Thanks for mentioning it. I really wanted to know what other peoples experience has been like. I guess I've been blessed.

Yes, the niteize works in candlemode, I'd say it works just as well as the bulb. Although I've never thought the candlemode was all that useful in stock form, so that doesn't really say much. It's a neat idea, but one that really isn't all that great in actual use. I think a mini-mag just isn't doesn't put out enough light to use it as an area floodlight, it's a lot more useful to just leave the head on an reflect it off a wall or ceiling, or shine it into a water bottle (the old camping lantern trick)

Breathingmeat brings up a good point about the durability aspect. Personally, I've never had a problem with the fragility of incandescents. Yeah, they did have a tendency to go out when you really needed it, but all maglights come with a stock bulb in the tailcap, so it wasn't an ablsolutely critical issue. If the light isn't actually in use and turned on, an incandescent bulb can withstand a lot of abuse. A normal incandescent flashlight, no matter how fancy, is just batteries and a wire, about as simple as it can get.

LED's really are a lot more durable in terms of shock, HOWEVER, I've had many more issues with my LED lights than I ever did with bulbs failing. Most of my LED lights use some sort of circuit to boost/regulate the battery power, so with the additional features, comes additional points of failure. Contact problems, circuit issues, loose components, short circuits, overheating, etc, are all new problems that I've had to deal with since LED's have become popular. The biggest problem with this is; most of the times they aren't easily fixed. With a standard mini-mag, you can change the bulb or disassemble it and clean it out with no tools in less than a minute. With most LED's, you're out of luck it something were to happen, because it's not something that can be repaired in the field.

Overall, I still prefer the LED's for their ruggedness, but in terms of overall durability, the difference between the two isn't a big as people might think. Although LED lights have eliminated the biggest failure mode from the flashlight (which is the bulb), in reality the point of failure has just moved to a different (and most of the times, more inaccessible) location
Also, it really is just and excuse for me to go out and buy more lights <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I never had much problem with the larger Maglights, but the 2 AA bulbs were CONSTANTLY breaking on me. I haven't had that problem with any of my LED's or my converted 2AA Mags.

Yes, I have my Nite ize - converted minimag here and it will work in candle mode just as ducktapeguy describes. I was at Wally World today and (very purposefully) stopped to look at the AA LED Mini Maglites: I wasn't really impressed. There was no lanyard hole on the tailcap! I for one demand a lanyard hole on a flashlight, its a quirk of mine. They were longer as described, the ones holding 3 AA batteries were too big and out of the question. The focusing of the beam feature was handy.

But the price is too steep for me. I could see going from $8.88 incandescent to maybe as much as 10 bucks more. But costing over 23 bucks? Nope, too steep. They are going to make money off of the brand name for now and the fact that they are LEDs. Hope that don't last forever.

Mine does, but isn't very impressive as a "candle".

I picked one up yesterday and have been playing with it a bit. Rather than posting my thoughts, this review pretty much sums it up better than I could.

Mini Mag LED

I almost didn't buy one after reading the review, but I knew I wouldn't be satisfied until I actually tried it out for myself. It's a nice light, but there's nothing new or exciting about it compared to all the other lights on the market. I know the $25 price tag is a little steep for most people. It is quite a bit more expensive than their normal incandescent, but Maglite flashlights have always been competitively priced, the LED one is the same. When you compare the Mini mag LED to anything else in it's class, it's actually a really good price. Currently, I can't think of any other similar featured flashlight that is less than $35, in fact, a lot of them go for more than $50. I'm sure the price will drop as the technology gets cheaper. For now, I think it's a very nice light, I'll probably keep it instead of returning it.

The problem is dropping them while they are ON... The filament is MUCH more delicate when it is glowing white hot.

So, you're saying that the lanyard hole in the endcap is there for a reason? <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Seriously, this would explain my good fortune. Can't remember ever dropping one that was on at the time.

Hello Ducktapeguy!
How do you compare the new 2-AA MiniMaglite LED with the old one with a nite-ize conversion?. Is it much better? How is is when focusing to a spot insted of flood?. Does it throw as much as the incandescent one?

Maglite came late to the table with their LEDs. They have a great reputation, but are 3-5 years behind the market. Will they lower their prices after the new year to help sales, or slowly fade away...?


TRO