New to lights with a what to do

New admirer here. Recently purchased a mini LED Maglite. Unscrewed the head...wouldn't screw back on. Spent about 5 mins trying and finally felt it "catch." Proceeded to screw head back on and noticed it was going a lot farther than I remember. Here are the results. My question is what to do with it now? Not sending back to Maglite because it was my fault causing the gouges in the tube. I'm thinking of making this the most powerful light that I can and send it somewhere to get refinished. Any ideas? I've read all the info I can from this site and am still unsure. If anyone can recommend me a place for refinishing that would be a plus.





Thanks.
whisky22

P.S. And I thought collecting pistols was addictive...

That's way too much time and trouble for a $20 light; you'd end up paying more just in shipping it back and forth than you would just buying another copy at your local box store. Same deal with modifying it - unless you do machining and electronics yourself, you'd have to pay handsomely just to to have a bright light in the body of a $20 flashlight (bearing in mind that the $30 Pro+ version at your local store is ~250 lumens.)

And not many folks here carry MiniMags, once you see some of the other more modern lights out there, you'll probably forget all about your damaged copy..

That was unfortunately the outcome I had in the back of my mind. Thanks. Live and learn. Now onto Fenix/Olight/Surefire for a replacement.

Checkout the Zebralight SC52 and the Sunwayman V11R; those are two excellent introductions into the world of serious flashlights..

+1 on the V11R! I have lots of flashlights and used to rotate my EDC. No more! My V11R is always in my pocket! Superb flashlight!

What to do? Same as we all do (you're a CPFer now, resistance is futile):

-shop for flashlights
-drool
-empty your wallet on paypal
-repeat before or after receiving shipment, sometimes both.

If the light still works just throw it in the car and leave it there (don't forget to check on the batteries once in a blue moon).

I'll add another voice for how nice the V11R is, but the M11R also has plenty of merit. Zebra, Fenix 4Sevens, one of each! you need at least one of each! :devil:

If you end up looking for a new light I say good luck. There are just way too many to choose from. BTW, all my maglites are just collecting dust now.

There are a lot of folks who have sentimental feelings for the ol maglight, including me, but once you discover what else is out there, the maglight craving will go away. Some of my favorite flashlight brands are eagletac, malkoff, fenix, and of course modified surefires

I am new to flashlights and almost bought a mini maglight two months ago, until I discovered that there were much brighter ones out there. I immediately went and bought the Fenix LD41. Two weeks later bought Fenix LD12 and Fenix E05.

Now I am eyeing the Eagletac GX25A3 if it ever comes to my store which is located in Malaysia. Can't wait though. Been checking out Eagletac's website almost every day for an update on the release date. What a terrible obsession!!