Posted: 1/11/2007 8:14:34 PM EDT
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got a few maglite that have served me well. been looking at the LED fashlight to replace them.have read the bateries last quite a bit longer with them. How do they compare in brightness to the same size maglite?aare they worth the extra money? |
True My buddy got a 4D LED Mag. the other day. I would recomend it for use as a regular flashlight but not as a "tactical" light. Might be good for CQB but after that.....  I got a little 9LED, 3AAA light for like $4 the other day. Small, fits in my pocket and works good for close, bright lighting.BTW: LEDs wont break if the take a good fall where a regular bulb might. |
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Buy a Maglight brand LED bulb for one of your C or D cell flashlights. They are specific to the number of cells the lights has. You will be impressed with the amount of light it creates compated to battery life. Also, the Nite Eyes (spelling?) Mini-mag AA conversion is impressive, but the Nite Eyes "D" cell bulb is a piece of crap. Also, I have a Streamlight 3C LED light, it's pretty good for anything within 20', incredible battery life. And a Streamlight Septor LED headlamp, also a great buy. I have so many cheap LED lights I can't keep up with them. I want to get my hands on a INOVA T4 rechargable, you can nab them NIB of egay for less than $100. |
| I just today picked up an Inova something or other. It has 4 LED's. I got it to keep in my computer bag as the bag accompanies me daily. When I got home I shined it from the driveway out to the barn, this is my base line flashlight test. It was impressive for what it is. It exceeded my expectations. I have a Surefire and of course its not as bright. But it will do fine to turn on and leave on while I am crawling around behind a server rack or something. |
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Samsclub has two, 3 Watt LED lights for $29.99. The on/off buttons are on the base where you can always find them. I have one of their 1 Watt lights and like it, other than the on/off switch being on the side where it plays hide-n-go-seek with you. A Streamlight brand light called the 'Stylus' lives in my pocket. I just love it. |
Tell ya what: Let's run our respective 100-lumen flashights (of identical size and weight) for 15 minutes, and then compare the throw. I guarantee my LED flashlight will out-throw your incandescent - and will put it to utter shame in another 30 minutes. |
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There are generally 3 kinds: 1) Flashlights using low wattage LEDs. These are the ones with the small LED where the optics are integrated into the LED. Usually made my a company named Nichia and they work good if you just want something to guide you around. The multiple LED lights almost certainly use these types. 2) Flashlights using high wattage LEDs: Power ratings on these are usually 3-8 watts and are very good. Bulbs are usually made by a company named LumiLeds. I have a 7W model that throws the light as well as my Surefire E2D. The lumen rating is 120 on it also. 3) The latest generation of high wattage lights using Cree LEDs. These are supposed to be spectacular with the most efficient bulbs made. You can find some on eBay or you can wait till Surefire comes out with theirs and pay a bundle. |
I've become addicted to the things. I own "C" "D" and "AA" lights plus a 6 LED headlamp. (Three red/three white) I also bought the Luxeon 65 Lumen LED adapter for my 6P. I have not replaced the batteries in it since April.  The "D" cell will run FOREVER and I use it nightly for hours at a time. I never even touch the Stinger anymore. Granted, you cannot focus the beam as tightly as say, an SL20, but it's awesome as a area light. 
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| i love my Inova X03--damn bright LED and it throws the beam far enough... |
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My surefire L2 is the shit! www.surefire.com/maxexp/main/co_disp/displ/prrfnbr/1141/sesent/00 |
Thats the one I just picked up. |
+1 A great light for the bucks. |
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Incandescent Surefire type lights are like Jurassic artifacts since the Luxeon LED came out a few years ago, it has just taken a while to catch on. The 3 watt high end tactical lights will output higher than a 2 cell Surefire on a lumen for lumen basis, and never burn a 'bulb' out. Now, we have the new Cree LED's out and for $70 you can get a light that puts out double the light of that same incandescent Surefire, with several brightness levels, strobe, etc. and it fits in the palm of your hand. This month a version of this light (Fenix L1D) will be out that will pump out 135 lumens for over an hour on a single AA battery..... Tired of paying big bux for CR123's? Oh, one other thing: All of the LED lights are digitally regulated meaning they put out FULL POWER from pretty much the start of the battery discharge to the end. Can't do that with an incandescent.... |
I'm on my second Gladius, and it's already old technology... the new Cree LED's blow the Luxeon III in the Gladius away. Half again the output and double the run time.... on one cell vs. 2 for the Gladius. Take a look at the Fenix P1D CE to see what I am talking about.... |
| The Surefire L2 is my favorite flashlight overall (I'm a big fan of two level lights), but the products that Fenix is turning out are nothing short of phenomenal for what you pay for them. As was suggested, check out Candlepower Forums. |
LED's rock. I've got a few minimags running on SMJLED mods (which blow the Nite Ize drop in away), a few cheap chinese multi-LED lights, but absolutely swear by the ARC-P light. It's the size of a Mag Solitaire, is much better made, HAIII anodizing, brighter, lasts forever on a single AAA. Very nice workmanship, and it's rarely not enough light. It hangs on my keys from a Solitaire tether. You can do pretty darn well with one of those cheap chinese multi-LED's and a lithium battery.. Makes a great glovebox light to forget about. |
I just got a INOVA XO2 from Costco for 22 bucks and am impressed for what I paid.. |
I saw it, and it looks great probably be my next light. The price isn't bad either. |
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I don't know what the people who say the Mag Lite conversions are no good...my 4 cell D with the 3W Maglite conversion (uses a Lumiled emitter) will throw a spot well past 100 yards, bright enough to use iron sights on my AR for say, 'yote hunting. It is blinding bright and battery life is great. MUCH more light than the standard bulb. Best $19 I ever spent. |
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I bought a "cheapie" brinkman 3 watt single bulb LED flashlight from Target about a month ago for $30. I mean to tell you, that sucker will blind you even with the lights on. As far as throwing light, it seemed to illuminate the woods (about 15-20 yds behind my house very well. I was at the local gunshop the other day and was playing with their demo model Surefires and I was certainly not impressed by the light that was emitted when compared to my cheapo light. I'm not a flashlight guru though and I can't remember what model the surefire was. |
Above 5 watts or so, getting rid of the heat produced by the LED tends to get more complicated. Also, in most applications, it's no big deal to use several LEDs in tandem for more light output. The biggest recent advances in LEDs haven't been in increasing the wattage, but rather in increasing the amount of light produced per watt. The best of the current crop produce more than twice as many lumens as the best from just 18 months ago. Result: Roughly twice the light for the same battery size and run-time, or 2-3 times the run-time for the same brightness level. LED auto headlamps will happen REAL soon - They will be commonplace within the next two model years. |
+1, he nailed it. |
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Here is the flashlightreviews.com page on the Mag-LEDs: www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/maglite_mag-led.htm ....Overall, the LED is somewhat better than the regular Mag-Lite bulb, but that there are better LED lights out there. ------- The main problem with the Mag-Lite LED bulbs is that because it is a drop-in conversion, the LED bulb does not have a good heat-sink, and LEDs need to run as cool as possible to work well (run bright on little power). ~ |
| I converted one of my Mini Mags to LED's. Works good for what I need it for. I do field service. And word deep in equipment where it is hard to see. They last longer and don't break when you drop them with the light on. Bulbs for those Mini Mags are expensive. My LED array has already outlasted several bulbs so it has saved me a lot of money. |
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I have many different flash lights including surefire. Although for some reason the flashlight forums and raters don't rate this very highly my absolute favorite, best, preferred, best value, dependable, one I love the most are the "Element" brand LEDs sold at Sams Club for 2 for like $20 |
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GREAT INFO HERE GUYS THANKS.. There is a 30 Bulb led lanturn out there too in case ya'll didnt know  shop.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=196421&kwtid=221350 
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Here's one, a Fenix multimode 1xCR123 for $70: store.advancedmart.com/fep1dcecrled.html Another, dual-mode (hi/lo) for $145: www.brightguy.com/products/Photons_Intl_CR2_Ion_Flashlight.php .....these are just becoming available, as noted. They're supposed to be a pretty big step up in light and down in power consumption. I know a few places selling loose crees but these are the only two flashlights I could find in my "flashlight sites". ~ |
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I have a new LED Survivor light I use at work. I used my old Survivor for 12 years, it was time for a new one. It kicks ass! Bright white light that travels very far and cuts through smoke much better than the old light. I carry a 1 AAA Arc-P LED light on my everday belt. Also very bright for it's size. I keep an LED light by the bedside. Can you tell I like LED lights? 
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Maybe I got a bad one, I have the same light and conversion and was thoroughly unimpressed. Mine put out about half the light of the incandescent bulb. |
Lots of Surefire L2 LED fans. I needed a reliable flashlight for hunting and after researching here and elsewhere, I decided on a Surefire L2 as well. I've been very happy with it. 
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My beef is with the initial falloff. Look at the charts on Flashlightreviews: when the LED's thermal control kicks in, the brightness falls off nearly 50% in the first ten minutes. There's some flashlights around that will hold 90% of their brightness for 2+ hours. For overall battery life it is better than the regular bulb, but it isn't the best LED flashlight around. ~ |
This is the sort of stuff that shooed me off of candlepowerforums. I still check in for the latest, but jeez guys.. Perspective is important. There certainly are better LED lights out there, but for ease of procurement, ease of assembly, and overall improvement over what most people use, the LED upgrade is wonderful. Sure there is that voltage dropout, but think about it.. You've got top brightness for a few minutes (which is about how long most uses last), but then it drops down for the long term and lasts for-friggin-ever in that role. Your eyes adjust, and even dropped out it's brighter than a Mag with dead batteries or a busted bulb. I like these bulbs because they work and work well. They address a lot of common issues with the Mags and can be bought off the shelf at Walmart. The idea that for double the money or much grief we can all get a light that punches out 15 more lumens with a flatter runtime graph is primarily only interesting to those who are just far faaaar too concerned with flashlights and far underconcerned with using them in the real world. Means to an end, not an end in themselves. |
I have one SMJLED mod and love it. I would love to get more but I can not find some in stock. |
Get them here but do it soon.. They're the last place I know of with them in stock. Try one in a 2-AAA.. What a package! |