614: The 2021 MPU Gift Guide

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About the Elevation Lab DraftTable- I hadn’t even noticed the camera issue and I checked- I have the first version of the DraftTable. But if you use your iPad with a case, the camera bump isn’t an issue when using the first version of the DraftTable.

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Haven’t you guys already spent enough of my money? :joy::joy:

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I’m sure that @MacSparky meant to say that he used to have a MagLITE not a Magsafe when he and Stephen were talking about flashlights.

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I saw the episode title and said “OH NO” out loud.

Sorry, little credit card buddy.

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He’s always been a man ahead of his time. :smiley:

I saw it as about $4 for a pack of straps - was it a lot more for you?

Courage is an awesome book! Heard about it on Focused and have been loving it.

Not an episode for me, a lot of US-only products…

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Sure does! Yum. I am plenty too. LOL!.

I’d be happy to collect a box of stuff and ship it all at once, if you found something(s) you’d really like.

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Very kind of you to offer, thanks.

haha … yes. MagLITE. Those things were so popular and now entirely irrelevant.

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How can flashlights be “entirely irrelevant”? Do you really think that anyone that needs a serious light source (e.g. surveillance, security, police) uses his phone?

Sometimes your world seems a bit limited.

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That type of flashlight (the big, heavy sort that uses D cells) is irrelevant, not flashlights in general.

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I can say that as somebody who hangs out on a flashlight subreddit occasionally, and actually carries a flashlight, the issue with the Maglite is that smaller, more efficient lights are basically eating its lunch.

To put this in perspective, the original Maglite “4 D cell” incandescent model is something like 100 lumens. It’s over a foot long, and weighs over 2 pounds with the batteries in it.

Now let’s compare/contrast. I can get a little tiny light that goes on my keychain that puts out that amount of light, takes AAA batteries, and is so lightweight I barely even notice it’s there. Even with MagLite’s LED upgrades, they’re still not very competitive. The main strength Maglite has left is runtime, as 4 D cells puts out a fair bit of juice - but you’d have to be the sort of person who either prioritizes runtime over size / weight, or wants a flashlight that can double as a weapon in a pinch. :slight_smile:

For reference, if anybody’s curious:

My keychain light - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017R560WC
My “small EDC” light - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DLRK7Q5
My “much brighter, but still not crazy-expensive” light - Convoy M2 Cree XPL HI LED, DTP plate, 7135*8 biscotti, smooth reflector,18650 flashlight ,Torch|Flashlights & Torches| - AliExpress

Not holding myself out as an expert in any way - just showing some solid, viable alternatives to the Maglites.

And as a bonus, that Convoy M2 takes 18650 batteries. There’s a charger that charges the flashlight batteries, and also doubles as a USB C power bank - Amazon.com

So if the power bank goes low, I can swap in the battery from my light. And if I run down the light battery, I can swap in the batteries from my charger. :slight_smile:

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Was excited to hear Courage is Calling mentioned! I’m really enjoying this book and am a fan of Ryan Holiday’s work in general.

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Yeah but in a zombie apocalypse…

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I made it easily through the whole show, but I still ended up spending some money, thank you!

For reasons of being non-US and Covid, I bought just one brand and got myself three Convoy lights. I’m sure there would have been better choices I could have made but these all seem good and cover a spectrum of use case.

I bought an M3, C8+ and S2+.

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For anyone who thinks a $75 flashlight is expensive :wink::

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But hey, for that $309 you get a free battery. Such a deal. :slight_smile:

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