1983 Assault Systems Lights

Summary: During Maglite's early years they made some very custom lights in order to stimulate sales. This one was done for a firearms accessory retailer Assault Systems. It is one of only two lights where Maglite put another company's logo on the bezel. There were only a few hundred of these lights produced in 1983 and I've never seen another like it.

Even after collecting for 12 years I still occasionally come across a light I've never seen before. This one is exactly that! It is a super rare Olive Green Assault Systems 4D 1983 Maglite. In 1983 Maglite was still very much a new company. They were only around for 4 years and they were selling about 100,000 lights a year. While that may seem like a lot Maglite knew they could tap a lot of markets that had a demand for a premium flashlight. In order to help their light reach a larger audience Maglite partnered with retailer Assault Systems. Assault Systems was a distributor of quality made firearm and outdoor accessories that had a large mail order catalog circulation in the 1980s. Assault Systems placed and ordered 100 or so each of 2, 3 and 4 D cell lights from Maglite. These were special ordered in Olive Green anodizing, a lanyard ring tail cap, and with Assault Systems' logo on the bezel.

So how did I come across a super rare light like this? Well, a German reader of my blog e-mailed me with some photos of the light and a short backstory. After some discussion I was fortunate enough to be able to purchase it. When I first saw the photos I had my doubts that it was a genuine Maglite product and I thought it may have been done aftermarket. Upon receiving it I confirmed it was authentic and was in fact produced by Maglite. This is mainly because the St. Louis, MO stamping on the bezel matches the Maglite font and the light is definitely anodized because the finish is the same on the inside of the barrel. Prior to finding this light I was only aware of a small batch of Cabela's special order lights that had Cabela's logo put on the bezel. The light also has a matching anodized lanyard ring end cap. These were a seldomly ordered option on the early lights and very few were done in finishes other than black.

The prior owner was a distributor for Assault Systems and retained the light long after they sold out. The lights actually took quite a while to sell. In fact the light is a 1983 model, ~274,000 serial, but the catalog advertising them is from 1985 so the original 300 lights hadn't sold in 2 years. I've included some scans from the 1985 Assault Systems catalog I received with the light. The catalog lists the anodizing color as Olive Drab but my light and the lights in the catalog all appear closer to Bronze. The light doesn't actually look green at all to me. Assault Systems also sold a very rad Honda ATV and some steamy posters!

Unfortunately my light is missing the lanyard although it appears to be just a simple black paracord lanyard. I may attempt to tie one in the future as I've had a lot of fun tying paracord lanyards on my other lights. I don't see a price on the lights in the catalog I received and the prior owner couldn't remember but they had to have been over $100 in 1983 money.

Assault Systems eventually found a market for the lights in Europe because Maglite was not selling its lights outside of the U.S. in the 1980s. Assault Systems continued to sell regular, black, Maglites without the Assault Systems logo well into the late 1980s as one of Maglite's European distributors. Today Assault Systems has become Elite Survival Systems and I was able to find a short history of their brand on their website as well as some retro Assault Systems T shirts that still carry their old logo. Interestingly enough they were founded in 1979, the same year as Maglite.

Most of these special order lights must have went to Europe as I've never seen any in the U.S. Sometimes when I think I've seen everything I run across lights like this which is what makes collecting Maglites so much fun! As a parting photo I thought I'd post a pic of the Assault Systems light with one of my Cabela's lights. It's not every day you see both of these specially branded Maglite's together. They're both from a time before the internet where mail order catalogs reigned supreme.

As always I'm looking to buy Vari-Beams and Vintage/Rare Mags. Please let me know if you have any, top dollar paid.

1C and 1D Lights

Summary: Maglite never produced 1C and 1D lights. They were created by machinists and hobbyists to run Lithium Ion batteries and LEDs in a more compact form.

Before I start I should note that Maglite never produced a 1C or 1D light. Throughout their history they have only produced 2 through 7 cell lights. There have been some other manufacturers of flashlights that have produced 1C and 1D lights but due to the extremely low voltage (~1.5V) that a single cell alkaline battery produces this form factor was not very popular.

So how did 1C and 1D Maglites come about? Well, with the introduction of Lithium Ion batteries and LEDs in the early 2000s run time, voltage, and brightness of a single cell light were no longer an issue. A few adventurous machinists and hobbyists found ways to cut down a standard Maglite through a variety of ways to produce a more compact 1C and 1D light.

Shown below are my red 1D and black 1C lights. The 1D actually takes a 26650 Lithium Ion battery that is slightly longer than a D cell and provides 4.2V. The 1C takes an 18650 which is also slightly longer than a C cell. Both batteries require a sleeve inside the light because the diameters of the Lithium Ion batteries are narrower than D and C cells. The C cell also had its end cap machined out for the spring to result in an overall shorter light. Although the lights aren't exactly sized to a C or D cell most folks still refer to them as a 1D of 1C due to their decreased length. The serial numbers on the lights are for 2 cell models so it's easy to see that these weren't done by Maglite.

Both of these lights have been shortened differently. The 1D was shortened by cutting off the excess length on the back end of the light and the barrel was then re-threaded. As you can see the grip knurling extends all the way to the back of the light. The 1C on the other hand had a section removed from the middle of the light and it was then joined back together. The grip is actually shortened and the smooth part near the end cap remains. Shown below is a comparison photo to standard 2C and 2D lights for reference.

I run both lights with just a standard warm drop in PR based LED. They put out about 60 lumens and run for several hours. There are many brighter alternatives but I find the 60 lumens to be plenty and the extra run time is always a plus.

The 1C looks remarkably similar to a 2C Kel-Lite. Kel-Lites were the predecessor to the Maglite and they used an external switch which resulted in an overall shorter length.

These lights have been a lot less popular in recent years and there are only a handful of folks still modifying them. These were very popular modifications in the early 2000s when there weren't many options for single cell Lithium Ion LED lights. There are now countless ones that can be found for under $20 on Amazon and eBay so the time and effort required to cut down a C or D cell Maglite likely isn't worth it. They are still fun and collectible though so I'll be hanging onto mine for quite some time.

As always I'm looking to buy Vari-Beams and Vintage/Rare Mags. Please let me know if you have any, top dollar paid.

Price History

Summary: A 2D Maglite has had a price of around $26 since it was first introduced in 1979, this is around $92 in 2017. Although the price has stayed the same, Maglites have become much more affordable over time due to inflation.

I'll stray a little off topic for this post and I won't cover a specific light but rather Mag Instrument's pricing strategy. Mag very rarely changes the prices of its lights. They are able to do this by finding manufacturing efficiencies. This helps in a few ways. The largest way is through inflation. Mag was able to capture markets that were willing to pay a premium for their lights early on. Every year after that the cost of the light became less through inflation and the market grew for the light. For example a 2D light has been consistently priced at right around $26 since it was introduced. Shown below is a dealer's pricing guide from the second year of production in 1980.

The price for a 2D today is still around $26. However you'll notice through inflation that:

$26 in 1979 = $92 in 2017
$26 in 1989 = $52 in 2017
$26 in 1999 = $38 in 2017
$26 in 2009 = $29 in 2017

The now discontinued 7D lights are listed as well although they're a little higher in price at $32 which is $114 in 2017. Maglites were really a premium light with a premium price tag when they were first introduced!

Over the first decade of production the price stayed the same but the cost to consumers roughly halved. Early on many professionals and enthusiasts, just as today, had no problem spending almost $100 for a light. But, those are few and far between as is evident by their serial numbers and sales. There are certainly more customers at each price point and by the mid 90s sales really picked up. So, really the early buyers financed Mag's R&D and made the lights more affordable for a broader range of consumers which is why Maglites are so prevalent today and really such a low cost for what they are.

As always I'm looking to buy Vari-Beams and Vintage/Rare Mags. Please let me know if you have any, top dollar paid.

2020 Discontinued C Cells

Summary: In early 2020 Maglite discontinued their incandescent C Cell line after 39 years of continuous manufacture.

Well, it seems after 39 years in production that at the beginning of 2020 Maglite has discontinued production of their classic, incandescent C Cell Line. Maglite has been thinning the C Cell line for quite some time as they have always been slow sellers. 7Cs were the first to go in 1989, 5Cs and 6Cs were next in 2003. The 2C, 3C, and 4C soldiered on for another 17 years but at long last they've been discontinued as well.

In light of the disappearance of these lights from Maglite's site I did what any collector would do, ordered one of each from Amazon. I was delighted that they still had a dozen or so in stock and they all turned out to be the new style, 2018 updated large logo, Maglite bezel. They also have the bi-pin bulb so it's nice to see Maglite modernized these and gave them a nice sendoff. The 2C serial number is ~7,400,000 , the 3C is ~2,800,000 and the 4C is ~1,600,000 so I'm surprised these actually haven't been discontinued sooner. D cell production of 2, 3 and 4 cell models surpassed those number in the late 80s and early 90s. It's still a higher yearly rate than the 5Cs, 6Cs, 7Cs, and 7Ds though. Shown below are the final run 2C, 3C, and 4C lights along with the comparison of the old and new Maglite logo on the bezel.

I received these lights during the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic from Amazon Business Prime. The Amazon packaging like, the current times we are in, is very unique. On a positive note it is nice to see that a Maglite is still considered a special provision and its delivery is expedited. Maglites have been a go to supply during disaster relief for many years.

Anyway, in order to celebrate the end of C cell production I'd like to share a pic of some very special C cells from my collection. I am honored to be able to own these lights as they are some of the rarest Maglites I've come across.

From top to bottom they are:

Late 80s 6C with an end cap that incorporates an ASP baton
Early 80s 3C that my dad used for work
Early 2000s Lime Green 2C
1981 5C Vari-Beam
Mid 80s Prototype 3C
Late 80s Gold 2C
1982 7C, the first 7C in my collection that I acquired from a UK collector

For those still interested in a C cell, Maglite still produces a ML25 and ML50 line. The ML25IT can still be had in incandescent. In fact I purchased one last year, a 3 C cell. It's a great little light, it's almost like a giant Mini Maglite because it is twist on/off and has no push button switch. It is shown below with a 2C, 3C and  Mini Maglite for comparison. I don't own an ML50. They still have a push button switch but are all LEDs.

So long to a legend! I think that Maglite will likely slim down their other incandescent offerings soon as well. Despite the warm light they throw and their retro, familiar feel the efficiency and run times of LEDs has made them all but obsolete. I personally think that the 5D or 6D incans will likely be next.


As always I'm looking to buy Vari-Beams and Vintage/Rare Mags. Please let me know if you have any, top dollar paid.

2019 40th Anniversary ML300L Lights

Summary: Maglite just released a very special ML300L to celebrate their 40th Anniversary. It is similar to a standard ML300L except it has no knurling and a special laser etched design.

It's been a while since I've posted so I figured I'd show a brand new collectible Maglite that was just released. I'm sure it will be a future classic since it celebrates a very important 40 year long production milestone for Maglite. It's hard to believe that Maglites have been around for 40 years. In fact I have several 40 year old Maglites that still work extremely well and a use a 1980, 39 year old 2D Maglite almost everyday.

I got my 40th Anniversary Maglite on 10/22 which is a heck of a coincidence too because that's the anniversary of my engagement to my wife. This is my first time trying one of the new ML300Ls and I will say I think I'm a firm believer in modding an old Maglite vs. buying a new one. I don't plan on using this light I just plan on displaying it with the rest of my collection. The digital switch would take some getting used to for me. The modes are very useful though as they provide for a lot of different brightness levels and some crazy high run times. The reflector is Mag's standard smooth deep reflector which has a ton of throw. The beam pattern is about the same as the older lights and could benefit for a stippled, orange peel, reflector to smooth out many of the imperfections although I don't know of any after market reflectors for the ML300L lights. The tint is also very cool but that may not bother some folks. I know I prefer 3000K to 4000K and this is a 6000K tint.

Anyway, here she is. I'm guessing these are numbered the same as the other ML300Ls and if so 400,000 units isn't many. I'm not sure if it's because these just came out or if they're not selling all that well. All in all Mag boxed her up pretty nice and I didn't get any special packaging but I did get two stickers though.

I also thought it would be cool to show this light next to an original 1979 light to see how far these lights have come in 40 years but also how similar they really are. For those not familiar the 1979 lights had a larger switch button, a lower focus grip, and a lot of other small variations from later lights. This 1979 3D has the Maglite logo stamped much farther up on the bezel than normal too. The 2019 light has none of these "quality control issues". It is perfectly manufactured inside and out. The focus on the 2019 is a quarter twist from spot to flood whereas the old lights take about three or so full twists to accomplish the same effect.

I will say that the switch appears tiny to me and I really much prefer the solid click of the older style mechanical switches vs. the light press of the new electrical switch. The older switches were extremely reliable but I'm guessing Mag switched due to the driver and modes used on the LED as well as less wear due to the removal of the mechanical parts.

These lights were offered for sale as a special promotion through Maglite's mailing list. The web landing page on Mag's site can be seen below with a cost and brief description of the light. There's also a countdown timer that sets a time limit to order the light. However, it just resets at zero or if the page is refreshed so there was no actual time limit on placing an order. These are still available for sale as of the posting date.

Overall the light is very solid. I don't know that I'd pay $100+ for it as anything other than a collectible. A standard issue ML300L can be had for $35. Thanks for reading and I'm looking forward to making more posts about Mag's future collectible lights and some stragglers I still have from my collection.

As always I'm looking to buy Vari-Beams and Vintage/Rare Mags. Please let me know if you have any, top dollar paid.

1997 Toyota Motorsports Lights

Summary: Another example of automotive themed Maglites are these 2 Toyota lights below. Both were ordered in a fair quantity by Toyota to be sold at their dealerships. They are rare today but not a very popular light among collectors. They are worth around $20 to $60.

Cars and Maglites just seem to go together like peas and carrots. I've written a few posts about automotive themed Maglites before that include:

Hummers
Ferraris
Chevy Trucks
NASCAR
and even a guide to mounting Maglites in a JK Jeep Wrangler

There have been many many automotive logo'd lights made on special orders over the years but not many were in sizable quantities and not many were offered by the vehicle manufacturers directly. Most were ordered through Mag's standard custom orders department by local dealers or service shops. I specifically try to collect lights that are "official" ones done by large manufacturers as a joint venture with Maglite rather than the small volume ones ordered through Mag's regular custom sales.

I have another couple of cool lights that I recently received, this time they are Toyota lights and they were sold very briefly in 1997 through Toyota dealers nationwide and by Toyota at various trade shows, conventions, and sporting events. They are both screen printed 3Ds without the knurling grip. It's a shame Mag didn't make more lights this design after the mid 90s as they are very colorful and look very sleek.

The first is a TRD, Toyota Racing Development, light. TRD is Toyota's performance division similar to M for BMW, AMG for Mercedes, or SVT for Ford. The light is black, red and silver. It reads TRD on one side and Toyota Motorsports on the other. What's interesting is that the light on the chipboard box also matches the light. All other lights I've seen just have a black light on the chipboard box. Mine even came with a sticker from the dealer it was sold at in Virginia as can be seen in the photo below. $49.95 in 1997 is nearly $100 today and more than twice the price of a standard 3D Maglite at the time so it's no wonder why these lights didn't sell well and are rare today. I heard these lights are shown in TRD parts catalogs from that era but I can't seem to locate one. If you have a catalog from around this time please feel free to contact me. My info is at the right.

This light very closely follows the color scheme of the Toyota trophy truck of the mid 90s driven by Ivan "Ironman" Stewart. Stewart saw many wins in the 90s and I imagine this light was done to promote the TRD line of performance parts as well as celebrate Stewart's wins. These TRD lights were also produced in an AA Mini Maglite version although I don't currently own one.

The second light is a Toyota Motorsports light done in a similar pattern to the Flag-Lites. I'll have to do a Flag-Lite post in the future but they are basically a patriotic version of the 3D and AA Mini Maglites. They are still made today in LED models and are not very rare. This Toyota one is identical to those except with the addition of "Toyota Motorsports" at the end as shown below. This was likely done as Toyota expanded their U.S. manufacturing with the addition of a plant in West Virginia and one in Indiana in 1996. These lights may have been sold at dealers but I hear about them more commonly being sold or given away at sporting events, trade shows, and conventions. Mine is brand new but didn't come with a box and unfortunately the owner didn't have a back story. If you do my e-mail address is at the right and I'd appreciate any info.

Both lights are 18,000,000 serials which puts them right at 1997 or 1998. Neither light comes up for sale very often but they aren't exactly big ticket items for collectors either. They are much rarer than the NASCAR lights but still sell for around the same price of $20 to $60 in good condition. Shown below are a few more pics of the lights as well as a picture of my automotive themed Maglites. Most are from dealers and service centers especially the AA Mini Maglites.

As always I'm looking to buy Vari-Beams and Vintage/Rare Mags. Please let me know if you have any, top dollar paid.

Ultimate Maglite Restomod

Summary: I recently built a 3 mode LED drop in with the ability to use a variety of LEDs with different tints. It makes for an awesome Maglite Restomod if I do say so myself.

Most of the posts I do are about historical lights in my collection. However, from time to time I like to make a Maglite tech post as well, either about how the lights operate or about restorations methods and neat modifications. So for this post I'd like to share a light I recently put together myself as well as some lessons I learned about LEDs, drivers, heat sinks, and batteries. Please feel free to provide any feedback if I've gotten anything wrong. This is about the closest to creating a light from scratch as I'll likely ever get. One day maybe I'll have enough time to learn how to use a lathe but for now this has temporarily satisfied my flashlight building curiosity.

I get a few requests here and there to restore old Maglites, especially ones that have sentimental value. Most are true to the originals and leave my workshop with an incandescent bulb. However, occasionally I get requests for "restomods" or original looking lights but with modern technology inside. Up until now the best I could do was a Malkoff dropin. While Malkoff makes one of the best drop ins on the market they have a cool, blueish tint which is very different from a warm old school incandescent light and they are a single mode and very bright. I find myself most commonly using 30 lumens at night. So I decided to advance my limited electronics and LED knowledge and build a multi-mode warm LED drop in.

Driver

For those unfamiliar, LEDs have near 0 resistance, can only operate at a specific voltage, and vary their brightness by current or PWM. You need a driver board circuit to fulfill these requirements. Simply attaching an LED to batteries will likely cause it to be destroyed or it just won't light if the voltage isn't high enough. You could run it in series with a simple resistor but you'd have no way to vary the brightness.

There are many many driver boards available and they operate in a ton of different ways. For this project I need a 17mm driver and I'll get to why in the heat sink choice below. This is a very popular size and there are many options. There are 3 additional considerations when picking a driver.

1. Voltage
I chose a 3V LED as you'll see below so the LED really can't see more than 4.2V. Above 4.2V I risk damaging the LED and below 3V the light won't work. In this case I'll be using a KAI Domain 3V - 9V driver. This type of driver is commonly referred to as a 3V buck driver. It will lower (buck) the LED input voltage down to 3V so it has a far greater input range of 3V to 9V which means it can be used with anywhere from 3D to 6D NiMH or alkalines.

Another choice to accommodate this is a direct drive. In this setup the voltage the batteries provide is not modified, it is fed directly to the light, hence direct drive. Therefore the voltage range is very tight before it will either fry the LED or fail to light. The range of 3V to 4.2V coincides perfectly with either 1 Li-Ion cell or 3 - NiMH cells. 3 - alkalines provide 4.5V so they can't likely be used. This is a simpler driver and Adventure Sport makes one with more than 25 groups of modes otherwise they don't have many advantages over a buck driver.

Yet another choice is a 3V boost driver. It will step up the voltage so a 2D setup can be used. The input voltage on these is 0.9 to 3.0V. I plan to build some 2Ds as well so I'll be buying one of these for a future project.

2. Modes
I want modes for this project because the light seems  to be a lot more versatile and useful with different levels of brightness. I'm basically looking to make a retro ML300L. Modes can be accomplished 2 different ways; either by alternating the light on and off more quickly than can be seen by the eye (pulse width modulation - PWM) or by varying the current flow (amps). Unlike incandescent bulbs varying the voltage will not work since the LED only runs at a precise voltage. I chose this KAI Domain driver because it has 3 modes, 5%, 30% and 100%.

The Adventure Sport direct driver has 25 groups of modes which make the light a lot more useful. This is a tradeoff though because it is direct drive so the battery options are more limited. There are multiple brightness settings settings and multiple strobe and moonlight modes so I'll be using the Adventure Sport driver on a future 3 - NiMH restoration.

3. Current
I want to pick out a driver that provides no more current than my LED is rated for. A common maximum current for Cree LEDs is 2 amps. I also want a driver that can deliver near 2 amps so I get the full output of my LED. Picking a driver that only delivers say 1 amp when my LED will take 2 is only going to give me a max output of 50% of the rated output. Running a 2 amp LED on 1 amp driver will only give a brightness of half of what the LED is rated for. This may not be a bad idea though if you're looking for a single mode light with a specific level of brightness. The KAI driver delivers 2 amps and my LED is rated for a max of 2 amps here.

LED

I want something that has a warm or neutral tint because it looks more like a classic Maglite and there's nothing on the market available. Obviously that narrowed it down some. My other criteria is that it had to be mounted to a 10mm board due to my heat sink limitations. Also, my driver puts out 3V and 2 amps so I need an LED that has a 3V forward (input) voltage and is rated for at least 2 amps. I am really familiar with Cree LEDs so this all narrowed it down to an XP series LED. The XP-Es are low output, low amps so I skipped right over those and went for an XP-G although an XP-L will work just as well. I went with an XP-G 3500K, warm tint for this project as that most closely matches an incan bulb. The XP-G is rated for 700 lumens at 2 amps so that will make a very nice high mode when paired with my driver. In fact I most commonly use the 5%, 30%, 100% mode group so my light will have 3 modes of brightness, 35 lumens, 280 lumens, and 700 lumens which can be accessed by quickly cycling the switch.

Heat Sink

The toughest part is picking a heat sink to house the LED and driver.  I have an old Adventure Sport light with a copper heat sink and that heat sink is the perfect size for a D cell Mag. I actually found out that Adventure Sport also sells an aluminum heat sink that is far less expensive (~$17) and that has dimensions more suited to my project. It uses a 10mm LED board so any stock Maglite reflector can be used with the cam removed. On the backside any 17mm driver board can be used for the LED. As far as I know this is the only option for someone looking to build a custom light. You could make one but I'd wager it would end up looking identical to this.

Shown below are the modifications needed for a stock reflector on the right, and a KAI Domain reflector with a detachable cam on the left. The blue plastic Maglite reflector all the way on the right has had the cam sawn off with a hacksaw near the base. The KAI Domain reflectors have a cam the screws off so they can be used with a stock light or with an aftermarket drop in.

The older (1979-1991) style Maglites were actually machined from 2" aluminum irrigation pipe and have a larger ID than new Maglites. In 1992 Maglite started extruding their own aluminum tube for machining that more closely matched the dimensions of a D cell battery. As such this heat sink is too small for most of the lights I'm looking at restoring. I wrapped it in thick aluminum foil tape for approximately 10 winds until it fit snugly into the ID of the light. The ring at the top is still larger so it still keeps it from being pushed into the light.

And here's a shot when it's all assembled. I used Arctic Alumina epoxy to affix the LED board to the heat sink. The driver snaps into place and all of the wiring is 22 gauge stranded. My soldering leaves something to be desired and I'm working on that. Any tips are greatly appreciated. I'm using 0.6mm solder.

Switch

You've probably noticed that the driver has two contacts, far different from the flange base of a PR incan bulb. The heat sink also fits snugly inside the barrel so the post needs to be removed from the stock Maglite switch. This is actually easier and a benefit of the older Maglites. The switch was cast in 2 parts so the post is easily removed. Newer (1992+) lights require sawing of the switch to remove the post. When removed a spare positive battery contact can be installed in place of the spring and straightened with pliers to to provide a space to hook up the positive driver lead. Sometimes the spot weld on the bulb spring contact can be broken and it can be straightened and used as well. The negative contact can be cut, shortened, and used to attach the negative lead from the driver.

I used spade connectors to connect the leads to the driver board from the switch. They need to be crushed down to fit the thin contacts but they make the switch much more serviceable later on. The negative spade connector doesn't need a shroud because the light is grounded to the body so it really can't produce a short unless it somehow contacts the positive connection. Alternatively the leads can be soldered to the contacts. My switch now works again!

Shown below is how a 1992+ switch looks when complete. There are a couple additional steps and they are a little tougher to assemble. I may add a section here in the future with some more info on assembling a 1992+ restomod but the vast majority of lights I do are the 1979 to 1991 style. Also, please see my switch tech post for general info on how the Maglite switches work.

The Light

As with most of my builds reflector and lens is key. I almost always opt for a KAI Domain MOP or OP reflector to really even out the beam and make it more floody and overall more useful. For this light however I re-used an older SMO KAI Domain reflector which has more throw. I also added a KAI Domain glass lens that allows for better light transmission, is more scratch resistant, and won't be affected by the heat on the high mode.

The total cost, excluding tools, on this build is as follows:

Adventure Sport
$17 - Heat Sink Pill

KAI Domain
$4 - 3500K Cree XP-L LED on 10 mm board
$6 - BD39 Driver

Total LED Drop in Cost $27

Optional
$10 KAI Reflector
$4 Lens

Obviously this isn't worth it from a financial standpoint because you can buy a brand new ML300L for around $40. Add in a couple hours of my time and the cost gets up there pretty quick but I do think they are very cool and make for a real tricked out one of a kind restomod Maglite. The first one of these I did went to a fellow who restored an old K5 Blazer and wanted a beat up old school 6D light to match the truck. If folks are willing to spend big on an old truck or car what's a few bucks for an old Maglite to go with it?!

And last but not least, please find a few beam shots with comparisons from a couple other lights below. The first 3 show the 3 modes, 5%, 30%, and 100%. The 30% and 100% modes are tough to differentiate because of the SMO reflector and its throw. At a distance, or with an MOP reflector, they are much easier to tell apart.

And shown below is this warm, 3000K, XP-G vs. a Cool ~5000K Malkoff. The 3000K XP-G looks like is has a much more yellow tint but the picture may not have come out correctly because it doesn't look that yellow in real life. It is more the color of the morning sun. The tighter hot spot of the SMO reflector on the Cree warm XP-G can also be seen vs. the greater throw of the OP reflector on the Malkoff.

Overall I'm very happy with the end product. I have to work on my soldering technique a little bit because it overall looks very sloppy. I'm always amazed at how clean the business end of a Malkoff looks. It's a work of art I have not yet mastered. For my first build I'm really happy and I learned a ton. I wrote this to help others understand the selection process for LEDs, drivers, etc and to provide a guide in case someone else wants to restomod a Mag. If anyone has any feedback (good or bad) I shoor wood appreciate it!

I should note that I will also put these lights together for anyone interested. I have a large stock of old, vintage Maglites and I can also modify any D cell donor Maglite. My contact info is at the right if you have any interest.

As always I'm looking to buy Vari-Beams and Vintage/Rare Mags. Please let me know if you have any, top dollar paid.