There is certainly no shortage of good flashlights these days but the market has been moving toward "tacticool" palm-sized LED lights for a while. I have a few of those and they serve their purpose well. But I'm beginning to see the need for a bigger, heavier light with a good lumen output.

Back in the old days when Maglites were all the rage I remember the bigger models were quite popular (4 or 6 D-cell type). Personally, I would prefer not to go back to Xenon bulbs but I see Maglite has updated their range with a new 3 D-cell LED flashlight that might fit the bill. It's just the right size and if it's anywhere near as robust as the older models it should be fine.

Does anyone have any experience with those new "full-sized" LED Maglites? Or any other similar product in the same price range more or less?

How about the Thrunite TN35;

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A4D3..._1_2&sr=8-2

I'm using TerraLUX drop-ins in my 4-D and 5-D Maglites with great success for many years. Piercing the night better than my car's long beam.

Maglites are still a great brute light, especially with the LED option. Streamlight still has a number of good brute light models in production. I have a wicked laser Maglite type flashlight that has an incandescent in it that is as bright as an aircraft running light.

Cool, gives me some food for thought. And a good laugh, too - "brute light", heck, that sums it up really well!

Right now I'm leaning toward the new LED Maglite. I really like the ability to run on cheap and commonly available D-cells. The Thrunite looks interesting but it's a little too short for my liking.

What do you want to do with the flashlight? You mention wanting a "bigger, heavier light." Do you want to use it to bash someone? If so, maybe you can clarity on length and other data based on how you intend to hurt someone with it.

If you already have a 2-3 D Maglite, I recommend getting a TerraLux MiniStar5 140 Lumen LED. Drops in like a bulb replacement, much less fragile than an incandescent bulb and your batteries last much longer.

Nah, the ultimate Maglite solution is MiniStar31: http://www.shopterralux.com/terralux-tle-310m-ex-ministar31m-ex-led-conversion-kit/ 3 brightness modes. I love it (have an older model though).

I have a couple of the 2D LED Maglights that work well, and you can focus them...pic is a modification from the 2004 power outage, when I was habitually misplacing it... clips to key snap



I've become a fan of the SolarForce light modules and tubes... my current flame thrower is the M3 head on a 2x123 L2 body... a +1 extension is in the mail... I have a Malkoff conversion in my old Surefire 6P with my pistol, but XM L2 U2 SolarForce modules in the rest of the G2s and L2Ms and L2Ns

The Fenix TK60 is a 3-4 D cell flashlight;

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055OD0PI?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JF2u4VDmbk