Help me decide on a flashlight with D batteries

Hi guys, first of all, thank you for this great forum, very informative. Lots of great reviews.

I'm looking for an LED flashlight that uses alkaline D batteries (2 or 3 is perfect) with a good output and long battery life (more than 20 hours). I need it for outdoors, and it's nice to be water proof. Price less than $100.

The closest to what I'm looking for is the maglite 3D 3W.

Basically I'm looking for a more efficient maglite. I read that they have some problems with efficiency due to poor temperature control.

Thanks for the help,

Ron

Ronnald said:

Hi guys, first of all, thank you for this great forum, very informative. Lots of great reviews.

I'm looking for an LED flashlight that uses alkaline D batteries (2 or 3 is perfect) with a good output and long battery life (more than 20 hours). I need it for outdoors, and it's nice to be water proof. Price less than $100.

The closest to what I'm looking for is the maglite 3D 3W.

Basically I'm looking for a more efficient maglite. I read that they have some problems with efficiency due to poor temperature control.

Click to expand...

My suggestion would be to get an Incan Maglite (cheaper) then replace the bulb with a Malkoff emitter. Since you mention poor temperature control you obviously want something that has good temperature control. I have a Malkoff drop-in and I think it is very much a quality bit of engineering.

The Malkoff certainly comes to mind.... It is really geared more for maximizing performance over runtime in the stock form though...

I would contact Gene over at MalkOffDevices and see if he would be willing to make you a 2-3 cell Mag D drop-in with a lower output driver. Something set to run the LED at around 1W would still give you about a hundred lumens, and that would extend runtime out to where you want it. I'm not sure if he does much custom stuff like that or not but I think it's worth a try.

The malkoff dropin will make the flashlight last about 6 hours with a much brighter light of course.

The 3D mag lasts about 22 hours, so I want comparable time with a little more light output.

If I don't have any other options I'll contact Gene to see if he can make me one that will last me longer (lower output).

But I'd rather have a commercial flashlight. Nothing competes with the mag 3D?

yea can't go wrong with a maglite, for your needs 3d led sounds like a choice.
for outdoors you want a light that will take abuse, and cheap to replace, i've lost quite a few lights during camping, fishing, hunting..., now i know better not to use expencive lights (relatively expencive)

Considering that at low drain rates, a D size alkaline actually delivers really impressive capacity for it's weight, there is a MAJOR lack of selection in D size lights. The Mag host and either a malkoff or doing some more custom work yourself are the most popular ways to get a decent D host LED.

This major gap in product offerings does have me wondering when the vacuum will be filled. If some company were offering a well built 2D light that made 50 lumens for 50+ hours regulated (very doable! With another 50 hours of steady dimming to boot!), it would be recommended as the standard go-to gift light, it would also probably be recommended as the standard go-to "first good light" for many situations where folks don't want to have to dive down the rabbit hole of fancy shmancy battery tech just to have a decent flashlight.

The new (current) 2D M@G with the Rebel LED will run for 20+ hours on alkalines while putting out about 140 lumens.

I would also recomend the new MagLED. It's brighter and longer lasting than your current light, but has the same build quality and form factor that you obviously like. I have only seen the 2D but others here have reported that there is a new 3D as well.

how do you tell apart between old led and new led?? assuming they are in a sealed package.

alpg88 said:

how do you tell apart between old led and new led?? assuming they are in a sealed package.

Click to expand...

This is the package for the old Led. The new ones do NOT have the graphic that is circled in red.

rmteo said:

This is the package for the old Led. The new ones do NOT have the graphic that is circled in red.

Click to expand...

thanks a lot.

rmteo said:

The new (current) 2D M@G with the Rebel LED will run for 20+ hours on alkalines while putting out about 140 lumens.

Click to expand...

I am not sure if it is the same LED MrGman tested, but this is what has been confirmed as out the front lumens...............
Mag-LED 4D________________50__drop to 40 1 min____4XNiCads____________-------------------------------------,
Mag-LED 4D_______________80 no reflector__________4XNiCads____________-------------------------------------,


And here is what the Malkoff does
Malkoff Single for Mag__,__3 C cell Maglight,___________________205.6__,___3 sec_______,
Malkoff Single for Mag__,__3 C cell Maglight,___________________178.9__,__60 sec_______,

The D M@Gs with Rebel LEDs are only available as a 2D (and possibly a 3D). Also, take a look at this:

Mag 2D Rebel vs. TK11 vs. Mag 3D Malkoff
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/224102

Thanks guys, I ended up buying the new mag 3D with the Rebel LEDs. I hope it's a little better than the first model.

Ron