Looking for a large, bright flashlight

I don't know a whole lot about different lights like most of you here, so I carry a few different Maglites with me most of the time. I have a Mag Solitaire on my keyring, and 3 flashlights in my truck. There's a 3AA LED Mini Mag in the driver's side door panel, and a 2AA Mini Mag non-LED in the passenger side door panel. Those have always worked well for me and passengers when looking for things in the truck. When I need something bigger to work on the truck outside at night, I have a 6D Maglite floating around in the backseat of the truck, and plan on replacing the bulb with a xenon as soon as I see one in a store. It works pretty well, but am looking to upgrade to something bigger. I've heard of 7D Maglites but they don't seem to be easy to find. I'm trying to find something that size or longer (if anyone makes an 8D or 10D flashlight, that'd probably be perfect) that's also a bit brighter. I know that there's brighter lights that are smaller, but I like having a larger light with me.

With the right LED upgrade for your Mags, they will all be MUCH brighter than what they are now, and also have better battery life.

Try here:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/193434

Yeah, I noticed that page. Before I hack it apart (since I'm not that experienced with that sort of thing), I'll try changing to a xenon bulb since they're cheap enough and see if I'm happy with the output of that, and if not then I'd try a custom upgrade.

Mostly looking for one that's not only brighter but also physically bigger.

Flashlight technology has come a loooooong way since Maglite. A good example would be the Fenix P1D, a sub-3-inch keychain light that's brighter than a 6D Maglite.

We have all kinds of new innovations guaranteed to shock and amaze, you should start here: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/172991

:welcome:

Fenix P1D...interesting, that may end up being a good replacement for my Solitaire light. Still, having a larger one is important as well, for several reasons.

I'm mostly looking for something about the same shape as my 6D (so no lantern battery searchlights), but longer and heavier. That's why I looked around for the 7D version and am hoping for something even bigger. Is there anything big like that around, even if it's not the most power/weight efficient?

Most of those upgrades are as simple as changing the bulb. They require no special skills or tools.

With modern technology, a light 4 inches long can be both brighter AND have a longer runtime than your stock 6D Mag.

I don't know of anything THAT big that isn't a portable spotlight (and much wider).
The Malkoff maglite dropins are very good quality, but are pretty expensive:
http://www.malkoffdevices.com/shop2/index-main_page-index-cPath-1_2.html
He just came out with a new dropin (the P7 one) which should be VERY bright, but is pretty expensive. There are MANY other options as far as maglites go. A bigger light is not necessary for brightness or runtime, since a 6d maglite is already huge. If you want something longer and heavier just because it is longer and heavier, you might as well get a lead pipe and put it in your trunk.

FiveMega sells screw-on extensions for D-Mags here:

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=206419

You can make it as long as you want.

You can also add a larger head. Watch the BST forums for FiveMega's 3" heads, or check out Modamag's 4" head.

b1029384756 said:

Fenix P1D...interesting, that may end up being a good replacement for my Solitaire light. Still, having a larger one is important as well, for several reasons.

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Can you list those reasons? Knowing this might help prevent members from making poor recommendation(s).

if you just want big and bright... don't even bother with LEDs. HIDs are the way to go if those are your only criteria.

:welcome:

Well, I don't have any specific intent to do any harm with it, but having the option to improvise and use it as a cudgel, if a situation were ever to arise that might force me into doing so, would be useful. It would be good to have in my truck accessible if anyone would want to carjack a $500 truck, but I also use my 6D cell sometimes when I carry it through the woods at night, and that's when bears are a possibility. I can't think of anything else that might serve that purpose besides a flashlight that's not illegal to have here. That's why I think something like a 7D-10D light would be ideal, because they're pretty bright for routine tasks and have other purposes as well.

I'd probably look into something smaller and bright/long lasting to carry into mountains where weight is more of a liability. I currently use my 3AA Mini Mag LED for that.

:welcome:

Most folks come here with the belief that the best light available is a Maglite. They're good but we have SO much more fun stuff here that's a FRACTION of the size AND MUCH more powerful. Then when you're ready, we can give you a recipe that will make your Maglite so bright you could knock out a drive-in movie screen from 1/2 a mile, which could come in handy if you're forced to see Mama Mia.

Don't waste your money on the "xenon" replacement lamp or any other replacement lamp for the Mag. Mag's biggest problem isn't so much the lamp but the alkaline batteries. The alkalines die a slow and horrible death starting only minutes into their first use. Most LED drop-ins are regulated so that the slow death of the battery is compensated for by the circuitry and your output will remain constant. You'll also get MORE output for a LONGER period..

Buy the LED drop-ins and you will be MUCH happier.

If you want a WHOLE lot more light, consider one of these.

I've always known that there were better lights like Surefire, but they're fairly expensive, and so I've always thought of Maglite as the McDonald's of flashlights, low prices and you always know what you're getting. You never need to shake them to get them to light up. I paid $20 for the 6D, $13 for the 3AA, $7 for the 2AA, and $5 for the 1AAA. And I'll try the xenon replacement anyway, since I'm only out $2 if I buy it locally and I'm not happy with it.

I've asked in fivemega's thread about the tubes to convert my 6D into a 10D. Maybe some others here know what would be a good bulb replacement to handle 15V with increased output? I'd like any changes I make to be reversible if possible, though, since it doesn't appear there's any stock lights of that size but I'd still like to have the option of reverting it back to a normal 6D Maglite if I ever need to.

b1029384756 said:

but having the option to improvise and use it as a cudgel, if a situation were ever to arise that might force me into doing so, would be useful.

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That's valid - if that's the case then don't bother with incandescent bulbs, as the surest way to get one to fail is shock/impact. Having a flashlight fail immediately after using it as a club is pretty much a worst-case scenario. Stick with LED drop-ins, which can withstand far more abuse, and will in most cases continue to work without so much as flickering in conditions that would completely destroy a bulb.

The top-shelf LED drop-in for Mags is made by Malkoff Devices (http://www.malkoffdevices.com/shop2/index-main_page-index-cPath-1_2.html), they're not cheap, but it's just like buying something at a hardware store: there's the cheap crap and then there's the serious tools.

I looked at those but they claim that more than 9V would destroy them, so I need something that could handle the 15V, and also that I would have to cut apart the reflector, which I'd rather not do. I'll look around for alternatives. I know I can just use something to carry the current from the 6th battery to the tail but if I'll have room for the extra power and energy storage, why not take advantage of it?

I know a bulb could break on impact but it's more likely I'd hold it close to the head and strike toward the tail end, and in a situation where I had to do that, if it no longer worked as a light I'm sure that'd be minor compared to whatever situation I was trying to avoid in the first place. Of course I'll try to find an LED capable so that I can have the best of both worlds.

Extension tubes introduce weakness. It may break the threads at that joint area if used as a club. 7D Mag's are collector items and are somewhat expensive, around $100 if I remember rightly. The 6C was/is a favorite for a club... but they are discontinued and cost $60+! :huh:

b1029384756 said:

so I've always thought of Maglite as the McDonald's of flashlights, low prices and you always know what you're getting. You never need to shake them to get them to light up.

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That's a good quote! And it is 100% true. All kinds of great mods can be done with Mag's too.

It's hard to recommend a light for your needs - check out a MagLED drop in for a 3 cell Maglite. the 3 cell drop in is the brightest of them all. 25% brighter than the 2 cell MagLED and 10% brighter than the 4 cell. Yes, the 3 cell is brighter than the 4 cell one! I think you should try one of these official Maglite "MagLED" drop in bulbs no matter what you end up doing. They have great run time... 40+ hours (dimming along the way) for the 3D. A must have emergency light. Turns a 3D mag into a run time monster.
(Maglite doesn't sell MagLED drop in's for 5D or 6D!)

Didn't think of them breaking at the threads. That could be a problem. $100 for a 7D light does sound a bit high but if there's nothing comparable out there then it's not as if buyers have much choice.

For brightness, I doubt if the 3D LEDs (the ones Mag offers for consumers, anyway) could keep up with a 6D Xenon, I couldn't find the specs for the LEDs but 230 lumens sounds pretty good, and with all of the mods available I'm sure I could do more with the 6D even at stock length (though I'd prefer to lengthen it of course), though of course I'm sure it'd eat batteries faster than a psych ward patient.

I appreciate all the suggestions, keep the ideas coming.

need a longer light than mag 6d? really?

sheesh its already 50cm (19 or so inches?)
to me thats huge lenght (for flashlight). and about 1400grams (3pounds?) with 6d batteries? thats just medieval melee weapon as is


but against a bear. no chance. bad guys maybe yes.

I too would suggest just replacing the normal bulb with those easy to install led drop ins. you change them just like a normal bulb. terralux dropin abut 20us or so. they are better than niteize drop ins imo. (no history with malkoffs, think they are too expensive for old mag)

buy those xenons as backup bulbs. (althou you probably wont need it, ever)

like guys said before, normal maglites with normal bulbs just dim so fast compared to modern leds. led is as or more bright as xenon bulbs and their runtime at high output level is far greater, and the led "bulbs" last a LOT longer, better impact resistance.

but as striking tools use something designed to that. axe, hammer, baseballbat, batons.

best way is not to be where troubles are, fast legs, and alert mind helps to avoid troubles.

against bears, bear-repellant, mace/pepperspray, loud whistle or something similar and a gun.

its just no contest, just think: one man with blunt object vs beast with 4 paws with 5 knives each (nails) and jaws of death and bear is what, 5-10 times stronger than one man?

are ASP style telescope batons legal where you are? lighter and designed to be used as a defense/attack tool. alot smaller than mag, made of metal with more breaking power than maglite. (smaller head, more concentrated energy). use that for selfdefense and then use an lamp for lighting needs.

something like one of modern medium size bright led lights with "fighting/strike bezels" are one option for last ditch defense. olight m20, jetbeam m3, fenix tk11 to name a few, (about size of maglite 2c i suppose) you can also use them as fist loads and hammerfists and blinding light if needed and when without the long weapon and also as normal light. (use asp on strong hand and lamp on weak, blind and whoop.)


as side note: my own home defense project for this spring will probably be modifying a police style Tonfa baton. High powered small led flashlight (something like fenix pd1 mentioned before) built/sunken into tonfas handle with remote switch on the side handle. (tonfa would be about 24 inches long) when carrying it in defense position i hold on the sidehandle and the baton as protector leaning against my forearm, i can block strikes and i could use the light to illuminate objects ahead of me and blind them if need be. with strobe or just bright beam.


-admins may delete and or modify this post if its not acceptable.

b1029384756 said:

Didn't think of them breaking at the threads. That could be a problem. $100 for a 7D light does sound a bit high but if there's nothing comparable out there then it's not as if buyers have much choice.

For brightness, I doubt if the 3D LEDs (the ones Mag offers for consumers, anyway) could keep up with a 6D Xenon, I couldn't find the specs for the LEDs but 230 lumens sounds pretty good, and with all of the mods available I'm sure I could do more with the 6D even at stock length (though I'd prefer to lengthen it of course), though of course I'm sure it'd eat batteries faster than a psych ward patient.

I appreciate all the suggestions, keep the ideas coming.

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Almost anything will beat that 6D xenon. A modern 1xAAA LED light the size of your Solitaire that is brighter than your 6D Mag.

Marduke said:

Almost anything will beat that 6D xenon. A modern 1xAAA LED light the size of your Solitaire that is brighter than your 6D Mag.

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Actually no, the large number of batteries provide enough support to provide over 100 lumen, probably around 130-170 lumen from what I see, but something that size can match or beat the Maglite 6D in output(not throw because of the tiny reflector compared to the maglite). Take a Fenix L0D-CE, L0D-CE Q4, or LD01 and use a 10440 battery and that can be up to 200 lumen from what I hear, at 10-15 minutes runtime of course. But remember, the 10440 battery has around 1.5 watts total while the Maglite 6D has probably 150-180 watts total, thats 100x more but the tiny light can still match the much larger light in output.

The MagLED drop-ins are around 65 lumen. Swapping in a current gen LED wil lat least double that. Same with all the Maglite LED lights.

MinimagLED 3AA, around 55 lumen and 1900-2000 lux at 1 meter. 2 hour 50 minutes to 50%. But MinimagLEDs seem to break more often the the other Maglites.

Maglite Soli, around 1.6 lumen, 100 lux at 1 meter, 11 minutes to 50% output.

Many 2AA lights hit more then that output and run for longer. Many 1 AAA lights are brighter and also run for longer. A quick search should show quite a few.

If you want similar throw for smaller size, look at the Dereelight DBS. Same or more throw at a much smaller size, smaller then 2C IIRC. But I understand you want large so you can use it as a club.

The Malkoffdevices drop-in is the best easy thing you can do for your maglite. Much more runtime and more output. You can buy a precut reflector from him.

With a good light, you can probably spot the bears and avoid them. Also, even a gun(well, depending on the gun of course) won't do much against a charging bear, you think a club would do anything but make it angrier? I'd bring bear spray and a smaller light that is much easier to handle.

The incan bulb in the Maglite is around 1-2% efficient, the LED is 25-40% efficient.

You can get a good light from $45-$70, good budget ones are usually $20-$35.

:welcome:

Batons are absolutely illegal here to carry or even to own. An axe, bat, or hammer is illegal to carry unless you have a legitimate need for them directly to or from where you're going (ie, you can carry a bat if you're in a rec baseball league but only directly to or from practice or games, leave it in your car and go to the grocery store and you're committing a felony because a bat is not needed there). You're allowed to have pepper spray but only one container and less than 3/4 oz, so the bear sprays are out. You'd have a better chance of winning the lottery than getting a permit to carry a gun. I used to drive trucks and buses and carried a tool for checking tire pressure, that was a hickory club-shaped tool about 18 inches long, with a lead core. After the company I worked for went out of business I left my tool in the back of my truck and never thought twice about it until I found myself sitting inside a cell. I managed to beat the charges but since then I'm pretty careful about what I have with me. I do carry a pocketknife usually but knives can be a grey area. I've had a few of them confiscated before but never been charged for having one.

Since I've never heard of anyone getting in trouble for simple possession of a flashlight, I thought it'd be a good thing to have.

If I'm in a mountain, I don't need anything heavy for bears because my mountaineering axe is probably better than any flashlight. Still, as ineffective as a flashlight might be for bears I'm sure it's better than my fists. They can be around though if I'm walking the 1/2 mile through the woods to swim in the river, and at night or if I expect to be there after dark I carry a flashlight to find my way through the woods. I could navigate it in complete darkness if need be but it wouldn't be fun.

Marduke said:

Almost anything will beat that 6D xenon. A modern 1xAAA LED light the size of your Solitaire that is brighter than your 6D Mag.

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I'm sure that's true, especially some of the high-end ones that you guys use, I just didn't think the 3D LED produced by Maglite itself is among them. Though if anyone has the specs on those lights, I'd be interested in seeing them.