How things change over the years...The Maglite is actually pretty good

Hmm… I’d think that everything BUT modding and battery leaks would be covered. It isn’t Maglite’s fault we left alka-leaks in our 3D Maglite for 16 years waiting for the Y2k apocalypse. On the other hand, if they are confident in the quality of the LED emitters that they are installing… and the drivers that they are making (or having made), then those should be included in the warranty. Otherwise, what the hell else is there to cover? Cross threaded tail caps?

IMO, it’s pretty clear that M@g gave up on quality, service, and innovation a long time ago. They’re now just trying to make some bucks before they completely drive the company and name into the ground.

Well, to be honest, it was a Mini Mag 2AA that started the whole flashlight thing for me! So that makes for a pretty nostalgic and positive bias I have towards them :slight_smile:

I also like the way they aesthetically “age” with scuffs that gradually reveal the gbare aluminium underneath the polished surface. They look cool well beaten, can’t say that for me let lights.

I had in my hands a newer “pro” led model once and it was a fine light, I gifted it and it was appreciated.

I also think I can get more for the same money, stuff that has become important to me like NW tint and a clickie switch, bit that’s mostly “because of the internet” and would not complain about Maglite lights as an absolute matter.

Well maybe- JasonJ posted this pic on another thread:

Only 200 lumens claimed but an up-to-date form factor!

Now if they’d just add a LiIon, a built-in USB charger, and upgrade the driver/LED to match MagLite would have a real winner at the retail stores.

Phil

Mag’s Mag-Tac rechargeable pretty much checks those boxes, actually. They went with LiFePO4 chemistry so runtime kinda sucks (dumb 2-level mode regime doesn’t help). It’s a bit safer and survives many more charge/discharge cycles than LiCo though so I can see their reasoning.

To big for it’s meager 533 Lumens IMHO but it’s a step in the right direction like the XL50.

“Hey Tony M, get a move on with more products like these but better and brighter!”

Phil

I don’t know if I’d consider a 3xAAA light to be up to date. That’s just the standard config for most cheap direct-driven Chinese lights. Granted, this one probably has some (typically poor M@g) driver, but I think you’d do better with a 1xAA light from a modern brand. Zebralight or Manker 1xAA lights will blow this away.

Today, with help from information on this forum, i repaired an old black baton 3D maglite that had been corroded out by the alkaleak cell. Years ago i think Costco sold this in a set with the little 2AA light and a cloth holster. They were so much better than the plastic body lights of the day that i bought several sets and everyone got one for xmas too.

i had taken the tail and lens off of it many years ago and set them aside in a box. i couldn’t figure how to dismantle it to get the switch out in order to really clean out that bore, so it sat around in a box for a long time—until today someone started a thread about finding old parts in a box and trying to remember what it was. And that sparked me to action. Got it cleaned and working “good” as new (what a miserable anemic beam). Maybe i’ll cut it down and make a hotrod or something like Dale now that i know about the T8 torx set screw holding the switch and the locating snap ring with the holes sheared off. i guess Mr. Mag thought he was really clever with all his useless tricks.

i have 25 year old mag lights beaten to hell that still work. that's great, and for nostalgia purposes i havn't passed them on, but they never come with me any more.

I have several “D” cell Maglites and a few 2xAA variants as well - to me, they simply represent the past. I really don’t understand why Maglite allowed itself to fall so far behind in the field; perhaps there was a manager somewhere who was/is simply ‘stuck in his ways’.

Basic cool emitters and sub 1k lumen outputs simply don’t cut it anymore. Sooner or later the Walmart / Costco / Home Depot outlets will shrug them off in favour of ‘hotter’ cheaper Chinese product and that will be the end of Maglite. If the West stagnates, one can’t blame the East for filling the demands of the marketplace.

Hi everyone, I’ve found this thread interesting so I’ll write my first post on these forums and add my 2 cents :).

I bought 2xAA Maglite Mini in 2000, obviously the incandescent version. After using really cheap and trashy torches for scouting and mountain hiking for many years this Maglite seemed like a luxury and prestige - I’d never been particularly interested in quality of such equipment so this was my first ‘quality’ torch, which was much praised by my friends. It had very good build quality, it had zoom, it could act as a candle, was waterproof, had a spare bulb in the tail cap and looked elegant. However, with time it turned out that I was more and more reluctant to use it mostly because the simple action of turning it on and off was a pain: I had to use two hands, I had to adjust the zoom each time and I had to be careful not to twist it too much so that I don’t unscrew the head completely. I preferred using cheap no-name torches that I could turn on with a simple press of a button. Moreover, after some time the twisty switch started having problems with electric contact so the light often dimmed randomly and I had to twist it back and forth many times to restore full brightness - Maglite advertised that this was a self cleaning switch but in practice the cleaning part never worked well.

So now this torch is still working but I don’t use it at all. I’d be happy to get a new 2xAA Maglite Mini but I don’t want to go back to the twisted switch and apart from that the beam and the light emitter are not what would satisfy me. Indeed, there has been little progress in Maglite apart from switching to LED technology - but to be honest they had no other choice otherwise they would go bankrupt immediately.

What I like about Maglite is that they still make torches for primary batteries. But still, I don’t know if it’s deliberate or a sign of stagnation on their part. I got interested in torches recently and I am fan of using ordinary batteries but unfortunately for me, most of development occurs in rechargeable models. I’d be interested in getting a 2xC Maglite but I can see it has many flaws: ugly beam with halos and donut blackhole, people reporting problems with the electronic switch and so on. I’d like to buy a quality Maglite but for me they don’t produce such products. Sturdy and elegant body is not enough.

Imagine a 6D sized maglight in solid copper, with an sbt90.2 led and packing 18x18650 batteries. The ultimate self defense light.

One good thing I’ll say for maglight is they have enormous potential for improvement.

And welcome to the forum. :slight_smile:

Welcome to BLF Melon.

There aren’t many upgrade kits left for the Maglite Mini-AA but if you’d want to upgrade yours for sentimental reason there is one pretty good looking kit still available from Litt Industries in the US.

They have a LED & Tailswitch combination that’s a simple drop-in.

Although with the added cost of postage from US to Poland it wouldn’t make economic sense when there are much better value lights like the recently released Sofirn SP10Pro.

It's a pleasure to have you onboard, Melon!

Yes, Maglite is known for their heavy club lights. I agree they have enormous potential but will they use it? They need some fresh minds that will introduce good emitters, reflectors, convenient UI, get rid of halos, dark spots, etc.

Interesting that I can upgrade the Maglite Mini but I don’t want to go back to the twisty switch anymore. Plus as you say, the shipping costs would make this completely not worth it so I need a better replacement. Sofirn SP10Pro sounds like a nice and sophisticated light but for now I’m waiting for my new Convoy T3 to arrive. As for direct 2xAA replacement of the Maglite I’m considering Fenix E20 V2.0 unless I find something better.

Thanks, glad to be here!

@Melon, both the Fenix and Convoy are great choices.

I have the 1xAA version, E12 V2 and find it very useful.

If you enjoy 2xAA and Convoy, there’s also the Convoy T4.

I was thinking of E12 V2 because of the wider beam but I already got the Convoy T3. Interestingly, the single AA T3 at 10% brightness is brighter than my 2xAA Maglite! Sure, it’s not a fair comparison with an incandescent bulb but it shows how much progress has been made in lighting efficiency in the last two decades. BTW, when I look at video reviews of the current LED Mini Maglites I feel a cringe inside when I imagine that I’d have to operate various modes with a twisty head - maybe there are people who enjoy it but it’s a big no-no for me.

oh yes, Maglites are “old school” and they still work well.

we have one in each of our cars that have been there since

the last millennium. same D batteries. no drain. no leak.

the lumens are weak, but they were from the beginning.

now, although we have graduated to better options,

we are “playing out this string” to see how long

our endurance experiment will finally end.

Just so rummaging in my light drawer and those Mags…

Anemic beam and littered with artifacts, overly weighed (brass D cell) without grip, and no UI. Right next I have some Rayovacs and Dorcys – night and day. Same era but so much better performance and much less expensive.

Can’t imagine I would use these Mags in any setting, even with some of Matt’s drop-ins.

Tomorrow I’ll be degrading the lot to the lost cause box.

I think they’re purty.