The new LED's Mini Maglites 2-AA and 3-AA are already for sale at Wal Mart. About $24 for the 2-AA and about $26 for the 3-AA LED flashlights. The 2-AA looks about 3/4" longer than the incandescent 2-AA. Has anybody try them yet? and if so what is your opinion? Thanks in advance.

I'm just converting my old $10 maglights with the $5 conversion kit....from walmart

Nite Ize for $4.92, right teacher? I converted one and it works great for me. I posted about it once before. Makes it a flood light, not a spot light though, which is ok for me. I am curious as to whether the AA Minimag LEDs are worth the money or not.

I looked at the AA one's briefly, but didnt' purchase one because I have too many other lights that are nearly identical to it. I have a feeling I'll be picking one up today though. The MagLED are different than the Mini-mag + nite ize combo though, they use a 3 watt LED rather than 3 5mm LEDs. So you get a much brighter light, at the expense of runtime.

Thanks for the tip ducktapeguy, I'll have to go have a look at them myself.

Plus it looked like the Mag LED ones still had the zoom/spot capabilities by twisting the head. That alone might be worth it.

Simon:
If you buy one please let us know about them. I have too many flashligts and I don't want to buy another one if it is not real worthy. Thanks in advance.

**WHAT!?!** Not sure I read that correctly. Please explain carefully and in small words. This statement does not compute. Divide by zero buffer overflow.....

i am very very unhappy with the nite-ize led conversion kits. poor light quality, mechanically unsound, nowhere near as good as the Pelican and Princeton Tec lights.

FWIW, here's a link to the FlashlightReviews list of Maglite replacement LED modules (sortable by column). Nite Ize is kinda' "down there" on the list, but the price is right.

I still like having the option of unscrewing the bezel and standing the light up using the bezel as a base for a nite-lite. Wonder what sort of light one gets out the side when trying this with a LED module. I may keep a Mag incandescent in the bag for that feature alone.

I converted my Mini-mag AA when the kit first came out (that was BEFORE they included the new push button tailcap and I love it. It throws a great deal of light but does not focus to a spot (the only drawback). For any mini-mag fans out there I would highly recommend converting. And for the die hard night lite fan - just don't replace your tail cap and use it just like you always have.

bassnbear

Sounds like a flashlightholic in our mist, or at least a cpf member.. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

$24 for a mini mag AA LED seems a bit steep.. I would have tried it for $12, maybe $15.. I find that the RiverRock AAA sold at Target for $9.99 is well worth it.. Am I willing to pay 250% more for a maglight? Probably not.

FYI, the RiverRock is my EDC.. I reversed the clip and use it to clip it to my pocket. My surefire is in my bag when I really need some serious light.. <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Ducktapeguy:
If you pick one of the maglite 2-AA led and you said that you have already converted one maglite with the niteize, can you compare them and let us know if they are worth it? Thanks.

Breathingmeat:
The new Mag with LED's can be used as a lamp also like the old ones. I dont know if the nite-ize convertion can do that. Maybe Ducktape guy can answer that since he converted one.

Just to satisfy my own curiousity, I installed a TerraLUX TLE-10 led module in one of my AA-MiniMags this morning. Has absolutely no light out the sides, so one would need to use the ceiling as a reflector to get any area lighting.

As for the TLE-10 otherwise: meh. It was brighter than with the incandescent bulb, but with a bluish beam with some green around the fringe. This is a single led module with included reflector, so one can still rotate the bezel and focus the beam. And runtime is supposedly over 10 hours with alkaline batteries.

As I said before, I may just leave this one incandescent for the candle mode (I carry an Inova X1 in the same bag with a Princeton Tec Pulsar II clipped to the outside). Still waiting for Fenix to offer the L2P in some other color than... black.

Candle mode works fine with the Niteize conversion...
It may be a little dimmer from the sides, but it is going to last MUCH^2 longer and is not going to break the first time you bump it either...
I was looking at getting the new LED version(I got the LED conversion for the 2D Maglite FROM Maglite and it is quite good), but the extra length kind of pushed me away...
I will probably have to get one just so I can review it for the forums(yea sure... that's a good excuse)...

I gotta' ask: C'mon, has anyone really had that much trouble with the fragility of incandescent bulbs? To put it another way: is this a real problem or a made-up problem to justify going out and buying some new stuff to try (not that there's anything wrong with that <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> )?

I've got over a half-dozen Maglites that I've been using for at least decade. One or two are probably approaching two decades. They've been dropped to the floor and routinely tossed into the toolbox and have the scars to show for it... I think I've replaced one bulb during that time. Come to think of it, I've got a 5 C-cell Kel-Lite (the predecessor of Maglite) that's around 30 years old (whoa... I had to take that in for a second) that's running on the original bulb despite many years of rough handling.

I'm not trying to put down led lights (I own several), they have plenty of advantages (ruggedness and runtime are right up there), but let's be realistic. I'm not ready to lump incandescent lights together with slide rules and pencil pointers just yet. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I went with the new L2T. It's got 2 light intensities. They also stand on end for candle mode without having to disassemble.

From the Fenix site:
" The high level: Constant 55 Lumens, 3 hours (Ni-MH)"
" The low level: Constant 10 Lumens, 22 hours (Ni-MH) "

It would be nice if they used "natural" HA3 for a finish.

I have had problems with the mini mag lite's bulbs' frailty. Don't get me wrong, I have owned many (about a dozen) mag lites including quite a few mini's. The problem that I noticed was with the mini's as I haven't dropped a bigger one. Whenever I accidentally drop a mini from even as low as 2-3 feet, I find that most of the time the bulb shatters and most of the time, the spare bulb in the tail cap shatters too, leaving me up the creak.

Interesting... I'll have a look. Thanks.

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

Hey Joaquin,

If you look at the link I posted above, they have some pictures of the new Mag LED compared with the Nite-ize conversion.

I don't know if it's "better", but it is brighter. The nite-ize does not have the focusing capability like the new Minimag LED, it's a set focus. Even with the MML (MinimagLED) set at flood, it still has a pretty bright hotspot. The focusing is much quicker than the older version, it goes from Off -> flood mode > Spot mode within a quarter turn of the head. Turning it any further just decreases light output significantly. I don't have many unmodified mini-mags left to compare it to, but my guess is that it will throw just as far, if not farther, than the incandescent one. It's really hard to say for sure, because when using it outdoors, an LED and incandescent act differently, seems like my incandescents will illuminate something better, even when the LED actually puts out more light on the object. Might have to do with the color spectrum

I've got both the L1T & L2T. The L2 is a little shorter & fatter than a AA Maglite.

Real or imagined, it will get your attention when you're six floors up in a poorly lit plant & the flashlight quits with new batteries in it. BTDT several times.

Yep, lately my job has me 15 stories underground with a 15 minute hike out in total darkness should the power go out (which it does often) and backup generator fails to kick in, so I've considered this.

If my Minimag fails with fresh batteries, it's pretty much: replace the bulb. I can do this in under a minute using light from my buddies flashlight (if he's bothered to check his batteries in the past year) or the coin-cell job on my keychain.

If a led light fails with new batteries, you'd better have a good backup as you'll be relying on it.

Have I had trouble with incandecent bulbs in mag-lites?
Yes I have.
The AA & AAA Maglites blow on a regular basis and the C & D cell bulbs break when you drop the torch.
I found myself wishing for LED bulbs when the first torches came out. And I ain't that picky about the colour of the beam or throw distance. For most emergency's reliability and burn time are much more important.

In those circumstances I can understand why you have got a backup light. In fact, I would get some more backups.

Thats sonething I have seen manitioned by many people but I've carried and dropped mag's for years and have had only one bulb fail due to rust on the pin after leaving the light in my pocket and it going through the laundry. I have yet to have one blow and had a Solitaire in my pocket long enough that there was no paint left on it, it was worn all the way down to the bare aluminum.

I suspect that, like many small electrical items, usage may have a serious bearing on lifespan. That is to say that a torch used only in emergency's may blow because the element may have decayed due to lack of use. It will be interesting to see how LED bulbs take longterm storage.

I stopped at K-mart to pick something up, as it was closer on my route home today. Out of curiousity I looked in their flashlight section and found this: a "Made in China" Sears Craftsman LED with the same dimensions as the incandescent Mini Maglite with a red rubber tailcap button switch, wire type half-ring arm on the end for lanyard, rubber grip surface areas, comes in different metallic colors. Adjustable beam focus? $12.99

Anyone own one? Is it worth it?

In the coal mines in VA, PA, WV, & KY I assumed you would need to be using an MSHA approved light. The mines around here tend to have gases that go boom in the right concentrations.

Above ground, it's my luck with a Maglight that if the bulb goes the spare will be about five minutes behind it. I'm usually trying to juggle a clipboard, digital camera, tape measure, & the light.

For me the color rendition of a good white led or lithium incandescent makes plant inspections easier. But the run time for the incandescent vs. light output don't work.

Here is my 2¢. After reading this string, I stopped at WalMart and bought the MiniMag NiteEze three LED upgrade for $4 and change. It took all of three minutes to install. At Target, I saw a similar NiteEze upgrade kit that included the LED upgrade and Basic ON/OFF button for $8 and change. Then at REI, slow weekend, I saw the NiteEze “SMART SWITCH” cap for the MiniMag. It offers three-power setting, two blink speeds, 14.5 minute auto off, and a night light that blinks in the cap every few second so you can find the MiniMag in the dark, $10 for the Smart Cap only. I did not buy the smart cap yet, but probably will.

The light output of the NiteEze upgrade is good along with the 10 hour burn time, and for $4 and change worthwhile. The smart cap also looks worthwhile, but for $10 maybe not. The problem for me is the cost of a Mini Mag plus the various upgrades gets you close to the cost of a quality LED headlamp which I find far more useful I general. If MagLite had offered an upgrade similar to the NiteEze 5 or 6 years ago I’d be sold, but really think they missed the boat by waiting so long to offer a LED derivative. If I recall when the Tika LED headlamp came out 6 ago is cost me $40. My Princeton that I bought a few years later cost me $20.

Final answer, if you have any MiniMags lying around collecting dust the NiteEze three LED upgrade is an inexpensive upgrade that is worthwhile. The more expensive upgrade kits with the one of the two caps get you into the price of a brand new headlamp.

I agree -- I'm upgrading my minimags to 3 led bulbs -- they're brighter, too.

TRO

Was inside a huge cave today while on a 5 mile hike. The Nite Ize upgraded Mini Maglite worked like a charm. Flooded our whole path and kept me from slipping. Is a commonly used "safer" cave in a historic area. But I still felt I should have had a helmet with a headlamp. I'm not one of those daredevil cave explorers.

I saw the Nite-Ize kit for the Mini-maglite with the butt-cap on-off switch for sale at Lowe's the other night. They charge about twice as much for it as the kit without the switch costs at Wal-mart.

The Nite Ize uses an older LED which is much dimmer than the Mag LED bulbs. Also Wal Mart is way overcharging for the 3AA as other stores have them for $19.97. But I've started to noticed that WalMart is becoming more expensive that other stores with most anything now,

I still have the nite ize conversion on a mini mag and it puts all the light I ever need on anything though. As I stated before, it lighted up my way and got me thru a large, dark freaking cave! It's shortcoming really is just failure to focus the beam, and it uses three small LEDs instead of one large one.. I noticed Lowe's sells the Mini-mag LED 2AA cheaper, Wal mart even went up on Iams dog food, dang it. You can actually show (I even have just told) Walmart cashiers the price you get somewhere else on something and they will match that price. I might buy one that way to spite Wal mart's high prices lately on certain items. The only thing that still irks me other than price on the Mini mag LEDs is the lack of a lanyard hole. It's a must on a flashlight for me. If someone figures out a way to improvise a lanyard on their new Mini mag LED short of drilling a hole, please tell me.

I've noticed that even with groceries WalMart is more $. Now that they have such a large customer base they can do it and people will still shop there. I haven't bought anything from them in a long time as Kroger started carrying Iames cat food.
I was just disapointed thet the niteize was dimmer than the incan bulb, I suppose if you really want long runtime it would work.
I was going to suggest drilling out the end of the tailcap for a lanyard but you said no drilling. But the endcap is pretty much hollow so it would be pretty easy to drill a pair of holes to stick something through and then seal it inside or drill one hole in the center and put in a small bolt.

Simon,

How about a cord wrap with a loop end?

Enlighten my ignorance (I was never a boyscout) and tell me how to do it or where to get instructions. Thanks

Aloha Simon,

Sorry I took so long to get back to you. I have been busy the last couple of days. Darn that work stuff!

Here is a link that might give you an idea:

http://www.m4040.com/Knifemaking/cordwrap.htm

I do something similar to that but not quite. Where he has the cord taped, I make a bend and bring the cord toward the other end and start my wrap on the opposite side and wrap until I get to the loop made the the bend in the cord. Then I run the end of the cord that is doing the wrapping into the loop and pull it tight holding the cord in by friction. You can tie off as you see fit to make a lanyard loop.

I use this wrap mostly to add a grip to something. It works great on a Hawaiian Sling spear. Pull the cord in under the wrap about halfway, trim the ends off, soak the cord and let dry. When it dries, it tightens up (wrap tightly anyway) and you have a secure non-slip grip.

Thanks a bunch for the info and link, it might come in handy on wrapping cordage around walking sticks I have been woodcarving, too.

-Simon

work: an annoying interruption in an otherwise pleasant day.

You're welcome Simon.

And 0311, you are soooo right! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />