I saw these on sale at the local OSH store, picked up 2. Seems like a pretty nice light for a whopping 22 bucks including batteries and a belt case. One to keep and one to give away in a few days.

I'm sure most of the folks here have owned or used a Maglite, I still like them. They're not the fanciest, or the lightest or even the brightest but I've only had one ever actually fail on me and if I had shipped it back to the manufacturer they probably could have fixed the problem easily, I didn't and finally tossed it.

I'm glad to see that they've "come around" to the whole LED bulb thing.

I've got one of their C cell lights in my car with an aftermarket LED conversion, not the brightest light in my collection but it works fine for what I need it to do and the extra long battery life is nice.

Cody Lundin makes a good case for continuing to use the Mini-mag in his latest book. He also makes a strong case against modifying them with an LED bulb and and the end switch, ala, Nite Izes.

I also use a Pelican M6 I think it is, very bright, uses 2 CR123 batteries. Battery cost is a small issue as is battery life but I use it for work so it's a writeoff. I also use a fair number of penlights at work, buy em by the 6 pack. I've tried using a better penlight but most are too bright for medical/EMS use.

JohnE

You're right, the 2AA 3W is not a bad light at all and that price is about the same as an old style mini-mag with a custom dropin. I thought I read mag was coming out with a "new" LED pretty soon, anyone heard anything about it?

I have one of those MM lights, and really like it. Not as bright as other lights I have, but bright enough for most of the things I use it for. Got mine for $19 and change.

I have to agree about that Nite Izes mod. Not bright enough, and the push button tailcap kept getting pushed into the on position in the pouch I carried it in, draining the batteries badly...

I bought the Maglite LED and I bought the Nite-ize LED drop in for an old Maglite. The Nite-ize drop-in is brighter and at $10 is a cheaper option if you have a old Maglite body laying around.

Either way though you get a good light that is universal.

The 2AA MagLED I've owned has been great. I bought a set of them at Wal-Mart about 2 years ago and kept the one with better tint. I even upgraded the stock thin plastic lens to a thicker glass one.

It's a simple bomb-proof design - with all the multi-stage clickclickclick lights out there, it's nice to have a single stage LED that is well-suited to many tasks. It's a good combination of brightness, runtime, and cost-efficiency.

I also think the LED mod is worth the money. I had an old mini Maglite lying around that I've barely used in the past 5 years or so. Now with the LED upgrade I have a much better light that lasts longer. Not in the same league as a good Inova or Fenix but definitely good enough for a backup light.

I shy away from Mini Maglites, myself. I have had several of them fail all in the same way. The switch, i.e. the momentary push button that is the bulb base which is activated by unscrewing the bezel, has decided to stick or generally become unreliable in every single Mini Maglite I have had.

Maybe I just let them get dirty. I don’t know, but I have had a couple of them fail in the described way while relatively new and never having the bezel completely removed (for “candle mode” or bulb replacement). Full-size Maglites are quite nice, in my opinion, especially with a Malkoff drop-in LED upgrade.

In 2008, Mini-Maglites, in fact all Maglites are over-rated. In my situation i just want it to work. I'm not gonna run over it with a car, or beat anyone with it.
The biggest enemy of maglites is the environment. THEY WILL CORRODE...We had several mini-maglites upgraded with the led kit, focus was horrible, don't even think about taking them out in the snow or wet.
Took them, applied silicone to the ends, and focused them and let them dry. Cool....a fair LED lite....just that ...fair.
I've had better luck with a 7 buck Garrity 9 LEd flashlite. (Part # 2718 if you're interested)
That's why we use PT headlamps. They're bulletproof...

I think that is a fair opinion DannyL. However I don't believe Maglites are made to be used in wet environments where they would corrode, its possible the items your describing were not being stored properly. (of course in Alaska the humidity is high). But I used Maglites in the south Pacific in the 90's and growing up in the PNW and don't recall tremendous corrosion with proper care and good batteries changed often.

I expect my $100 Surefire would perform the same as my $10 Maglite in a corrosive environment. Maybe the Surefire has more O-rings and weather resistance but I couldn't tell you. Same as my Inovas. When I am in wet situations I will use my water proof Pelican lights.

Headlamps. I prefer headlamps. I have used my Black Diamonds, Tikka (etal.) and e+lite all in downpour conditions and worked perfectly multiple times. So I am with you on that point as well.

I disagree with your assessment and have used Maglites for years in all kind of foul and fair weather conditions including the Arctic, Yukon and PNW rainforests. Aside from a blown bulb and the occasional dead batteries (not a fault of flashlight) they are very dependable for the price. A new 2 AA LED goes for $22.00 here...

I have always been curious as to how maglites fare after cold weather abuse so I did a test today to see how the maglites would still work after an hour being submerged in a bucket of snow and ice water.

Two lights, one is an older AA with incandescent bulb, the second is a LED conversion kit. Up until the photo was taken, it has been in my BOB in the trunk of the car in sub zero temps for a month.


Left the flashlight on and submerging them. The outside ambient temp is -6.


A bit more snow and water slushed over top and let sit.


One hour later, out they come.


Though it is hard to tell in the photo, the lights are much dimmer then they were initially, however that is to be expected.


Post submerging inspection shows no water got into the body casing of the flashlights


I have re-assembled the flashlights and they are now once again sitting outside in the same bucket for two weeks as I am curious how they will hold up.

Although YMMV, I am sticking to the maglites for now, they work for me....I will report back in a couple of weeks on the results of the long submerging.