maglight flashlights . toss them or ?

[Tdbo]

They are pretty much personal protection devices anymore.
The D cell one I had died. I tossed it.
I still have a C cell one. I'll use it until it is a goner.
Both were gifts. The best thing about them was that they were easy to grab and find.
They cost a fortune in batteries for the light they put out.
I have cheap pen light sized ones that put out as much (or more) light than the ML's did.
I just keep those in all the drawers and use those.

 

[Boomer]

For many years when I travelled by car around the eastern US, I carried a wooden billy club I bought at an Army Navy store. Drilled a hole in the end, put a screw through the hole and the wood on both sides and filled the hole with molten lead. Screw kept the lead in place. With a wrist strap, made a great go to self protection device. A Maglite would be just as good.

 

[Pablo]

For many years when I travelled by car around the eastern US, I carried a wooden billy club I bought at an Army Navy store. Drilled a hole in the end, put a screw through the hole and the wood on both sides and filled the hole with molten lead. Screw kept the lead in place. With a wrist strap, made a great go to self protection device. A Maglite would be just as good.

Club was probably brighter.

 

[D60]

One of my eldetly clients carries one of the "assault" canes. Allegedly they can't deny it on planes because it's a "medical device".

I had a bunch of Maglites in the '90s but got rid of them. Too dim, too large and I refuse to buy letter batteries unless there are no other options. Milwaukee made an M12 maglite copy that was quite good. I have a couple but for reasons I never understood they seemingly discontinued it. I can just drop in one of my dozen M12 batteries

 

[Owen Lucas]

Keep em, good backup flashlights.

 

[johnD2]

Picked up a brand new blue, 2 D cell at goodwill for $7, put the led replacement bulb in it from home depot..It will be good for hurricanes. I bet it will run a very long time on 2 D cells, with that small led.

 

[Kira]

Can't believe nobody has used the "L" word yet....leak.
It's why I took Mag-Light up on their "exchange" offer.

 

[JohnnyG]

I don't think those were too good when times were good! Junk it.

 

[wayne55]

It got to where the bulbs would not last any length of time for me. Went to LED and would never go back.

 

[shurguywutt]

I got 2 I converted to LED. A 4 and a 6 Cell. Pretty bright for most of what I have to do and the 6 cell will burn for days on LED. You can focus the beam which is nice.

 

[BHopkins]

I have two of the 3, D cell LED Mag Lights. They both reside on the floor, under the head of my bed, where I can grab on real quick if needed.

I can't recall if they were originally element bulbs, and I converted them, of if I bought them as LED. But I like them. Admittedly, most of the time, I'm much more likely to grab one of my more compact rechargeable LED flashlights. But I still really like the feeling of the Mag Light in my hand, when checking on a bump in the night. It does give me a sense of security for those times when I don't think I need a more substantial form of defense, but am comforted in knowing that I have something.

 

[BrianF]

You can't bop someone on the head with a little led light. Maglite still has the market cornered.

 

[AZjeff]

We have 2 MADE IN USA D cell and a AA with LEDs that I have no plans to toss. They work fine and feel like quality. Got a few Chinesium lights around too.

 

[jhellwig]

There used to be a class of hobbyists who took specific interest in modding MLs.

The OE LED retrofits with the Luxeon Star emitters were actually pretty decent. Better than the Nite-Ize retrofits or other cheap aftermarket stuff. I still have a 5D version.

Their performance is no match for a modern Li-powered light, but when you need light, they still provide it, and D cells are readily available everywhere.

Contrary to the current flashlight marketing promising a bazillion lumens, most tasks don't actually require that much light, and the turbo modes on which those claims are made don't last more than a couple minutes before lights have to throttle down to prevent cooking themselves and you.

A typical small, inexpensive tube light powered by an 18650 and a linear driver really only sustains a 200-300 lumens for extended periods and gradually diminishes as voltage drops. Those with a regulated driver won't dim, but are still limited by thermodynamics, and don't have enough mass for heat capacity.

Tossing the MLs in the trash would be wasteful. Toss them in the trunk of your vehicles, where they can serve as emergency lights and also self-defense clubs. I wouldn't store the cells inside the light though, given the poor quality of modern alkaleaks.

Yep. I wish I had bought the switch someone was making to handle the power. Common mod was a 50 watt projector bulb with 12 or so aa high draw batteries. They would make a spotlight look like a maglight and the light was so warm and few shadows compared to the LEDs of the time.

 

[Wireman1987]

i am digging through and cleaning up . found 3 3 D cell aluminum flashlights form years ago. Don't know what to do with them . Could put D cells in them and use it as a club .

Any thing interesting that can be made with them? or just toss them

If you could get the led conversion kit with the reflector I’d keep them

 

[burbguy82]

Nice flashlights, the batteries last a long time, consider an led conversion. do not store batteries in the light....if possible

 

[74DartSport]

alkaleaks.

I like your terminology. Why is this a thing now? Kirkland batteries damaged several items in my house. Duracells seem to be ok for me currently.
I don’t remember batteries being like this years ago.

 

[grasscutter]

There will always be a soft place in my heart for MAGLITE. They are the originators of high quality flashlights.

When everybody else was making junk, MAGLITE was manufacturing "lighting instruments" in Ontario, California, USA.

 

[Pablo]

There will always be a soft place in my heart for MAGLITE. They are the originators of high quality flashlights.

When everybody else was making junk, MAGLITE was manufacturing "lighting instruments" in Ontario, California, USA.

How did they not evolve?

 

[4WD]

How did they not evolve?

for years - I did not understand why they did not go for approvals like MSA - FM - many industries spent millions on flashlights with a “tested o-ring”