What's the best, most reliable, honest, most reviews, etc website for flashlight reviews? I am tired of having to change the bulb in my mini-maglight very frequently & want to buy something similar, but LED. The maglight's brightness is the minimum. Battery life is not a concern, but the 2 AA is about right for the space in my pocket. I trust you folks to be honest & I have never been steered wrong.

Two best sites are:
Flashlight Reviews

Candlepower Forums
Candle Power Forums has been going down from time to time this week - server problems.

The cheapest and quickest way to turn a Minimag into an LED flashlight is to pop in the 3-Led head which is sold by Nite-ize. It runs between 6 to 10 dollars, depending on where you buy. It is not the most powerful mod, but it will give you a nice beam, LOOOOOONG battery life, and durability. I rate the beam quality as a little bit better than a stock Minimag. The more powerful modifications come at the expense of cost and battery life.

I sent out Survival/Emergency Kits to people as gifts for the holidays and added Nite Ize LED kits with the Mini Maglite 2AAs I included in them.

The kit with just a replacement head unit costs around $5.00 and the kit with the replacement head and tail switch costs about $7.00.

It might be worth taking a look at.

And once again... I am slow on the draw. LOL

I would suggest CandlePower Forum. Although, it may be down right now, as I cannot seem to get on.

CPF
Whoops - Randyo already to the rescue <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Pete

Just FYI, Mag is coming out with LED heads which will have the full style and function of their incandescent bulbs (adjustable beam, supposedly good throw, etc) so you'll want to keep an eye out for those as well.

Although it's only 1AA long instead of the 2 you seek, I really like the CMG Infinity Ultra (you can still pick up the pre-Gerber buyout style in places). Gerber added an end-cap, but either way, it's a great light. With an alkaline it's got 100Hr. runtime and I use Li AA which runs better in the cold and last a lot longer. Small, compact, rugged and bright. And about $20 or so. It's hard to go wrong for that price.

Keep in mind what you want your flashlight to do.

It seems many of those selecting flashlights want maximum "throw" - the ability to shine light on a distant object, but that characteristic does have a drawback.

I have two lights that I like and are well respected at http://www.flashlightreviews.com. I'm not pushing these specific models - there are many out there that are as nice or nicer. I'm just making a point of buying a light that matches your usage:

Streamlight ProPolyer Luxeon 4AA
This is a nice light that throws a small very bright spot of light an amazing distance (for a plastic cased LED light), BUT when I try to use this flashlight to light my way while walking at night (down paths, avoiding dog droppings in back yard, etc...) the bright beam is simply too narrow to help. Think of a spot light. From what I read many of the metal cased LED lights are even brighter!

Underwater Kinetics 4AA eLED
This light throws a softer more uniform 'flood' pattern of light. It does an exceptional job of lighting a broader area in front of my walking path. Think of a tight flood light.

If I'm trying to see something off in the distance I certainly want a long-throw light like the Streamlight (and many other metal LED lights that cost more), BUT if I'm trying to light up a closer area, such as while walking or doing up-close tasks (which is 90% of my flashlight use), I will grab the UK 4AA eLED with its softer flood lighting every time (or use a headlamp - Princeton Tech EOS for me).

Ken K.

I have modified a number of my AA Minimags, including the Nite-Ize kit and a MiniStar (I am a neophite at best). The best/easiest/cheapest mod for me, however, is this one:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=100958

Total cost was less than $20.00 after getting the Minimag on sale at Home Depot.

The favorite AA light at CPF right now is the Fenix L1P (runs on one AA and clobbers a Minimag in output, runs about 1.5 hours on an alkaline cell getting dimmer as the cell runs down). There's also a bigger L2P version (two AA's, just slightly brighter than L1P but runs longer without a battery change, and is regulated so it doesn't dim at all until the battery is completely used up). jsburlys.com and others sell these, in the $45 range. Both run well on NiMH rechargeables giving you near-zero operating expense if you use the light a lot. The L2P runs for 5+ hours on lithium AA's with no dimming. NiMH also stays very steady in brightness, in both the L1P and L2P.

Keep in mind also that when an incandescent light dims, its beam also becomes yellow, then orange, then useless. An LED stays the same color and you barely notice the dimming.

The old CMG Ultra/Ultra-G is discontinued, scarce, and hunted to extinction. I don't know of any dealers who still have them. If any are still around and word got out on CPF, they would be snapped up in an instant. People are paying ridiculous prices for them ($45 for Ultra-G's that were $14.50 brand new last year). The new Gerber version is uglier and a little bit less scratch resistant but is basically the same light, and is $15.00 at Countycomm right now. Battery runtime for either version is in the 12 hour range on one AA, plenty for most purposes. The 100 hour figure is marketing fantasy.

Thanks for the info so far. There seems to be a staggering number of lights to choose from. Back in the old days, it was Rayovac or Eveready, & that was about it. The cost is not a critical issue, but I can't buy many lights & try them all myself. I appreciate the comments. I always worry that what seems to be an objective evaluation of a product is really baloney from the mfgr. These days it seems that people will do anything to get your $. <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> I work in a building that was built in 1905. It has 3 floors above ground & 2 below. There are some pretty scary places down there. I wouldn't want my flashlight to poop out while I was down there & the power went out!.

Riedmur,
It sounds like the light you're after is the Fenix L2P.

Lighthound.com sell them.

Ah ha! No wonder I've had so many problems accessing that website.

-- Craig

I'm curious, did you make these kits yourself or did you buy them?

In any case, would you mind describing the kits' contents? I'm reorganizing my kit AGAIN.

-- Craig

I put the Survival Kits together myself.

When I started the project I was only going to send everyone a few Survival Kit starter items, but I let it get out of hand, and by the time I was finished I had put together something near a complete kit.

Had I known where this would eventually lead, I would have bought everyone Ritter PSKs, saved myself probably $800.00 and would have helped ETS at the same time.

Follow this link to a post I made about the kits.

I'm actually going to update the thread shortly to include a list of suppliment items that arrived late and therefore were not sent out with the initial gift packages, and a few things I picked up at End of the Year Closeout Sales.

How can we get on your Christmas gift list for next year? <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

The Nite-Ize kit is available at Wal-Mart for about $5. You remove the old bulb & reflector, then drop in the new three-LED assembly. Had mine changed over in all of two minutes (I think it took longer to get into the packaging).

Here's a link to the Nite Ize Mini-Mag LED: Nite Ize Mini-Mag LED

That LED setup on Candlepower Forums sure looks pretty bright!

I gave out kits too but I went the Elcheapo route. I started with the NRA kits that were on sale for $12.95, and added a mini-Bic and a Suunto clip on compass. Not a bad beginning, and next year everybody is getting either Photons or blades. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Regards, Vince

Thanks, dude. I started laughing right at your headline. All that AND a sense of humor, too.

-- Craig

LOL. No probs.


I'm done with putting these together, forever! LOL

I updated the final list a few moments ago and added some hilights regarding the experiance over on the original thread so as not to hijack this one. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Thanks man. I'll have you know I copied that whole thread into Word and emailed it to myself so I may read it later.

I bow in respect. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> You are too cool for school. <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

-- Craig

If you just want to have a flashlight on you in case of power failure, get a cheap coin cell light and put it on your keys. They're not ultra bright, but they are plenty to light your way out of a building, and will run for a very long time. I just tested one and even after 24 hours nonstop it was still bright enough to get around indoors when dark adapted, and it's fairly reasonable up til about 8 hours. Or if you want to support ETS, get Doug's version of the Photon Freedom, which has dimming and signalling modes, and will run a ridiculous amount of time at the dimmest setting.