One of my friends is in USA now and she can help me to purchase one or two flashlights that are Made in USA or only available in USA for me as souvenir.
Kindly may I know what are the recommended flashlights to be bought in Walmart or Costco that isn’t available on Chinese website? She already bought the Stanley SL3HS and I’m looking for another one.
Any idea? Maglite with 3D LED, DST, other Stanley or Black and Decker spotlight… budget is around $25.
Thanks 
If you want a souvenir, I would get the Maglite because it is an iconic US flashlight.
Mag Light would be the only think I can think of. They have some “nice” ones but they are a little expensive IMHO.
The Mag 2D in “gray” (not silver) is a thing of beauty.
The beam sucks except when Loctited to its tightest possible spot, but… 
I plan to have the 3D LED Maglite in grey color, what do you guys think? Are both 2D and 3D producing the same brightness?
Until you mod it :smiling_imp:
Speaking of which… anyone ever try this?
SOB! It’s discontinued?? It seemed to be in-stock not long ago when I looked. Just was debating whether/not to pull the trigger on it.
Even the 5-mode is gone…
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Yeah, I wanna mod it to make it, well, usable, but I don’t want to spend more on the mod than I paid for the light itself. It’s against my religion.
If I knew the dimensions to look for, I’d try to put together the reflector and mcpcb, then find a way to fit that into the beastie that doesn’t require a machine-shop.
Even one of these donks in the right size ( https://www.fasttech.com/products/1617/10006828/1543304-78mm-aluminum-smooth-smo-reflector ) that I could just find some slug to mount it to and even use a dead bulb’s base as the wiring to feed a driver that’d feed the chip.
I’d even commit to 2S 26650s or even 32650s if I can find ’em.
Ooooh, I wonder if our Russian friend who specialises in this kind of thing has anything like that for sale.
Eh, I’m rambling…
Yeah, they really need to be modded to bring ’em at least into the 20th century, let alone 21st.
Me personally, I find the 3D a bit heavy to carry, and the 2D is borderline. The 2D has nice dimensions, but the 3D seems “long”.
Unless you want to use it as a club in case you tangle with a grizzly or something… Then, weight and length can come in handy, clubbing something to death.
Given all my other way way way smaller lights which outperform it anyway, it hasn’t seen the light of day (or dark of night) for… well… ever. I think once when a fambly of raccoons was screeching up a storm in the trees, and before I even knew what a ’502B or SK98 was, that was the only time I took out the Mag to see, only because it had the tightest hotspot I’d ever seen. Not bright, just tight.
It’s kinda the definition of Shelf Queen.
Oh yeah, the Mag LED bulbs all produce about the same brightness, whether for 2, 3, or 4 cells. I think there was something odd about them, that the 2 and 4 were a little brighter than the 3, something like that. Hang on, I’ll see if I can find something about that…
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Actually no. I’m referring to the fatter-base real-Maglite LED bulbs (that use the base’s contact with the tube to help dissipate heat), not generic PR-2 LED replacements like Nite-Ize or anything.
But I do remember something a little hinky about output lumens.
I hear ya. It stands as a pretty trophy all the same, because no matter how shoddy the internals are, the host’s form factor is undeniably iconic, nice to look at, and feels good in the hand. It just is, y’know?
Someday, when I’m insane enough, maybe I’ll get a 2D host, gut it from tail to bezel, put in a nice glass lens or TIR optic with a Nichia triple/quad or XHP70 with high CRI, a 2x26650 set of internals with one of our awesome custom firmwares, and an either electronic or reverse clicky switch :smiling_imp:
That’s just it, with the proper dimensions, I’m wondering if I could stuff 3 26mm TIRs behind the glass. Forgot the diameter (not that I ever “knew” it), but that’d be pretty easy to fabricate. With 20mm stars and the shoes that hold the TIRs in place, it’d be easy to sandwich them in on a thin Cu sheet, attached to a big honkin’ block of Al.
A pair of 26650s and the same 22mm 3A buck driver I use in my F13… actually, I’d probably go with 1 driver and just split it 3 ways for 10W output, because 30W is gonna be hot.
Should be good for >1000lm, easy, because 3 LEDs would be more efficient at 1A than 1 LED at 3A.
That just might work…
Just goggled it, 52mm or so is the diameter of the glass. Need 2.154× the diameter of the lens (plus shoe), so that’s be 28mm → 60mm for a triple, or 56mm if no shoe. Fooey. Just that much too short…
Here are the 2 current flashlights on sale at Costco in my area as of a week ago. They include the batteries.
Don’t forget Home Depot! More than one store I have been in has had this one at a reduced price.
This is a BIG light!
If you are real lucky, your Costco will have these 2 clearance deals still going. My store sold the last of these last week, then brought in the new stock above.
The Durabeam line is a classic. I still remember fondly the times when I as a child had the blocky 2AA model.
We could use more blocky torches, methinks. Cylinders are cool, but they get old if overused!
For Maglite it looks like the 2D version is the one to go for.
Those Duracell lights are also neat! These are something that I cannot find locally or even on Chinese website, but man I can only choose for one light… 
Please keep the recommendations coming guys.
Few question s, which store normally sells the Maglite cheaper than the others? And does Home Depot sell Maglite too?
How about an Icon Rogue. From what I hear, Icon is a division of Surefire. These also make a 2x AA called the Rogue II. link
The performance is nothing special but they have high quality machining.
How about this torch that I have got it few months ago. It works well.
With a remote pressure switch, rail mounting hardware, and capability to quickly be switched to a standalone flashlight for outdoor activities.
http://www.ledflashlighting.com/military_90.html?utm_source=budgetlightforum&utm_medium=forum&utm_campaign=post
I have quite a few of the MagLites 2D and 3D that I picked up cheap. I would be willing to sell some at my cost. The problem is the cost to get them to your friend.
PM me if you like.
I also have some MagLite AA and AAA combo packs that I got right.