Anyone else think Maglite are missing some obvious tricks?

I know that there many that like and don't like Maglites on here. I also know Maglite has pretty much no internet presence anywhere, which is part of the point I'm making.

Like many, my interest in torches and flashlights hails from owning Minimags and full size Maglites (for me starting in the 1980's...)

But does anyone else fear that Maglite are a dwindling company?

Not living in the USA I don't know how they are still viewed by the general public. Here in the UK I can tell you, it's now rather difficult to walk into a high street style shop and buy a Maglite. Brick & Mortar style shops or supermarkets, places average Jo would go to when looking for a new torch, none of these seem to sell or stock Maglites on the shelf.

Some specialist places do sell them, but it's still 80-90% their incan range. And the LED ones you do find are old models and hugely expensive. The truth is, in the UK unless you decide before shopping that you want a Maglite and go to an effort to find them for sale, you'll end up buying something else.

High street stores are littered with cheap nasty 9 LED/3xAAA generic rubbish. And specialist online flashlight sellers that are UK based often skip over Maglite completely.

History proves that companies that refuse to move with the times just end up disappearing. If you are UK based, Blockbuster, Clinton Cards, Woolworths and many more. Companies that once where at the top of their markets, but failed to recognise change and adapt.

I do accept Maglite have and are making new products or upgrades. But are they right ones? Are they enough?


After some thought I think there are a few problem areas:


1. The Maglite website - it's dreadful. It really wants a whole redesign so that you can see the current products better and be kept up to date. This should be a quick and cost affective easy fix.


2. Maglites continued insistence to pursue alkaline only power sources and actively discourage even using NiMh. You can't walk into a toy store these days without almost all the toys requiring batteries these days, and houses are full of electronic gadgets and goodies -- the reality of all this is, the average man or women on the street is very likely to own and use rechargeable batteries and use other battery types.

Everyone on here and on every other torch forum knows alkaline batteries are rubbish for use in a flashlight. Poor performance, poor runtime and prone to leaking making them unreliable.

For the mass market products, sure have alkaline compatibility. But Maglite could really be helping to educate the public by promoting and encouraging the use of lithium primaries and NiMh. They could even sell combo packs off the back of this.


3. Ignoring the rest of the market.

Looking on here and other torch forums & websites and what other companies offer. It's easy to see the trend in current flashlight tastes:

-compact 1xAAA
-compact 1xAA
-compact 18650/CR123a
-pocket friendly large headed 18650
-multi 18650 with very high output/range


If you look at the current Maglite range, they pretty much miss all of these popular trends. The LED Solitaire is really the only thing they offer, and while I have no issues with it, they only offer one version and one output with no modes. Something the rest of the wider proper flashlight industry doesn't.

Multi D or C cell, even double AA just isn't the main trend.


4. The range or missing models. I'm staggered that nobody at Maglite has been able to produce some simple additional models to their line, such as:

-1xAA Solitaire. Externally the same as the AAA one, but scaled up. Twisty and multimode. Simple UI H-L repeat twice to get to SOS/Blinky (like an EagleTac D series, just less total modes). It wouldn't even need 14500 support, just regulation designed to work on NiMh with flat regulation. Alkaline would still work in it.

-2xAAA Solitaire penlite. With a clicky switch.

-18650 XL200 at sensible money. With proper flat regulation. Do a "thrower" version with a SMO reflector and XP-E2 and a "flooder" version with a textured reflector and an XP-L.

-18650 XL200 body with a C cell Maglite head!!!!


I think such models would be easy to R&D and in many cases reuse parts/design they already have. But would massively bolster a flagging range.



Merry Christmas.

I also believe that Maglite is a slowly disappearing company.

I totally agree with this, though there are a few things such as a few stores around here do carry Maglites. It is hard to find some mods and accessories the only place i have found to have some was at the Bass Pro shop here. Been waiting for stores to carry the ML300L and ML300LX but i have yet to find either. They need a better marketing strategy. I don't like that they are wanting people to stick to alkaleaks. I agree, they could be teaching people about rechargeables and their benefits.

What Maglite is missing... is Maglites.

I've got the money and the willingness to part with it but there is no Maglite to buy. Home Depot, Amazon, Canadian Tire, etc, nothing. At least nothing new.

Oh well.

An issue that maglite faces outside the US is regulation - be it tariffs or other red tape - that makes their product expensive or at least rare.

Maglite has also indeed been slow to innovate - largely because they have depended on familiarity to market, but also because of their commitment to recouping fixed investments in automation. Maglite seems to have been forced into R&D mode by the market, but has no interest in developing product families with 6-18 month lifespans.

Eventually, as maglite loses market share and retail shelf space to faster-moving competitors, they will adapt or die. At least they have produced some fundamentally new designs in the past few years rather than just LED versions of their classic lineup.

Edit: Li-ion cells just aren't mainstream products yet, so it should come as no surprise that maglite and other big manufacturers don't support them. As for their insistence on alkaline ... who knows.

They are good however at Lawsuits - they threatened Mac with lawsuit as he was modding M@gs - what Maglite doesn't realize is there are 4 maglites in my house, 2 modded by JayRob (does great job with voltage monitor, XML2 & MTG2), one with a Malkoff drop-in and one with a Mac drop-in. So four lights sold that would not have sold otherwise.

No! They offer a sturdy flashlight for the totally non enlightened. All they care is that it looks like a good light and it has been on the market long enough that every mom and pop store carries them and they generally use easily acquired batteries. Many sheeple can't imagine paying over say 10 bucks for a flashlight and absolutely not batteries that cost more than a buck@

I was looking for service on my 3 D cell incandescent MagLite and emailed a couple nearby from the long list of US service centers. Both inquiries were answered with prices and an invitation to send'm on in. So they are still getting support, it seems. I'm going to get a new button installed and then eventually get a Malkoff drop in. This is a very old model, maybe from the 1970s or early 80s. Found a spare bulb wrapped in foam under the tailcap spring.



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The best way is to find out what the last recorded accounts look like ie turnover and profit.I imagine they are still a heavyweight seller worldwide and like Led Lenser they dominate the retail market.

I have no idea why the op thinks it is difficult to buy a Maglite in the UK as it is dead easy.All you do is go to where you would think you would get a decent torch and the two brands on offer will be Maglite and Led Lenser.

I think personally Fenix are gearing up for a move into retail sales rather than the very minute and restrictive hobby market.

I have a 2x aa original maglite. With an LED upgrade and a niteize tail clicky it is quite a decent light and can use nimh or alks. I use it to get the last breath out of old alks.

I agree with you in general re. Maglite, but the crack about alkaline cells is just wrong. My first and most used (now 4.5 years old) flashaholics type torch is a 4sevens Quark mini AA, and there are now quite a few powerful AA alkaline powered torches out there. And which is better, having a battery leak or having it explode?

I disagree with Mcnair55, I'm seeing more LED Lenser torches in the shops than maglites.

Brick and mortar stores want product that catches the eye and sells quick. Bright colors packaged with batteries is what sells fast.

The el cheapo Chinese 9 led lights have taken a large piece of Mag's sales.

Mag's slow to adopt stance on led lighting hurt them as well as a lot of police agencies no longer allowing the 4-6 cells to be used. You might beat someone over the head with that Eugene.

John home owner is a point purchase buyer. If its sitting on the end of the aisle it sells. The problem is that in the USA, the big box stores have their house branded lights that compete with Mag's sales.

There will always be people that wax nostalgically about the old Mag lights.

Today it's lead, follow or get out of the way. Mag it appears is getting out of the way.

I bought my daughter the led solitaire to replace the old incan solitaire she always carried. My daughter is not light-savvy and thinks it is fine. So a more considered response mybe that Maglite is not pitching its products well. Its lights are not good enough to attract flashaholics, but a bit too complicated for the unenlightened. A simple led light with a strong body that can rattle around in a handbag or rucsac may suit a commuter [say] very well?

The maglite website was completely revamped a few weeks ago. It looks great. Maybe it's a different site in the UK?

I think its the opposite. ( In the USA anyway )

All the other flashlight companies are missing the tricks.

In 99.9% of brick & mortar and online retail stores that carry flashlights. ( NO other company even comes close. )

Stop a stranger on the street and ask them if they know what a Maglite is, now ask them if they know what a X brand is. Yes / No

That said, I love em, but don't own a single one.

guthrie said:

I agree with you in general re. Maglite, but the crack about alkaline cells is just wrong. My first and most used (now 4.5 years old) flashaholics type torch is a 4sevens Quark mini AA, and there are now quite a few powerful AA alkaline powered torches out there. And which is better, having a battery leak or having it explode?

I disagree with Mcnair55, I'm seeing more LED Lenser torches in the shops than maglites.

Click to expand...

You can disagree all you want Maglite are easy to find in the UK.Outdoor shops * Gun Shops*Holiday resort shops*Screwfix carry Maglite.Tool vans*garages*trade centres*DIY shops such as B&Q all stock Maglite. Halfords*Maplins carry Maglite.

I wager with you more stock Maglite. than Led Lenser.

ForrestChump said:

I think its the opposite. ( In the USA anyway )

All the other flashlight companies are missing the tricks.

In 99.9% of brick & mortar and online retail stores that carry flashlights. ( NO other company even comes close. )

Stop a stranger on the street and ask them if they know what a Maglite is, now ask them if they know what a X brand is. Yes / No

That said, I love em, but don't own a single one.

Click to expand...

That actually makes sense, Maglite is competing more with common flashlights bought in hardware stores. Before visiting this forum i thought Maglite was one of the best light brands out there. Amazingly i've been proven wrong and Maglites are more on the mid ground compared to real high end lights. Then again, i have seen many people buy cheap plastic $5 lights. They are great if you are looking to give someone a cheap Christmas present or for an emergency and you don't want to spend a whole lot on a light you know little about.

We have an Ace Hardware that is filled with Maglites in the flashlight section. So Maglite does have some appearances sometimes! :twothumbs:

You just can't not notice them, there're everywhere. I understand what OP was getting at though. Here in the states, most* people are content with incandescent Maglites, But now you see people starting to buy the LED Mags. They sell them alongside the incandescent, for the average buyer the price jump is a mental block. They don't wan't to spend $25 for a 2 X AA light when they are used to spending $12.00 for ones that have worked fine for them and they are familiar with. If Mag jumped the horse, they would have had massive sales losses.


Theres a high school experiment I saw when I was a kid that changed my whole perspective on life. He had a regular Goldfish in salt water....

Every day, he would drop a grain of salt into the tank, over months the fish slowly adapted to its new habitat and was able to thrive as a new, salt water fish.
This is fascinating and it's the same approach Mag is taking. If you just take a goldfish and throw it in the ocean he won't survive because he can't keep up with the sudden shock of his new environment, he hasn't been given a chance to adapt....This principle is applied in society in many different ways. Unfortunately they are often used to undermine & manipulate people and usually have a negative impact.


Maglites and Goldfish however are doing just fine.... Mag knows whats up, and they are playing their hand PERFECTLY. Kudos to them.

Just saw an updated page from a big Montreal hunting/fishing equipment store and they are listing the new Maglites.

The 2 D cell (525 lumen) for $52 and the 3 D cell (625 lumen) for $54. And the rechargeable 533 lumen Mag-Tac for $120. Pretty good prices on those D cell models. I'm liking it!

Edit: And $155 for the rechargeable 643 lumen full sized flashlight.