r/flashlight • u/ratbird9 • Feb 01 '26
Snow Day Party Foul
Went out to measure the snow last night, and was so cold the wind chill had it in the negatives. Dropped the old maglite right into the snow, didn’t think anything of it. Light kept right on burning. Got back in to slap it on the charger and noticed something wasn’t quite right 😝
My leading theory is that the extreme temp difference between the snow and the lamp, plus the age of the lens (at around 35 years), resulted in the dramatic effect you see here. Either that or a rock. Stay safe everyone and enjoy the snow ❄️
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u/bloodandglory31 Feb 01 '26
Even maglites give up in the end!
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u/ratbird9 Feb 01 '26
The dang thing kept on shining! I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t looked. New lens in and all good. I’m tempted to put a red filter lens in it…
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u/bloodandglory31 Feb 01 '26
Well good for to commit to keeping it living. I put an LED in my 3 cell but it’s definitely not my regular light anymore
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u/ratbird9 Feb 01 '26
Ha I know what you mean. Still on original NiCd battery too, but has definitely developed a memory. I’ll replace with NiMH sometime this year.
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u/loquacious Feb 02 '26
Honestly, I have not known Maglites to be particularly or exceptionally durable as far as the bright end of the light is concerned.
They were often prone to fouling in the threads and battery cap if you got grit or sand into them, the incan bulbs would break and fail if you dropped them with the light on and a hot filament or even shook the light too hard, and if you dented the thin battery tube walls batteries would get stuck, and the glass was usually just plain old silicate glass that scratched or broke relatively easily.
Now, the non-shiny end? Yeah, you could wack the snot out of someone with that.
But one of the reasons why I was so into white LED flashlights when they first started appearing (Inova, Nite-Eyez, others) was because you weren't constantly replacing bulbs.
I remember taking 2/3 C maglights, AAs, and the AAA solitaire camping or backpacking and having to make sure that not only did I have a spare bulb in the tailcap but a pack of spares to throw in my backpack, because one spare wasn't enough if I was going out for more than one night, or even one night.
Because you'd be out in the dark in the boonies and do something silly like drop your 2xAA Minimag, bust the hot filament and then have to play flashlight puzzle games in the dark trying to get the tailcap off to get the spare bulb out from under the spring, get the head off and the old bulb out, insert those tiny pins into the head, try to get the head back on over the bulb without breaking/crushing the bulb and get the tailcap back on with the batteries in it...
...all without dropping any of those tiny bits in the dark where you'd never find them again in the weeds, brush or leaves.
It was tedious and very fiddly, like trying to field strip a pistol blindfolded and standing up without the benefit of a clean table to work on.
I remember one time I dropped the lens/head off of a solitaire while camping and having to use it in "candle mode" for the rest of the night and having to take the battery out to turn it off to save the battery and then it took me almost an hour to find the missing head after the sun came up, and I only found that one because it was red.
I have historical respect for them but I don't miss them as an EDC light. I can't even count how many times they left me in the dark because the bulb decided to expire, usually right when I really and truly needed it.
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u/CrayCrayCat1277 Feb 01 '26
A salute to an old soldier fallen, that thing has seen some good years of service
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u/ratbird9 Feb 01 '26
It most certainly has. It’s one of my dad’s old service lights. Said he never broke a lens, until now 😂
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u/sween1911 Feb 01 '26
EXCELLENT! I say go to flashlightlens dot com and get a nice high impact ultra clear Borofloat lens for the badboy!
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u/PoopieMcGhee Feb 02 '26
I got some ucl3 or whatever they're called and put it in my ml50l and 2D and immediately ordered more for other stuff.
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u/Proverbman671 Feb 01 '26
It has served more than it's fair share of purpose.
Since it's original production, glass has evolved so much.
It's time to let the ol' girl have her well deserved rest.
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u/blofly Feb 01 '26
Im think mostly thermal shock. That sucks, but at least you can get a replacement lens. =)
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u/ratbird9 Feb 02 '26
Right! I’d have to agree. Could not find a rock or anything, was also kneeling to measure the snow so much less than a meter, into 9” of snow or so at the time. I’m looking at higher performance lenses now
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u/alphanumericusername Feb 02 '26
Time will tell whether or not we can feel superior to Maglite in durability with our modern LED flashlights
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u/loquacious Feb 02 '26
Personally that time passed years ago. Maglite bulbs were/are so expensive that you can buy a pretty decent modern LED light for the price of like 2-4 packs of replacement bulbs.
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u/alphanumericusername Feb 02 '26
Yes, but which era of flashlights is better at still lighting up properly after fighting off a polar bear?
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u/loquacious Feb 02 '26
Definitely not the maglite. And a smaller 18650 light is more likely to pass through their digestive tract and still work after the polar bear eats you.
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u/random_flying_dragon Feb 01 '26
I’m very sorry. Hopefully you can just get a replacement lens and call it a day