Comparison: Maglight vs. Pelican AAA LED lights

[Roamer]

I'm replacing some older flashlights and decided to try these small new LED lights from Pelican and Maglight. Both use 2 AAA batteries. I'm more partial to the AA size, but the small size and decent power of these two lights won me over.

Anyway, here they are, Pelican 1920 on top and Maglight on the bottom. SAK Trekker shown for size comparison:



The Pelican is made in China and the Maglight in USA. Visually, the Pelican obviously has more tacticool appeal, in my opinion. The Maglight looks like, well, a Maglight.

Some initial observations:
-- Pocket clips: The Pelican's is far better, seems to be permanently attached. The Maglight clip slips over the flashlight barrel - and I'm certain it won't stay there under any serious load.
-- Switching: Pelican is operated by pushbutton on the end of the barrel; it allows momentary activation by partially depressing the button, which may be useful for signaling, etc. The Maglight operates like all Maglights: You rotate the flashlight head.
-- Lanyard: Maglight has a small lanyard hole on the end of the barrel, no lanyard included. Pelican has no lanyard hole.
-- Adjustability: Like all Maglights, this one has limited focusing function, from wide- to pencil-beam. The effect is not as good as with the old incandescent Maglights. You can also remove the head to use the LED as an area light, which seems to work well. The Pelican offers neither.
-- Size: The Maglight is smaller in every dimension and also feels lighter (I didn't weigh them). The Pelican feels more substantial
-- Cost: I paid $17.95 for the Maglight (full price at REI) and $24.95 for the Pelican (on sale at a local electronics shop, normal price, I think, was $29.95).

Here's a look at the packaging and the advertised specs. Interestingly, the cheaper and plainer Maglight has much hotter specs and WAY better battery life: 5 hrs, 45 min. versus 2 hrs., 45 mins for the Pelican. These are the advertised burn times, so I'll have to see what happens in real life.



And here's a look at the beam patterns. This was shot on my garage wall at night, with the lights about 6' from the wall and 3' apart. The Maglight is on the right, focused to provide the narrowest beam:



To me, the Maglight beam looks hotter and more well-defined.

In short, if I was to buy another, it would be another Maglight. For less money, you get a better beam with useful options and way better (advertised) battery life. And on top of that, it's made in USA.

[dead short]

I bought the similar AA LED Minimag at Lowes on Black Friday. $9 and change. Has the standard twist on/off, but has a four way switch. High/low/flash/SOS function.

Probably, by far, the best $9 I have ever spent on a flashlight.

[Bouncer871]

I carry a Streamlight Stylus Pro and I love it. I may check out that Pelican. I like the tail cap switch on those size lights. Never been a fan of the mini-mag lights. Love full size Mags just not the mini.

[RABCarver]

I carry the Mag-Lite XL50.

http://www.maglite.com/maglite_xl50_led.asp

It's a great light, competes with the best tac lights (surefire/streamlight).
Here is mine:

[cobra]

I definitely love the Mag XL-50 - got mine for 30 bucks at REI, which means it's probably cheaper elsewhere. Regardless, it's a great light...but I recently switched to the Coleman MAX series of flashlights sold at Wal-Mart - I got a 200 lumen (2 AA) and 500 lumen (6 AA) for about 26 bucks apiece (the 500 lumen was priced wrong, supposed to be 50 bucks) - they both have push buttons with dual settings (full power/half power). Also, the advertised runtime for them is pretty boss, I've run them both for ~6 hrs in the high position and the light never wavered.

I'm not affiliated with Coleman, but - as with most everything they sell - their flashlights are outstanding products.

-Jeremy

[mct453]

I dig the new US made led mag lights.Got two d cell threeAA and three AAA scattered thru vehicles and house.I also still have several of the incodesent as well.Glad maglite chose tostep it up in the led department and be competitive with a good ol American made product.Also their prices always seem to be less when compared to similar products by other manufacturers.I am a fan.Lots of led upgrades available for the older ones too.The little AAA is my favorite.

[bushwolf]

I have the Maglite XL50, and use it all the time too.
Great light, its just as good as my Surefires at a fraction of the price, and runs on regular AAAs.

I'm glad to see that Maglite has gotten the bugs out of the LED twist head series, some of the early ones had issues with the 4 mode switch.

Looks like you've found yourself a nice new EDC light.

[ratamahatta]

I've been using the xl 50 for over a year now. I streamlined all my edc lights and headlamp to AAA batteries so that I just have to carry one size, don't regret it for one minute.