If you are attached to the Maglites, you have a couple options.
If you are a modded— or care to hire one here— the possibilities are endless.
I am not a modded— so I bought what I think is the best “Lumens-per-buck”
upgrade, which is the $13.00. Its very floods, and maybe 300+ Real lumens…
6.3W LED Upgrade for MagLite-Eco
Item# newitem2397219569
From the fusionlite.com. They started with the Fusion36 drop in.
—- If you are not sentimental about keeping the MagLites— dig in.
Many beautiful lights here with great output at great prices :).
I’m not sentimental at all, but was curious about refitting/repurposing the Maglites for something. You’ve offered a terrific suggestion. If I’m bailing out of the Maglites, do you have thoughts about 2 or 3 worthy successors?
I have the L6, which probably most of us here do, its sort of on the line off a maglite but about a 100x brighter. Runs on 2 26650 li-ions.
Nice all purpose around the house light. There’s also a coupon code that’s still active for it here.
Most of us probably have one or two of the UTORCH UT01 or a convoy S2. The UT01 uses 14500 li-ion and the S2 a 18650. Makes a good go anywhere light. If you want something small to WOW your friends with then there is the Emisar D4.
I warned you about the wallet.
You did indeed, but these lights that “most of us have” are just the things I’m looking for. Thanks for the (continued) suggestions. As an aside, I know which knives or guns a lot of people made popular, but just haven’t had lights on my radar. Playing catch up, but this is the right place to get the info. I can tell.
This might interest you then.How To Build a Flashlight With Perfect Modes (picture heavy)
That’s where it all started for us BLFer’s, We finally could customize a flashlight to our own liking.
We have advanced pretty far since then but I’m sure you’ll get caught up on all the new firmwares around here pretty quick.
There’s lots of guides on this site to get you started if your interested.
Now THAT is some really interesting history. Coming from incan Maglites with no modes to what these new lights can do - well, it is quite the rabbit hole I’ve fallen into willing decided to dive into. Thanks for providing that!
Welcome liteyear! I hope you find it interesting. There is so much to learn here. I see good suggestions above. I have a few Convoys and Lumintops that are amongst my favorites; hard to go wrong with those brands. I just got a Miboxer charger that charges Lithium and NiMh batteries so easily and automatically, there really isn’t a need to be stuck with just LiIon or just NiMh. I have had the C2-3000 for about a week now, and it’s the best charger I’ve had so far, and they are inexpensive too. Please read up on lithium battery safety if you go that route. If your light won’t have low voltage protection, protected cells will prevent overdischarge, which is very important. If you choose NiMh, get good quality low self discharge (LSD) cells made in Japan, not China, like Eneloops or Amazon Basics. I’m curious to see what kind of interests BLF will spark in an electrical engineer. No need to throw away the old Mags either. There are lots of fun things to do with them, from cheap little bulb shaped led “bulb” to custom builds with thousands of lumens. I’ll always have a bunch of old Mags around, and for some reason or another, I’m sure I’ll have a few more before it’s all said and done. Nice to have you here; have fun!
First thing I ask back when asked “What kind of flashlight should I get?”, is, “Whaddya wanna do with it?”.
You want to go owl-spotting, and need lots of throw? Or you want an area light to light up the path in front of you, and need flood instead? Want a “compromise” light that does neither too well?
No one light fulfills all needs, so yeah, prepare to jump in and start collecting…
Thanks, bigm. With every reply I’m getting more advice about the direction I’ll go. I’m really trying to get some lights for the cars and to scatter around the house in our emergency locations. Then, I’ll dig in for the lights I like to “play with - the ones next to my chair.” :sunglasses: I appreciate the help and everyone’s willingness to offer tips about what kinds of things I need to be paying attention to.
The first lights I buy will ride in the cars, get infrequent use and be for those moments when someone is stranded in the car. Similar lights will get put around the house for those rare instances when we have a power outage or something goes bump in the night. They’ll also get infrequent use, but will need to work when the time comes.
Finally, are the hobbyist purchases I might make to toy with. I refer to them as the lights that will sit next to my chair. Like headphones, pocket knives and pens, they’ll be there because I like them - not because I’m going on maneuvers! Too old for spec-ops. :nerd_face:
A good starting point would be the most common battery formats and popular models. On the 18650 format the S2+ from Convoy is a great all-arounder and very good value, plus if you get into modding, it’s a good platform for starting.
A charger that can fit 26650s and charges NiMH cells will future-proof you for any battery formats you get into. I have the Nitecore SC4, but it’s not very cheap. People here seem to like the Liitokala Lii-500, which won’t set you back too much for a start
When the time comes to buy an L6 or S2+ or C8, which are the preferred sellers and how do I insure that I’m ordering whatever the latest & greatest is?
Good advice about battery formats & thanks for the help.
Gearbest, Banggood, MTN electronics and I'm sure others carry them as well, purchase to your liking. I'd suggest either buy from Simon directly or MTN-electronics since they have stock in the US and shipping will be a lot faster. Be sure to get one with the biscotti driver for the S2+ or C8 (not sure about the L6 or other models). If it is not specified as so in the item description, ask him to make it so in your order notes (you can ask for a different tailcap color, LED and driver if you want)
Welcome, glad to see another engineer here (this site seems to attract us)
For the cars, I’ve gone the AA route just because you can get batteries anywhere and they’re small enough to fit anywhere. With LEDs I’ve found that just an AA light will do 95% of what I need it for in a car, looking for stuff close to you in the dark for 20-30 minutes at a time. Big upgrade from the mini Maglites I used to love 25 years ago. Some of the newer AA lights are the Sofirn SP10B, Lumintop EDC05, Utorch UT01, Thorfire TG06, Manker T01. I also have a rechargeable eneloop in the light and an Olight UC usb charger in the car. That way I don’t have to worry about batteries leaking, overheating, self discharging, or ruining a really nice light as they’re relatively cheap.
For lights just around the house, anything from a S2 style tube light to a C8 would work great, just remember with a larger head the hotspot becomes smaller/tighter so viewing things close to you might be too bright or not shed enough light to your surroundings. I’m a sucker for lights in the 30-40mm head range, lots to choose from I don’t know where to begin, but can be as cheap as $10 or $60+. I usually use 18650 lights here as they fit in a pocket or drawer easily.
For fun toys, a big light like the L6 or Thorfire S70 are great, something about lighting up a whole field that makes you smile. Or if you want a searchlight for lighting far away objects, the Convoy L2, Olight M2X, Nitecore P30, Haikelite has a few. If you find one that you like, it’s worth looking around a bit for the best price, sometimes there will be a coupon code for it or you can request one from the several members that communicate with the Chinese stores often.
Welcome to the fun
This is great info. I was about to place an order just to “learn some stuff.” Instead, you’ve given me some notions about how the lights may actually get applied. That’s really useful. Thanks for your help!
in an electrical engineer. 