Flashlights: Maglite... Putting it in perspective.

It's amazing how great of a job the Maglite advertising department has done over the years! They've accomplished the ultimate goal of replacing the noun "powerful flashlight" with "maglite". In much the same way other companies have done; Making a "Xerox" copy, putting on a "Band-Aid", or even "Googling" something.

Flashlights have been a strange passion of mine since I found out how invaluable quality light is when responding to late night EMS calls or performing an extrication on an overturned vehicle in the middle of the woods. I quickly realized while Maglite did make a quality product, there was much better out there and I was willing to pay the premium. Here's a size comparison between a Surefire E2e vs a 6-cell Maglite:


Now here's how their output compares:


If you thought the Surefire E2e was bright, here is the same light compared to the Fenix TK10 (one of the products on my new site):


And the size of the TK10:


Granted many of you don't need such an item and paying over $50 for a flashlight may be absurd. Others believe in craftsmanship and performance products, for those of you out there, my discount offer for oznium members still stands at www.pinnacleflashlights.com Hope you guys have at least found this somewhat informative!

No offense but this is really nothing more than spam. Granded, you are a member here and post regularly but it's still spam. Here's a quote from the selling rules:

Quote:

What you can sell.... Items that are currently in your posession: I'm talking about the things that are in YOUR garage and ready to ship. This is not the place to take orders for items that are not yours yet.

^ I kinda agree, might want to speak with Phil about advertising.

In similar news, how much is that little *******? I have a few super flashlights of my own, looking for a pair of lights for my bike for night riding. I have a few from deal extreme which obviously you won't be able to compete with their prices but I don't mind supporting local company's if the products are comparable in both price and quality.

This is what Phil himself posted in the discount thread. Seems to me that he's alright with it.

Phil wrote:

Thanks for the discount offer Hope some people can take advantage of it. btw, I linked you on the top question here: http://www.oznium.com/marine-led-light/questions

He isn't selling anything. Merely advertising a non Oznium competitor website of his own. Even giving y'all a discount...

Bobby Lee wrote:

This is what Phil himself posted in the discount thread. Seems to me that he's alright with it. Phil wrote: Thanks for the discount offer Hope some people can take advantage of it. btw, I linked you on the top question here: http://www.oznium.com/marine-led-light/questions He isn't selling anything. Merely advertising a non Oznium competitor website of his own. Even giving y'all a discount...

Agreed

I assume all of your comparison shots were done from the same distance. You also make no mention of what kind of bulbs are in the flashlights. There are replacement bulbs for the Mags that make them brighter. I've replaced the incandescent bulbs in my minimags with LEDs and the output is much better now. What type of batteries do your lights use, and how long do they last? A minimag like mine can get hours of use out of fifty cents worth of batteries, where I've seen small, bright flashlights like yours take specialty batteries that cost a couple of dollars each, and run dry in 1-2 hours.

Not trying to bash you. If anything, I agree with your conclusion. Your flashlights are for a much more niche market than ones such as mags. Thanks again for offering the discount, even if I won't be using it

Hey, sorry if you guys think this is spam... If the mod's feel it is, go ahead and delete it, not a problem! The offer will still stand in my other thread tho for those interested since I know there are other Fire/EMS, Police, Military, etc members on this board. Just thought I'd introduce people to some non-maglight options out there and I am not trying to compete with Oznium or anything. Thanks for looking!

That's a nice light right there. $65, eh?

For some reason, its tempting.

holy ****, that is a damn bright flashlight, but most people get a maglite for the size... err compensating for something eh?.

i think im gonna get the tk11 tomorrow when i get paid

they are badass flashlights

Oznium doesn't sell flashlights, so why does it matter? Just a comparison of two products. I agree though, it seems like "Maglite" and "bright flashlight" are interchangeable these days.

I would be interested in an answer to the battery life question though....

This thread is fine.


Do I get a free fleshlight now?




Oh....



You said flashlight...


Damn...

Easy way for discounts past contacting you?

Coupon code you can discount?


PM me a discount code / way to get a proper discount and I'll try out / take some pictures of the TK10. Not amateur ones, ones you could actually use on the site.

pOrk wrote:

^ I kinda agree, might want to speak with Phil about advertising. In similar news, how much is that little *******? I have a few super flashlights of my own, looking for a pair of lights for my bike for night riding. I have a few from deal extreme which obviously you won't be able to compete with their prices but I don't mind supporting local company's if the products are comparable in both price and quality.

I hope law enforcemnt officers don't start carrying those lights, not sure if I want that pointed in my face next time I get pulled over Probably melt my face off.

If I stepped on any toes w/ suggesting it's spam I apologize. If it's ok with the mods then it's ok with me (not that it matters at all).

HoolaKinG wrote:

I would be interested in an answer to the battery life question though....

My friend has a flashlight that looks similar to that, Cyclops XCF. It's like a spotlight in the dark. From such a small flashlight. The downside is it takes two special batteries ($3 each battery) and only gives 1.5 hours of life (taken from the site).

I am also interested to know how long they last.

Hey guys here's some more info.

Maglite has also made a great advertising choice in it's wording of how long the light can run for. Typically companies will consider a light is still "running" if it is putting out enough light to read a map in complete darkness. Anyone with a cell phone knows even a lit screen on the phone can do that...

First note that a typical 3D Maglite only puts out about 40-60 lumens... And that is with brand new batteries.

Here's an actual runtime plot of the 3D Maglite:

From the moment you hit the switch, your output rapidly decreases... You often won't notice this and think that your flashlight looks relatively the same brightness till it yellows out. The tail end of the runtime plot will level out for many many hours, but look how little the output is compared to at time zero.

Lumens: 40-60
Time to 50% output: 1 hr 50 mins.

Here is a runtime plot of the Minimag AA MagLED (Mentioned in posts above):

This light has a much better runtime but using a 3 watt LED it only puts out 20 Lumens...

Lumens: 20
Time to 50% output: 3 hrs.

Here are the two runtime plots for the Fenix TK10 (Follow the blue lines). The first is with the TK10 in Turbo (225 Lumens):

The newer LED lights use a circuit to regulate output and use every little bit of energy from its batteries. The plots have a much more horizontal line then drop off.

Lumens: 225
Time to 50% output: 1 hrs 45 mins

Finally here is the plot for the TK10 in General mode (60 Lumens):

Perfectly flat constant and regulated output.

Lumens: 60
Time to 50% output: 14+ hrs


So yes, many of the "tactical" lights are designed for TONS of light in a small package with runtimes approximately 1-2 hrs. Others have multiple levels where you can still get a lot of light and good runtimes. Hope this clarifies a little bit about runtimes...

PwrRngr wrote:

The downside is it takes two special batteries ($3 each battery) and only gives 1.5 hours of life (taken from the site). I am also interested to know how long they last.

Those are the Lithium 123A cells. You will have a hard time finding a tactical light that does not use them... They are the same ones use in cameras, etc and yes in the stores I have seen them as much as $5 a piece! I'll be having them on my site shortly for about $1 each.

ill take my 4 d cell maglight anyday, it double as a very nice weapon or as an improvtu hammer

Well, I asked twice I cant say I didn't try. I'll stick with me 500 lumen torches for 50 bucks a pop

Or just make one. If you cut open those 123A batteries there are about 5 watch batteries stacked on top of eachother inside. Cut it open and you can use them instead of buying packs of them for 4x as much.

pOrk wrote:

Well, I asked twice I cant say I didn't try. I'll stick with me 500 lumen torches for 50 bucks a pop

$71 shipped with the Oz discount. Sorry, thought you would have checked out the price on the site...

We have surefire at work, they're bright as ****

Thanks for the order KrzysD let us know when you get it and what you think!

i like graphs so i made my own

^^ i lol'd about that

MedXLT wrote:

Thanks for the order KrzysD let us know when you get it and what you think!

hell yeah, thanks for the discount!
ill be sure to set it up in the back yard and take some pics for your site.

justinwebb wrote:

i like graphs so i made my own

LOL, well if you read a little faster you might get past title in 30 secs and find the rest of the thread a little more interesting...