review: MAGlite XL100

review: MAGlite XL100

Link to the mfgs web site. There are lots of pictures of the XL100 there.

http://www.maglite.com/maglite_xl100_led.asp

I won this kit in a raffle where I was the near the end of the first round out of the hat. I could not believe it was still lying on the table amongst so many lesser flashlights (IMHO). One reason for it I think is because when we picked it up and tried to use it without reading the instructions, none of us could access its features other than simple on and off. But I suspected there was more to it than meets the eye, I was right. This flashlight is superb, after you know how to make it sing. :nana:

The XL100 allows you to set its features by how you hold the light and how you spin it in the air. The most useful is brightness. Hold the flashlight parallel to the ground with the tail cap pointer pointed up and click and hold the tail cap. Now as you turn your hand the brightness changes (kind of like using an iphone in a game). Let go of the tail cap when you are at the brightness you desire. Simple. You do not half to remember complicated sequence. You can access many different modes with this same interface.
The build quality is typical great MAGlite and it has a very nice anodize finish.

Want to see it work? > www.youtube.com

Thanks Bright Guy, I am loving this light. All of you should go straight to BG and pick one up to play with.

www.brightguy.com


Cheers
Dave

My opinion:
The XL100 is a great general-purpose flashlight. I actually like its extreme low mode for night walking. Not a lot of lights out there that provide real low mode while capable of ramping up to high mode with one hand operation. The tail clickie switch works silently. The motion sensor for changing mode is a big difference that set it aside from the others. I set it on high and mounted it to the bike and it runs for hours. On high there's no heating issue. Beamshot is focused by smooth reflector with plently amount of sidespill. At $39.99 it's not cheap but worth the money. BTW it is made in USA. 3xAAA are easy to get but doesn't seems quite acceptable by flasholics. It feels a little fatty in the pocket. I wish there's a place to put lanyard or pocket clip as it rolls on table. But not bad overall. I wonder why it isn't get much attention though. Are there more owners? What's your opinion?

Yours ran for hours on high??? I tested mine with rechargeables and after 30-40 minutes, it started to dim, and after about 75 minutes, it was barely lit! What kind of batteries are you using?

mikekoz said:

Yours ran for hours on high??? I tested mine with rechargeables and after 30-40 minutes, it started to dim, and after about 75 minutes, it was barely lit! What kind of batteries are you using?

Click to expand...

That short? Are they fully charged? I use mixture of Eneloops and Duracell. My son told me the first set of battery lasted hours. Perhaps he used them in multi mode. I may want to do a real runtime test this weekend.