WIth all this talk of running three N cells (cheap little alkaline batteries available at Wal-Mart and most everywhere else, that look like short AAA's that still put out 1.5V each) in a 2AA body, I finally did this in a Brinkmann 2AA except I used a quality super-white Q3J HD and Fraen Low Profile optic. The result was a medium length LGI-style light with nearly the same power -- hey, the MGI (Medium Gun Illuminator) is born!
In these pictures you can see the MGI opened up:
Here it is lined up with a couple of other fairly well-known lights, the SureFire L4 and Baby Pin:
Beam shots in the same order, first from about four feet:
You can see that the Baby Pin puts out slightly more light, although both are obviously brighter than the 5W SureFire.
Here are the same trio's beams on my speckled ceiling from 20 feet below:
At distance the MGI starts to match the Baby Pin's output, although they both maintain the same brightness advantage over the L4.
And finally, the MGI's lux reading:
So it approaches the original full-length LGI's output but in a smaller package. Given the handier and more pocketable size, without any delicate circuitry inside and much less to go wrong, the MGI turns out to be a pretty nice mod indeed.
Since it rivals the performance of today's complex $100-plus Flashoholic specialty mods, if I were to build them for sale they would probably go for like $48 shipped. With an 1/8th-inch thick copper heatsink and lockout clickie tailswitch included, what else do you need?
It's time to get back to basics. We're building flashlights, not refrigerators.
As the Mexican Bandito would say, "Circus? We dawn nee' no steenkin' circus!"
In these pictures you can see the MGI opened up:
Here it is lined up with a couple of other fairly well-known lights, the SureFire L4 and Baby Pin:
Beam shots in the same order, first from about four feet:
You can see that the Baby Pin puts out slightly more light, although both are obviously brighter than the 5W SureFire.
Here are the same trio's beams on my speckled ceiling from 20 feet below:
At distance the MGI starts to match the Baby Pin's output, although they both maintain the same brightness advantage over the L4.
And finally, the MGI's lux reading:
So it approaches the original full-length LGI's output but in a smaller package. Given the handier and more pocketable size, without any delicate circuitry inside and much less to go wrong, the MGI turns out to be a pretty nice mod indeed.
Since it rivals the performance of today's complex $100-plus Flashoholic specialty mods, if I were to build them for sale they would probably go for like $48 shipped. With an 1/8th-inch thick copper heatsink and lockout clickie tailswitch included, what else do you need?
It's time to get back to basics. We're building flashlights, not refrigerators.
As the Mexican Bandito would say, "Circus? We dawn nee' no steenkin' circus!"
