trip to home depot... defiant 3xC cell xml and minimag pro

LED Flashlights – General Info
1

just got back from my local home depot (batavia, ny) and bought 2 lights.

defiant 3c cell beater stick light with a xml. 19$

crap cell phone pic.

light has a plastic lens, GITD o ring, plastic smo reflector, 20mm mcpcb star with an xml attached to a fairly large aluminum pill screwed into its own heat sink section. on the other end of the star is the driver which i havent removed nor have a measured it. either 17mm or 20 and pressed into the aluminum possibly with some adhesive.

then there is a switch section. run of the mill switch that normally is in the tail caps of other lights only its rigged in there with some plastic spacer slide together blocks. easy to take apart.

then there is a battery tube and tail tube.

its a cool white but not as blue as some ive seen and i prefer it to the maglite pro that i got today too.

puts out a decent punch and throw and i couldnt detect PWM at all.

not a bad light.

the maglite mini pro isnt too bad either. 22$ they dont have the pro plus or whatever the one is with more features but this one makes decent light and the beam wasnt as full of artifacts as some maglites ive had.

all in all decent lights for retail that is.

i may just leave them both alone and use them for what they are. i will probably have a peak at the defiants driver. it may be DD, i dunno.

ill try to get to taking it apart tomorrow and seeing whats up with some pics.

Brian

2

I got one to and for 20 bucks I agree puts out a good amount of light and it even as a glow in the dark oring under the lens :slight_smile:

3

How is the build quality on that defiant,It sounds like a solid deal for $19.My home cheapo never has any cool lights,mostly old junk that's been on the shelf forever.

4

seems about the same as the maglites to me

5

I agree, very good build quality for a $20 “throwaway” (which is what I am sure HD considers all of these kinds of products they only carry this time of year, it is not my definition for this light) light. Comparing it to my other LED lights, the hotspot falls in between a P60 and my Uniquefire version of the Keygos M10. I think this may be an oversized C8 (anyone with a real C8 compare?), I don’t have a C8 type light because the Uniquefire was so close in size that I thought it would be redundant, but the UF has a deeper reflector than the C8’s appear to and this Defiant has.

Since HD has a lifetime warranty on the Defiant, I had some concerns that it was going to be underdriven and not as bright, but with the included C cells, it puts out the same amount of light as either my MF, 3 mode, XML P60 drop-ins and the UF, which has 3 Modes and XML, on their high settings.

6

I picked up this light too and am really impressed for output on alkalines! I've got some more photos to add tomorrow Including beamshots.

-Garry

7

I picked one up too. The heat sinking seems to be okay. Grip is kinda slippery.

8

I really like this light. It puts out about the same amount of light as the coast everyone is paying $50 for at Costco.

It’s not anodized to me. It’s painted. I picked one up on bf and I picked another one up today.

For $20 bucks its a pretty solid deal.

9

HP550 running on Eneloops I take it? 8)

10

looks good!!!!

11

The head of this defiant sure looks ALOT like the Ultrafire UF-5C:

I wonder if it’s basically the same light.

12

As promised, here are some photos of this Defiant 3C XM-L.

Next to a 2D Maglite:

Next to a KD C8:

Same KD C8 (similar reflector size):

I did not remove the reflector (held in place by a retaining ring), however here are close approximations of reflector size:

Head and heatsink/light engine disassembled:

Emitter seems to be glued down well. Pill seems pretty good. Centering ring used.

Press-fit driver and backside reflector with retaining ring:

Switch contact point (got to be some resistance there). Seems to be a normal reverse clicky under the button:

Beamshots taken with cheap Nikon point & shoot camera on "Night Landscape" mode with flash off.

19.5' to garage door. This one seems a little darker than it really looked:

In this shot shed is about 150 to 200 feet away. Photos seems a bit brighter than it really was. (Same location I take many other beamshots.):

Backed up a little more, but same as above:

For comparison, here's a shot of my KD C8 LOP reflector (3A on high) from March 2012:

Mouseover with first Defiant shot and KD C8 (sorry I'm not in the same photo location). Mouse out = Defiant, mouse over = KD C8:

Don't put too much stock into the tint nor brightness comparison to the KD C8 (I know, why then did I do the mouse over?? - Well compare the beams flood & throw.) This Defiant really floods and throws too. I didn't expect so much throw from it due to the reflector size.

Tailcap current measured on the included alkaline Defiant C cells (which measured 1.518v, only used about 5 to 8 minutes in light before measurements): 2.48A slowly drifting down to 1.90A before holding fairly steady. The 2.48A dropped pretty quickly to about 2.0A, and then slowly to 1.90A. Perhaps I should try current on NiMh's. (I need to get back my AA->C adapters I loaned out.)

Conclusion, it's a very nice light for the average consumer at a very good price and beats the crap out of a Maglite LED!

-Garry

13

And it’s what I’d expect from an XML out of a stubby C8-style reflector. Lots of flood and spill. Nothing wrong with that if that’s what you’re looking for. 8) The 2D Mag Leds recently on BF are afterall really just throwers but they’re certainly not ‘crap’ in performance when that factor is considered - to wit the Defiant would be smoked in that categorization.

This could be used with C-cell adapters running AA eneloops which is a nice option to have though. And it’s got plenty of swing at the perp potential that’s for sure.

14

Great info, Garry! Thanks for sharing. That CW emitter in the Defiant is REALLY cold! Puts snow on the ground where the WW emitter on your C8 melts it immediately.

:p :bigsmile:

15

Ok I guess "beating the crap out of a Mag LED" is dependant on what you're looking for out of a light. To me the Mag LED is almost useless sonics it throws a pencil beam. Way too much money for sucks little light output. And I don't know that the little XP-E is driven hard enough to throw that much better. With this Defiant I was lighting up the backside of a house at 700'. Guess I could get out my Mag 2D LED to compare same location. I could also pull up my Mags beamshot (same location). Give me a minute or so.

Anyway, this Defiant is far better for "general use" for the average consumer. Oh, and by the way there were tons of LED Mags at my Lowes still sitting at 50% off by Sunday.

-Garry

16

“Man, that 4’ 2” guy sure turned out to be a crappy player for the Knicks…….“ :smiley:

Ps. Also bear in mind that the Mag 2D Led is 3V @134 lumens vs a 4.5V with an XML.

Now if ya wanted to boost the Mag you could prolly get more apples rather than oranges. H)

17

Mag 2D LED beamshot (12/1/2011);

Mouseover with Defiant mouse out, Mag mouse over:

Hard to compare with the lights not aimed at the same location. I could do comparison beamshots except that I don't have fresh D cells to drop in the Maglite and the cells in it have been heavily used by now.

-Garry

18

beyond the shed on the right into the trees. Bear in mind that the Mag is 3V vs 4.5V too. H)

19

I wish we had decent off the shelf lights, you colonial’s get all the fun :frowning:

20

Oh, forgot to mention. Don't you love the lanyard provided for this 3C light! Who needs a lanyard on a light this big! They would have done better to include a holster of some sort (belt ring or something).

-Garry