Which California flashlight maker is on NPR today?

Driving to work this morning, I heard a teaser ad for a radio segment that would be aired later in the day on National Public Radio. The ad went something like, "Find out why one flashlight maker continues to build flashlights in California rather than move production to China, where they could be made at lower cost."

Can someone find out which company the ad was talking about and where at NPR.org we can hear the broadcast once it's posted?

It is Maglite. Kinda hoping we would hear some Surefire stories but still cool.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130197557

NPR story on Maglite & "Made in USA"

Caught this just as I was leaving for work:

Maglite: Shining The Light On Made In The U.S.A.

Two of my favorite things – NPR & Flashlights – together at last! :laughing:

There's a link so you can listen to the story as well. There are also pictures from the factory floor, which is cool.

Enjoy!

:thumbsup: john

Way to go Maglight!

Thanks, emac! I'm at work, in a government office, and didn't want to waste your tax dollars searching!

Paul_in_Maryland said:

Thanks, emac! I'm at work, in a government office, and didn't want to waste your tax dollars searching!

Click to expand...

So you waste them posting here?

Beamhead said:

So you waste them posting here?

Click to expand...

Er, maybe....

I heard the teaser also and figured it was Mag. I would like to hear the rest of the story just out of curiosity.

Also, more tax dollars are on the way already so feel free to keep us updated from work... LOL
It will be money well spent. (smile)

Wow, if some of the things in that story are true then I am very impressed.

I know stock Maglites don't impress people here but if they really haven't changed the wholesale price of their lights in 30 years that's really impressive.
Also, Maglica seems pretty sincere about the well-being of his employees - pretty cool. Now if only they started making some good flashlights... :shakehead

Re: NPR story on Maglite & "Made in USA"

You're 32 minutes too late. :nana:

Someone beat you to this story!
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3543604#post3543604

Re: NPR story on Maglite & "Made in USA"

Imon said:

You're 32 minutes too late. :nana:

Someone beat you to this story!
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3543604#post3543604

Click to expand...

Thanks Imon :wave:

That's what happens when a custom flashlight snob like me doesn't venture to the other subforums on CPF.

Mods, please close me!

:tinfoil: john

I thought the story was excellent, and showed one difference between a privately owned company and a publicly owned company. The private owner has the luxury to make things other than profit a high priority.

A check of the Maglite website shows that they are making LED flashlights nowadays (this is news to me).
http://www.maglite.com/AA_Cell_LED.asp
I wonder how they stack up relative to other lights, such as Fenix?

regards,
Steve K.

11M loss in one year is a very compelling reason to move your operations out of the country. Kudos to Mag for sticking with the US.

I have always felt that the seeming majority of CPFers don't get Mag's intended target market. They are criticized unfairly IMHO in this regard. Typical comments of their lights vs other manufacturers, etc. "My Fenix kicks butt, dude; Mag needs to get their bezel out of their tailcap, etc etc".

I also think Mag is within their rights to defend their patents, regardless of how we may feel about them. If you have issues with this, it's with the US patent office for granting the patents to Mag, not Mag defending those that have been granted.

Just my .02

Steve K said:

A check of the Maglite website shows that they are making LED flashlights nowadays (this is news to me).
http://www.maglite.com/AA_Cell_LED.asp
I wonder how they stack up relative to other lights, such as Fenix?

regards,
Steve K.

Click to expand...

And a pretty good one.
I have the new XL100 and I love it.
In my opinion, the most innovative UI to date.

Frans

I just finished reading the XL100 review thread.... the 3AAA carrier is a shame, but the UI seems pretty slick. Not sure I can justify buying one for myself (I am quite happy with my little AA Fenix), but it would make a great gift for friends & family. Maybe I need to buy one for myself so I can see which friends & family think it's cool??

Steve K.

Re: NPR story on Maglite & "Made in USA"

Nice writeup, this line really caught my eye Mag has never raised the wholesale price on the Maglite. Three decades later they cost exactly what they did in 1979. Retailers have raised the price since then. :sick2:

Re: NPR story on Maglite & "Made in USA"

mrartillery said:

Retailers have raised the price since then. :sick2:

Click to expand...

The problem is inflation. According to the inflation calculator, $10 in 1979 would have to be nearly $30 in 2009 dollars to have the same value.

Adjusting to this level of value loss requires eliminating the people involved (automation, something retailers can't do), finding cheaper people (off shoring, something retailers can't do), or raising prices. In this case, while the cost of what their selling (maglites) did not go up, the same is not true for rent, employees, transportation, etc, which have not stayed at 1979 prices.

If you notice a little incongruity in some posts, it's due to merging a thread of the same topic from the Cafe.

Steve K said:

A check of the Maglite website shows that they are making LED flashlights nowadays (this is news to me).
http://www.maglite.com/AA_Cell_LED.asp
I wonder how they stack up relative to other lights, such as Fenix?

Click to expand...

Maglite having LED options is nothing new for them however it was not until the XL100 that they actually made some effort into something different.

For example when they started
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/maglite_mag-led.htm
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/maglite_minimagled.htm
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/maglite_minimagled3aa.htm

Really nice article, makes you wanna go out and buy another Maglite. Too bad I already have those that I want.


Cheers
Thorsten