Flashlights LED vs old style

Is anyone else here into flashlights? Either for work, hunting, camping, wandering around amazing nature in the dawn, dusk, dark, search and rescue, or just general home/vehicle use? I went out not long ago looking to possible find a light to mount to one of my rifles/pistols for nighttime varmit/pest control.

Holy cow, was I surprised at the difference the new LED and battery technologies have to offer. I've become a bit addicted to them again, and bought several for family Xmas gifts. These are all made by Olight, and they actually have over 40 different models, including several custom weapon lights and laser/light combinations. Yes, even the one in front is an Olight Pen. It feels great in the hand and quite handy by the way. I have a few other weapon lights (not pictured), but I don't yet have their two most powerful lights, which are a little bigger.

(Photo courtesy of Free Field Training Video

My last serious foray into flashlights was in the 80's. I needed and carried both the original Maglite and Maglite mini every day (pictured above). lol. Yes, the large one took 5D cell batteries, only put out around 72 lumens of light and only lasted 10 hours (at best, usually more like 6-8hrs.). The little pocket sized Mini-Mag put out about 15 Lumens and would last about 6 hours on 2 AA batteries.

In comparison, the Olight M2R Warrior Pro (third from left), which is similar in size to the Mini-Mag, puts out 1,800 lumens, has a 300m (984 feet) throw distance, and will run over 50 days on low power, or 130 hours on Level 5 (15 lumens, similar to old Mini-Mag). If we pump it up to level 4, which is similar to the old 5 D cell Maglite in lumens, we get a whopping 40 hours of light and a simple recharge when we get home or to the car, or any alternate USB power brick.

For those hunters out there, you may remember using a big monstrosity light clamped to your scope, or handheld by a friend like this Primos Varmit Hunting Night Blaster from the 90's. This claimed a 30 watt halogen bulb and 250 yard beam, but it realistically only worked out to 50, maybe 75 yards max. The external, heavy battery brick would claim 2-3 hours of use, but in real life would die around 30-45 minutes.

Comparing that with one of their popular rifle mounted Olights, the "Odin" (shown above and 5th from left with the picatinny mount attached in the group pic). The Odin gives us 2,000 lumens, 300m throw, and 8 hour runtime in a nice compact Mini-mag sized package (yes remote switch comes with it).

So, now we get to current day. Of course, Olight is famous for their flash sales and now Black Friday sale. Yes, they've roped me in yet again to get one of their "big" lights at nearly half price. This is the Marauder, which has a truly impressive 14,000 lumen flood, at least according to the videos I've seen. It also has an impressive 800 meter throw, and instant spot option, which goes much farther than I expect I will ever need,

(Photo courtesy of https://olightstore.com)
At low power (still 200 lumens, remember that Maglite at 72?) it will run for 40 hours, and still put out a beam over 55m at this low power. Very handy for hunters, campers, first responders, search and rescue, etc.

It's been a long time since I've been impressed, but I have to admit I am blown away by these technology enhancements.
--caveat, several of these get VERY hot on high power, and will start fires, burn holes in clothing, etc. (yes, they have a locking mode).

In the future, when it warms up a bit, I'll do some comparison videos, maybe even with some drone overhead views.
Enjoy!