TerraLux Cree 5W LED Maglite upgrade...

[Maelstrom]

I'm still researching flashlight modifications & upgrades in my quest for a better duty torch, yeah I could drop some cash on a SureFire/Stinger or similar but I consider battery life & 'focus ability' as important as Lumen output...

My question is have any of you dabbled with these Maglite replacement items (or similar Cree LEDs) with your duty torch's configuration... and if so how have you found them performance wise in comparison to the regular Krypton (PR flange type) bulb's output?

Thanks for any & all consideration

[3rd_shift]

As far as output and lumens per watt goes, leds are now finally winning.
The downside to these PR type drop-ins is that there is NOWHERE for the led's heat to go.
Heat is enemy #1 for leds.
To this day, the best led Maglite is a professionally modded one like the ones I used to make.

Much like these on this forum.
http://flashlight-forums.com/index.p...6794&board=4.0

Still, as led technology continues to rapidly improve, there are leds on the near horizon that produce very little heat and a ton of lumens that will be more than suitable for pr style drop-ins for any flashlight.
For now, look for leds that are under 1 watt that are near, or over 100 lumens.
These are now just coming out, and appear to be practical and easy upgrades to existing flashlights.
Teeny weeny hotwire bulbs are in the middle of thier swan song because of these.

[ValleyOne]

I got my dad a drop in LED conversion for his MagLite. He seems to like it a lot. I like that you can still adjust the beam (spot to flood and back again). The one thing I have noticed with LED flashlights, err torches it that if there is any ambiant light their effectiveness seems to drop SLIGHTLY. In the ambsence of any other light source they are awesome, in this application.

I think I got my dad the 3 watt LED... Maybe a 5 watt one would be far better, but we'll just have to wait for them to come out, wont we?

[Maelstrom]

I think I got my dad the 3 watt LED... Maybe a 5 watt one would be far better, but we'll just have to wait for them to come out, wont we?

These are currently being offered for sale from on-line electronics retailers (& of course eBay) that's why I've been considering these over the Maglite & Diamond 3w (100 Lumen) LED offerings, FWIW Terralux's PR release for this product states it is a 3w unit (though resellers are promoting it as 5w) however it delivers 140 Lumen output

Short of modifying a Maglite to accept a halogen bi-pin globe & 9 AA NiMH batteries, I figured one of these beauties would allow me to get 6D cell illumination from a 3D cell unit (with a decent runtime)

With the on-line cost of regular 3D Maglites dropping, I'd like to begin a (Maglite) halogen construction project in the near future, though runtime would still be a primary decisive factor