Needs a bulb.

18650 conversion? Led?

Led conversion. nothing more.

I put two TerraLux MiniStar 5s into each of my two 6D MLs and frankly, I don't know if I couldn't have better  spent the $38, elsewhere.

They're done now and you get about the same output, but in a whiter light, however the runtimes are a lot greater than with the Krypton bulb, which would be great if I ever used the lights.  I don't.

I figure that I'll hand them out to the neighbors in a hurricane emergency and not risk my smaller, brighter, more flexible flashlights.

Chris

Other than a combo light/striking weapon, I cannot imagine a good use of such a monstrosity.  Now with even some great lights available. It's hard to imagine spending much money on a conversion. I've got several mag lights, including a 31 year old mag charger that my dad gave me on my 18th birthday, that are collecting dust.  

I stock very few C or D cell lights. Although I do have a couple of 186500 and CR123 light, I'm trying my best to standardize on the AA platform. Now you can get single AAs that put out over 100 lumens. I've just bought the newest model fenix LD41, 4 AA  which approaches 900 lumens. I can't imagine needing much more light than this. For "giveaways",  I've just bought some of the cheap ultrafires AAs on amazon for less than $4 each.

If you're just itching for a project for that light, I'm sure the folks over at www.candlepowerforums would have some good suggestions.

Malkoff Devices

I've got several pocket lights... a Surefire that's been converted to led ( "134" batteries suck), Fenix and other assorted led "AA" lights ( 1 and 2 cell ) and several 3/4/5 "D" cell Maglights that have been converted to led with Malkoff units. The pocket lights are good and easy to carry ( I'll have one of my Fenixs in the morning to light my way to the dove field ) but as long as I can obtain  "D" cells I'll never get rid of the big Maglights.
If I had to chose between keeping the Surefire or my 5 "D" Maglight it'd be "bye bye Surefire" for sure.

Send it to Az for proper deployment?


Txl

You can get powerful lights that fits in the pocket. A good model would be the one that uses a 14500/AA battery. I got a zoom-able flashlight from China via Amazon for less than $4 and with a 14500 it puts out 300 lumens and with AA 100 lumens. It serves the purpose.



There's better models out there but on Amazon (and others) there's cheap models that claims high lumens (like 1000+) that's not true.

The CandlePower forum is a goldmine of info on flashlights and more. Because of them I got a Nitecore P36 which is a 2x18650 2000 lumen powerhouse. Good flashlights cost money (mine's $82) because of heatsink designs, good LEDs and circuitry. They get hot but has thermal protection.

I converted two 3 cell lights to LED. One is in the garage and one serves as the emergency light for the basement. If power goes out after a tornado, that light will run forever.

My old 5 cell is just sitting unloved. Too big to be practical anymore.

This one has some sentimental value.

ETA: CP forum lists
TLE-6EX
and
MiniStar31 M-EX

drop-ins.. hmmmm

Make an...........um....................a..............documentary.  

I keep mine right at the top of the stairwell to the basement.  It has the LED conversion, a bezel device, and a window smasher on the back end.

Also, keep a 3 cell with the same set up in my vehicle.

More lights is moar gooder.  

Someone on another forum raved about them and posted a link to it. I bought two at $3.66 each. You're right that they are built solid, good switch and a good fit for the battery. I've seen the same models stamped with a brand and selling for $30+. I think they're called Mini Crees.

I went to my order history at Amazon to get more but they're gone.

I forgot about this flashlight I bought from China on Amazon. I wanted a 2000 lumen 2x18650 job and bought this. This is when I found out that they lied about the lumen ratings. It really only have 400-450 lumens and I paid $15 for it. It's not a bad flashlight and made well and it works good.

Just that it ain't no 2000 lumens.

That is when I went to learn more about LED flashlights and joined CandlePower. That's when I got my Nitecore P36.

Suppressor body

Eh, I have lots of the smaller lights running around and sure they are in the vehicles as well.



I still have a few led maglights and tend to buy a few each year on blackfriday.



I keep one in each vehicle and like one by the front door and back door of the house.



They really don't do well as a club, can dent or bend or break apart the head, but certain folks tend to fear them being used as a club so I just keep em around for when I want to see what the dogs are barking at.



they are also what I loan out if people are over or I am somewhere late.  Folks don't lose the maglight and it won't get lost in a coat pocket.  Have had a lot of folks later on show me they spent 4 or 5 bucks at amazon for the cheap cree light already mentioned.  So I guess the maglight is used to convert people at times.

Biere,

I don't know what MagLites you're using, but if I hit you in the head with one of my 6D ML (c.1995,) I'd kill you and nothing would be broken on either of my lights, nor dented.

Chris

Exactly. dont know how many times mine has been used as a hammer or fallen off roofs, run over, flown out of moving vehicles etc...

D-cell maglights are what started it all. there is a reason people have 20+ year old D-cell maglights that still work perfectly.

Why do people fear them being used as a club? because they will crack your mellon open as fast as a bat.
Dent and bend? LOL! stop smoke crack, I have never seen one with any damage like you describe.

Bad plan, thing is 36 inches long(or so) ...

AOW?

Typically, the incandescent bulb doesn't survive a sharp blow - particularly if it happens to be running at that instant.

That's where installing a LED conversion of some sort can be a major improvement.

hold it by the head and swing the butt end..

A maglight is not super fragile, but they are not a solid chunk of wood for whacking stuff with all day long let alone a solid chunk of metal.



If striking something a straight blow into the battery end cap works well and the cap will handle the blows of an actual nail or something.  Like putting a loose nail back into place or something, I am not talking using it for nail installation all the time.



If swinging and hitting, holding the bulb end works best but you have to watch your impact area.



It is not hard to deform the battery body and have batteries not want to come out.



And with batteries in it the body should not bend that much but it can become an issue.  And this probably does depend on what decade your light was made.  I halfway want to compare a maglight from the 80s or 90s with one a couple decades later.



The bulb body is easy to dent if striking something like a tent stake or nail head and the screw on bezel is an issue if it gets deformed because it then won't want to unscrew very well.  The lens might need replaced as well, had a falling light fall into something lense first and crack the lense.  Sure the light worked but that straight blow took out the lens.  Past abusive use did affect future ease of repair on my maglight.  But it was my abuse of it in scouts and what not so my fault.  A maglight is not really a multi tool.



I agree on incandescent bulbs being fragile as well, part of why I like led stuff so much.



At work we still use c cell maglights with incandescent bulbs for 3rd shift, I work corrections.  Lots of metal and concrete.  Any falls from the 2nd tier to the concrete floor tend to damage the light in some way.  People playing with the light thinking it is as solid as a nice police baton or something will tend to also damage the light.



If hitting something that gives and moves, sure the maglight should win.  Miss and hit metal or concrete or walk around hitting stuff with it and you might find it will have issues over time.



And perhaps my maglights from the last decade or so are weaker than others.  I had a brinkman 3 or 4 d cell light that had a heck of a stout metal body.  Thought about keeping it just cause of that.  But it went to a good home where I house sit so no biggy.



At one point I had a 6 d cell maglight, might have been the 5 but I think 6 is the biggest they make.  It got traded off for something at some point.  It was huge and heavy and yeah I am sure it could have done some stuff but that is a lot of battery body to cause a dent/bend if you have a poor hit.



I like the 3 d cell led maglights and do have a 2 d cell led maglight but the 3 d cell maglights are the sweet spot for me right now.  I have never bought the add on glass breaker battery caps or other options out there.  The 3 d cell are what lowes tends to have for black friday as well so that makes it fit the wallet just right as well.



I have posted in other posts that I can be a clutz.  So between dropping the lights and doing things a maglight should not do, I have had them bend up slightly and I really don't like the idea of it putting pressure on the batteries.



I sort of consider it a disposable club if anyone wants to start thinking of it that way.



But maybe that is just me.



Have a good one, not trying to say this is everyone's experience or anything and glad others are happier with them than I have been at times.

I'm not ragging on you personally, just saying that I certainly wouldn't want somebody smashing me in the skull with my 6D.  I ran movie theatres here in Miami for 7 years, starting in '95, when I got my light and started carrying it when I was out on the floor and even my FHP detail guys got a kick out of how stout the thing was.

No doubt it was an intimidating flashlight.

Chris

I fully understand.  That would cover the concept of hitting something that gives.



Get someone young and dumb and abusive to equipment hitting concrete or metal improperly and you have a thin metal walled tube with some alkaline batteries in it and the body will show more than scuff marks.



Corrections is attractive to all sorts.  I kind of figure some of the folks I work with could break a bowling ball if they were the only one in the room with fully padded walls and floor and just them and a bowling ball.  



A maglight has its rep for a reason.



But they are not indestructible.



I use em and like em and will buy more this black friday if lowes has em on sale like normal.



The ones I own have lasted for a decade no problem and only reason old ones were replaced was to go to led.



But when I was young and in scouts and we were mostly there so mother nature could baby sit us and mom did not have to yell at dad about everything that got broken, stuff got damaged.



And this applies to about everything.  Those who want to use a mora knife as a prybar won't be happy with a mora knife.  Those who want to ignore cleaning their firearm won't be really happy with their blued whatever vs. a glock that tends to not care very much about getting cleaned and oiled on a regular basis.  Kind of like an ak can run in mud vs. those who say x needs to be carefully cleaned and lubed if it gets dusty.



I like the maglight.  Will probably always have one.  



And at teh same time they are what they are.



And where I work with all the steel and concrete, a 20ft fall or so from one tier to the next will usually damage a maglight pretty good.  Usually will still work but damaged is damaged with it comes to the lense not being waterproof or having trouble changing batteries out when the batteries need changed out.

I'd love to get my hands on the multi "C" cell lights - they fit my hand better.  Unfortunately they are pretty rare.

I do have a light from Black and Decker - it was their answer to the MagLite when they were doing the VersaPak thing.  A little smaller than a 3D cell light, but heavier - I think some of the aluminum is 1/8" thick.  I have the sketch of a plan to re-lamp it with an LED and make it useful again.

while those small lights are neat and useful......they cant hold a candle to the "persuader" properties of a 5D or 6D Mag-light

Nothing screams, "come get some" like a Maglight....

,,

LED conversion from Harbor Freight @ $8.99. Works great. Half the price of Lowes or Home Depot.

Not a Mag light guy. The Minimags suck. Plain and simple. They rate the bulb life as 5-6hrs, I think. Hell, thats less then whats needed for a typical weekend backpacking trip. Plus they are dim and batteries don't last. Plus they just die(out of the blue), sooner then later. The larger ones are needlessly big and heavy. Especially for the light they put out. For the weight and bulk..I'd rather carry a good smaller, brighter, lighter, more reliable, etc light...and a hand gun. But thats me tho.

I have a box of cheapo lights and retired formerly decent lights (like Maglite)  which I keep for general handout lights.  They would be given to a neighbor during an outage or similar situation. Obviously I store them empty.

I want to still use my maglites, I really do,  Loved them back in the day because they were the first flashlights I ever owned that weren't complete shit.   They were bright, focused, durable and reliable for the day.   Unfortunately I never, ever even think about using them any more.   Most often I use one of those cheap $3 chinese aluminum AA LED lights.   They work well enough if you just need a quick light.   If you need 2 hands a headlamp is irreplaceable.  Maglights?  Big, heavy and cumbersome and not as good as modern lights.

Why fly a biplane when you can have a jet?

Cause you can bash someone over the head with a biplane?

The only "plus" MagLite's have going for them is their size, and to many that is their biggest "negative."  
Mag got passed up a long time ago by Surefire and Stramlight when it comes to size, LED's, incorporating 123 batteries, and output.  

I still have a couple of the original incandescent Maglites, each with a pair of LED conversion bulbs.

One bright LED bulb is installed in the head for improved brightness, but can be swapped out for another much dimmer LED bulb in the spare bulb carrier, whenever run-time is more important than brightness.

The D-size battery format might not be as sexy as some of the newer lithium sizes, but it's still very capable.

For example, a typical alkaline D cell has almost 20,000 mAH of capacity - Compared to a paltry 2,800 mAH for its AA alkaline counterpart.

Under light to moderate loads, an alkaline D cell will deliver roughly 6 times more energy than a CR123 lithium cell.

Back in my police days we used 5 cell's (D & C) for nightsticks.  Now days I still have them but never carry them because small LED's are so much brighter, easier to carry and inexpensive.

Keep it and use it!   Mosin's, old Coleman's, and American canners, get a lot of play here because they are rugged and dependable.


I’m in the camp of having several old ones.  I keep them battery’d and ready to rock.  I keep a 3D LED in a Maglite holder behind the driver’s seat in my Taco. Mounted on the post between doors.  My first one and favorite is a >25 year old 2D cell model my son gave me for Christmas.

Just bought a Fenix 2 AA model from amazon a 50% discount.  It was recommended here.

We keep several Energizer headlamps handy, too.

Old does not mean worthless.

You can stick the big Mag-Lite down the front of your britches and ask the ladies "How ya doin'.".....


Or, you can send it off to.......


Well, it seems that Black Bear Flashlights is no more. The guy used to mod Mag-Lites, up to the top of the line Borealis, which put out a blinding 1050 lumens with nearly an hour of run time.

Does someone make a dummy battery that takes up space in the tube and lets you use a 2 cell bulb in a three cell (or larger) light?  Seems like I've seen such a thing, somewhere.

This would cut down on battery $$$ and give you less weight in the bargain.

Some folks make spacers out of pvc pipe, think they were maybe using c cells in a d cell light or something.



Look at the part number for your bulb, some overlap and you would not have to replace them.



I don't know about a spacer someone makes but it should not be hard to make one and add contacts to carry the electricity.



I find the 3 d cell as my sweet spot.  The 2 d cell is ok but I like the 3 d cell.



I don't know what actual run time is, these are the led ones, but it is a dang long time.  I check batteries now and then seeing if they leaked or not.



Like I said these get the most use being given to others who don't have a light, it is a good light and hard to lose.  I am known for buying the pinkish/reddish color to make people know what lights are mine.



If wanting the weight of a 2d cell light with the length of a 3 d cell light I would perhaps look at some of the glass breakers and other tailcap options out there.  I have never bought any, I consider the stock setup just fine once I got the led versions for 20 bucks or so at black friday sales.



The glass breaker is solid metal and does add weight and some length, not as much as a battery would add.  but overall some of the options out there might be applicable to what you want.



I don't know if I would put the spacer at an end or the middle of a 3 cell light, I think it would make the weight a bit weird but having never tried it I don't know.

If your dummy cell or spacer was hollow, you could also use it as storage space for a very basic first aid kit, fishing tackle, wire snares - or even a small, second flashlight.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013HNP4RK?redirect=true&tag=vglnk-c102-20



 

It's a (solvent) trap!

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