Maglite Solitaire LED, finally?

Nothing official yet, but my private e-mail inquiry at Maglite regarding their (possible) new 1*AAA and 1*AA models resulted in Mag's announcement of Solitaire LED for Christmas 2011 in their reply.

Whether this is true or not, I guess we'll have to wait and see. Some CPF users have reportedly received similar answers from Mag over the last few years.

What are your thoughts and expectations? Is it going to be just another 12lm-ish single mode light utilizing Nichia GS, or we're going to witness a breakaway from this trend? I'd like to be surprised here.

Cheers,

Tam

I dont see it happening. You can email Maglite when they are coming out with LED sneakers and they would respond "coming soon". I have been hearing about this and the maglite headlamp for years!

If it does come to tuition, I think mag may use a USA LED instead of a nichia.

It would be amazing if they came up with a 1xAAA light 2-level or 2 level with strobe AND put something nice like a Cree XP-C. It would be a dream come true if it could also use a 10440. Imagine the pocket rocket capabilities of modding it to XP-G + 10440.

tam17 said:

What are your thoughts and expectations? Is it going to be just another 12lm-ish single mode light utilizing Nichia GS, or we're going to witness a breakaway from this trend? I'd like to be surprised here.

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it would be interesting if they made a Solitaire with a Nichia GS or something similar for around $10. it would be like a Fenix E01 killer/competitor. it would be nice to have something like the E01 but with the Mag name and that i can get locally. but they would have to keep it at or under $10.

qwertyydude said:

It would be amazing if they came up with a 1xAAA light 2-level or 2 level with strobe AND put something nice like a Cree XP-C. It would be a dream come true if it could also use a 10440. Imagine the pocket rocket capabilities of modding it to XP-G + 10440.

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other than having 3 levels and not having strobe, isn't that pretty much the description of an itp a3 r5?

I have used Maglights for the last 20 years, and was their biggest fan. But I am afraid they lost the drive to stay on top. Or became to big to move with the new technology. Now they are just potential Malkoff hosts. I'll just stick with the ITP EOS.

I'd love to see a Solitaire LED. I had the regular Solitaire on my keyring for a couple of decades, and while it wasn't very bright, it ALWAYS turned on, which is more than I can say for a few of my recent $40-50 AAA lights. In fact, it still functions perfectly to this day.

Same thing with my Mag 3D light. Sure, it has a dim, ugly beam, but it still turns on every time, and that light has gotten beat up more than I care to admit over the last 20 odd years.

Mag Solitaire LED? Bring it on!

whiteoakjoe said:

I have used Maglights for the last 20 years, and was their biggest fan. But I am afraid they lost the drive to stay on top. Or became to big to move with the new technology. Now they are just potential Malkoff hosts. I'll just stick with the ITP EOS.

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I have to disagree. They are still on top. Take a look at any wal mart target, home depot, lowes,etc..... Flashlights come and go with different technologies. But the maglites are always on there!

They may not be cpf level of lights. But the led models are great for the average joe just looking for a cheap decent flashlight. I am also willing to bet they still sell more flashlights than all the latest popular flashlight discussed on cpf combined.

Well I hope its true and I may buy one.I have a lot of Mag lights that have served me well over the years. But talk about showing up late for the party.

I doubt that the LED version Solitaire 1AAA(or 1aa if ever) will be groundbreaking. I do hope that they bump the output a little and increase the run time considerably compared to the incan version. I bet that it'll get a Nichia or Cree 5mm LED and can only dream that it'll get the NSDW570GS-K1

I had an ITP light break. It won't shut off until I completely disassemble it. Don't ask how many 'other brands' of lights, so worshipped here, that I've seen broken over the years.

My Maglites have been used, abused, dropped, used as leverage as a hammer and blunt object, sunk and fished out... and still work great. And, they have almost unlimited parts and accessories for it too.

Too many lights are all gimmicky form. Maglite is still simple reliable function. I hope that they don't go overly bling bling or driver silly.

I hope that Maglite will produce single and double cr123's lights. They definitely need to produce them in their plain/traditional style. P60/D26 Maglite? Are you there listening Maglite?

We're also still waiting on that mini-maglite 2xaa PRO... and the others that were supposed to be released this year.

http://www.led-resource.com/2011/03/maglite-new-products-for-2011/

deadrx7conv said:

My Maglites have been used, abused, dropped, used as leverage as a hammer and blunt object, sunk and fished out... and still work great. And, they have almost unlimited parts and accessories for it too.

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this is true for Mag's incan lights, not really true for their LED lights. Mag LED reliability has been suspect and spare parts unique to the Mag's LED lights are almost impossible to find.

I have a Solitaire with wa Nite Ize drop in and it's a bit brighter than my E01 but also a little longer. I have 2 Solitaires that came with other MagLites in combo packs so they were essentially free + $9 (shipped) drop-in. The only downside to the drop-in is that you can't fully tighten the head so it makes it about 3mm longer than a standard Solitaire. I carried it for a while but now I have a iTP A3 on my keychain.

dd61999 said:

I have to disagree. They are still on top. Take a look at any wal mart target, home depot, lowes,etc..... Flashlights come and go with different technologies. But the maglites are always on there!

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And damn glad of it! After this many years, I finally got around to modding some.

Rich

From the original post:

tam17 said:

...I'd like to be surprised here.

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Has Mag ever surprised anyone?

They have always made solid, reliable lights, with technology years behind other makers. While incan was king for 80 years and progress in lighting was so slow it was un-noticeable, being a decade or so behind didn't really matter. Build quality mattered. Now that solid state lighting is dominant in handheld lights, and technology is rapidly advancing, being years behind does matter.
I wouldn't hold my breath for surprises from them, although I would love to see it.

Really looking forward to an LED Solitare if not an AA version, as well as their upcoming single mode mini pro (delayed again). They'll all fly off the shelves, while CPF gets mad about the continued existence of lights that don't conform to the ubiquitous jack-of-all multi twist interface.

Please tell me it won't have disco modes... if so, count me in.

leon2245 said:

Really looking forward to an LED Solitare if not an AA version, as well as their upcoming single mode mini pro

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My question regarding single AA light remained unanswered by a Mag representative

I'd love to see a Mag LED Solitaire regain a place on my keychain. My old Soli's weren't bright by today's standards, but they were always reliable. How about that switch - tighten to turn off - that was the best. I want the head tight while it's banging around on my keys, not loose and ready to fall off like so many others. I hope they retain that feature.

The Shadow said:

How about that switch - tighten to turn off

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It's a Reverse Twisty!

Any updates on this? Robin24k? Anyone?



Tam

Its coming ....