Mini Maglite Upgrade

[lliang77]

It really is a great upgrade from the incandescent bulb, but I was very disappointed that my 2 dollar 9 led flashlight was actually much brighter than it. But then again, I guess the 2 dollar light isn't weatherproof and shockproof.

[partyongarth420]

damn good review.!! thanks

[MonksteinSpunky]

ive been trying to search for mini maglite AAA i dont see any

[Radninja88]

@MonksteinSpunky Its a tiny mag that attaches to a keyring.

[MonksteinSpunky]

@Radninja88 uhmm no mine is not like that mine is the same as the AA maglite but the batteries are AAA

[Ltb0b]

Whats the LED stock vs this LED? mini maglite

[CampfireTalk]

@Ltb0b I'm not sure of the question, send me a pm.

[jacksonemghz1969]

@Ltb0b the mini mag led you can buy off the shelf is around 60 lumens for 20 dollars but you can go buy a regular mini with a krypton bulb for around 10 dollars and the upgrade for around 15 dollars and in the end you have spent only 5 more dollars on a 100 lumen flashlight

[Ltb0b]

@jacksonemghz1969 shipping D:

[TerminatorFRA]

@Ltb0b Original Incandescent : 14 lumens

LED : 77 lumens

Pro LED : 200+ lumens

Pro+ LED : 210+ lumens

Terralux Ministar2 - EX : 140+ lumens

[7digitalSunday]

campfire, what about the possibility of putting two trustfire lithium 14500 batteries in place of the AA, the 14500 are putting out 3.7v in series and drive an led with that?

i have never seen a drop in led for that much voltage, though.

i believe the 2x14500 will fit right in place of the 2AA batts...

[infantry031]

if your going to spend 20 bucks go grip a new mini mag L.E.D, the factory version is way better than the upgrade, better throw/tighter beam and the light colour looks a little more blue, than that terra lux upgrade

[fokaikid87]

Whats the burn time with the LED upgrade?

[CampfireTalk]

@fokaikid87 I have not done a burn time test, but from what I've read it will run 3-6 times longer depending on the batteries your using.

[strpl2]

does it have a pretty good throw beam ?

[CampfireTalk]

@strpl2 Yes, it was a big improvement over the incandescent light bulb that originally came with this flashlight. I did this to update an old FL instead of throwing it out. thanks

[randomrazr]

i just bought the LED version of that, 15bucks, not bad

[wrght9185]

Thanks. This is useful. I have a couple of old MiniMags gathering dust. I've heard of these upgrades. I've been wondering if they were worth the money & trouble.

[CampfireTalk]

@wrght9185 Worth the money, Yes

worth the trouble, they were no trouble other than I had to have them shipped to me.

If you decide to upgrade one of your old lights I think you'll be happy with the upgrade for the $.

[johnsarangel]

always was and will be a maglite user. my mini maglite has been with me for 13 years already. has been to 5 countries and has experienced countless floods and typhoons. i used to bring lots of extra bulbs for the flashlight. thanks to this video, i won't have to anymore. it has given new life to the flashlight i've always trusted. oh, and nothing beats the availability of AA batteries worldwide. i noticed that AA and D batteries are common worldwide.

[CampfireTalk]

@johnsarangel What a great story about your personal experience with this product. I'm glad to have been able to offer a suggestion as far as the bulb upgrade.

This type of feedback is what makes youtube a great gathering place. Take care

[rooftopeagle]

I used to like maglights, then they stopped doing any development and now they suck! You'd think that a company that was so good at one point would lead the pack in new technology, now Fenix, 4sevens and others blow them out of the water!

[CampfireTalk]

@rooftopeagle I'm with you eagle! I didn't want to ditch the maglite & I found some more use out of it with the upgrade, but any new FL's I will purchase will be other brands. thanks

[Taud]

@rooftopeagle Dude, the price has remained reasonable, thats partly why theres slow progress, those high end flashlights yur speaking of go for like 100$ american and more, my 3d mag cost me 30$ here in canada, probly cheaper down there too, just a bit of a counter argument there, my familys always loved em i had to say something

[rooftopeagle]

@Taud Yeah dude I hear you, I'm in Southern Ontario myself!

My thing is mag lite hasn't innovated since roughly the 70s when they came out with the original mag lite line.

I grew up with Mag lites and they will always hold a place in my heart, but we don't use the .577 Snider-Enfield breach loading rifles in the military up here so why stick to outdated lighting products?

Plus I've got a penlight in my pocket that is brighter than the Mag Lite 3D, why carry so much extra for so little gain?

[Taud]

@rooftopeagle oh if youre military, i totally agree about always using the latest tech for yourselves, brighter lights strobe functions....etc. Yeah see im totally CIV here you cant carry anything considered a weapon at my university or u risk being expelled, so having the mag is like having a club in my backpack, security doesnt say anything... so yeah good point though, if you had the budget for your job, the ones youve described r way better

[CampfireTalk]

@Taud Great discussion guys, it's comments like these where we can share ideas. I can only speak from my experience but I use Fenix lights & they offer several models well under the $100 mark. The mini maglite in the video runs off of 2 AA batteries & I have a Fenix L1D that runs off of 1 AA that blows away the mini maglite (even after the upgrade) & it was just under $50 U.S. dollars.

[FieserBauer]

thx a lot!!! i got an old 2AA, too. i imported it from the USA to germany cause back then they already got camouflage design ;) my bulb is already brown... im going to get this replacement LED! best regards from germany :]

[CampfireTalk]

@FieserBauer Guten Tag I'm glad to have helped, these mini maglite's have a great older look & are built nearly bombproof. You know if you can get them into the 21st century with a cheap led upgrade then I'm in. Take care

[CampfireTalk]

@DienekesAurelius Thanks you, I hope it helps

[Locoboy5150]

A while back Terralux upgraded the TLE-5EX drop in for Mini-Maglites and it now has a Cree XR-E LED emitter in it. The previous generation one shown in your video has a Luxeon K2 LED emitter. That's why the latest version is rated by Terralux at 140 lumens versus 100 lumens for the previous model. Note that the latest one does not put out anywhere near 140 lumens out the front of the light. Mine was measured with an integrating sphere at 81.5 lumens at turn on and 70 lumens after 3 minutes.

[Ggreenvideos]

Great stuff ! 100 lumens is awesome! I've had one of those old things kickin' around for 20 years. Hardly used it for years. I found a site where they convert it to a fire piston. Not sure if I wanna' do that now...haha!

[60srock]

How timely. I have 3 of the old girls and was just about to throw them out. Not now!

[CampfireTalk]

@60srock that's awesome, you can look at it a couple of different ways. I was looking at it as cost effective way on getting tons more performance out of an old FL.

[jsp48080]

Curious as to what the run time would be on this at 100 lumens? I guess you would loose the ability to use in candle mode too which is a great feature I've used a lot during power outages.

[HawkLMT]

I am a huge fan of the Mini-Mag! This is a great upgrade.

[CampfireTalk]

@HawkLMT Thanks Hawk, I used it last night & am still surprised at how much better this flashlight works than before.

[octos2000]

Great intro sir!! 5/5 for that alone!

I have two mini maglights that will benefit from this awesome upgrade.

Thanks for the heads up my friend!

OCTOS..................out.

[CampfireTalk]

Thanks OCTOS, I was just at Walmart yesterday and saw they had the older generation led upgrade for sale with the maglites. If you want the latest & greatest you'll have to order. I got mine through Amazon. It's been an awesome little upgrade without needing to buy a new flashlight & for the money has been worth it. As far as track record, time will tell.

Campfire...........out

sorry had to :)

[octos2000]

No apology required sir! Love it.

[usframe]

I find myself carrying the darn $7 mini mags around, too. My best lights require that I work a 3rd or 4th job each week to keep them in batteries.

Thanks for the tip in upgrading bulbs!

[CampfireTalk]

buying batteries & bullets are just no fun. I feel your pain.

[pup171]

Thanks for the info. Good video.

[CampfireTalk]

thanks for watching pup

[Cr0cket20]

1. Great intro

2. Great vid

3. I did the same to my old maglite, although I think I have a different (not as good) brand of led.

5*s

[CampfireTalk]

Thanks Crocket, I think 100 years from now there will still be these mini maglites around, but the bulbs & batteries inside will produce a lighthouse type of beam.

[Tacticalgearhead]

Love the new intro!

[CampfireTalk]

Thanks TGH it was all for you :)

[USNERDOC]

Cool video! I love the classic products eye-candy in the opening . . . very cool!

This is a great tip. I have a couple of old minimag lites that can benefit from the upgrade. They are classic lights!

[CampfireTalk]

For sure, I was gathering supplies for different vehicle and home kits and needed more flashlights. I found this one in a drawer, but didn't want to use it as is. I thought about getting a new FL then I found the TerraLUX bulb upgrade and after reading some reviews on it I ordered it. As biguy said it's a great way to recycle an old flashlight. Thanks for the comment Doc.

[biguy525]

If you are looking for a 100 lumen light, I don't think you are going to find one for 20 bucks. So you might just as well spend the 20 bucks on the upgrade. As we all know you can't never have enough lights around. And you recycle the old mini mag. Good video, thanks

[CampfireTalk]

Thanks biguy, I hear you on your comment about never having enough lights around. Heck some guys edc 2 lights every day. thanks for the comment