple reason why:
1x18650>~8WH power source.
2-6xNIMH D>24-86WH power source(depending on mag size and cell capacity).

So a 2D mag can run at least 3 times as long as a 18650 powered light of equal output.

So for grab and go ALL NIGHT a larger flashlight is a good idea. No replacement for displacement

kurni · Nov 26, 2007

I was excited about M@g drop-in but I realised that it's cheaper and brighter for me to get Fenix L2D. Having said that, I don't throw away my M@g, I mod them to multi-LED for more lumens; personally that's the only way I can justify the size.

Furthermore, unless it's Malkoff, drop-in is pointless because heatsinking would be very poor.

jasonsmaglites · Nov 26, 2007

l2d can put out MORE light for only 2 hours
EQUAL light for 4

but a 4d with terralux can run for around 30 hours if i'm not mistaken.
that's one reason.
what would you rather have in a power outage.

IcantC · Nov 26, 2007

I have a Malkoff in a 3D which gives great light output, throw and battery life.

The other one, I will conver to a ROP.

You can't beat a Mag for thier easy to find battery use(D or AA).

sims2k · Nov 27, 2007

IcantC said:
You can't beat a Mag for thier easy to find battery use(D or AA).

Agreed...easy battery replacement. I keep the Maglites because I can get C and D batteries anywhere. With the TLE-6EX .... they go a long time without worrying about replacing CR123 batteries. Last August during an 18 hour power outage...I ran through a bunch of CR123 in my Surefire lights before the Maglites with the TLE drop-ins dimmed out.

LEDninja · Nov 27, 2007

Elektrolumens just came out with the MT-1 and MT-3 drop ins (3 cell only).

What happened to the Mag C/D Drop-in Market?

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