2-Cell D Flashlight

first off lets start buy stating the most important fact about these first gen mags...people who know maglites do not buy them for their "brightness" but rather there outstanding durability to cost ratio.Mags have earned this reputation since day one thus for this reason alone they have still not changed...why change something that isnt broke?they are built like tanks,waterproof,drop resitant,shock resistant and parts are readly available all over the net.upgrade bulbs,lens,seals,switches...you name it.now another very very important fact that i do not see written about or even mentioned.in the event of a long term power outage these D batteries will prove to be more vital...why? beacause when your batteries die simply replace and you are good to go.if your light sources are rechargable you are screwed unless you have a generator.this was proven in 2008 when hurricane ike made its way to ohio with sustained wind gust of 40-50mph winds,knocking out power for 3 days in my kneck of the woods.not only did i have to replace my D's in my 2 cell and 4 cell but if it wasnt for long term stash of batteries i would of been screwed.my Brothers rechargables went bad after two night,caught off gaurd by the winds he only had half a charge on his tactical super bright pieces of trash...no power to recharge.so my point is if you do not need a super bright rechargable,expensive flashlight dont waste your money.i change the batteries in mine every 6-12 months and they are fine.these are lifetime flashlights.both my 2 cell D's are 18 and 19 years old,sharing vehicle duties,hunting,fishing,dog finding and all around general pupose.they are scratched up and look like they been through heck!that is because they have! over the past 3 years i replaced the old krypton bulbls with LED's and made them virtually new and 3 times more bright.they will never be replaced as there is simply no reason to with parts all over amazon.now my 4 cell first generation was upgraded withn LED and a nice new glass lens and it literally illuminates my whole yard.its a beast,heavy,solid and more light than most any person will ever realisticaly ever need.in fact its so bright and useful it acompanis me on all of my hunting trips for the simple reason of long rang beam and excellent flood illumination in the appalachian foot hills were we roam.let me say this again...the 4 cell even with the old fashion krypton bulb is more than most anyone will ever need! if you live in a city with small lots its will illuminate not only your lot but a four lot area.so the two cells being less light and flood illumination is adequate for 99.9% of the general population.right now we live in a time of excess...people always have to have the latest and greates everything...from new phones,cars,computers...maglite still stays true to the old ways of adequate needs that are durable for a lifetime...thus all these review you are reading.so in short mags are realistic in terms of durability and price.

Still in use after all these years. Good thing to have in the car for 'just in case' purposes as well. Nice and heavy, bright too!

I've owned MagLites all my life and have experimented with smaller LED torches, however just dont find that they feel as secure as the trusty olé MagLite! The Maglites are functional as they either take AAA, AA, C or D size batteries and luckily these batteries are readily available! These batteries especially the larger batteries add quiet a lot of weight to the torch alone and do make the torch much much heavier than anything else I own. However this weight is a quality that non other can reproduce! The aluminium that Mag entrust is of aircraft quality and I have had not one issue with corrosion or failure of the threads or body parts. The latest Mag I purchased is the 2D Incandescent in Gray, and the standard bulb was the first thing to be thrown (not even kept as a spare!) thats how bad the light output is. These were replaced with the NiteIze LED upgrade bulbs, the 1Watt as the main light and the poorer performance bulb as the spare in the tail cap. The Maglite now has slightly better performance, 'slightly being' whiter light with possibly 20% more distance but still suffers the black hole issue with the reflector as you adjust. The LED upgrade gives you about 3 times more battery life and is just a good all round upgrade compared to the incandescent bulb, I have even tried other bulbs that promise 'whiter' light to no avail! The torch still has the generic rubber switch, I wish Maglite would change this to a metal switch like on the tailcap's on a Led Lenser, the rubber eventually perishes and I have to constantly nourish it with silicone spray to stop it drying out. Otherwise the button assembly is bomb proof and I have never had any issues with it ever. The threads and fitting of the head (reflector) and the tail-cap, both have large rubber gaskets and very well machined threads. From factory there seems to be a 'bee spit's' worth of lubrication, so I wipe that off and put on a good quality PTFE based grease on the threads and some silicone spray on the gaskets to condition them. I find that there is a better water resistance created when I do this to my Mag's. Overall, the product is presented flawlessly. The Mag's anodizing (both exterior and interior on all parts) is beautiful and exterior kerneling is perfect. I wish that MagLite Industries would come out with optional accessories like a window breaker bezel or tail cap and some better optics that hug the bulb better that would reduce the 'black hole' issue, also a tempered glass / UV filtered bulb glass in the head. Some of these options or upgrades would make a Maglite more personalised and sentimental. Otherwise the Maglite is something that you buy once and just maintain it for years, keep it clean and serviceable and keep an eye on your batteries that they're not leaking and it will look after you when its needed!

Bought as Christmas gift for my nephew. He needed a good quality flash light that was going to last. He knew my husband has had a maglite for many many (many) years. He’s pleased to have one he knows will last.

Arrived on time & this Flashlight is heavy duty & works well but only giving 4 stars because this Maglight seems to be weaker then my old one from years ago. Light is dimmer & doesn’t seem to light up as far or as wide a distance as my old one. I even tried different brands of batteries just in case the batteries I used were old but it didn’t make a difference in battery brightness of the beam.

Works great shine really brite. Makes a good head ringer.

I love all MAGLITEs that I own. The 6D light is incredibly powerful. Perfect for an airport beacon. :-) Seriously, the adjustable focus allows for wide flood to tight spot with a range that allows you to see considerable distances with clarity at night. Would be perfect for neighborhood watches. The one and only complaint I have with MAGLITEs is the quality of the manufacturing of the bulbs. They last very long but the accuracy in which they are shaped and attached to the bulb's base during manufacturing is often poor. This results in uneven light distribution in the beam. The bulb in this particular 6D light (one of several that I have owned and currently own) was tilted in its base by a very visible amount. When the light is focused to spot, this seriously affects the ability of the MAGLITE to cast as much light at a distance because much of light is reflected by the MAGLITE's reflector off to angles that prevent it from contributing to the center of the beam. This affects its power and range of illumination. However, I happened to have spare bulbs and selected one that was manufactured more precisely, installed it in the MAGLITE, and the beam was perfect. So if you get one that shoots much of its light off to one side of the beam center, look for another bulb (there is a spare in the base of the flashlight) and swap out the bulb. In addition to bulbs that are tilted in their base (not the socket of the MAGLITE that receives the bulb, but the base of the bulb iteself), the size and shape of the nipple where the glass was formed can also cause issues with light distribution, though not as severe as bulbs that are attached to their bases incorrectly. This can often contribute to uneven light distribution in the beam. I have many MAGLITEs of all sizes, except C-cells, and this problem occurs relatively often in the D-cell lights, but not in all instances. I learned to keep some extra bulbs on hand not only for when one burns out (again, they last long) but also to replace a poorly-manufactured one in a new MAGLITE. I think that MAGLITE should work on the quality control of its bulbs (which may be manufactured by someone for MAGLITE). Regardless, the bulb issue, if you have one, is easily corrected be replacement of the bulb. I would still recommend MAGLITEs to anyone. They are tough, long lasting and powerful. Just don't let batteries sit too long in the light without changing them with fresh ones. If they leak, they fuse to the inside of the light and you won't get them out.

Maybe you're a cop or security guard, maybe you're a guy who lives in a place where you can't carry a firearm, maybe you're just someone looking to fill the 'use of force' void that exists between shooting someone the bird and shooting them between the eyes. Any way you look at it, lets not beat around the bush here... Anyone buying this light is doing so for one reason only, the 'light' aspect being totally secondary to that one reason. It's a club that doubles as a flashlight. So, how do we judge it on the objective criteria? As a whuppin' stick, it definitely works- so well that some 'kinder, gentler' Police Departments don't even allow it anymore. Kind of a bummer that they discontinued the thinner 6C; barring finding one second hand and paying a real scalpers price for it, the 5D/6D is the pretty much the only 'in production' option in the Mag line for a "big defensive flashlight" but that's OK. Unless you have very small hands, the 6D is perfectly controllable. It's big. Really, really big. The light itself is about 19.5" long- a foot and a half- in total. When weighted down with cels, it's heavy, too. You will want to tread lightly with this, as it definitely would generate enough striking force to fracture a skull, break bones. Be damn sure you're legally justified to use it, if you ever do use it. You can hurt someone with it. It's does cut a pretty intimidating profile. Walking around with one, it's almost as if you're carrying a bat. In some situations, this is OK. In other situations, where drawing attention to yourself isn't the desired outcome, you'd definitely want to leave this one home (in this regard, probably worth noting that given its weight, this is essentially a two handed club. I'm a large guy who has decent enough working strength- swinging a six D-cel flashlight with one hand is pretty slow going. Slow enough that you might risk your adversary grabbing on to it) As far as brightness, it's bright by 'bright enough' standards. Not bright enough to impress flashlight geeks who obsess over marginally relevant technical details on internet forums, plenty bright for Average Joe to use for real world stuff. Unless something has changed, these are still shipping with incandescent bulbs, which aren't anywhere near as bright as a good LED (for example, the Maglite 3d LED torch is significantly brighter)... of course, let us not forget the reason we bought this in the first place. The 'flashlight' part is a secondary consideration, or, a primary consideration inasmuch as it allows us to carry it around in places where the same thing absent the flashlight function would be considered an unlawful bludgeon or club. If you want to juice the light aspect up to balls-out bright, terralux makes an upgrade that turns the thing into a portable sun... It's pricey- three times the cost of the light itself- but it does add a monumental upgrade in brightness (700 lumens), which can be quite practical. If you shine that into someones face, they're either turning away, or, if they're really determined to keep advancing, they'll be doing so blinded and/or with their eyes closed, at which point we option the 'club' functionality. I don't throw around the five star rating too often, but this is a five star piece. Right now, as of October 2010, with Amazon free shipping on purchases over 25, you can get one shipped to your door for right at 25 bucks. Is this worth 25 bucks? Hell yeah.