Maglite upgrade

I got the nite-ize AA led mini-mag update recently, great value, great for resurecting your old mag lights. great "stash" lights.
 
The Mini-Mag upgrades that I have used have been less than awesome, to say the least. At the time I received them they were! But a simple Energizer Penlight with a Nichia LED and a lowly two AAA batts from Office Depot has left me totally stunned. The last two I purchased were about $9.19 a piece and I am going back to buy more of the things. They will light up a very large room, check them out, they are really incredible lights and they cost as much as a lot of upgrades for Mini-Mags. In fact, I accidentally trashed one of the Energizer Penlights and snatched the LED out of it, cut the LED off the board and trimmed the tabs/leads and stuck that in a AA Mini-Mag and even without whatever regulation the board afforded the LED, it is still better in the AA Mini-Mag than the upgrade I purchased.

My brother purchased the new THREE-AA LED Mini-Mag that is a battery length longer than the standard and he said it sucked.

All of that having been said, man, the AAA and AA Mini-Mags sure are tough and they are worth saving - good firestarter as well, ala' Ron Hood with snare wire and #0000 steel wool.
 
My brother purchased the new THREE-AA LED Mini-Mag that is a battery length longer than the standard and he said it sucked.
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Why? I have had one for four or five years. (Actually, I have both, the regularly LED and the "task light" with both types of bulbs.) It is my primary light for night work, when I don't need my bright light to blind someone. It lasts for weeks at a time even on midnight shift. I've had no problem with it at all.

I did have one Nite-Ize 2 AA that didn't really work right. Sometimes it came on, sometimes it didn't.
 
They wanted top dollar for it and basically it was not as powerful as some of the cheaper Dorcy flashlights. (I am talking to him right now and asking him specifically.) He said when it came out, there were already lights in that price range that were better.
 
I bought a trio of Nuwai/River Rock TM-311X at Target for $9.99 each. They are machined & anodized Al with 2xAAA within - and barely fit my KSH pocket holster - with my Bark River Huntsman. They are quite bright with a long illumination time on decent alkalines. I have a set of Lithium AAAs for the pair I kept, having given the other one to my older son. They appear to be a better spot than even the 3xAA Mini-Mag LED, quite a feat for such a small light. Twist the rubber momentary contact switch included battery cover for on-off. PRC-made, of course.

Stainz
 
The Chinese can do some awesome manufacturing when quality is demanded of them. If it is not demanded, you get much of what Wal-Mart stocks, i.e., trash.
 
Some maglite upgrades are not worth it like the nite ize you see in walmart or target

However I also have the terralux (model tle-5ex cree) upgrade and it is almost as bright as my surefire g2 led

the only drawback is I only get about 3 hours of runtime. For outdoor use I like the smjled drop in for the mini maglite. They are only $7 put out 15 lumens and get 25-30 hours run time. So there is no need to bring spare batteries
 
I definitely lean towards more run time over brightness. Maybe that is part of the differing assessments.
 
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