PT RAGE VS. Mini-Mag

No contest. A very funny story. A friend and I were outside at night when he pulled out a Mini-Mag...(I've been friends with him for years and didn't know he carried) He said he always has it on him...shown it at the house in the dark...I got out my EDC PT RAGE---blanketed his light and completely wiped it out...couldn't even tell his was on...he was in disbelief that my light being smaller and running on AAA's (although 4 vs. 2AA) could be that much brighter. We had to go get one--so we did, and he ended up buying a 40, RAGE, and a Blast. I ended up buying an Impact XL but haven't had a chance to completely review it yet. Mini-Mag is rated at 2,200 CP...and the RAGE at a supposed 41 lumens (bright as my MAG 3D) so...is it safe to say my RAGE is about 14,000 CP??? I know there isn't really a conversion chart, but I'm just estimating. Anyone have CP specs on the RAGE or a LUMEN spec on the Mini-Mag?

As far as I can tell, CP ratings are practically meaningless and should be completely disregarded. Lumen ratings have some relation to reality but aren't directly comparable from one manufacturer to another. Surefire is the only company whose lumen ratings you can really take seriously. My guess is that the Rage and the 3D Mag with the stock bulb are both in the 25 lumen range, and the Minimag is around 8 lumens. You can pop a Brinkmann Nexstar 2aa bulb into the Minimag and it will become about 2x as bright.

PAULR---thanks for the info--I agree with you. I'm going to try that with the Nexstar---where can I find one???

The Rage is SUPPOSED to be 41 Lumens. The Tec40 is supposed to be 28 Lumens...

See a problem here? I do.

On my Lightbox Apparatus the Rage scored 2700 and the Tec40 scored 2850. If the Rage was that much brighter than the Tec40 I think the Lightbox, inaccurate as it may be, would have picked up that much of a difference.

By the way, the Minimag scored 580, or about 1/5 the output of either of them. The Mag 3-D scored 2300.

http://flashlightreviews.home.att.net/reviews/output_vs_throw.htm

jbroker83,
Brinkman Nextstar 2AA replacement bulbs, here
http://www.thebrinkmanncorp.com/acb/showprod.cfm?&DID=8&CATID=2&ObjectGroup_ID=27

I think Arc's Lumen ratings can be taken seriously. Peter appeared to be very open about the whole process.

Brock told me to get the Rage 4AAA - and I always do what Brock says. The PT guy seemed strangely that a guy in a SureFire uniform at SHOT Show 2003 would be demanding a PT after the orders of Brock-the-Breaded-Vagabond next to me that he gave me one in orange for free!

I admit I don't use it much but I give it instead of a StealthLite to friends who ask for a torch. It's just returned from India/Nepal along with the Innova.

Al

Quickbeam, that's interesting that in your chart the Rage and PT40 have about the same total output. I thought the PT40 bulb used around 2x more power than the Rage bulb. Any idea?

Al, yes, Arc's lumen ratings are reliable, but as far as I know they haven't been advertised yet. Peter just got finished with the measurements he commissioned a few months ago.

One question that I have always wondered---why did PT decide to use the Xenon in the Rage and go with the Halogen in the 40??? Wouldn't the Xenon in the 40 produce more?? Or am I missing something, like the 4 AA's not being able to produce enough juice for the Xenon?? (but then how do 2AAA's/Blast or 4AAA's provide the juice) I guess that's not the reason. I'm really not that smart when it comes to this, but I've wondered about that issue.

I think both bulbs are a xenon/halogen mix.