# Maglite Solitaire - Incandescent - Do you still use them?



## N_N_R

For some reason during the past week I've wanted to buy one of these old Solitaires... however, I don't want to spend my money on something as useless as this, but I do feel kinda nostalgic, lol. I used to have one for a short period of time, but the LEDs are of course so much better. I wonder if I'll be disappointed again if I buy one Maglite now or I'll like it, knowing I can't expect much from it.

So, do you still use your old Solitaires? If you post pictures, it would be great!


----------



## StarHalo

"Flashaholic" and "stock Solitaire" don't go together in the same sentence. The notably smaller Klarus MiX5, with uses the even-smaller AAAA battery size, is _five times_ brighter..


----------



## Colonel Sanders

Hmmm....I once gave a pink one to my then three year old daughter...but she soon preferred my Zebra SC30 so I gave her one of those as well. Haven't seen that dim little pink light in a few years now.  :candle:


----------



## StorminMatt

I can't say if you would be satisfied with an incandescent Solitaire. After all, the average match is bright by comparison. i would say that, if you want one for sentimental reasons, go ahead and buy one. They're not particularly expensive. But unless you are one of those folks who actually like moonlight modes, you might not find it to be the most useful light out there.


----------



## N_N_R

Lol, comparing it to moonlight mode sounds about right 

Well, yes, I like their appearance for some reason... I'll think a bit and decide if to spend my money on one or get just another Fenix E01. I've had an E01 before and then sold it.


----------



## Swedpat

Solitaire was my very first keychain light. I bought it around 1997-98 in my early flashoholism. I wanted quality flashlights instead of plastic 4AA and 4D lanterns: 6D, 2D, MiniMaglite 2AA and finally I got also Solitaire(All in black because swedish dealers usually sold only black Maglites). I used it a lot and remember it became worned. Don't know if I still have it somewhere. However I remember I was impressed by the brightness from such a small light, but yes; the runtime was very short and the brightness very fast declined... If I find it at a low price and a nice color, it may happen I buy it again, just for fun to compare to Fenix LD01...


----------



## PCC

StarHalo said:


> "Flashaholic" and "stock Solitaire" don't go together in the same sentence. The notably smaller Klarus MiX5, with uses the even-smaller AAAA battery size, is _five times_ brighter..


Yes, five times brighter and should last at least five times longer as well!

I recently dug up an old, well worn Solitaire in a former coworker's desk at work. Luckily there wasn't an alkaleak in it. I had crazy ideas to modernize it, but, finding a suitable driver that would fit that small diameter tube proved to be extremely difficult. It's now been modified into a spare AAA carrier, which is about as good as it's going to get from this thing.


----------



## StarHalo

There are just so many more awesome options in that format though; the Illuminati comes to mind, same size as the Solitaire but with 130+ lumens.

And just reiterating the insane size of the Klarus MiX5..


----------



## mcnair55

I imagine you will be so disappointed,they really are terrible and i am surprised you do not find them as a tatty gift in a Christmas cracker.


----------



## N_N_R

Oh, well. I guess I just need a cheap crappy keychain flashlight to use for a while... so that I convince myself and others that I need to spend MORE money on yet another proper light. Lol.


----------



## Boko

There are times when having a very dim yellow light is just what you want. I'm thinking of around the house, operating the remote control when watching tv in the dark or just finding the keyhole when you get home. The Solitaire is perfect for that. The Fenix E01 can be a bit too bright in the house and moonlight modes in more versatile torches are usually a bit of a faff to find. If you use rechargeables battery life isn't an issue.
Three cheers for the incandescent Solitaire, then!

Paul


----------



## StarHalo

Boko said:


> There are times when having a very dim yellow light is just what you want.



The above mentioned lights have modes, and can be turned down to 2 lumens, about as bright as the Solitaire with a worn battery.


----------



## mcnair55

Boko said:


> There are times when having a very dim yellow light is just what you want. I'm thinking of around the house, operating the remote control when watching tv in the dark or just finding the keyhole when you get home. The Solitaire is perfect for that. The Fenix E01 can be a bit too bright in the house and moonlight modes in more versatile torches are usually a bit of a faff to find. If you use rechargeables battery life isn't an issue.
> Three cheers for the incandescent Solitaire, then!
> 
> Paul



Plenty of decent kit with super low lumens, no need to waste money on a museum exhibit like the baby Mag.


----------



## StorminMatt

mcnair55 said:


> Plenty of decent kit with super low lumens, no need to waste money on a museum exhibit like the baby Mag.



This is true about a good many lights. BUT, an incandescent Solitaire can still have its advantages. First of all, it has only two settings - off and, well, almost off. This is unlike more modern multimode lights, where you may have to find moonlight modes or go through brighter modes first. The advantage here is that night vision is better preserved. Secondly, a Solitaire can go places that more expensive lights can't. Who wants to ding up their nice, new SC52? But a Solitaire that costs less than $10? Not such a big deal.


----------



## N_N_R

Yeah, working with the remote at night and using the Solitaire when a seemingly low mode looks TOOMUCH is a good idea  I also thought of the fact that hardly any lights start on Moonlight for this use and you have to go through modes to use it for such a simple thing as seeing the remote keys. And having rechargeables also makes the battery life problem much easier... 

I'll see, the fact that the more I search online, the cheaper I find them, also tempts me.. Eventually, I may use the body as a nice pill tube as someone pointed out


----------



## AnAppleSnail

I put a low-voltage red LED in a Solitaire along with an energizer Lithium AAA. I didn't take pictures (Couldn't take pictures) of the dim glow that resulted.

There is an impressive lux-to-lumen ratio in a stock Mag Lite Solitaire. Of course, anything-to-2 can be a high ratio...


----------



## El Camino

I found that my incan Solitaire has been quite useful for middle of the night bathroom trips. I was using an led, but the warm glow of the incan light is easier on my eyes and turning it on is silent. Considering that my eyes are more night-adjusted, I can see pretty well with it. Plus I can hold it in my mouth like a cigarette if I need to.

I use the LED Solitaire as a backup EDC, and it is plenty bright for that.


----------



## StorminMatt

Another thing that a Solitaire is useful for is nighttime photography. You don't exactly want an XM-L triple to do such things as check camera settings, mount lenses, or insert memory cards. Those two (or so) lumens are just what you need when looking at a camera up close in pitch darkness.


----------



## StorminMatt

Speaking of Solitaires, I actually saw them yesterday at Target for $5.39. I haven't had a Solitaire in YEARS. After all this talk, I decided 'what the heck' and picked one up. I have to admit that it is a rather attractive light, especially in blue. If only better 1xAAA lights could have the same nice, clean lines! My Tank007 E09 is an ugly duckling by comparison. On the other hand, light output is as low as everyone says. Two lumens just isn't very much, after all. A quick ceiling bounce test revealed that a match truly DOES have the edge.


----------



## N_N_R

Haha, thanks for the picture ) I also like the looks of it a lot. I mean, something simple and sleek. Not so tactical-looking. I've had like 6-7 Fenix lights and I guess I'm tired of their tacticoolness... It would be cool to compare a regular Solitaire to my Oligh i3S, lol. 

Or I might just try to find the LED version around here or wait for a chance to order from abroad..


----------



## GotMak

AnAppleSnail said:


> I put a low-voltage red LED in a Solitaire along with an energizer Lithium AAA. I didn't take pictures (Couldn't take pictures) of the dim glow that resulted.
> 
> There is an impressive lux-to-lumen ratio in a stock Mag Lite Solitaire. Of course, anything-to-2 can be a high ratio...



Funny you should mention this, because that's exactly what I'm considering doing - a straight swap of the incan bulb for a 1.5v red LED like these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/10x-Red-LED...ee-Shipping-Ships-Same-Next-Day-/141032666581

I want a light to use that won't mess up my night vision, or disturb others, like when you drop something or need to rummage in your EDC kit in a movie theater, etc. I already carry a StreamLight Nano, but that's way too bright for some applications. Sometimes you just want to fly under the radar...

How practical was that in your estimation?


----------



## bladerunner

The original low lumen light. Way ahead of it's time! I just found mine about a week ago and went through it. Did everything I could and it is dim/yellow/pitiful. It works, but I can't EDC or even loan it to someone. I really do like maglites, but not this one.


----------



## Mr Floppy

GotMak said:


> Funny you should mention this, because that's exactly what I'm considering doing - a straight swap of the incan bulb for a 1.5v red LED like these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/10x-Red-LED...ee-Shipping-Ships-Same-Next-Day-/141032666581



You will need to widen the reflector hole with a 5mm LED. Search for Agilent or Everlight 3mm 45 degrees LED. Minimum forward voltage is 1.5V which gets around 10mA to the LED. You get about 20mA at 1.9V but I actually run one using two 1/2 AAA NiMH batteries. It's probably a bit too bright on two 1/2 AAA's. 

I also have a 3mm warm white flat top scavenged from some Christmas lights and 3x 1/3 AAA NiMH. No specs on it but it ran with just 2 1/2 AAA's albeit not that bright.


----------



## GotMak

Mr Floppy said:


> You will need to widen the reflector hole with a 5mm LED. Search for Agilent or Everlight 3mm 45 degrees LED. Minimum forward voltage is 1.5V which gets around 10mA to the LED. You get about 20mA at 1.9V but I actually run one using two 1/2 AAA NiMH batteries. It's probably a bit too bright on two 1/2 AAA's.
> 
> I also have a 3mm warm white flat top scavenged from some Christmas lights and 3x 1/3 AAA NiMH. No specs on it but it ran with just 2 1/2 AAA's albeit not that bright.



How did the 1.5 v LED do on just the standard AAA battery? I'm trying to avoid going with anything more exotic than a AAA for this.


----------



## Dark Laser

@GotMak:
Not exactly what you were searching for, but I think this Solitaire mod is worth mentioning: Link
It can go lower in output; and even though I am not sure this driver will work for a red LED (since it is boost), I am confident that there are suitable drivers too.


----------



## Lynx_Arc

I once thought my decommissioned solitaire would be good to put matches in and would end up more useful in the amount of light put out by them


----------



## ampdude

I still use Solitaires. They are a nice stealthy light that doesn't light up the entire room when you don't need or want it to. Everyone knows they are not meant to be pocket rockets.


----------



## Mr Floppy

GotMak said:


> How did the 1.5 v LED do on just the standard AAA battery? I'm trying to avoid going with anything more exotic than a AAA for this.



It's OK but once the AAA drops under 1.5V, it will become a faint glow until, well pretty much no light really. Really, if you want to use a standard battery, you need an infrared LED, forward voltage is about 1.25V but that will depend on what you get (e.g. out of your old TV remote). Output will probably be enough for you to take "night" images from some digital/web cameras at close range.


----------



## leon2245

I cringe every time I see an incan solitaire thread, because I know what's coming when someone mentions they occasionally enjoy using one for whatever reason. Strict zero tolerance policy on solitaire appreciation!


----------



## Monocrom

leon2245 said:


> I cringe every time I see an incan solitaire thread, because I know what's coming when someone mentions they occasionally enjoy using one for whatever reason. Strict zero tolerance policy on solitaire appreciation!



What's to appreciate? Honestly, a lit kitchen-match puts out more output than a [email protected] Solitaire.... literally.


----------



## StarHalo

leon2245 said:


> Strict zero tolerance policy on solitaire appreciation!



Wouldn't it be cheaper to manufacture with a 5mm LED in the head? One of those sunk into a Gerber Ultra-esque metal guard/reflector would fix everything..


----------



## ampdude

They already make an LED Solitaire for awhile now. And people have inserted 3mm LEDs and run them direct drive. But why are we talking about LED's?


----------



## N_N_R

I'm more and more thinking of buying an incandescent one. 

I find the moonlight mode of my i3s useful when at night I need to change the TV channel or look at sth not wanting to disturb the other people in the room. However, it's accessible only after twisting through the the other modes twice and I have to either cover them with my hand or going to the moonlight mode would be pointless. 

And right now I don't really want to spend money on sth more expensive. 

I've been hesitating a lot whether not to buy the LED version, but they aren't sold in my country yet.... and recently I've had two purchases of US products from amazon and had trouble with both of them. So... right now I'm not that happy about another online purchase from abroad.

I even thought of buying an incandescent one and then buying also LEDs and upgrade it, but I've seen on YT vids that once you do this upgrade yourself, the head doesn't lie flat to where it's supposed to be i.e. it doesn't look that good.


----------



## ampdude

The incan ones are a pretty high quality USA made light for the $5 they charge. Only real downside of the Solitaire is the low output, but when you take that into consideration you realize they really are a nice little light that can accomplish a lot of tasks. Do you really always need a ton of light? Definitely not. Especially not when you are trying to be stealthy or not wake someone up or preserve your night vision to some extent. I think everyone should own at least a couple just for the fact that there aren't many other lights like them out there, especially not for the price/quality ratio the Solitaire has.


----------



## leon2245

N_N_R said:


> I'm more and more thinking of buying an incandescent one.
> 
> I find the moonlight mode of my i3s useful when at night I need to change the TV channel or look at sth not wanting to disturb the other people in the room. However, it's accessible only after twisting through the the other modes twice and I have to either cover them with my hand or going to the moonlight mode would be pointless.
> 
> And right now I don't really want to spend money on sth more expensive.
> 
> I've been hesitating a lot whether not to buy the LED version, but they aren't sold in my country yet.... and recently I've had two purchases of US products from amazon and had trouble with both of them. So... right now I'm not that happy about another online purchase from abroad.
> 
> I even thought of buying an incandescent one and then buying also LEDs and upgrade it, but I've seen on YT vids that once you do this upgrade yourself, the head doesn't lie flat to where it's supposed to be i.e. it doesn't look that good.



Although I get a kick out of those who can't stand anyone liking _anything_ about the incan solitaire, even for $5 you still might be better off with one of those cheap flat keychain ultra low led's (forget the name) if a single mode e01 or something is too bright. Or something else that comes on low first. But yeah I don't like cycling through modes either. And sounds like the new led solitaire might be too bright for you, like an e05.

But if you want super dim and don't mind heavy beam artifacts that seem worse because of its lack of output, it's cheap enough to try for that purpose. I don't use it much, just appreciate that it's one of those rare tighten for off twisties, single mode, incan, made in usa etc. Just remains kind of a faux pas around here, to use under any circumstances for some reason.


----------



## kmacas

There are some leds on ebay that you can fit to Maglite Solitaire:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/15-3-lumens...7455539?pt=US_Flashlights&hash=item19e80ea233


----------



## PCC

N_N_R said:


> I'm more and more thinking of buying an incandescent one.
> 
> I find the moonlight mode of my i3s useful when at night I need to change the TV channel or look at sth not wanting to disturb the other people in the room. However, it's accessible only after twisting through the the other modes twice and I have to either cover them with my hand or going to the moonlight mode would be pointless.
> 
> And right now I don't really want to spend money on sth more expensive.


The ThruNite Ti was offered in a version that was twist for moonlight then twist some more for high. Some of us have modified ours by placing a small bit of non conducting material between the low and high contacts to allow only low mode. If you could use something like this then PM me and I'll give you mine. Mind you, mine was the subject of a torture test so it's all beat up and it cannot go to high mode at all because someone took it apart and disabled that function before I got it.


----------



## Monocrom

ampdude said:


> They already make an LED Solitaire for awhile now. And people have inserted 3mm LEDs and run them direct drive. But why are we talking about LED's?



Excellent point. It's the Incandescent forum.

There have been some truly wonderful lights over the years that functioned off of inca. bulbs. But the stock Solitaire definitely is not one of them.


----------



## TEM53

I purchased a lower powered module from this seller and was very satisfied with the results. It was a big improvement over the incandescent bulb and was a drop-in replacement. (In reference to the post from kmacas.)


----------



## N_N_R

Oh, s***, I may just try my luck and order the LED version..... but where does my low mode go. lol.


----------



## lefteye219

I bought one over a year ago and it hasn't left my keychain since. I know we have better options but i picked one up for less than 4 bucks.. It has been helpful number of times for picking fallen coins in my car or finding keyhole when I get home. Heck it is even useful when I get up at night want a low light without disturbing others. 
I may move on to veleno design quantum d2 now. but that light had served me very well.


----------



## N_N_R

So, eventually, I did end up buying both the incandescent and the LED versions  When you don't know which one to buy, buy both - problem solved


----------



## Fireclaw18

Got my Solitaire around 1990. Back then LED flashlights pretty much didn't exist, exist for a few very rare lights, which used red LEDs.

Even back then, I pretty quickly concluded that the 2-lumen output was useless. In spot mode it was just light enough to see the keyhole in a door 3 feet away. The flood mode, produced an extremely dim "donut" of light with no hotspot and was completely worthless.

I loved the size and shape of the Solitaire, but usually carried around a 2xAAA minimag instead. Bigger, but way more useful.


----------



## Hallis

I see no use for an Incan solitaire other than nostalgia and "2nd type of cool" as Nutnfancy would put it. And honestly those are 100% perfectly viable reasons. You like what you like. I've got a little 2aa Pelican Mighty-Lite in my drawer here. input is fairly horrible but it was a gift from a friend and fellow CPF flashaholic so i'll never get rid of it for the same reasons. 

But functionality wise the solitaire incan is garbage. I haven't used a solitaire in a very long time. probably going on 15 years now. There are just better alternatives for similar or just slightly more money.


----------



## Lynx_Arc

Hallis said:


> I see no use for an Incan solitaire other than nostalgia and "2nd type of cool" as Nutnfancy would put it. And honestly those are 100% perfectly viable reasons. You like what you like. I've got a little 2aa Pelican Mighty-Lite in my drawer here. input is fairly horrible but it was a gift from a friend and fellow CPF flashaholic so i'll never get rid of it for the same reasons.
> 
> But functionality wise the solitaire incan is garbage. I haven't used a solitaire in a very long time. probably going on 15 years now. There are just better alternatives for similar or just slightly more money.


I took a 2AAA mightylite and a $3 2AAA LED light I bought on ebay and transplanted the module from it and now have an LED mightylite that is better but still a little clunky. I quit using it long ago because when I got it there was only alkalines and it ate a pair every 2 hours or so runtime. I love the plastic type lights but they got rather expensive. They need to make a 2 stage 2AAA plastic light with a 120 lumen/ 12 lumen output version but the heat probably wouldn't work on the 120 for long enough.


----------



## JedSmith

I've got one of these 'around somewhere' that I bought years ago. Though I don't know where it is at the moment, I do recall trying that particular one out a few years ago (pre flashaholic) and not being very impressed. 
My L3 Illumination L10 lights (have them in 3 and in 4 mode) offer a CRI 92 twisty light that starts out in .09lumens or 3 lumens - depending on what version you buy. The beam is far superior to the incan solitaire and you have access to higher modes going up to 120 lumens. Its a 1xAA light but still keychain size.

Despite this, I'll still likely pick up a solitaire incan if I don't find my light. Its very cheap and well made. And besides, I like incans.


----------



## ragweed

The incan solitaire is crap. It does have its uses for inspecting things without blinding you with reflection. Thats why I keep mine.


----------



## Mr Floppy

I have never bought a solitaire as I usually acquire them for free from somewhere. They are usually added on with some other product, such as in a gift set. I have noticed that they aren't being given away like they used to though. Seeing more generic LED AAA's being bundled in the gift set.


----------



## LanthanumK

"The *MagLite Solitaire Single Cell AAA Incandescent Flashlights* feature a Linear-Focusing adjustable beam that twists from an intense spot to a brilliant flood with a turn of the head assembly."

I wonder who wrote that description.


----------



## Swedpat

LanthanumK said:


> "The *MagLite Solitaire Single Cell AAA Incandescent Flashlights* feature a Linear-Focusing adjustable beam that twists from an intense spot to a brilliant flood with a turn of the head assembly."
> 
> I wonder who wrote that description.



Whatever who wrote it. According to the description Solitaire must be a clearly underrated light! :laughing:


----------



## ven

I bought a silver one many years back for a key chain,i can put my hand on heart and say its beyond useless..............

Its crap at best,horrible focus of a ugly spot/beam or what ever it is(just swirls all over).

I would recommend one for reading a book at night(like a moon light mode) providing the page had less than 30 words on it as the battery would go:laughing:

Now i dont like to come across too negative so + points,when the bulb goes after a couple of minutes :laughing: you have a spare in tail cap........

Its still working now,scarred,battered,jangled with keys for ages,dropped,thrown and now somewhere in a draw..........so it lasts thats for sure!!

To upgrade to led is pointless imho(unless you love the light of course) as the cost is more than a decent AAA light to start with.........


----------



## mcnair55

I just put two AA,s into a shelf queen and switched it on,what a pile of pony poo,really makes me laugh how they still sell them.


----------



## vicv

Bought three of them a couple years ago in three different colours for my kids. They play with them in the bath tub. Run them on envelops. They liked them till I let them play with my light instead. Want to try to find a 3v bi pin that will fit in there and run it on a 10440


----------



## ampdude

mcnair55 said:


> I just put two AA,s into a shelf queen and switched it on,what a pile of pony poo,really makes me laugh how they still sell them.



That's almost as funny as the fact you've never seen one in use until now. Your post count and age would seem to indicate that you've used or seen flashlights in use before, so you should be familiar with the output of a two AA battery incandescent flashlight.


----------



## ampdude

ragweed said:


> The incan solitaire is crap. It does have its uses for inspecting things without blinding you with reflection. Thats why I keep mine.



Yep, that's exactly why I have mine. It's a nice little high quality incognito light for certain situations.


----------



## flashfan

I had a Solitaire eons ago, when Gaglite was king of the flashlight world. Also purchased some as gifts (what was I thinking?!?). Don't remember how it performed, nor what happened to it.

When you don't want to ruin your night vision, my choice would be the Photon Freedom (covert version if glare/reflections are a concern). Actually, I prefer the Photon Rex, but that's no longer available... Yes, I realize this is an incan forum, but for utility and preserving night vision _easily_, it's a winner.

The Freedom and Rex run the same way. Click the light on for max bright, OR press and hold to turn the light on at its dimmest setting. If you continue to hold the button, it will gradually increase in brightness and "blink" when it reaches full brightness. Can't get any easier than that to reach your desired level of light. The light has different strobe levels, too, but I never use those.

Flashlight snobs like us probably turn our noses up at the Photon Freedom, but I think it really deserves more recognition than it gets.


----------



## Conte

I have one. I don't think I've ever used it for any practical purpose.

I actually just happened across it the other day while looking thru' my collection.
It fired right up, which surprised me as it was loaded with a NIMH AAA Cell that I put in there years ago and haven't charged since.


----------



## magellan

I have many Maglite and other incans that I've bought or collected over the years but have only had one Solitaire and that was decades ago. It served as a keychain light mainly for helping me find the keyhole of my old apartment late at night instead of fumbling around in the dark and for that it was fine. But these days my EDC is an LED type usually with at least a 300 lumen max output and a medium and low power mode when I need to preserve my night vision. The little Solitaire also worked pretty well as a short Yawara stick although fortunately I never had to use it in that capacity.


----------



## ven

Mine in the 2nd best place after the bin


----------



## YBCold

i dont, i still keep the one in my sheath with my swiss army knife but it doesnt get used. the other two i have are now stash containers


----------



## jabe1

I own one, never use it; waste of batteries.

If, for some reason, all of my other AAA lights vanish or die, and I am desperate for a AAA light, I may use it. Unless, of course, there is a store open which may have something else for sale....


----------



## Capitalistpig

Had one back in the 80's---came free when you bought a 2-pack of Camel smokes and had the Camel logo on the side----carried it on the keychain for awhile till I got on a lightening the EDC load kick and it was one of the first useless items to go.

I think its out in the garage somewhere but don't recall actually seeing it for 5 or 6 years


----------



## Timothybil

Back in the day I had a Solitaire. As far as I am concerned the best feature was the fact that you could unscrew the head, turn it around and slide the body into it, and use the light as a small candle. My ex-wife's church always does the candle thing at the end of the Christmas Eve service. When my nephew was at that small, grabby stage he wanted a light candle to hold. I whipped out my Solitaire and unscrewed the head and let him hold that. He was so happy and proud that he had a candle and that no one else had one like his. I had a hard time getting it back from his!. Later, one of my sister-in-law's mother was admiring it on my keychain, so I took it off and gave it to her. She was tickled pink that I would do that. I had discovered Photon IIs by that time so it was no big thing on my part. Still, it was a nice little light, and a good EDC for its time.


----------



## N_N_R

Ok, as it was me who opened that topic, it's time for an update 

Contrary to popular belief, yes, there's good use for this old crappy thing and I've been using it almost all the time since I bought it  It's indeed very helpful at night as a one-mode, low-mode light. It's plenty for at night, when I'm in the bed in total darkness and want to find my water bottle or the TV remote.

- one mode (no confusion)
- low mode comes first always and is LOW (no blinding)
- inexpensive - for the use that I have for it, I don't need a high-tech waterproof, damage proof, everything proof light
- lightweight - I often attach it to a lanyard on my neck at night, so that I always know where to find it when I toss & turn on the bed
- surprisingly reliable (vs. its modern crappy, flickering, cheap and awful LED Solitaire)


----------



## WalkIntoTheLight

It really is a crappy light. But before I got some decent LED lights that have a moonlight mode, I did use it for the purpose of getting up in the night and not ruining my night vision. It seemed like a much better/brighter light 20 years ago. I still have it, but will probably never use it again. Even the worst LED lights today are much better than it.


----------



## bshanahan14rulz

My main complaint now about the Solitaire is that it's too bright for a keychain light! I gather we're still talking about the incan one in this thread since a price of ~$6 was mentioned, so I imagine stores maybe still have both versions in stock and are clearancing the incans? I was gifted the LED one, and it's been very handy to have when I am running or something and don't want a heavy flashlight pulling my pants down


----------



## N_N_R

Yeah, the topic is the incan one  I also bought the LED later, but it's been so unreliable that I thought the incan was 100 times better. A meager amount of light coming out in the dark is better than no light at all...


----------



## bshanahan14rulz

I've noticed too, apparently the switching contact point is collecting buildup, but you can't really get to that part to clean it without maybe breaking something. It's too bad, because if it were more reliable, it would be a great light. Still, not bad for a first version.

I've also noticed it may have a low battery cutoff, wish I'd actually metered the cell, but it was a cheapo heavy duty AAA (lol), and consistently, the solitaire would shut off ~1s after turning on.

For a while, a common mod was to simply insert 3mm white LED. Wonder if any of the big names makes a higher output 3mm white LED now, what with efficiency advances and such...


----------



## WalkIntoTheLight

bshanahan14rulz said:


> I've also noticed it may have a low battery cutoff, wish I'd actually metered the cell, but it was a cheapo heavy duty AAA (lol), and consistently, the solitaire would shut off ~1s after turning on.



Do incandescents have a cutoff voltage? I always thought they'd continue to glow as the voltage and current dropped, until they were so dim you couldn't see them, or perhaps were glowing only in faint infrared light. Aren't incandescent bulbs just simple resistors?

Maybe this was the case of a depleted battery that would be able to supply a modest current for a second, before it dropped to a very small trickle under load.


----------



## AnAppleSnail

WalkIntoTheLight said:


> Do incandescents have a cutoff voltage? I always thought they'd continue to glow as the voltage and current dropped, until they were so dim you couldn't see them, or perhaps were glowing only in faint infrared light. Aren't incandescent bulbs just simple resistors?
> 
> Maybe this was the case of a depleted battery that would be able to supply a modest current for a second, before it dropped to a very small trickle under load.



Well, in theory the output of a filament is related the the fourth power of voltage, so in theory an ideal cell would gracefully droop in output. Let's calculate!
The bulb is rated at 1.2v. Once you go from 1.2v to 1.0v, for example, the light output drops from (Say) 5 lumens to 2.5 lumens. 0.8v (A dead cell) would give 1 lumens. 0.6v, about a third of a lumen. If a voltage source delivered X voltage, we could predict Y output, roughly speaking.
V Lumens
1.2 5.0
1.0 2.4
0.8 1.0
0.6 0.3

In practice, AAAs at such high current draw, especially alkaleaks, tend to drop their output voltage quickly. So we are seeing not just a low voltage (See table above), but a fast-dropping voltage. Once the AAAs output voltage falls (from exhausted chemistry, etc) the output drops much faster.


----------



## Swedpat

AnAppleSnail said:


> Well, in theory the output of a filament is related the the fourth power of voltage, so in theory an ideal cell would gracefully droop in output. Let's calculate!
> The bulb is rated at 1.2v. Once you go from 1.2v to 1.0v, for example, the light output drops from (Say) 5 lumens to 2.5 lumens. 0.8v (A dead cell) would give 1 lumens. 0.6v, about a third of a lumen. If a voltage source delivered X voltage, we could predict Y output, roughly speaking.
> V Lumens
> 1.2 5.0
> 1.0 2.4
> 0.8 1.0
> 0.6 0.3
> 
> In practice, AAAs at such high current draw, especially alkaleaks, tend to drop their output voltage quickly. So we are seeing not just a low voltage (See table above), but a fast-dropping voltage. Once the AAAs output voltage falls (from exhausted chemistry, etc) the output drops much faster.



I think one main reason is that while brightness of LEDs is pretty linear to voltage the brightness of incandescents is not. I compared the brightness of my MagCharger between the 6V(5x1,2V 1/2D-cell) and 3xD 1,2V NiMH. With 3D cells (3,6V) the brightness was 1/6 as it was with 6V battery.


----------



## jcvjcvjcvjcv

No, I lost mine :mecry:

Never bothered to buy a new one. Some time later, when I was sick of the long 2AA maglite on my belt I bought a Fenix L1T.


----------



## NoNotAgain

Got two of them on my Swiss Army knife Swiss Champ kits. 
A friend carried one on us keychain for years till one day he broke the small ring off the body. 
I purchased a Led Lenser P3AFS for him and never looked back. 
Guess I'm going to have to look at the Klaris light to fill the Swiss Champ sheath hole.


----------



## js

The Solitaire, like Maglites in general, definitely has a problem with contact resistance buildup in the light. Years ago I noticed that when a mini-mag or other mag was new, I was reasonably pleased with it, but then, after a while, even with new batteries and a new bulb, it just didn't seem as good. When I got my first "real" light--Arc AAA--and joined this forum, I actually took to doing the "maglite" test everytime I was at someone else's house and saw a maglite. I would grab it and turn it on. And almost without exception, the lights were dim and yellowy. Of course sometimes it was old batteries. Other times it was blackened bulbs, since the stock mag bulbs aren't halogens. But no matter what, eventually, without a lot of maintenance to the contact points (and there are a lot of them), they just . . . fade. There are a lot of bare aluminum to aluminum or steel or other metal joints.

The solitaire I owned ages and ages ago was no exception. Just faded. I even changed the bulb. No dice. And, as we all know, the light is pretty low output to begin with!

For preserving nightvision, a red LED light is much better than a dim incan any day in my opinion. And I used to teach astronomy lab and am still a sometime amateur astronomer. My light back when I taught astronomy lab was a mini-mag with the red plastic lens installed. And, as usual, I was reasonably happy with it _at first_. But a year later, not so much.

For a keychain light, single mode, low brightness for use with night adapted eyes, I always use my Arc AAA--or now, my McGizmo Sapphire GS. Granted, the Sapphire is a $150 light, though! LOL!

Personally, I wouldn't buy a Solitaire even for $5. But, I think this thread is cool and I definitely have no issues with or judgement to pass towards those who--for whatever reasons--recently bought one or more incan Solitaires! LOL! To each his or her own! Enjoy!


----------



## Jagged77

Stumbling across this thread I remembered I had a Solitaire stashed in a box in my garage. Its been there unused and exposed to cold, damp and hi humidity conditions for at least 8 years. Anyway, I dug it out and switched it on just to see and was surprised to see it still worked with the original Duracell AAA that expired in 2009! The battery is still showing around 90% power on the powercheck surprisingly too....

I shall now have to find a use for it!


----------



## StorminMatt

AnAppleSnail said:


> Well, in theory the output of a filament is related the the fourth power of voltage, so in theory an ideal cell would gracefully droop in output. Let's calculate!
> The bulb is rated at 1.2v. Once you go from 1.2v to 1.0v, for example, the light output drops from (Say) 5 lumens to 2.5 lumens. 0.8v (A dead cell) would give 1 lumens. 0.6v, about a third of a lumen. If a voltage source delivered X voltage, we could predict Y output, roughly speaking.
> V Lumens
> 1.2 5.0
> 1.0 2.4
> 0.8 1.0
> 0.6 0.3
> 
> In practice, AAAs at such high current draw, especially alkaleaks, tend to drop their output voltage quickly. So we are seeing not just a low voltage (See table above), but a fast-dropping voltage. Once the AAAs output voltage falls (from exhausted chemistry, etc) the output drops much faster.



Total emission IS proportional to the fourth power of temperature. However, as the temperature decreases, the wavelength of maximum emission increases in direct proportion (according to Wien's Displacement Law). So as voltage decreases, output of visible light decreases due to both the fourth power relationship with temperature AND the fact that the emission peak is pushed into the infrared wavelengths. This shifting in the frequency of maximum output is also why incandescent lights get more orange as voltage is decreased.



WalkIntoTheLight said:


> Aren't incandescent bulbs just simple resistors?



Not exactly. A simple resistor is a linear resistor. That is, one that follows Ohm's Law (V = RI) with a constant resistance (R). In an incandescent bulb, the resistance of the tungsten filament increases as it gets hotter, which happens when more current flows through it. So although an incandescent bulb provides resistance, the value of the resistance increases wih the voltage applied to it. Incidently, this property of providing increasing resistance with increasing current makes incandescent bulbs useful in some instances as a current limiter. Unlike a linear resistor, they have low resistance when current flow is low, thus wasting less power when it is not necessary to do so.


----------



## masterP

on the maglite website it states that the incan solitaire has a 20m beam with 2 lumens....is that some kind of joke?


----------



## Lynx_Arc

masterP said:


> on the maglite website it states that the incan solitaire has a 20m beam with 2 lumens....is that some kind of joke?


sounds about right to me but in use I doubt most folks would see much of anything with it 60 feet away even in pitch dark conditions.


----------



## masterP

sorry, I'm new to the forum and joined because I'm switching all my old incan flashlights to LED but find all the ratings a bit confusing.

I just don't see how a 2 lumen solitaire has a 20m beam? I can only see anything with it at 2 feet max. if I didn't know better I'd read the package and think I could see 20m away with this flashlight. luckily I've had many different maglites and consider the solitaire kind of a novelty key chain.

at best it's good for finding the key hole to open your door

another thing I find a bit misleading is the packaging on the new maglites......some packages have the lumens number in a yellow box on the front.....but the really weak maglites have the beam distance in the same color yellow box with "beam distance" in small print.

I'm sure a lot of people have mistaken the big number on the front package as the lumen output without reading the small print. I think it's a bit sneaky on maglite's part


----------



## BloodCleanSoul

I use mine at least weekly... I love that It's single mode, so no mess ups/bright flashes when waking up early and trying to get dressed in the dark without waking my wife! I threw some diffusion film on it to help flood the beam and clean it up a bit. Yes I know there are better lights, but I love that ole Incan light color, love that it's made of metal, love that it's made in the USA, and love that it was $5... So I'm a fan! It works for my needs and was cheap! 

Btw....Try using a single match for more than 10 mins... Tell me how it goes... I personally find them tough to hold as the flame reaches my finger tips and it gets a bit dark when it burns out  



Haters... Hate away!


----------



## maglite6D

For Maglites smaller than 2AA, i generally get LEDs. But all my larger Maglites (2D,3D,3D,4D,5D,6D) are incandescent. I like the simplicity and classic appeal of an incandescent Maglite. Their the only flashlights I own. My main worklight (6D) is way more power than I would ever need. So, i don't really see the need for an LED. Happy lighting!


----------



## maglite6D

jabe1 said:


> I own one, never use it; waste of batteries.
> 
> If, for some reason, all of my other AAA lights vanish or die, and I am desperate for a AAA light, I may use it. Unless, of course, there is a store open which may have something else for sale....



yeah i lost my 2AAA led mini mag. it was my pocket carry light. wish i could find it


----------



## GarageBoy

The solitaire is everything wrong with incan lights with none of the benefits 
When I bought one as my first EDC light, I was so dissapointed- a fauxton was cheaper, brighter, and lasted longer 
Low power with no "reflected" light? A zippo lighter puts out a better quality light


----------



## sween1911

You guys are killin me!  I had a Solitaire back in the day (mid-1990's) always on my keys. Back then, I don't recall a lot of other lights that were bright enough to get the job done, small enough to carry everywhere, and tough enough to survive. Of course there are a million better choices today, but IMHO, the Solitaire paved the way. Right now, my keychain light is a Fenix E01. 

I was just thinking that I actually did like the UI of the Mag a little better - crank it down tight to turn off. It's sealed and good to go on your keychain or in your pocket. When you need it, you loosen it. The head of the Fenix E01 is loosened in your pocket, and tightened to turn on. I've had at least one light (Streamlight Nano) with that UI lose the head entirely and dump it and the batteries into my pocket. Now to be fair, the design of the Fenix is such that it's unlikely that the head will rotate entirely to come off during daily carry, but it's still one of the things that makes me appreciate the Mag design.


----------



## xxo

Yeah, back in the late 80's the solitaire was pretty much the only quality key chain light available. Yes it's 2 lumens sucked back then too, but that was all there was for incandescent light running off of a single AAA.


I switched to a photon for my keys as soon as the white LEDs came out. More recently, I wanted to switch to an AAA LED. I wanted something that had the head tight when off so it wouldn't turn on or disassemble itself in my pocket like the loose when off lights that I have tried have done. After searching, about the only tight when off LED I could find was the LED solitaire!


----------



## night.hoodie

I think the original Solitaire is an incredible bargain for the amount of engineering you get. If the stock output is insufficient, it is now nearly effortless to boost its output (at the cost of runtime) to MiniMag lumens. There are (or were) others, but near as I can tell incan Solitaire is the only single cell AAA incandescent light still manufactured and commercially available. IOW, its the best there is at what it is. Any light its fierce and confident critics now compare to it most likely will _not be..._ at least none of the favorites I've ever seen mentioned in comparison to it. It can no longer be fairly compared to anything, unless there is a sub-$10 AAA flood2throw keychain light with very warm emitter.


----------



## WingNut182

Uh, yeah, I carried the incan version for a short time (a couple of months) but I was in all honestly usually underwhelmed when I needed it. So I stopped carrying it and went without anything for many years. 

Then I was attending an Avalanche game in Denver's McNichols Arena, before the Pepsi Center was built, I was in the men's room at intermission when the power went. That's a lesson there. So I started carrying a Gerber Tempo AAA LED as EDC from then until a few months ago. Then I saw the LED version of the Solitaire and liked it a lot and it became my EDC. Then I stumbled upon y'all and picked up a Fenix e05 2014 and a Zebralight H52w but the LED Solitaire still gets some use. 

OK, back to the incan. I was showing my wife the new LED version and lamenting the old one. She thought of a use and adopted the old 2 lum for use at night to figure out what the dogs might be up to. So yes, it is still being used. 

And that's my story...


----------



## Celt

I used one for a while for my trip to the bathroom in the middle of the night light. Very easy on the eyes.


----------



## JasonJ

I actually just picked up two of these for cheap this weekend, the incan versions. I've heard of them but never seen them in stores that I frequent. What appealed to me was the low lumen output, only 2. That's actually what I was looking for. 

It's not an absolutely USELESS, or HORRIBLE piece of trash, but it certainly could be better. I can see how, when it was released, it was the cat's meow considering what else was available and how UNavailable anything in LED was. 

I'll likely be posting some questions about them after I've exhausted the search function and read everything else on the forum(s).


----------



## masterP

I've got about 10 of them I'm giving away to a friend of mine. he LOVES them

I think they're total garbage


----------



## JasonJ

Well, I can see and understand that. I think they'd be much much better if the beam profile were much smoother and had fewer artifacts and rings going on. Really, I wonder if an aspheric lens or TIR optic would help here.


----------



## Tac Gunner

I actually edc one in my front pocket as a back up light. I always have my D25a2 or E21 with me but keep the handy little solitare tucked in my front left pocket for back up duty. It has actually been useful many times. If I'm in a position I can't reach my main edc that is on my right side I use the solitare, if I happen to drop my main edc at night and it's not on, the solitare finds it, if I need to loan a light the solitare is there. Grant you there are many of new led lights the same size that are brighter/run longer/more modes but it's nice at times to have the color rendering of an incandescent available for things such as determining wire colors and paint colors not to mention as cheap as they are it's not a big deal if it gets lost or broke.


----------



## WarRaven

Might be better off hollowing out the Solitaire body and carrying matches inside.

J/k get a led Solitaire, $15 or so.


----------



## bykfixer

I just discovered the solitaire led, but kept the incan's hanging on the wall at various spots in my home for power outages. They'll likely be there for another-who-knows how many years. 
Wouldn't wanna have to read by them, but for finding the jar candles in darkness, or for dimly illuminating a photo...can't beat 'em. 

I found led models in silver at amazon for $11. Ordered 4 (to make order over $35) and got zero cost to me shipping. Bought them as give-aways.


----------



## GunXpatriot

I bought one three years ago, lost it, and absolutely don't care... The thing is so dim, you could barely find something in PITCH BLACK. There is literally no light output whatsoever...

I was dumb enough to buy an incandescent when I could have just ordered an LED. Why the hell would they even ship those things from the factory, or better yet, produce them at all? Of what use is a AAA penlight with like 2 lumen light output? It absolutely boggles my mind, why they would even produce them. And I hope they don't still sell them in stores. But why wouldn't they? They did three years ago, so I'm sure they still do. 

Again, for what reason I have no idea. Huge black ring in the middle, already extremely low light output... Why would they all not just ship with LED's..?


----------



## bykfixer

Some people like 'em.

Obviously you're not one of them...but if they didn't continue to sell they'd be out of production. 

Won't go into why _I_ like 'em but I know several folks who find the LED light too bright for their taste.


----------



## WarRaven

The led versions are somewhat useful.
They will slip in the side expansion pocket on a medium plus size Leatherman tool pouch. 
That's a bonus, nothing to cry over if lost/destroyed.


----------



## bykfixer

Ahhhhh, the warm glow of a pair of candles side by side from a flashlight... 
Chicks dig it.


----------



## Bill_Brown

I use the Mini Maglite. Mostly for camping, or in my EDC Bag. I have converted it to a 1w LED. I will shortly be using a pair of 14500 batteries to get a bit more brightness.


----------



## _nw

I just bought one of these Solitaires because it was a super cheap way to get some warm tint in my AAA collection. I didn't expect much but that beam is _horrible_; so full of artifacts and shadowing it's ridiculous. But I put one of those Maratac AAA diffusers on it and I gotta say I kinda like the soft, warm, moonlight-mule thing it has going on.


----------



## bykfixer

If you can find them Brinkmann 1aaa and Streamlight Key-Mate bulbs make the beam much nicer.


----------



## bykfixer

Solitaire vs Marquis.



No cat on the Marquis




2 rows of words on the Marquis.

Older Solitaires have 2 rows as well.


^^ Left is an old Solitaire

Anyway...



Nearly identical outside.




Different inside though.




Solitaire reflector is a little deeper




Beam is way different.

The Solitaire is all ringy and full of artifacts.
Marquis has the look of a dandilion seed head. Kinda cool novelty.


----------



## camelight

I have one as a keychain light
My father bought it for me when he was visiting in new york few years ago
It is very weak i think it is only 1 lumen so it dot has a lot of uses 
I am planning to buy a new keychain light soon 
But i have to say this flashlight is built very well i drop my keys a lot and it didn't do anything to it so it is pretty strong


----------



## vinsanity286

I carry one on my key chain loaded with an energizer lithium. Some scotch tape over the lens creates a nice flood at turn on and a beautiful artifact free spot when focused. Really I love the warm light and find it completely adequate for walking around the house. I even used it today under a dash to look into a fuse box(mechanic) and it did the job. I might add that a deoxit treatment helps a bit too.


----------



## smokeyeager

I still carry one attached with a small keyring to my EDC Schrade ST6C pocket knife (I also EDC an Ultrafire MiniCree LED.). I carry it because of it's low light output. The way I think if the light on my cell/MC is to bright or my cell/MC is gone, I'm all ready in deep enough crap I want to stay low key/ less light. I have multiple super bright LED lights in my ZJ, my GHB, and my BOB, but I keep one on as EDC and one in my Molle II Pocket, Medic SHTF pouch attached to the outside of my pack. I can grab the SHTF pouch off and EE and still have the bare essentials I need. If smoking a cigarette at night can get you spotted/shot from a mile away I'd rather keep my light output low in a SHTF scenario. Also worth noting, I had a Solitaire in my Alice pack stashed in my shed for 2 years with a cheap rayovac battery in it I had forgotten about. Even though everything else in the pack was mildewed/molded/corroded/ruined the Solitaire was not. It even still put off the not so bright yellow light with a 3 year old battery. That's one of the many reasons I still keep one as my EDC.


----------



## flight777

I think the main reason the incan Solitaire is so under-appreciated - aside from it's obvious low brightness - is that most people have only powered it with an alkaline battery, which only gives you about 10 minutes of decent output followed by 3 hours of almost nothing. Drop in an Eneloop battery and you get several hours of virtually regulated consistency. Granted, at 2 lumens, it's not your do-it-all pocket rocket (I use a Fenix LD01 for that). 

The Solitaire is all about low-level usefulness (think moon mode) and the warm glow. Perfect for around the house or bedroom when you don't want to wake anyone up, or when you want the equivalent of a candle without the drawbacks. And if you diffuse the lens with some LDF or Scotch tape, it's pretty nice for book reading without bothering nearby sleepers. I've probably put hundreds of hours on these things. But you gotta use an NiMh battery like Sanyo Eneloop - it makes all the difference! :thumbsup:


----------



## vicv

I love mine. Perfect for at night time to check on the kids. It's a softer light than an led and throws better than any led of that output


----------



## Minimoog

The Solitaire is my favourite small incan - after fitting the Xenon MiniMag bulb, spacer and LiFe battery. It now shines brighter than the MiniMag and has a nicer beam. 
https://www.dropbox.com/s/msj1gs1ieniabjh/20161202_215648.jpg?dl=0


----------



## iamlucky13

vicv said:


> I love mine. Perfect for at night time to check on the kids. It's a softer light than an led and throws better than any led of that output



I just got some Yuji 95 CRI, warm white, 5mm emitters that user lampedepeche was sharing.

The throw is not equivalent to a zoomed in Solitaire, but the softness of the tint really does compete with an incandescent.

A single AAA light with these emitters in it would make my nostalgia for my old Maglites obsolete. And if it were possible to get a 2-mode (6-8 lumens + firefly) LED update of the Solitaire with these emitters in it, with or without zoom, I'd probably forget LED classics like the Fenix E01 even existed.


----------



## Noctiluco

bykfixer said:


> Solitaire vs Marquis.



Sorry, but... ¿What is Marquis? does it a brand, or a solitaire clon, or a previous maglite? Is Marquis a Maglite?

I love the solitaire because it was the first keychain and well-built AAA light. And I like neutral-warms tints. I thought the solitaire was the only 1 x AAA incandescent flashlight, till I find a cheap chinesse 1 x AAA incan light in an online hardware store, it is a solitaire clon. I did not know the Marquis version, which I suppose is also a Maglite....


----------



## bykfixer

^^ the Marquis was the first solitaire.
It was pulled from the shelves shortly after introduction due to a copyright thing. 
There was already a light called "marquis" at the time so Mag re-named it the Solitaire. 

Not especially valuable because, well like the Solitaire it aint very bright. But it's certainly a prized possesion in a Maglite collectors quiver, along with an incan Streamlight Keymate and the Brinkmann Legend 1aaa.


----------



## vicv

Minimoog said:


> The Solitaire is my favourite small incan - after fitting the Xenon MiniMag bulb, spacer and LiFe battery. It now shines brighter than the MiniMag and has a nicer beam.
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/msj1gs1ieniabjh/20161202_215648.jpg?dl=0



More info on this setup please


----------



## chillinn

Stock incan Solitaire is fantastic if your eyes are dark adapted. If eyes are not dark adapted, it is the wrong tool for the job.



vicv said:


> Minimoog said:
> 
> 
> 
> The Solitaire is my favourite small incan - after fitting the Xenon MiniMag bulb, spacer and LiFe battery. It now shines brighter than the MiniMag and has a nicer beam.
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/msj1gs1ieniabjh/20161202_215648.jpg?dl=0
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> More info on this setup please
Click to expand...


Noctiluco nails it *HERE*

 Blinding incan light (for dark adapted eyes) from a Solitaire!
Works very well. Once you become accustomed to how to get the most out of Mag lamps, you always get at least 4 hours out of them before they burn out, sometimes twice that. These fragile incan lamps last longer if you avoid brief instances of use. When you use it, leave it on for at least 30 seconds, or just leave it on until you see the knee of the LiFePO4 discharge curve (about 20 mins of practical use available followed by cell overdischarge and low light... stop using to save your cells, rest them, and recharge).

Note: Don't forget the little ring around the lamp base. Good luck finding something so tiny, but it is essential to allow the light to be switched off and to prevent the lamp from melting a hole in the lens.


----------



## vicv

That's really neat thanks. Curious has the 2xAAA bulb been tried. I think it's a little smaller and may work without the need of spacers


----------



## bykfixer

chillinn said:


> Stock incan Solitaire is fantastic if your eyes are dark adapted. If eyes are not dark adapted, it is the wrong tool for the job.


Yup, once upon a time it used to get dark after sundown. Back then the Solitaire was a supurb keychain light. 

These days with the eternal generator powering all those free lumens things are quite different. But you get away from the city to a place where you pull your ball cap brim down to shield your eyes on a full moon night that little light still relevant.


----------



## Noctiluco

Thanks bykfixer for the info about marquis/solitaire - Brinkmann - Keymate. 

I believe that the humble solitaire was a pioneer, opening the way for reliable and quality keychain lights, and for that reason it deserves a place in the history of flashlights and in any collection worthy.

Pics of the (black) chinesse clon:


----------



## WhiteBat

I love my Solitaire. Here's some pics






(used battery)




















all of the wear on the light wasn't from me


----------



## Noctiluco

WOW! A very used incandescent flashlight, nice patina


----------



## ampdude

WhiteBat, your light is worth way more in function than in pennies. I love that! I used to have a well worn Solitaire back in the 80's and 90's that I wish I still had.

The Solitaire incans are great lights for dark adapted eyes and when you don't want to make a bunch of spill light. The 36 or so lumen LED Solitaires are a very good value for a practical light as well. I bet they'll bump them up to near 60 lumens in the next few years.


----------



## bykfixer

Long live the Solitaire!


----------



## JasonJ

It would be much nicer if the light output was smoother, less rings and artifacts, shadowing... I can deal with 2lm output, this is a potty in the middle of the night, light. The one that wakes no one and doesn't ruin your night vision.. but the beam pattern is atrocious!

Other than that, I rather like them. If the LED Solitaire had two modes, a 1 or 2 lumen low, and 10-30lm high, in a neutral-warm tint, that'd be one heck of a handy light!


----------



## Noctiluco

Nice patina, WhiteBat, a very scratched light, I like. 

Agree with JasonJ about the rings, artifact, etc. 

And so I hope that Maglite will release some day a Solitaire-led in warm tint.


----------



## chillinn

JasonJ said:


> It would be much nicer if the light output was smoother, less rings and artifacts, shadowing... I can deal with 2lm output, this is a potty in the middle of the night, light. The one that wakes no one and doesn't ruin your night vision.. but the beam pattern is atrocious!



Agreed. 

Not that long ago, there were replacement custom parts available for the incan Solitaire, such as a ceramic socket for the lamp, aluminum reflector, and glass lens. These parts would allow for really fun modding, for high power output using single (10440) or double (10180+spacer) cell Li-ions, along with a replacement lamp that matched the voltage.

But whomever acquired these parts while they were available never came back to share their experience nor showed off their blinding incan Solitaire. What did these CPF members do with those parts? No one really knows what happened to the lost colony of incan Solitaire modders. :/

Beside my point, really, which is the incan Solitaire would benefit massively from a reflector replacement that didn't have that annoying outer bright ring, but instead a typical reflector to give it a nice even spill, even if only with the original 2lm lamp output.


----------



## Minimoog

I just did some measurements on the Solitaire bulb. It is 1.25 Volts 0.2 Amps rated so 0.25 Watts by extrapolation. I am pleased to see these still for sale in the big stores and picked up a blue one to have one for when I want quality light but not much of it.

Edit to say that looking at the recipt the Solitaire was only £1 so amazing value for a nifty little light.


----------



## gurdygurds

Is this a difficult mod fitting the xenon mini mag bulb minimoog??


Minimoog said:


> The Solitaire is my favourite small incan - after fitting the Xenon MiniMag bulb, spacer and LiFe battery. It now shines brighter than the MiniMag and has a nicer beam. https://www.dropbox.com/s/msj1gs1ieniabjh/20161202_215648.jpg?dl=0


----------



## chillinn

gurdygurds said:


> Is this a difficult mod fitting the xenon mini mag bulb minimoog??



Allow me to... yes... it can be very tricky if your eyesight is poor and your fingers are stubby.

Has anyone thought to take, say, the driver from a Fenix EO5, and use it to build into a Solitaire tailcap to give it modes and regulated output? This would be a nice additional mod to the Mini Mag lamp/LiFePO4 upgrade. This would require a glass lens, aluminum reflector, ceramic socket, and a lamp that could handle it. Is there an easy way to add modes/regulation to a Solitaire?


----------



## vicv

Problem is the driver is for LEDs so it controls current. An Incan needs control of voltage. Plus you need positive as well to work which is why electronics are always in the head. Aw had a difficult time making the soft start tail cap because of that. And it didn't provide regulation


----------



## bykfixer

In darkness at 4:30am I reached over to the bedside table and found a Solitaire, which provided plenty of light to see by walking down the hallway to the coffee pot, then eventually a light switch. Sliding light switch to on was a shock that caused me to think I shoulda kept using the Solitaire but 10 seconds later the Solitaire woulda seemed not bright enough to lit room adapted eyeballs. 

Mmmmmm coffee...


----------



## bykfixer

Wow, that was odd. The double post floated in cyber-ville for 2 hours... 

Oh, well.


----------



## chillinn

Last night, all out of minimag lamps, happened across a couple Brinkmann bipins from their Solitaire competitor, and ran one with an alkaline in my Solitaire. My eyes were dark adapted, so I really enjoyed playing with the light. I turned it on, and never turned it off until the cell was depleted. I think this took close to 4 hours before the filiment went completely dark. I realize Solitaire fans keep saying this, but it is true... incan Solitaire is an incredible value, even with its single mode, which is effectively a moonlight/firefly. Everyone raves about moonlight mode, yet the incan Solitaire is mocked and ignored.




vicv said:


> Problem is the driver is for LEDs so it controls current. An Incan needs control of voltage. Plus you need positive as well to work which is why electronics are always in the head. Aw had a difficult time making the soft start tail cap because of that. And it didn't provide regulation



Well, I hope there is enough interest in one who could design and build incan drivers for us Solitaire users. The Noctiluco LiFePO4/minimag mod is sweet, but it's only 20 minutes or so of runtime. With a 25/50/100 or 10/30/90 driver, that could stretch runtime and usefulness, and strech lamp life. Also, it would be super neat... ideally constant current, moded, brightness regulated incan Solitaire with minimag brightness, and stock Solitaire brightness modes, and one in between. C'mon folks... you know you'd buy it if it was available... would just be a replacement spring with lil driver attached, stuffed in the tail.


----------



## iamlucky13

Unfortunately, the Solitaire only has a moonlight mode, while many other lights have moonlight + a range of other modes, but I do agree that it's underappreciated for close range use at home or in the car.

By the way, has anybody ever tried to keep track of bulb life when using Eneloops? I've heard that Maglite advises against using NiMH in their incandescents, because although the initial voltage is lower, the average voltage over the life of the cell is higher, which they claim kills bulbs faster.

For my part, I'm less hesitant to use and appreciate the light if it has rechargeables in it, and assume NiMH will offer more consistent brightness than alkalines.


----------



## chillinn

iamlucky13 said:


> Unfortunately, the Solitaire only has a moonlight mode, while many other lights have moonlight + a range of other modes,



Yes, but it is a fair point that once you decide to use moonlight mode, you keep on using it. What I mean is that when your eyes are dark adapted, and you are resigned to using moonlight, unless you have another low mode, like 1lm, you generally only use the moonlight mode for that period, because once you jump up to even 20lm for even 30 seconds, your dark adaptation is gone and will take some time to return. Thus, having only a single mode that is moonlight is not the disadvantage that it appears to be at first.



iamlucky13 said:


> For my part, I'm less hesitant to use and appreciate the light if it has rechargeables in it, and assume NiMH will offer more consistent brightness than alkalines.



The Solitaire definitely dims over the depletion of an alkaline, but I only notice it once the charge is below 1.2V. I think with 1.2V NiMH, you're in firefly lumen territory, and the lamp gets yellower the less juice you give it. That could be fine for you, depending. I edited to reply to this because I remembered Kentli. Though it would be nutty expensive, Kentli makes Li-ion secondary cells that are actually AA/AAA cells with 1.5V charge. That 1.5V charge is dang-near regulated for the life of the charge... you can search for the reviews here on CPF, it is an interesting cell. Again, Kentli cells are crazy expensive, so upgrading your Solitaire with one would cost a lot, and it would be easy to destroy the cells with over-depletion, killing the investment. Nevertheless, Kenti will give you a regulated output on a Solitaire that is just as close as regulation in a driver, and give you the MagLite claimed brightness of 2lm at constant brightness, though it will likely reduce lamp life for running exactly 1.5V for the duration of its capacity.


----------



## vicv

A single NIMH is fine. I can't notice any output difference to an alkaline


----------



## ronniepudding

After reading this thread, I dug up the Incan Solitaire that my wife used to carry on her keyring years ago... Replaced the about-to-leak alkaline with a NiMH AAA, and compared it with my usual LED bedside light in Moonlight mode while walking around the dark house. Honestly, the beam is horrible... More hole than donut, and it's still full of artifacts when adjusted to "throw". What it needs I think is some diffuser film on the lens. If the beam can be cleaned up, it might make a decent bedside light.


----------



## vicv

Something I've always been curious of. What is everyone's obsession with perfect round beams? The solitaires beam may be ringy but it still lights up what you want to see. The artifacts do not in any way hinder the lights purpose.
And an equal lumen led light will not have the throw either


----------



## ronniepudding

All the lights I had in the 80s and 90s had beams full of artifacts, and I had no inclination that there might (someday) be something better. And, yes, they worked fine for their intended purpose. These days I'm spoiled by the clean beams that LEDs in textured reflectors can produce. Turning on the Solitaire last night brought me back to the previous century  

I have other (bigger) Maglites, so I was *expecting* its beam to be imperfect, but the Solitaire dramatically exceeded my expectations. 

I'm not trying to rain on the Solitaire parade... It should be easily fixable. Especially since my only expectation is that it reliably produce a sublumen amount of light.


----------



## gurdygurds

I have a gray one arriving today. Looking forward to that warm low output beam.


----------



## gurdygurds

Has anyone tried sanding the plastic lens to diffuse the beam?


----------



## gurdygurds

WELL I HAVE!! Just got the light, even more rings and artifacts than I was anticipating, so without delay grabbed my trusty 100 grit and went to work on the lens. Roughed it up real good and it smoothed out the beam quite nicely. Since this guy will just see around the house late night\dark adapted eyes duty I think we are going to get along just fine! 



image by Six Pound Cat, on Flickr


gurdygurds said:


> Has anyone tried sanding the plastic lens to diffuse the beam?


----------



## chillinn

deleted
(sorry, Lamptronix lamps deserve their own new thread... no mention of them on CPF)


----------



## iamlucky13

I did a quick test with Scotch tape over the bezel. The artifacts disappeared, but the beam also became too diffuse and seemed much dimmer as a result - at tightest zoom, the beam was about how I'd want it at widest zoom.

With the tape over the bezel like this, however, the diffusion happens past all the optics. I think gurdygurds got a slightly tighter beam than I did.



vicv said:


> Something I've always been curious of. What is everyone's obsession with perfect round beams? The solitaires beam may be ringy but it still lights up what you want to see. The artifacts do not in any way hinder the lights purpose.
> And an equal lumen led light will not have the throw either



The first issue is I find uneven illumination distracting. More subtly, because the uneven illumination means you can't easily tell how bright or dark some surfaces are compared to each other, the ability to tell what exactly you're seeing is reduced. In other words, I contend it can hinder the purpose of seeing to some degree.

If the Solitaire can be improved in this regards, I'm likely to use it more.


----------



## gurdygurds

Yes the sanding I did reduced output a bit I'm sure. But for me with this little incan light I know I'm not going to get a great quality beam. I've just been enjoying the low output and the warm tint around the house at night. I've also enjoyed spinning the head off and letting it burn like a candle. Cool little light. 


iamlucky13 said:


> I did a quick test with Scotch tape over the bezel. The artifacts disappeared, but the beam also became too diffuse and seemed much dimmer as a result - at tightest zoom, the beam was about how I'd want it at widest zoom.
> 
> With the tape over the bezel like this, however, the diffusion happens past all the optics. I think gurdygurds got a slightly tighter beam than I did.
> 
> 
> 
> The first issue is I find uneven illumination distracting. More subtly, because the uneven illumination means you can't easily tell how bright or dark some surfaces are compared to each other, the ability to tell what exactly you're seeing is reduced. In other words, I contend it can hinder the purpose of seeing to some degree.
> 
> If the Solitaire can be improved in this regards, I'm likely to use it more.


----------



## bykfixer

gurdygurds said:


> Yes the sanding I did reduced output a bit I'm sure. But for me with this little incan light I know I'm not going to get a great quality beam. I've just been enjoying the low output and the warm tint around the house at night. I've also enjoyed spinning the head off and letting it burn like a candle. Cool little light.



Yup. 
The incan Solitaire is what it is. Nothing more, nothing less. No getting around that part. 
Some like it. Some don't. 

I see it as a battery powered birthday candle. One that doesn't drip wax all over my cake, get shorter in a few minutes or blow out when walking down a dark hallway.


----------



## KiwiMark

Ahhh, the Maglite Solitaire - I have one right here, it's green. I don't think I've ever used this one. I just tried putting a battery in it, negligible improvement in output. How do you put these in to high mode?

Just my opinion:
Incandescent lights are not efficient enough to put out good light from small batteries.
The only incandescent lights I use nowadays are my Maglite D sized lights - they can pack enough battery power to let me output decent light levels and still get acceptable run times.
Except my 8 x 18650 (Elephant II body) incan - that doesn't get very good run times at all, maybe 10 to 15 minutes at most (but it DOES output a LOT of light).

If we are talking about 1 x AAA then I'm afraid LED kicks butt every time!
I have some nice lights in that size that put out good high CRI light and still get good run time, Nichia beats incan in terms of usefulness at this size.


----------



## chillinn

KiwiMark said:


> How do you put these in to high mode?



See instruction *HERE* and *HERE*

tl;dr High mode is achieved by adding small washer beneath reflector and replacing lamp with Mini Mag lamp or Lamptronix lamp, and using 3.2V LiFePO4 10440 cell or 4.2V LiMn 10440 cell, respectively, which achieves output and runtime of ~12-15lm for 20 minutes or ~7-10lm for 50 minutes, respectively.



KiwiMark said:


> If we are talking about 1 x AAA then I'm afraid LED kicks butt every time!



Not every time! For at least two challenges, incan beats the pants out of LED: 
*accurate color rendition*, and *throw*. 
LED still can't touch these exceptional qualities of incan lamps.


----------



## KiwiMark

chillinn said:


> See instruction *HERE* and *HERE*
> 
> tl;dr High mode is achieved by adding small washer beneath reflector and replacing lamp with Mini Mag lamp or Lamptronix lamp, and using 3.2V LiFePO4 10440 cell or 4.2V LiMn 10440 cell, respectively, which achieves output and runtime of ~12-15lm for 20 minutes or ~7-10lm for 50 minutes, respectively.
> 
> 
> 
> Not every time! For at least two challenges, incan beats the pants out of LED:
> *accurate color rendition*, and *throw*.
> LED still can't touch these exceptional qualities of incan lamps.



Yeah, I don't call 12-15lm high mode, that's barely medium.

I'm not sure I can agree about throw either, I've got LED lights that can throw more than 600m and I know you can get LEDs with more than 1,000m of throw. Just how far does a Maglite Solitaire throw?

Colour rendition - yeah, that would be right. Do you know what flashlight puts out decent lumens, runs for 2 hours and has a really nice output with very high CRI? My Maglite 2D with ROP low bulb powered by 2 x 32650 Li-Ion cells. I regularly use that light in the garage and take it camping. When camping with all the green and brown you really do get better light from an incan!
I've just gotten in some 26650 cells that I might have to swap to if I can't find some good 32650 cells though, the 32650 cells are getting hard to find from a source that will ship to me - but the 26650 cells have more capacity than my current 32650 cells anyway.
On a very small light I'm willing to compromise and run a Nichia LED with high CRI, it doesn't match an incan for CRI but I think it is good enough for most purposes and the other benefits of going to LED are worth it in that size light.

The problem with a 10440 cell is that it just does not pack much energy and you can't get the run time to match either an LED light or my bigger Maglites with the 32650 cells.
Even 26650 cells can come with 5,200mAh which is a lot better than the ~350mAh you get with 10440 cells. With a LED light that can run from a 10440 cell you don't get a huge run time either, but you can run the light on a lower mode mostly while a lot of brightness is available when you need it.


----------



## chillinn

KiwiMark said:


> I'm not sure I can agree about throw either, I've got LED lights that can throw more than 600m and I know you can get LEDs with more than 1,000m of throw. Just how far does a Maglite Solitaire throw?



So you'd like to compare your LED's known for throwing against the Solitaire? Let's see that LED throw anything at 2lm! Before introducing your strawman, what I and others know is that in general, you take any random commercial LED flashlight, and any incan can out throw it, Solitaire included. So perhaps there are a few superstar LED's now that can throw a bit when pushed to ridiculous lumens (strawman). This is cherry picking. In general, incan outthrows LED, and this is well known. 

Incan has its limitations, but so does LED. LED does not beat incan at what incan is best at, and neither does incan beat LED for its virtues. Thus far, and again _in general_, and perhaps until the end of the Earth, LED has not matched incan lamps in their ability to effortlessly throw even at low lumens, and neither has it been able to match the accurate color rendition from even the dimmest, yellowest, dirtiest incan lamp.

Regarding runtime, quantity is not quality. You get better runtime on powerLED, they are very efficient, but the bad news is you are stuck with the spike in the blue and funny colors. The good news is there's plenty of it.

FWIW, Mag specifies incan Solitaire "beam distance" at 20m. Any LED that can throw 20m at 2lm is impressive. But I know from personal experience on a moonless night in the boonies with dark adapted eyes and binoculars that Solitaire can throw 100m. No LED will do that at 2lm. 

Also, incan Solitaire is still like $7 when expensive. $7 LED flashlights are usually garbage. Anyone that appreciates incan will tell you incan light is easier on the eyes due to it's color temperature curve, which unlike most LED prior to the advent of some High CRI LEDs, spike in the blue, which irritates human eyes.



KiwiMark said:


> Yeah, I don't call 12-15lm high mode, that's barely medium.



I think we can get much higher lumens out of a Solitaire... but any brighter than 15lm, and there are problems with the stock components. Replace the plastic lens with glass, the plastic reflector with aluminum, the plastic switch with ceramics, find a lamp that can take higher voltages, and match cell voltages. 2x10180 cells gives 8.4V, which should be enough with a boost driver to push 1000lm, briefly. Sans incan driver, stock direct drive, I bet 10 mins of 30 lumens is very possible, but would need to upgrade the components to something more heat resistant than plastic. Make a stack of coin cells for higher voltages. Runtime will suffer to the point of uselessness. But there are 10180 flashlights people carry, so 10 minutes of runtime is a valid specification.


----------



## bykfixer

I'll keep mine Bic lighter bright thank you.


----------



## KiwiMark

chillinn said:


> FWIW, Mag specifies incan Solitaire "beam distance" at 20m. Any LED that can throw 20m at 2lm is impressive. But I know from personal experience on a moonless night in the boonies with dark adapted eyes and binoculars that Solitaire can throw 100m. No LED will do that at 2lm.
> 
> Also, incan Solitaire is still like $7 when expensive. $7 LED flashlights are usually garbage. Anyone that appreciates incan will tell you incan light is easier on the eyes due to it's color temperature curve, which unlike most LED prior to the advent of some High CRI LEDs, spike in the blue, which irritates human eyes.



I bought 3 of the Astrolux A01 lights with Nichia 219B for about $7 each on special, normally almost $10. They have good tint and CRI and since they can output 102 lumens they can throw OK.
I use one at 3am every morning on firefly mode to move through the house to the garage to go to work , the battery lasts me well over a month!
The Astrolux lights at $7 come with glass lenses too.

I understand that there are benefits to incan, but with the AAA lights my personal opinion is that the drawbacks stand out more, with bigger lights the drawbacks are much less of an issue. For some tasks I can weigh up the pros and cons of an 18650 LED vs Maglite 2D with ROP low - each has good points.
I remember working with an Maglite Solitaire on my keyring, it was useful but dim and the battery didn't last long. I think for that size the advent of LED lights has been a huge boon.


----------



## gurdygurds

I've just discovered that the incan solitaire is pretty much perfect for flashlight showers. I like this thing more each day.


----------



## bykfixer

Ha, that's great gurdy.

The other morning I was sitting in the morning sunlight and aimed my Solitaire at the ceiling and couldn't see anything from it. But at 4:30am it had easily lit my way down a hallway, tailstood in candle mode while I made coffee enjoying the amount of light my birthday cake probably put out when I was.. oh, maybe 8? 
It's a wonderful light for certain situations.


----------



## chillinn

I think anyone who uses Solitaire in the pitch with dark adapted eyes can appreciate its usefulness. If your eyes are not dark adapted, such as walking out of a bright sunny day into a dark structure, you'll need something far brighter and maybe with a cooler color temperature. But with dark adapted eyes, I can even find the newer stock xenon Solitaire lamps irritating and _too bright_, and have reverted (or will, when I pick some up) to using the older Solitaire krypton lamps, or using the older krpton MiniMag lamps underdriven (a "true" firefly light), or underdriving the Lamptronix lamps I keep mentioning (they're so great!). The incan Solitaire is a subtle tool, and if the user lacks subtlety, they won't appreciate it. But if you can lead the Solitaire-haters to a situation where their pupils are hugely dialated and eyes dark adapted, they will suddenly see the light!


----------



## gurdygurds

Thought I'd share a beam shot of a few E01s vs an incan solitaire. Two stock E01s on the left, big tint difference, then my sharpie modded E01 and last the incan solitaire. I'm pretty happy with how close I got to a warm incan beam just using sharpie on a sanded E01 LED. It's not exact, the solitaire definitely has a lot more yellow but the E01 is nice and warm and shows color more true than the stock LEDs do. 


image by Six Pound Cat, on Flickr


----------



## bykfixer

Augh! GREEN... MAKE IT STOP!!!
Eh, just kidding. Some folks get so worked up over the least amount of green...

Now BTT, so did you Shapie the lens? I want my Malkoff'd 3D Mag to be a warm looking one and your mod looks exactly what I want it to look like.
Please elaborate.

And that would be a nifty neato addition to the flashaholics tips n tricks threads in the General section... may be page 12 by now. lol


----------



## gurdygurds

Yea I sand the LED and then put sharpie straight on it and the "reflector". Next to it is a Fenix E12 that I did the same thing to that looks A LOT like an incan beam. I also sanded the lens of my 3D mag LED and then sharpied it but the beam looks all wacky and purple. 


image by Six Pound Cat, on Flickr



bykfixer said:


> Augh! GREEN... MAKE IT STOP!!!
> Eh, just kidding. Some folks get so worked up over the least amount of green...
> 
> Now BTT, so did you Shapie the lens? I want my Malkoff'd 3D Mag to be a warm looking one and your mod looks exactly what I want it to look like.
> Please elaborate.
> 
> And that would be a nifty neato addition to the flashaholics tips n tricks threads in the General section... may be page 12 by now. lol


----------



## gurdygurds

Also I don't know why MAG doesn't sell Incan LENSES that people can put on their LED mags. Put on a lens that makes the tint look like incan? Doesn't seem that would be too tough.


----------



## bykfixer

One guy here suggested "Lee" gels from camera stores.

So the lens _and_ reflector. Got it. Thanks.


----------



## 325addict

Yes, I sometimes DO use them - when two Lumens (the lowest setting of my U2 Ultra) is simply too brught and too aggressive a color of light to switch that one on. That situation is: you suddenly awake in the middle of the night, in your tent, wondering how late it is. You grab your light and small Solitaire, turn it on, and without getting blinded you see perfectly on your watch how late it is...


----------



## badbs101

The missus gets very irritated when my nocturnal searches for something on the high-boy dresser top (I keep a lot of papers and hobby stuff there) wake her up. Using the Solitaire I get just enough light to see what I'm looking for without waking anyone up. Subtlety has its advantages.


----------



## Hugh Johnson

I also like having hundreds if these little lights raining down on me. j/k
I actually tail stand a solitaire for showers sometimes.


----------



## gurdygurds

My Solitaire love affair revival is still in full swing. Can’t get enough of this thing. Anyone know what kind of runtime to expect out of this thing on a lithium primary??


----------



## iamlucky13

I wonder if it might have shorter runtime than the standard alkaline rating due to the better voltage under of load of the lithium primaries.

Anybody have a good suggestion for smoothing out the beam on an incandescent Solitaire a little bit without making it too floody? I tried Scotch Magic tape, since I don't have any DC-Fix on hand, and it was too much, even when on the tightest focus.


----------



## gurdygurds

I sand the lens.


iamlucky13 said:


> I wonder if it might have shorter runtime than the standard alkaline rating due to the better voltage under of load of the lithium primaries.
> 
> Anybody have a good suggestion for smoothing out the beam on an incandescent Solitaire a little bit without making it too floody? I tried Scotch Magic tape, since I don't have any DC-Fix on hand, and it was too much, even when on the tightest focus.


----------



## bykfixer

Sand the bulb globe a bit. 

(Fenix E01 trick)

Glad to see the solitaire getting some love again.


----------



## iamlucky13

I guess I'll try sanding the bulb as my first option, since that is more easily reversible, and I have a spare. Thanks.

For that matter, maybe I should get another couple of spares so I can continue to use this light if I so desire in the distant future.


----------



## snakebite

true.
i have a few untouched special editions ratholed in their original packages(minus the alkaleaks).
all the ones in service have ebay hi cri led and 10440 li in them.


StarHalo said:


> "Flashaholic" and "stock Solitaire" don't go together in the same sentence. The notably smaller Klarus MiX5, with uses the even-smaller AAAA battery size, is _five times_ brighter..


----------



## gurdygurds

literally cannot believe that I never thought to sand the bulb. Probably way more effective than sanding the lens. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR



bykfixer said:


> Sand the bulb globe a bit.
> 
> (Fenix E01 trick)
> 
> Glad to see the solitaire getting some love again.


----------



## iamlucky13

gurdygurds said:


> literally cannot believe that I never thought to sand the bulb. Probably way more effective than sanding the lens. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR



My instinct is strongly not to do this, but I trust bykfixer, and on further thought, there's a big difference between concerns about the integrity of the bulb of a 500W halogen worklamp that you don't even want to get skin oil on less it cause a hotspot that shatters the bulb, versus a 2 lumen flashlight.


----------



## JohnMcD348

I've always kind of liked the old style Solitaire lights. I have both and keep the Incandescent models on my key rings. I don't always like a bright light when I'm out at night and if I need brighter, I have other options. Sometimes you just need enough light to see the key hole or look at something close without lighting up the entire area and completely ruining your night vision.


----------



## greenpondmike

My incan solitaire is special because I didn't buy it. I found it out in my yard where a thief dropped it. Great light if you want to see without being seen. I used it on my jobsite at the abandoned mine and with fresh batteries it did well. It even shined off a green road sign off in the distance where I enter the property. It shines up into the high trees off in the distance. It is a useful light.


----------



## InvisibleFrodo

bykfixer said:


> Sand the bulb globe a bit.



I wish I would have seen this back when I had access to a bead blaster at work.


----------



## bykfixer

And for my next trick, watch me drive this nail with a jackhammer……


----------



## greenpondmike

bykfixer said:


> And for my next trick, watch me drive this nail with a jackhammer……





Lol


----------



## gurdygurds

Ordered another one of these little guys today. I miss having one as my bedside table light for reading and late night trips to the bathroom. A classic little light.


----------



## thermal guy

I have one I use almost religiously on a daily basis. I have a lid on my toolbox that needs to be wedged to stay open. It’s the perfect length 😁😁


----------



## bykfixer

I keep an incan and a Spectrum warm version on my night stand. Both are very handy at times.


----------



## ampdude

Funny this thread came up again. I pulled several new old stock out of their packages the other day because the alkalines that came in the package all leaked. Must have been a bad batch of AAA batteries, because my 2AAA Minimags were all the same way. I think they were all marked 2027 and had all gone to hell already being stored at room temperature.


----------



## gurdygurds

Well got my new Solitaire today and was quickly reminded of why I love sandpaper so much. Man this beam is ringy. First I popped the bulb out and gave that a good sanding as Bykfixer or someone had mentioned earlier in this thread. Still ringy. Put the bulb back in and screwed on the head and sanded the lens real good. Now it has a respectably smooth beam. These are like E01s in my opinion as far as having to work a little bit to get the beam to where you like it. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, it has taken its rightful place on my bedside table. Always at the ready to show me the way to the restroom and to make sure I don't step on the dog's head while en route. I love these things. Long live the Solitaire incan.


----------



## jarobi

I have and occasionally use a MM with a Lambda Lights SMJLed. Lithium battery only.


----------



## Monocrom

Even when new the inca. Solitaire was at best, a barely decent keychain light. 

Honestly haven't used one in decades. Though did gift the latest version of the Solitaire to an ASMR-tist friend of mine. First day it arrived, she used it and loves it! So, the form-factor is excellent.


----------



## junkman

I have an old incon solitaire on my keychain that I still use. It's reliable and don't take up much space in my pocket. I use it and larger incandescent flashlites because a lot of stuff I work with uses color codes. 25 pair/cat5 cable or colored tape on power cables etc. My eyes have a hard time telling differences in color with LED lites. 

I find the little solitaire is fine for up close inspection. And at night its enough for keep you from tripping or walking in to something. If I was walking from a bright location in to a dark room I would grab something bigger.


----------



## bykfixer

To be honest Junkman, many who state Solitaires weren't bright enough also say their multi setting LED lights firefly mode are too bright with an output even dimmer than a Solitaire incan was.

When I restored a bunch of really old flashlights a couple years back the incan Solitaire was the perfect output to see how clean the inside of those old barrels were (or weren't) while trying to get current flowing past really tough tarnish spots.


----------



## ampdude

bykfixer said:


> To be honest Junkman, many who state Solitaires weren't bright enough also say their multi setting LED lights firefly mode are too bright with an output even dimmer than a Solitaire incan was.
> 
> When I restored a bunch of really old flashlights a couple years back the incan Solitaire was the perfect output to see how clean the inside of those old barrels were (or weren't) while trying to get current flowing past really tough tarnish spots.



Good call. I'm thinking the exact same thing every time I read a comment about firefly mode being too bright.


----------



## Sovende

Lots of replies, lots of opinions (pro & con) and lots of still have AND still use the lowly Mag-Lite Solitaire. I guess it's not as dead as some would have us believe :candle:.
I picked one up several years ago at a garage sale for a dollar (I think). Came in a little plastic case with a two ring lanyard and the instruction manual. The original battery must have leaked as evidenced by "stuff" in the battery spot of the tray. There was a Ni-Cd battery in there instead of the OEM alkaline one. I tossed it into the plastic "shoebox" where extra flashlight bulbs and miscellaneous related stuff gets forgotten 😳. It stayed forgotten until today when this post caught my eye. After wading thru the entire 7 pages (no, I didn't read each and every reply😉) I thought it might be time to get mine out so I could form my own opinion👍😎.
The Ni-Cd was mostly dead so I put a alkaline one in just to see if it still worked (just how much can go wrong with a NOS light?) Of course the bulb lit up. Not too bright to be sure but perhaps the battery was none too fresh. A fresher "Power Cell" alkaline battery from Menards proved to be quite a bit brighter. Lastly, I put in a freshly charged Ladda (IKEA) 900 mAh Ni-Mh battery and it seemed to provide an ever so slight improvement in output. All three "tests" were highly subjective but in ALL of them, the output was way more than a match, a BIC lighter or a birthday candle 😎. 
So, while this Solitaire will never be a part of my "tactical" EDC, it may certainly prove to be useful when near "zero" bulk is needed and I don't want or need something twice as large in a belt holster or "printing" in a pants pocket!
Sovende


----------



## bykfixer

Good post.


----------



## lightknot

ampdude said:


> Good call. I'm thinking the exact same thing every time I read a comment about firefly mode being too bright.



Sorry for the interruption. 

Ampdude your PM inbox is full. 

We now return to our regularly scheduled discussion.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


----------



## Grijon

Add me to the "why yes, yes I do" column.

I just received a brand new incandescent Solitaire to round out a collection.

I had one years ago (technically I still have that one, but no idea whatsoever where it is) and gave up on it.

That was years before before I learned the ways of the moonlight and firefly modes, ha ha.

Now, in addition to the collection, I am very much looking forward to using it tonight in lieu of a moonlight LED.

I'm going to try it as a reading light, too, since I've been using what I believe is a sublumen setting on a Thrunite lately, so 2 incandescent lumens "ought" to be great (but I'm not holding my breath on that).

Woot woot!


----------



## DayofReckoning

Using the Solitaire a few times over the years has reminded me of an important rule 

An incandescent lamp MUST at least have 3 volts at min. 1.5V is just simply too little to drive a lamp to any kind of useful output. The Solitaire really is terrible, sorry to say. 

Has anyone ever tried running a high quality Nimh battery to see if there is any improvement in output or CCT?


----------



## scout24

They make the same light they always have. They've sold millions of them. The Solitare is useful for what it is. Are there subjectively better choices? Sure. Are they still useful? Sure.


----------



## bykfixer

In its day the Solitaire was a huge improvement over a single aa light using a ##222 or 224 called lip stick lights or Tom Thumbs. Millions upon millions sold for that reason. 

When I was restoring vintage lights a few years back the incan Solitaire was my go to light for inspecting inside barrels for cleanliness. I still use one from time to time knowing its charms and flaws are there. For things like inspecting gun barrels, or other narrow, shiney spaces it performs very well.


----------



## Hugh Johnson

I find the output, tint, and cri perfect for middle of the night stuff at home. 

Personally, I have great night vision. However, I knew a guy who had great vision except at night. Something to do with fewer 'rod' photoreceptors. Add short/near sight issues, differences in peripheral vision, and personal preference, and I'm not surprised that people are complaining about the output. 

It's been talked about how the beam _has_ rings. I'd say the beam _is_ rings. Therein lies the problem for me. I have a back problem and can't afford to slip or stumble. I also have young kids who leave things lying around everywhere. The chance of missing something is greater with this light.


----------



## snakebite

anyone ever do a performance test of a stock solitaire with a energizer l92 lithium?
seems that the l92 stays well above 1.2v almost the full cycle.
higher average= brighter over the batteries life.
i would expect a shorter bulb life as the steep sag of an alkaleak is not there.https://data.energizer.com/PDFs/l92.pdf


----------



## bykfixer

Intriguing. I had not thought of trying that or an eneloop pro in an incan Solitaire. I'm afraid to now since the bulb in mine is about 20 years old and frankly I don't have any Maglite replacements for it. I do have some Brinkmann and a few really hard to find incan Keymate replacements. I may try a Brinkmann bulb this summer.

When I contacted Streamlight about bulbs for it their response was "we made the Keymate in incan?" 😂. Then I found some at eBay.


----------



## chillinn

For the Solitaire lamps, only alkaline is recommended by MagLite. There are at least 2 other lamps that will fit and work for 10440 LiFePO4 and high voltage Li-ion, respectively (look around incan forums for the threads concerning them), but without replacing the plastic lens, reflector and socket with materials that can take the heat, these things melt. A glass lens can probably be found, but finding a replacement aluminum reflector and ceramic socket ranges from hardly possible to very unlikely.


----------



## Grijon

I used my new Solitaire nightly until the included alkaline ran out.

I put in an Energizer Ultimate Lithium...and the bulb died within a few <30-minute uses.

Haven’t replaced the bulb yet, but had to laugh when it happened and when I saw the question in this thread so soon after.


----------



## DayofReckoning

I believe a quality AAA Nimh would probably be the best choice for this light.


----------



## bykfixer

Grijon said:


> I used my new Solitaire nightly until the included alkaline ran out.
> 
> I put in an Energizer Ultimate Lithium...and the bulb died within a few <30-minute uses.
> 
> Haven’t replaced the bulb yet, but had to laugh when it happened and when I saw the question in this thread so soon after.


(Paul Harvey voice) And that…… is the rest of the story


----------



## martinaee

Are there any "drop in" led modules/bulbs for the incan solitares? I know they are super cheap anyway, but I would actually use mine more if I could turn it into a ~10-ish lumen E01 of sorts haha. Drop in sort of like Nite-ize had/has for the 2AA incan mags?


----------



## chillinn

martinaee said:


> Are there any "drop in" led modules/bulbs for the incan solitares? I know they are super cheap anyway, but I would actually use mine more if I could turn it into a ~10-ish lumen E01 of sorts haha. Drop in sort of like Nite-ize had/has for the 2AA incan mags?



Pretty sure there was once a kit, just like for the 2xAA Maglite, mounted power LED with bipin under the mount, and possibly included a clicky tailcap, but so rare you'll never see the Solitaire kit. For the 2xAA incan, someone on these forums discovered and provided a hiCRI LED that just happened to match 2xAA voltage (correction, sorry, it was a 3V for primary CR123A only for Tad Customs E socket only, not MagLite... won't fit reflector). I jammed a 5V 3mm red LED in the Solitaire that I just happened to come across and it fired really dim with 10440. I suppose it is possible a 1.5V 3mm LED exists, but someone that has more knowledge and experience with loose driverless LED will probably be able to say they don't exist, or you'd have to order 10000 of them to get 1. MagLite sells an LED Solitaire, and the charm of the original is that it is incan, so I'm not sure the journey is even worth it. Now... a kit to turn LED Solitaire back into incan is what we need.


----------



## bykfixer

Maglite made a kit to turn an LED Solitaire back to incan, sorta……
The spectrum warm version is pretty sweet. Kinda pricey and not easy to find, the spectrum warm puts out a real nice incan looking beam. 

I do not know of any Solitaire LED upgrades that were made in bulk such as the Nite Ize minimag kit.


----------



## Vemice

All this talk made me want one. I have had several Maglites (still have a 3D Incan) but never owned the Solitaire.
Really like it so far.


----------



## Grijon

Finally replaced the bulb in mine and she’s back in service for reading before bed. I’m looking forward to seeing how long this bulb lasts exclusively on NiMH.


----------



## Grijon

Have over two hours of total runtime on this bulb with NiHM, which I think is already longer than what I got for the bulb with the lithium primary.

Now using it as a low-lumen navigation light in the house in the dark, and am extremely pleased with it in this role.


----------



## bykfixer

That was the original intention of the Solitaire. A wee bit of light when none was around. But the world is a lot brighter, even after dark so they don't seem so useful anymore. 
I find them to be ideal for close up inspection work of shiney objects while the lights are on. Gun barrels, flashlight barrels, dating old coins etc.

Glad to know nihm don't mean premature "poof".…… :thumbsup:


----------



## greenpondmike

Still using mine. The chrome stuff on the reflector is almost gone revealing the blue plastic. It now has an almost clean ring free beam. The spot can be reduced real small and the spill is still good and bright. 
Maybe that is the key to a ring free beam that most (including me) have been looking for. Mine just wore off, but if you have a bigger mag with a good reflector and still have the old scratched up one- maybe try to peel that chrome stuff off and try it out. That blue plastic behind the chrome works well on my solitaire.


----------



## Chicken Drumstick

martinaee said:


> Are there any "drop in" led modules/bulbs for the incan solitares? I know they are super cheap anyway, but I would actually use mine more if I could turn it into a ~10-ish lumen E01 of sorts haha. Drop in sort of like Nite-ize had/has for the 2AA incan mags?


I've tried a couple, albeit must be 5 years ago. They where horrid blue tint. The head doesn't screw down fully anymore and they were hardly any brighter. Converted mine back to incan then have a proper Mag 37 lumen one to accompany it!


----------



## bykfixer

I used mine for the 2am nature call light during incan week and really enjoyed it.


----------



## Burgess

Prior to my LED days . . . . .
(cue the Harp mood music here)


When my flashlight world revolved around 
my D-cell Mag-Lites, I would carry a Solitaire
around my neck. So that I'd never hafta' change
a burned-out PR-3 bulb in the DARK ! ! !

How times have changed . . . . .


lovecpf
_


----------



## desert.snake

I got 4 used ones from the local market the day before yesterday. I have already given 2 pieces, I will keep 2 for myself. Quite pleasant light at night considering its purpose it is well thought out - it does not destroy night vision. At first I didn't like that it was necessary to make 1 full rotation of the head in order to focus the beam to a point, but at night I realized why this was necessary. At first we see a large hole in the ray, but this is when our vision has not adapted to the darkness, so it can be somewhat annoying. In complete darkness, or when you wake up and turn it on, this very hole does not irritate your eyes and you can see enough, then you can calmly focus beam when you need it.

I checked, it works on my eneloop lite AAA for about 50 minutes, then I stop, because the light is too dim.

All these irregularities in the beam do not bother at all, much more unpleasant - changes in the color temperature over the beam cross section in LEDs


----------



## Katherine Alicia

I boughtmy first one of these last night (what collection would be complete without one?) I also bought a load of spare bulbs for it, this will make a fun little project for me, DC-Fix equiv will likely be the first thing done. I have several 2xAA mag bulbs that I can hopefully make work with a 14500.
it`ll be interasting to see if there`s any dead space in there that can be used as well, or if I can get a TIR in there or maybe a Metal reflector and glass lens?
Much better than watching TV


----------



## Yates

Solitaire is the best replacement for a candle when getting up during the night.

No need for anything bright, or fumbling with a LED light to get it into low.


The Thrunite Ti3_NW is a very good alternative, but more than double the price.


----------



## Katherine Alicia

My Solitaire arrived today and I have to be honest it`s nowhere near as "bad" as I thought it would be after reading this thread, Yes the beam patterns look like something Saturn would be proud of but if you unscrew the top a bit more it goes into a Dandilion shape, and with some DC-Fix it`s a perfectly usable light.


----------



## Tasky

I do keep thinking I should get a Solitaire myself, along with a AA Mini Mag, but can't help thinking it's just the rose-tinted specs of 90s nostalgia and that I'll be hideously disappointed by them.


----------



## ampdude

There's nothing wrong with the Solitaire for a really LOW lumen light. I kind of consider it a spy light, for digging around a dark place when you don't want anyone outside to realize you're there. And a great night light to keep your night vision. I was just digging through some AA batteries purging the leaked ones and came across an old copper colored Solitaire in the corner of the case with no bulb. I think I was experimenting with a 3mm LED in it a long time ago and then tossed it in there and forgot about it. I'll have to dig through my bulbs and get this one working again. It even has the old mag pocket clip on it.


----------



## junkman

So has anyone noticed any problems with bulb life and NiMH rechargeables in the solitaire?


----------



## vicv

I have not. I'm on my original bulb. Use for a couple minutes every night. Had it for maybe 5 years. Always top up the cell. Still going strong. I think the bulb is so under driven and it's such low power but it will last just about indefinitely


----------



## chillinn

I also haven't noticed any bulb issues with NiMH, just a little dimmer.


----------



## bykfixer

Used one this evening as a menu brightener. Helps me read the small print in dimly lit restaraunts. 
Mrs Fixer used it too.


----------



## Yates

Does anyone know what type of bulb the incan Solitaire uses? No mention of Xenon or Krypton on Mag website


----------



## bykfixer

Used to be krypton, but now xenon.
I take that back……I just looked at a package of new bulbs and it doesn't say.


----------



## Yates

According to Flashlights Unlimited the Solitaire 1AAA bulb has never been updated, and gas fill is listed as N/A.

Could it be Krypton but undisclosed? Because the Mini Mag 2AA was Krypton and later upgraded to Xenon.


----------



## bykfixer

Good info Yates

That's where the bulbs in my post (#220) came from.


----------



## Yates

I wonder if there's an easy method of verifying the gas fill.


----------



## xxo

Yates said:


> I wonder if there's an easy method of verifying the gas fill.


Some of them have color codes.


----------



## electromage

Can you put a 2-cell Mag mini bulb in a Solitaire or are the pins different?


----------



## bykfixer

It'll work, just burn a much more yellow-dim beam. The solitaire bulb is made for around 1.2 volts where the minimag bulb burns best at around 2.4 volts.


----------



## electromage

I'm thinking in conjunction with a 10440 it would be quite bright for a short time.


----------



## Yates

xxo said:


> Some of them have color codes.


Was thinking scientifically, as Xenon boils at around 47 °F and Krypton boils at 34 °F under 1000 psi.

Not sure about the bulb though.


----------



## junkman

Yates said:


> According to Flashlights Unlimited the Solitaire 1AAA bulb has never been updated, and gas fill is listed as N/A.
> 
> Could it be Krypton but undisclosed? Because the Mini Mag 2AA was Krypton and later upgraded to Xenon.


But there are 2 different versions. 
The older 2 stripe ones in the larger cards. 
And the newer ones in the smaller card with just a white base.


----------



## bykfixer

Bump:

Yes I still use an incan Solitaire at times.


----------

