Maglite Question

[Rodion]

I've never seen a genuine MagLED and the Nite Ize kit is crap.

My best LED is the Victorinox 2AA, and that's not saying much if I understand correctly.

Basically, I want to know if a good LED can throw a long and focused beam as a D cell Maglite can. On that note, do MagLEDs do that, or are they all flood as well?

[Mike]

MagLED's are focusable, but you will still have the ugly rings and doughnut hole effect if you do the more flood thing. My MagLED 3D throws plenty far, my Malkoff single LED unit throws farther and has a larger hotspot than my MagLED. I liked the Malkoff so much I outfitted my two Mags with them (3D and 4D).

Ok, I guess that doesn't really answer your question does it? Ok, My MagLED throws decently out to about 150 feet and that's an underestimation, my Malkoff unti throws decently 250 feet and that's also probably underestimating. Both with decent focused beams. Now, the MagLED will have a way longer runtime (20hr+) than the Malkoff (6-8hr+) unit. My property gets dark, no street lights or other external light sources. The LED's work great and I would not go back to the incandescent bulbs.

Malkoff:
http://www.malkoffdevices.com/shop2/index.php

Mike

[NutSAK]

Yes, you can get an LED light that will throw a focused beam.  A good example is the Lumapower D-Mini that I have for sale in the trade forums.  MagLEDs have a farily tight "hotspot" in the beam that throws fairly well also.  It would throw better than your Vic 2AA, but not as well as the D-Mini.

Keep in mind that, in general, the larger (deeper and wider) the reflector is, the better it is going to focus and "throw" that hotspot in the center of the beam.  This is why many small EDC lights don't throw well--because the reflector is limited in size.  Also, lights that use optics instead of a reflector (like many Surefires) will throw better than a light with a similar-sized reflector, but you will lose some of the "spill" beam with the optic.

[jzmtl]

All MagLED are still fitted with luxeon emitter, which is a whole generation out of date. I swapped one for a SSC P4, and right now it can do probably at least 120 lumens out front. At tightest beam it can throw probably 400 ft no problem, although the dedicated thrower light using 2 123a cells can do better (not in runtime however).

[american lockpicker]

I once had a 2D, 3D and, 4D maglites all with Maglite LED upgrades and there wasn't any difference in brightness also also they veried slightly in color. I ended up selling them and going back to incan bulbs.

[NutSAK]

I once had a 2D, 3D and, 4D maglites all with Maglite LED upgrades and there wasn't any difference in brightness also also they veried slightly in color. I ended up selling them and going back to incan bulbs.

The benefit to using MagLED upgrades in C and D cell MagLites is not more output.  The benefits are much greater durability and runtime.  Your LED 4D Mag would have had twice the runtime of your LED 2D at a similar brightness, and any of them will run MUCH longer on a set of batteries than with an incandescent bulb.  Due to manufacturing tolerances and the nature of phosphor coatings on LEDs, there will be variations in tint.

[Mike]

I once had a 2D, 3D and, 4D maglites all with Maglite LED upgrades and there wasn't any difference in brightness also also they veried slightly in color. I ended up selling them and going back to incan bulbs.

The benefit to using MagLED upgrades in C and D cell MagLites is not more output.  The benefits are much greater durability and runtime.  Your LED 4D Mag would have had twice the runtime of your LED 2D at a similar brightness, and any of them will run MUCH longer on a set of batteries than with an incandescent bulb.  Due to manufacturing tolerances and the nature of phosphor coatings on LEDs, there will be variations in tint.

Exactly! For me, it's runtime, cost to operate and durability. I got tired of playing the rechargeable game, so now I like using easy to get alkaline batteries which I get on sale. The MagLed upgrade gets very good runtimes from alkalines thus making alkalines cost effective, and they are much more durable than the incandescent bulbs.

Besides, Maglites are pretty darn tough all by themselves.

Mike

[jzmtl]

here's a pic borrowed from flashlightreviews.com, blue is the incan bulb while the other three are LED. Mind you this is with the stock LED, upgrade to SSC P4 and you'll have DOUBLE the output with virtually no reduction in runtime.

[NutSAK]

Thanks for the graph!  The incandescent runtime is rather ludicrous compared to the LEDs!

That tough Maglite exterior doesn't do you much good when you drop the flashlight and your incandescent bulb stops working.  That's especially a bad situation if you've forgot to reload your tailcap with a spare bulb.

[Rodion]

Thanks for your input, everyone.

As I suspected, the main advantages of LEDs are logistic ones.