What should I do with all of my old Maglites?

What should I do with all of my old Maglites? I have a bunch of full-size Maglites which are shelved/stored as emergency backups (since I have a bunch of new C/D batteries anyway). This includes 2 x 4-D, 2 x 3-D and 1 x 2-D. The 2D has some corroded Duracells in it although it still works fine (except I need to get the batteries out somehow). The 2 and 3 cell lights are around 7 years old. The oldest 4 cell is almost 20 years old, practically vintage.

I once drove over the oldest 4D with my F150. It's also water-tight enough that me and my friends used to throw it into a pool and dive for it for fun. They don't make them like that anymore. They all still work.

I considered the Malkoff drop-ins but for the price of those I can practically just buy new lights.

Are these worth anything for resale? Not sure that I would get much after having to ship these to someone.

I also considered just waiting until the Duracells in them inevitably leak and turning them in under warranty. The 2D is already in this situation even though the battery doesn't expire until 2018. I just hate to waste these beautiful lights despite their ancient technology.

As emergency backups, just buy a led bulb for $2.
It about 90 lm and it work great.

Years ago, I put Malkoff drop-ins in all my Mag bodies and never looked back.

Pull out the batteries and put in NiteIze modules for similar brightness with a ton more run time... and stash them about as 'just in case' flashlights.

Perhaps donating them to a Goodwill type deal will make somebody else happy. My son scours Goodwill stores in his travels for CD's, vhs tapes and flashlights... you may have "that one" somebody has been looking for.

Fill them full of cement and use them for doorstops? :devil:

Send them to me!!!

They aren't worth much more than the cost of shipping on the used market and just an FYI, if the batteries leak Mag Instrument will not repair or replace it as that is a specific clause in their warranty that voids it. The battery manufacturer may or may not help you out. A new LED Mag is cheaper than a Malkoff (~$40) but still more expensive than a Terralux (~$15) drop in. If you want to save money go for the Terralux. If you want the most awesome LED go with the Malkoff. The run time, heat sinking, tint and light output are second to none. Once you try one you'll see why they are worth the dough. For a good compromise buy a new LED Mag.

I have dozens of Mags I will never get rid of because stored without batteries they last forever. I may use them one day in an emergency or loan them out. They're great lights because they're very easy to work on if a switch goes too. Can't go wrong with one!

Watch to the end, some of them are really good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK7NbWqvB-k

I just watched this video on YT. Yeah, some of them I really like. Thanks!

Weld them into a chandelier, then install some nice soft white, 60w LED's and hardwire the electrical supply.

~ Chance

Hi Socal,

Here are a few ideas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK7NbWqvB-k

Hope this helps...

Maglite has a trade in program. You trade for similar lights at a discount. An old three D Mag and about $35 (depending) will get you a new ML300LX 2D or 3D. You pay to send your lights back to Maglite without batteries. They check it over, call you and ask for your CC info. They send you the new light with free shipping. Call them if you're interested and they'll explain it, tell you where to send the lights, and give you a breakdown of what they charge for the lights you're interested in.

Didn't know there was a trade-in-programm with Maglite. Do you know if thats only available in the US?

Regarding the old Maglites, you could also mod them as they are rather easy to mod with what emitter you want ;-).

If they're not worth much in the resell market, as others have said, should you want to get rid of them anyway, your best bet is probably to try to sell them all together as a lot. Again, that's assuming none of the lights are worth enough to justify the cost of shipping them individually. That said, a well worn Mag with the metal showing through the black paint just looks cool to me. I'd be tempted to replace the bulbs with LEDs if doing so didn't cost as much or more than buying a brand new (and usually brighter) light - at least based on the amazon prices I've seen for converting a Solitaire, which is the only Mag I still occasionally (rarely) use. So, I keep them around, kind of as décor, and for my sisters kids to play with when they visit, as they're still at that age where they love flashlights. It doesn't seem to matter to them how bright they are, and they can drop our old Mags as much as they want, well beyond 3 feet, with no worries, like when they're riding my shoulders or we're doing a hay ride at night. Though they're far more likely to lose them than drop them more than a foot or two at their height.

Trade in program is worth checking out.
The problem I have is my 3d is one of the earlier led models. 160 Lm but can't be upgraded.

I've ditched C and D cells and started using the adapters like these

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y133BJ7/?tag=cpf0b6-20

(got mine cheaper direct shipped from China off eBay years ago) using NiMH AAs and LED conversions

great for leaving by the front door. I have a pile of AAs charged up ready to go; I have an emergency flashlight if I come home and the power is out and for some reason I don't have my EDC on me, and a 4D Mag also has some decent heft when fully loaded just in case you have an unwelcome visitor.

I might be interested in the lot if you decide to go that route.

Donate the ones you don't want to the local boy/girl scouts.

Koam said:

Maglite has a trade in program. You trade for similar lights at a discount. An old three D Mag and about $35 (depending) will get you a new ML300LX 2D or 3D. You pay to send your lights back to Maglite without batteries. They check it over, call you and ask for your CC info. They send you the new light with free shipping. Call them if you're interested and they'll explain it, tell you where to send the lights, and give you a breakdown of what they charge for the lights you're interested in.

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rayman said:

Didn't know there was a trade-in-programm with Maglite. Do you know if thats only available in the US?

Regarding the old Maglites, you could also mod them as they are rather easy to mod with what emitter you want ;-).

Click to expand...

Bdm82 said:

Trade in program is worth checking out.
The problem I have is my 3d is one of the earlier led models. 160 Lm but can't be upgraded.

Click to expand...

I live close to Maglite HQ in Ontario, CA. I called them up a few weeks back about the trade-in program. Basically, if you trade-in any full-size Maglite, you can buy one of their current full-size Maglites for 50% off. I asked about the ML300LX (3D version) as an example. The MSRP is $73.50 and I was quoted $37 + tax. However, on Amazon, you can buy that same light for $47. So, the trade-in is really only worth $10 in that scenario.

For now, I've decided to hold onto them for display and I've removed batteries from all of them since they are massively overpowered by even my cheap Chinese LED lights.

I may decide to do a drop-in replacement down the line but it's kind of hard to justify (other than the cool factor of the Maglite body) when I can just buy a brand new 2000 lumen light for almost the same price as the more expensive drop-ins. I recently scored and got a crazy price on a couple Nitecore EA81s.

For most people that's going to be the best bet as the cost is hard to justify. I will say that Mags still do have a place though. They are very difficult to lose because of their size, very durable and the run time is crazy good. I had some AAs that would roll around in my truck and I lost most of them or they got destroyed or I was constantly going through batteries. Same thing camping, I'd set one down in the grass and poof it was gone. Now don't get me wrong not everyone wants to carry a 3D around everyday either though. I carry a Malkoff'd 3D for work every day and I love it although I do tend to carry a Malkoff'd Surefire 6P a lot now lately too since I picked it up because of it's size.

LiftdT4R said:

For most people that's going to be the best bet as the cost is hard to justify. I will say that Mags still do have a place though. They are very difficult to lose because of their size, very durable and the run time is crazy good. I had some AAs that would roll around in my truck and I lost most of them or they got destroyed or I was constantly going through batteries. Same thing camping, I'd set one down in the grass and poof it was gone. Now don't get me wrong not everyone wants to carry a 3D around everyday either though. I carry a Malkoff'd 3D for work every day and I love it although I do tend to carry a Malkoff'd Surefire 6P a lot now lately too since I picked it up because of it's size.

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Yeah, I agree. I'd love to continue using the Mags but they just seem so "last century". My 3D and 2D Mags are colored too, so they'd be even harder to lose. For now, they are just something really nice to look at.

Fortunately, I'm replacing them with Nitecore EA81s for now and those are relatively big. Although... the black color could still blend into the darkness a lot more than my metallic red Mag.