This is a photo of a flashlight I picked up in the late-'90s or early-'00s. It came in a set with a three-cell one with a wider reflector.
Does anyone know if they are still available and where to get another set (or at least the two-cell)? Does anyone know the nomenclature of this particular flashlight?
You must have run across someone who discovered some old stock in the back corner of a warehouse. I don’t think they’ve made those inexpensive metal flashlights in decades. It looks like a 50’s model to me. I have no idea where you’d find another one, maybe go yard sailing?
No, they were a ‘re-issue’ Eveready put out several years ago. New production, made in China. And they were sold as a set; possibly in a blister pack, but I don’t remember.
Retro marketing?
Probably. I thought they’d make good props for a film I was thinking of. Never did make it, so I’ve been using them around the house. I have a couple of MagLites (more than a couple, but only two accessible) and a yellow-and-black plastic Ray-O-Vac Industrial – not to mention a couple/few Mini MagLites floating around. But the two-cell Eveready just seems to be… ever ready. It just seems to be at hand when I need a light. I thought it would be nice to pick up another set ‘just to have’.
Man, don’t throw away anything! Someday somebody will want it. If you lived through the 50’s everyone had one (or something similar to it). You threw in those Eveready silver batteries. The silver batteries were a packaging advance because before that they were white and just as bad.
Of course, the thing would get dropped and dented. The lens was made of glass and would chip on the edge when it got banged against something. The reason why so few lasted is that the batteries would leak and make mess inside.
Personally, I’ll stick with the MagLite and the Surefire.
Well, I found out what they’re called. From Eveready:
Are Maglites still considered the standard?
I ask because a year or two back, I was at Paddy’s Markets in Sydney, and there was a stall selling LED torches. They were small, ranging from penlite size up to something a little smaller than the pic in the OP. Now, I assume - as he is selling the things to make a buck - the stallholder was biased, but I hovered around while he was demonstrating them to a customer. The things were brilliant, and not only that, but he said, “the only reason you’d want a Maglite these days is for double duty as a baton. All that stuff is obsolete.”
True?
Maglite makes LED flashlights , and upgrade conversions for their old flashlights. What I love about maglites is that they don’t drain the battery when not in use. Most other flashlights seem always to be dead when needed. I’ve had the same maglite mini in my truck for 6 or 7 years with the original batteries and it still works.
I have my first Maglite that I got back in the mid-'80s. (3-cell, blue with silver ends.) When batteries corroded in it I bought a silver and a blue 3-cell and swapped the ends – so I had a duplicate of my first , plus a ‘negative’. Maglite repaired my first one and sent it back. Works great. And there’s a dark green one. I have two black, one blue, and one purple 2-AA-cell ones. And I’ve got a single-AAA-cell (blue) one on one of my keychains. So nine, anyway.
So I took the ‘new’ (I’ve had it several years) blue one with the silver ends and put on of those LED conversions in it. Really, really bright. The conversion costs as much as a new Maglite, but it sure is nifty.
vetbridge: Thanks for the link. I did look on eBay, but the repros just seem not to exist.
Don’t look at me funny because of this, but if you go here and look under the General Gear section you might find more information. It’s a link to Indiana Jones gear, and Indy uses one in the new movie. Of course once a picture was put out everyone there wanted one. They might have some ideas on where to find one. I’m to scared to look.
I have seen a factory tour documentary on PCN (Pennsylvania Cable Network) of Hipwell Flashlights in Pittsburg. They showed machines making flashlights very similar to the one in your photo.
Might be worth giving them a call.
Check out Night Watch and Day Watch. The heroes use the Russian equivalent.
My newest flashlight acquisition (yes, apparently I have an addiction) is this
That takes me back.
When I was 3 years old, my Dad had one like that, & I thought it was the coolest thing on Earth.
Nostalgia sucker bait?
It’ll cost you six bucks, plus shipping.
Yep.
Thanks. I sure like the set I have though.
What I love about Maglites is that they’re incredibly tough, well-engineered, and waterproof. And they use standard off-the-rack batteries. When I went whitewater rafting several years ago I looked through the available flashlights, and cjose Maglite mainly because of that last feature (they were pretty new – I’d never heard of them). The light went into the drink with me, but kept on working. I still have it.
I later looked into their choices of bulbs – their bulb design is great, and perfectly fitted to the use. But the longer LED lifetime makes the converted maglites or LED-ready ones the best choice.
Obsolete? Another reason I chose them was because their construction was so superior to the other lights, it wasn’t funny. I’d had it with cheap flashlights that came apart on me. Compare the thick, tough aluminum construction of these to the thin housing of those retro flashlights, or of boy scout flashlights. No contest.
Were you white watering at night? I know of one guy who white water kayaks at night, on water he knows very well, and I consider him insane! 
(he uses a whistle that he blows intermittently, and uses changes in the sound/echo to help him navigate.)
