3-cell Love

sween1911

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Maybe it's from being a kid and having the big Energizer 3D lights near the back door and in the garage, then in the 90's when we bought ourselves 3D Maglites and were on top of the world, but I always liked 3-cell lights. These days with lithium ions and LED's, it's more an aesthetic thing since we don't need additional voltage to get high output, but I still treasure the longer lights and love the form factor.

Left to right, Malkoff Hound Dog 18650 on an MD3 body, Surefire M3, Olight M30.

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Hound Dog 18650: Running it with a single 18650 and a spacer in an MD3 body. I realize it's ridiculous to have the 3-cell body just to run an 18650 and a spacer, but it's leftover from running my original Hound Dog head with two 18500's. I scored the 18650 head, just have to get my hands on an MD2. Still, the body length reminds me of my Z3. I have a Surefire tailcap with a McClicky, a thick O-ring and an old spare rubber combat ring. Helps keep the light oriented in the hand. The original Malkoff tailcaps have the button a little too recessed for me. This light reminds me of reading the old Lagger-Pro website and drooling over the classic 3-cell D3, 9P, C3 Surefires equipped with the mythical SRTH turbohead.

Surefire M3: Got this treasured light in trade from firearms author, fellow USN member, and all-around tough guy Mike Searson. It came with the old school bezel and a GG&G T.I.D. and an eyebrow scorching high-output MN11. I've disassembled the bezel and it has a Nailbender low voltage XM-L2, McClicky tailcap, a 16650 and single-cell spacer. This bad boy pulls nightstand duty.

Olight M30: After handling one a friend of mine had, I knew I eventually wanted one of these. MC-E led still gets the job done, 3-modes are PWM-disco-tastic so I always leave it on high, but it's still versatile enough for whatever I throw at it. Since this guy is in my car 24/7, I keep three CR123's in it.
 
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bykfixer

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Yeah, in light bulb days 3 cells got you a brighter light.

These days everything is centered around smaller is better. But a 3 cell light is like a good golf club handle and that little bit of extra length tends to provide a sense of confidence smaller lights cannot provide. Whether it be C, D, or a 123 a 3 cell light just works. Perhaps it's a caveman instinct where they used to konk dinner over the head with a club, or as a lad while playing baseball that extra inch of length in a bat seemed to result in more RBI's... perhaps it's just imaginary. Regardless why a 3 cell flashlight was a great invention.
 
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sween1911

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I too still love my M30 Triton. It doesn't get as much use as it could, but it still does the job when I use it.

It's still a great light! Thanks for your reply. The original tailcap went south so I picked up the slimline version. Love being able to hit strobe from off by pressing the mode button.
 

archimedes

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I'll add comments about my favorite P60 host, SureFire C3 .... I like the modularity of these, with various Malkoff dropins, since a simple set of adapters permits 1x/2x/3x CR123A sized cells or 1x/2x AA sized cells
 

Modernflame

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@Archi

Is that a Turbo Head on the C3 in the second pic? I don't remember them being shaped quite that way, but it's been a long time for me.
 

bykfixer

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How 'bout a Pentagon X3?
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Elzetta lanyard ring and Olymus camera wrist lanyard. Twisty tail cap. Came with a clicky but I found a twisty for it. I put the bezel down clip on an eX2.

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LED or incan?
Lightknot had 6 drop ins made. He says about 700 lumens and I believe it. Or go back to oem and get about 105 lumens from a very throwy B-X3 module. (I found 12 for $10 ea and bought 'em all)
 
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TinderBox (UK)

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I preferred the feel/weight of the Mag 3D in my hand over the 2D, I bough a couple of 2C but i hate the feel of the soft reverse button so i never used them.

I bought some 3-18v PR drop-in`s but 2AA is just to low NiMh it does not light up and alkaline does not last long till it drops under 3 volts, So i have been using them in 3cell+ flashlights or an li-ion cell or two.

John.
 

sween1911

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Hey, interest! Cool! :) You guys think this should be in "General" or "Flashlight Collecting"? Open to mod's discretion if you wanna move this.

I still have 3D Mag's around the house. One in the wife's car, my daughter has a red one that was my dad's with a Mag PR drop-in, and a very special one given to me by Zanshin Lair of the USN. I have a PVC pipe in it with spacers and two 18650's running a Terralux triple XML I picked up from Vesture Of Blood. I'll hafta put up some pics of it.
 

Swedpat

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Interesting! When I read the title I thought you mean to use 3 cells. And when I think about it: how about an HD 18650 runned by 3AA? It should work good I think. Even 4AA is possible but then the length really would be too much...
 

bykfixer

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Dawg gonnit!! I wondered where it went.

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Got in the 3 C cell Kel-Lite from about 1972.
Puts out about 75 throwy lumens with a krypton. But with 2-18650's and a 5 cell xenon it's about double that.
 
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