CREE bulb upgrade for Mag-Lite 4D - review

[WoodsmanJim 160]

As the title suggests, I've just invested in a 3watt CREE LED upgrade for my Mag-Lite 4D. I'm currently updating/ upgrading all my lighting solutions and this seemed like a fantastic way to keep an 'old faithful' torch up to date.

 

I bought my bulb through eBay from a seller called thetorchsite, it only cost me £13.50 and arrived in just 24hrs! (I'm in no way connected to the seller, just seems fair to give credit where it's due!)

 

I ordered it in the small hours of Friday morning so imagine my suprise when this dropped on the mat today

 

 

I was so excited I couldn't wait to finish my breaky to play with it and weetabix went mushy!

 

Item was well packaged in a tidy little box and bubble wrap

 

 

 

Here it is compared to the outgoing halogen bulb:

 

 

and fitted:

 

 

Now I had high hope for this as it contains a power regulator within its tiny body, meaning throw shouldn't drop much as the batteries slowly die. The standard Duracell D batteries in my torch have been in it for well over a year, and according to their onboard power indicator are about half full. With the halogen bulb in they achieved this today:

Photo taken on 'auto' setting at about 11:30 this morning (daylight). A dull orange glow, and the coil of the halogen bulb is clearly visible in the light pattern.

 

2 mins later, same batteries, same camera, lighting etc.. the CREE bulb managed this:

 

Impressive stuff!!! Now I don't have to replace the batteries for ages as this bulb has massively increased their usable life. Result! :)

It was so bright it made the camera auto darken the picture.

 

Well I waited until dark and tried another test, down the garden with no light at all the view is this:

 

With the halogen it's this:

 

And with the CREE it's this:

 

The difference is clear, and don't forget this is on half dead batteries! The way I see it 4 decent D cells would cost me about the same as this bulb, but now I won't have to replace them half as often as I would've. So within one set of batteries I've saved the cost of the bulb, and the light quality is far superior.

All in all, a complete winner!

 

I've got another torch I might do a review on too if folks are interested? That one's a mini CREE cheapy Chinese fake 'UltraFire' that I plan on mounting above my scope.

 

James

[moxy 617]

Nice review jim.

[bob.243 8,588]

Great write up, very interesting, food for thought

[porkycrook 466]

Nice review. But i have one question with the extra light from the new "bulb", would this be only an advantage none airgun shooters. Fore having such a bright light with an airgun does it not give you position away too soon?

[WoodsmanJim 160]

It's a good question, however even with the new bulb this is still not as bright as the lamps people use for shooting rabbits/ foxes at night. So ,although I personally have no experience of lamping, I'm assuming this light would still be of use. It's very heavy to mount on a rifle though, so best to be used by a second person spotting for you.

 

James

[moonlighter 1,163]

Just ordered one. Cheers for the info.

[moonlighter 1,163]

Fitted my new led bulb tonight. The difference is amazing. Well worth the money

[WoodsmanJim 160]

Glad you like it, and that the review was helpful. I'm still loving mine too