Left 4-D Mag in rental car. Ideas for replacement?

I accidentally left my lightly modded 4-D Mag Light in a rental car. I had a 2.4 W halogen bulb in it, and the reflector/head assembly from my older 5-D Mag with a broken switch. (The reflectors appeared to be identical, but the 5-D one was better and more uniform, perhaps it was just a sample variance).

I deliver pizzas, and I need bright, focusable light to find the addresses on houses on dark streets (not everyone is as smart as all of us here, so not everyone turns the light on for me and my colleagues when they hang up the phone).

I'd rather not buy another Mag because of the Arc lawsuit, and because I realize that they're kind of crappy. The reflectors seem to be hit and miss (with more missing than hitting) as to whether I'll get one with any decent focus at all.

Size isn't all that important, but brightness at 40-75 feet is. Cheap batteries (C or D cells) are nice, because I don't really want to pay for lithiums. Rechargables aren't necessary, or wanted, really, because it only sees momentary use, and only a few times a night if I'm lucky. Also, I don't really want to spend a whole night's pay on the thing, so $100 is kind of the way-far upper limit. The less expensive, the better. I love a good bargain (like my Mag was, with its rare good reflector and bulb upgrade), but I am willing to pay good money to get the right tool for the job.

I've been reading up here since I realized where my "big" flashlight is (and that's nowhere now /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif ), but there's a lot of info to absorb and filter, so I appreciate any personal advice for my specific situation.

Thanks!

A few lights that came to my head was the Princeton Tec Surge, UKE SL4, and UKE SL6. Each for $35 and less. Since you say itll only be used a few times a night, whats the problem with lithiums? The batteries only cost $1.25 a piece, almost the same as the regular C and D batteries. The lithium lights under $40 AFAIK are the Dorcy Spyder, Brinkmann Legend LS, Pelican M6, Streamlight Scorpion, Streamlight TL-2 ($45), and SureFire G2. The Streamlight TL-3 is $60. With the money left over, you can maybe get a 16" ASP Baton or small knife.

How bout a Princeton Tec40? Uses 4AA and very bright.

you could get a streamlight twin task light.. they're around 30 bucks..
they give you the option to switch between leds and xenon.. they're much brighter than any mag i've seen..
and they're available in aa, c, or d battery sizes..

or you could try a pelican supersabrelite.. it's a c size flashlight with a xenon beam that is purdy damn bright.. and around 20 bucks..

I didn't know that the lithiums were so inexpensive. Maybe I'm confused or something. Is that a retail price, or bargain hunter's price? I'll take a closer look for sure.

What's the discharge curve look like on lithiums? Is it linear like alkalines, or fairly flat until the end, like Ni-Cd/Ni-MH rechargables?

lithiums have a much flatter curve than alkalines.. if you look around i'm sure there's some readings posted for a few different lights comparing lithiums and alkalines..

With the recent rash of generosity going on here at CPF I too have been bitten by the bug.

I offer you, for the cost of postage, a MagCharger.

I know it's two things you didn't want; it's a MagLite and it's rechargeable, but hey, the price is right.

I have two of them that I haven't used at work for a couple of years. They are both scratched up but work just fine. The one I'd send you, if you want it, hasn't even been out of the box after getting it back from Mag when I sent it in for charger warranty work. I'll even throw in a couple extra bulbs.

Don't accept my offer because it's free. Accept it because it would be a light that you would want and use. If you don't take it I'll open up this offer to someone else who could use a MagCharger, and not to just add to his or her collection, but cant afford one.

PM me, Thegonagle, if you'd like it.

Yep, you can order SureFire brand lithiums for $1.25 each at www.surefire.com or www.texastacticalsupply.com . Another cheap alternative is the DP brand for $1 at www.batterystation.com .

ksbman,

Wow! I love the good people in the world. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mecry.gif

PM sent.

Thank you. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Just another example of why this is by far the best board on internet!!!

What a nice guy KSBMAN is!!!

Re: Left 4-D Mag in rental car. Ideas for replacem

PJS,

This isn't the first time ksbman has done something like this.

Yeah, I like this board too -- caring, generous people here. Another thing I like is that there is a genuine concern to see flashlights, whether they be gems or just mongrels, find their way to good homes where they will be appreciated. I'm glad that Thegonagle got this one.

Paul

Re: Left 4-D Mag in rental car. Ideas for replacem

I think I'll definitely be checking in a lot more often now. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

My "collection" consists of 2 Arc AAA ("traffic light green" and white LEDs), an original CMG infinity (white LED), a Princeton Tec Attitude, an LED/halogen 4-AA rechargeable bicycle light from Nashbar, and a black 5-D mag with a broken switch, no bulb, and the reflector/head (red color) from my lost 4-D Mag.

Pretty pathetic by some standards, but workable for now.

My favorite lights are the Arc AAAs.

Re: Left 4-D Mag in rental car. Ideas for replacem

The M*g rechargeable should for you. It is much brighter than the other M*gs, and has the best beam (mine did, anyway). The newer lamp will throw VERY far if focused down to a tight spot.

Re: Left 4-D Mag in rental car. Ideas for replacem

ksbman,
Very nice of you to do that. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: Left 4-D Mag in rental car. Ideas for replacem

Very generous. I love to see things like this. While I don't have a lot of time to browse I did see where someone had to sell his personally engraved lights to cover medical bills. I really wanted to start something like I saw a while back on another forum where people donated the proceeds from items they were not using to help someone who was down on their luck. I wasn't sure how it would be taken here and before I got back to the computer the items were sold. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif I wish now I would have spoke up sooner and maybe help the person keep his engraved lights. Oh well. Oh, I don't want to make anyone feel bad or guilty, just speaking thoughts.

And as far as the Mag Charger, they really are a decent light especially with the new bulb. You will be amazed at the difference! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

. . .

I got the Mag-Charger today. I like it so far. It'll be going out with me to work tonight.

I had a longer reply written, but the post got eaten because I didn't put anything in the title line.

I'll write more later.

Thanks again, ksbman.

[ QUOTE ]
Thegonagle said:
I deliver pizzas, and I need bright, focusable light to find the addresses on houses on dark streets.

Also, I don't really want to spend a whole night's pay on the thing, so $100 is kind of the way-far upper limit.
Thanks!

[/ QUOTE ]

Dude, if you make over a hundred bucks a night delivering pizzas, you're doing pretty good! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

I do make over $100 a night (plus a minimal hourly wage) at the restaurant I work for now, consistently. It's better at some places than others, but I happen to work for one of the best, busiest independent pizza places in my town. I only work 3 nights per week right now, because I'm going to school full time.

If I wasn't going to school, I could work 6 nights per week and probably pull in over $50,000 a year. The expenses are high (car, insurance, the danger of being in accidents, the chance that I could become a "statistic," and so on), so it's not as great as it sounds. It's not something that I want to do forever, of course. I think that would be a waste of me, because I think I can do a lot better if I keep trying, but for now, it's a great student job.

So, back to the light: I love it! ksbman's light looks pretty beat up on the outside, but it still works nicely. It's found a great home. I used it several times on the job, and it's a lot better than either of my other Mags ever were, not to mention, the cheap nashbar bicyle headlight that I was using as a back-up. From a typical distance that I use it at, it lights up someone's entire front door in good white light with ease.

After work, I was in the back lot of my building, and I lit of the back of a building across an 8-lane freeway surprisingly brightly. I tried lighting up a couple of the nearby high-rise apartment buildings, but they were a good couple-few blocks away, and it's pretty bright in the city at night, so I couldn't notice anything. ksbman sent along a couple spare bulbs, so I'll try those out and see if I get any better results.

I feel that since I disclosed that I do make semi-decent money at this time, I should also add that I did not accept this light for free. I did give ksbman some extra on top of shipping, and it was more than the average pizza-delivery tip /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif . Now, that I realize that this is a very good light, I wish I had given him a little more.

Thanks everyone!

It's off to class now for me.

Great you like the light. This is a great board. Very caring and generous.

I am a full time college student living in the residence halls (SUNY at Stony Brook) and some parts of the campus get really dark (not used to it, live in the city, NYC.) So I took my Pelican M6 out, wow nice long throw, lit up a side of a building 7 stories up and 250 feet away. This was pitch dark though. Doesn't make a good area light since I focused it at the tightest spot. For upclose work, I just whip out a SL TT 1L.

I wonder what a SF M6 would do, the wall of light.....

WOW! I was gpoing to personally vouch for the P-M6. I just received mine and think it is a GREAT light ($30.00@batterystation). Ditto on the cost of Li123's at Surefire. $15.00 for a box of 12 is a GREAT buy. no reason not to get a box or two at that price (considering the shelf life of these puppies). But hey, you can't beat that price. Like I always say "If it's free. It's for me." /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif