mini mag LED light isn't good at all. It doesn't measure up to other 3Watt LED lights on the market. it is just poor imitation of the real thing. there are much better 3 watt LED lights on the market.

When you measuring one product against another, there are many factors to consider other then just which light looks brighter, stronger with your eyes, the pretty case etc...

Consider this, you go out and buy the super duper x technology flashlight. First time you use it near small-town nowhere and the bulb(s) blow, get broken, lost etc. Go into the local hardware/gas station and ask for a replacement bulb....good luck. However, chances are the small-town hardware/gas station has mini-mags in stock and probably spare bulbs...along with parts for my Chev pickup but no parts for the import pickup parked outside and now waiting for parts to be shipped in at a very high cost.

Why do state this? This happened to me and my super duper x technology flashlight once upon a time in Carcross Yukon which is about in the middle of nowhere as it gets....

I learned my lesson and standardized on the AA mini mags (and now LED) lights since.

Although he stopped updating the site a year ago, I really like flashlightreviews.com He has a review of the Maglite LEDs. The nice thing is he uses the same tests for all his lights so you can compare things like beam pattern, color, has graphs for battery runtime, etc. Just use the menubar at the top.

To be specific on the Maglites.

I think the larger Maglites are much more reliable than the minimag. I have had over a dozen or so of the incandescent ones over the years and they weren't all that bright to me and every time I dropped one, at least one bulb would break. Sometimes the spare in the tail cap would break too.

Several years ago, I bought an LED minimag. It was much brighter than the incandescent ones and with better run time too. But then the it would start flaking out on me too, like someone mentioned. So I upgraded my oldest, most beat up mini maglite with a terralux 100 lumen drop in. It was blazing bright and with good run time. I have three minimags with LED drop-ins and while they are bright, I don't think they have been very reliable long-term to me.

I think a Fenix light would be more reliable and versatile. When I compared a series of different lights that I have, I was surprised to find that my itty bitty 1 AAA Fenix L0D Q4 at 75 lumens on high was brighter than my 2 AA minimag with the 100 lumen drop in. And my 2 AA Fenix blows away my 2 AA minimag for throw, brightness and run time potential.

But when push comes to shove, I usually grab my Surefire G2. Now one of them is equipped with a BugOutGear Q5 LED. Super bright and very decent run time.

Thanks a lot for your comments - all are highly appreciated.

A couple of years ago I stuck one of those aftermarked LED kits into a regular Mini-mag, and was less than thrilled with it. About six months ago I popped for a Mini-mag 3W 2AA light, and I am pretty happy with it. It is nowhere as bright as the CR123 powered lights I have, but it is bright enough to allow me to see well 50 ft or so at night, and it only cost $20, so it is in the pouch I carry every "working" day, along with my Leatherman...