Flashlights

[Billy Shafer]

Do they still make the old flashlights. Seems like all I see now. Are LED ones. I kinda miss the old style.

 

[old]

Yes but they are a bit hard to come by. Bulbs for them are even harder to find. I had to go to 3 stores today to find the 6 volt type bulbs that are used in a flashlight with 4 D cell batteries

 

[P I Pete]

I have a 4 D cell maglite that I just got a LED bulb for, four times the light and the batteries last longer.

Pete

 

[GordoSD]

You can get a Little Nebo" That is 3 inches long, 3/4 inch in diamter, fits in your shirt pocket. Runs on one little cr123 battery, twice as bright as a 2 d cell boat anchor from the past.

 

[JF in MI]

I had a bunch of MagLites that I converted to LED bulbs and did some testing along the way. The 2 double A type were twice as bright using 1/2 the amperage. The big 4 D type seemed just as bright (maybe a bit better) but used only 1/5 the amps.

 

[DMartin9N-2N]

(quoted from post at 23:53:44 01/02/21) You can get a Little Nebo" That is 3 inches long, 3/4 inch in diamter, fits in your shirt pocket. Runs on one little cr123 battery, twice as bright as a 2 d cell boat anchor from the past.

Good evening: I have several LED type flashlights. I bought one Craftsman from Lowe's, liked it so well I bought two more. About 15 dollars each, IIRC. The Craftsman I like has a swivel head, so you can have the head parallel with the body, or turn it around to 90 degrees, then clip it to your belt and it will point straight ahead. Also has a pretty good magnet in the base. No comparison to Harbor Freight cheapo models. BTW, I have several 3-D cell Maglights, I have not touched them in several years since I removed the batteries.

Dennis M. in W. Tenn.

 

[JGayman]

Let me ask... WHY do you miss the old style? I've thrown away every "old style" flash light I ever had. They are like a brown dim candle compared to an equivalent LED light. The batteries last longer in LED as well. I had an old 3-cell halogen Mag-light and when compared to a new LED 2-cell Mag-light you can't even tell the halogen light is turned on.

 

[Gene Davis (Ga.)]

Where can you get an LED bulb for a 3 cell mag lite?

 

[Robert (ID)]

Many years ago I worked graveyard shift at a Fleet truck repair facility.. One of the company required tools was a maglight that held at least 3 D cells.. After a few weeks and having some very questionable people show up, the shift foreman filled me in on that company policy.. "A mag light with 3 D cells or more is simply a tool it is not a weapon" It seems that before I went to work there, they had a mechanic get mugged during a night shift.. at that point all night employs had to carry a light with them... It was basicly a baseball bat with a headlight on the end... Mine was a 6 cell.. it was heavy, but it did swing rather nicely..

 

[J Hamilton]

My local ACE Hardware has the old style Mag lights in stock, in the 2,3 and 6 cell D battery type

 

[Billy Shafer]

I just miss some of the old things we had. The old style alwats worked until you needed them. Then the battery was dead. The old trucks you could work on yourself.

 

[Steve in VA]

That reminds me of the definition of a flashlight: a tool used to store dead batteries.

 

[John T]

Billy, I have no idea if any company still makes them, probably do so as long as theres demand sales and PROFIT lol I always had trouble having the correct replacement bulbs and/or the batteries corroding grrrrrrrrr. With new technology longer lasting batteries and brighter less energy LED bulbs Ive had less trouble, but to each their own choices.........

John T

 

[Bret4207]

(quoted from post at 00:08:18 01/03/21) Many years ago I worked graveyard shift at a Fleet truck repair facility.. One of the company required tools was a maglight that held at least 3 D cells.. After a few weeks and having some very questionable people show up, the shift foreman filled me in on that company policy.. "A mag light with 3 D cells or more is simply a tool it is not a weapon" It seems that before I went to work there, they had a mechanic get mugged during a night shift.. at that point all night employs had to carry a light with them... It was basicly a baseball bat with a headlight on the end... Mine was a 6 cell.. it was heavy, but it did swing rather nicely..

I still have my 7 D cell Maglite I used over 20 years in the NYSP. Known affectionately as "Thumper", it saved my bacon a time or 2. I switched it over to an LED bulb. Batteries last many, many times longer now.

 

[bc]

I've been buying these bright flashlights that use those bigger Asian size batteries. Would have to look but they have a 5 digit number and are rechargeable. Waterproof and may be some are listed as diving lights. You can get batteries of various mah. They are almost the size of a C cell and some of the lights will take 3 triple A's. Brightest flashlights I have found and have a few spare batteries.

 

[bc]

Back in the day we had an abandoned Atlas missile silo a few miles out of town. Stairway down about 30' to the first big blast door to go through. It was deep dark black down there and a 2 D cell flashlight just disappeared in the dark. Had to have a 6 volt lantern flashlight to get around. They had stripped out all the electronics but left all the field manuals for the equipment laying around. So much for keeping missile technology top secret. Had fun slamming those big blast doors shut with that heavy boom when they close.

 

[Blackhole49]

I have small hands. I preferred my 6 C cell over the D cell. I left it set to long with dead
batteries and now can't get the batteries out. I still keep it in my truck just in case I run out of
bullets in the 9mm.

 

[Bill(Wis)]

I bought 4 NEBO Big Poppy lights that are rechargeable and can be used as a standing light or a flashlight. The switches on two of them failed almost immediately. So much for NEBO lights. I'll never buy another one.

 

[plowhand]

I've had good luck with the harbor freight,rechargeable pen light $17.99I know it's not the same application as yours.A lot of rechargeable just shut off when they get low which is frustrating.

 

[spacecadet9]

(quoted from post at 23:03:10 01/02/21) I just miss some of the old things we had. The old style alwats worked until you needed them. Then the battery was dead.

I understand you're sentimental feelings but the LED flashlights are so much better/brighter. Did you every drop an incandescent flashlight and break the filament? It's really hard to break the LED.

 

[SVcummins]

The old ones are really nice if you are trying to look in a dark hole in the daytime

 

[Phil9N3667]

P I Pete, you did what I want to do. I've got a 4 D Maglight I got for Christmas 26 years ago. Used rechargeable batteries that I asked for with the light. I put that light inside a 100 gallon truck diesel tank that was almost full, looking for a blockage. Found a piece of 3/8" I.D. fuel line stuck up in the suction port. Light never faded, kept on working.

 

[Phil9N3667]

Forgot to add, a VA. State Trooper I knew had a 6D Maglite with a dent in the body from a hard headed driver that wouldn't cooperate!!

 

[caterpillar guy]

zbatterty.com has parts for mag-lite flashlights. I just ordered a spring and the switch for it. I was told I could not convert this one to an LED style.
Where can I get parts for the old Brinkmann flashlights. They were similar to the mag-lite back then. These lights are both about 20 years old.

 

[RayP(MI)]

Maglite did market LED replacements for common flashlight bulbs. Nice, quite bright, but expensive. Unfortunately I had a battery go bad in mine, and I cant get it out.. Have found some generic LED flashlights that run on 6 AA batteries. Real Bright! Well made.

 

[Ralph, Ohio]

You can still find new RayoVac yellow "industrial" 2 D cell flashlights on eBay.

 

[rustyfarmall]

(quoted from post at 17:43:52 01/02/21) Let me ask... WHY do you miss the old style? I've thrown away every "old style" flash light I ever had. They are like a brown dim candle compared to an equivalent LED light. The batteries last longer in LED as well. I had an old 3-cell halogen Mag-light and when compared to a new LED 2-cell Mag-light you can't even tell the halogen light is turned on.

I've thrown away a bunch of the newer flashlights also. When new batteries won't fix them, and the bulb is non-replaceable, they get added to the scrap heap.

 

[Bret4207]

(quoted from post at 11:54:31 01/03/21) I have small hands. I preferred my 6 C cell over the D cell. I left it set to long with dead
batteries and now can't get the batteries out. I still keep it in my truck just in case I run out of
bullets in the 9mm.

Had the same issue with a Maglite. I made a tool to get the bulb end out, had to use lube and some heat IIRC. Then I drove the swollen and corroded batteries with a piece of wood turned to fit the barrel. Polished the barrel innards out with abrasive cloth, cleaned everything else up and used some grease inside the barrel. Works fine now.

 

[catalina0029]

I'm on my second one of these Streamlight Polystinger flash lights in six years. This light is so bright it's unbelievable. We can shine them to the top of a 210' column.
It sits in a rechargeable holster in my truck.
It should be bright, it cost $200.00!
https://www.streamlight.com/products/detail/index/polystinger-led

 

[DMartin9N-2N]

(quoted from post at 15:36:55 01/03/21)
Back in the day we had an abandoned Atlas missile silo a few miles out of town. Stairway down about 30' to the first big blast door to go through. It was deep dark black down there and a 2 D cell flashlight just disappeared in the dark. Had to have a 6 volt lantern flashlight to get around. They had stripped out all the electronics but left all the field manuals for the equipment laying around. So much for keeping missile technology top secret. Had fun slamming those big blast doors shut with that heavy boom when they close.

Good evening, all: Several years ago I had batteries go bad in a genuine Mag-Light. Either the Mag-Light company or the battery company had a deal that they would rebuild the light with no cost to me. I got it done, but now I cannot remember which company had the deal, nor who to send the light to. Someone reading this probably knows!!!

Dennis M. in W. Tenn.

 

[Winchester1]

Batteries are so expensive I am switching mine out (as batteries fail) to rechargeable flashlights from HF.