The Litt Industries LED Upgrade significantly increases the battery life and brightness of an incandescent Mini Maglite 2 AAA flashlight. With the original xenon bulb, battery life for the flashlight was about 6 hours in my testing. With the LED upgrade, battery life was extended to more than 19 hours. The brightness was also increased from 12 lumens to 61 lumens.
The upgrade is designed, developed, and manufactured in-house in Mesa, Arizona.
At the time of this writing, the upgrade cost $13.99 at littindustries.com. By way of comparison, a brand new Mini Maglite LED 2 AAA flashlight cost $14.99 at maglite.com. This would suggest that the upgrade is not highly cost-effective. Unless the Mini Maglite being upgraded has a great deal of sentimental value, it would probably be a better investment to just replace it with a new LED flashlight. The new flashlight will also produce 100 lumens, in contrast to the 61 lumens of the upgrade.
On the other hand, there is a certain satisfaction to upgrading rather than replacing a flashlight. And a dollar saved is a dollar earned. Decisions, decisions…
Background
SurvivalBlog;s Senior Editor James Wesley, Rawles (JWR) wrote an article about building and registering suppressors [1] that was posted on SurvivalBlog on December 13, 2025. In that article, I was interested to learn that many types of Maglite flashlights can serve as the starting point for making registered suppressors.
I was a big fan of Maglite flashlights even before I gained that knowledge. That just gave me one more reason to like Maglite flashlights.
I like flashlights in general, and Maglite flashlights in particular. I own two Mini Maglites that each run on two AA batteries, three Maglites that each run on two D batteries, two Maglites that each run on three D batteries, and one Maglite that runs on four D batteries. All of these Maglites were originally equipped with incandescent bulbs. They have all subsequently been upgraded to LED bulbs. I wrote about most of them back in March of 2023 [2].
[3]Then about 19 months ago, I was in a thrift store. Suddenly my eyes fell upon a Mini Maglite Classic 2 AAA flashlight for $1.50. It was just too good a deal to pass up. Similar incandescent Mini Maglites cost $12.75 at maglite.com at the time of my purchase. At that time, a Mini Maglite LED 2 AAA flashlight cost $16.50 at maglite.com. The Mini Maglite LED is probably one of the few items whose price has come down in the last couple of years.
Initial Testing
When I put batteries into the flashlight after I arrived at home, I discovered that the xenon bulb was burned out. That was no problem, because I knew that most Maglites come with an extra bulb in the spring of the tail cap. My new Mini Maglite was no exception. I changed the bulb, and the flashlight worked perfectly.
I have acknowledged in the past that my love of flashlights may constitute an addiction. I do take certain steps in an attempt to keep my habit under control. For example, I generally get rid of an old flashlight whenever I acquire a new one.
Sometimes I make an exception. One exception is those very rare occasions when my wife, “Kari”, gives me a flashlight. If she wants to be an enabler, I am not going to fight against it. Other times, I find that flashlight that I have gotten rid of somehow sneaks back into the house when I am not looking. If a flashlight feels that strongly about staying with me, I just don’t have the heart to send it away.
On this particular occasion, I did have a Rayovac flashlight that was showing signs of unreliability. I did not want to inflict the Rayovac on someone else by donating it to a thrift store, so I salvaged the bulb and threw the rest of the flashlight away. It stayed away, so it was obviously less emotionally attached to me than some of my other flashlights.
I randomly selected two batteries from a package of Panasonic AAA Eneloop batteries, inserted them in the new (to me) Mini Maglite, and turned the flashlight on. About an hour later, I left for the monthly Elder meeting at church. About seven hours after I had turned the flashlight on, I arrived home. The batteries were already dead.
The following evening, I repeated the test. In less than six hours, the batteries were dead.
The following evening, I repeated the test one more time. Five hours and forty minutes later, the flashlight was still giving useful light. Fifteen minutes later, the light had faded to a dull glow like a dying ember.
The Upgrade
[4]
[5]I ordered a Litt Industries 61 Lumen LED Upgrade Conversion Bulb for Mini Maglite 2 AAA Flashlight. It arrived via USPS Ground Advantage in a 9 X 6.75 inch black plastic padded envelope from Litt Industries, 10328 E. Iris Rd., Mesa, AZ 85207.
The envelope contained the upgrade bulb, a packing list, and a plastic bag containing several items. Those items were a couple of Litt Industries decals and an information card with customer support and warranty information.
The warranty is a “Six Year Limited Lifetime Warranty.” There seems to be an inherent contradiction between the “Six Year” and “Lifetime” portions of the warranty. When I visited the website to seek further information, I could find ample justification for the “Six Year” portion of the warranty. I could not find any justification for the “Lifetime” portion of the warranty. Perhaps Litt Industries considers six years to be the lifetime of one of their bulbs. But the use of the term “Lifetime” seems somewhat misleading in my opinion.
Testing Continued
I installed the LED upgrade. The process involved six simple steps:
1. Removing the cap and lens.
2. Removing the reflector.
3. Removing the xenon bulb.
4. Inserting the LED upgrade.
5. Reinstalling the reflector, cap, and lens.
After the upgrade was installed, I returned the xenon bulb to the tail cap spring. That would make the xenon bulb available as an emergency backup if the LED upgrade should ever fail.
Next, I popped in some fresh batteries and turned on the flashlight. It was immediately apparent that the LED upgrade was much brighter than the original xenon bulb. The xenon bulb was only rated at 13 lumens in contrast with the 61 lumens of the upgrade.
I left the flashlight on the kitchen table with the switch turned on. About 12 hours later, Kari noticed the flashlight and helpfully turned it off to “stop wasting the batteries.” I turned it back on a couple of hours later. About eight hours after that, it went out, after a total of almost 20 hours of use.
I then put in fresh batteries and put the flashlight in the duffle bag that I usually pack when I go away from home. It replaced a Mini Maglite 2 AA flashlight that I had previously kept in the bag. For the next 18 months, the flashlight went with me every time I left town.
I made a number of observations over the course of those 18 months.
Like other Maglite flashlights, the Mini Maglite 2 AAA is perfectly round. As a result, it rolls if it is set down on any surface that is not perfectly level. A new Mini Maglite LED 2 AAA flashlight comes with a pocket clip that prevents this rolling. The Classic (Incandescent) Mini Maglite 2 AAA flashlight does not come with a pocket clip. That is another point in favor of buying a new Mini Maglite LED rather than upgrading a Mini Maglite Classic.
The small size of the barrel of the flashlight makes it easy to hold in my mouth when I need to do a job that requires both hands. For example, our dog, Tucker the Beagle, found some stale trail mix in Kari’s book bag. Tucker considers any food that he finds within his reach to be his lawful prey. In this case, the trail mix made him quite ill. Cleaning up dog vomit in the dark in the middle of the night is not my favorite task. Fortunately, with the help of the Mini Maglite I could at least see what I was doing.
On another occasion, Kari and I went away to celebrate her birthday. We stayed in a cabin. The thermostat for the HVAC unit was located in a poorly lighted corner of the cabin. It was handy to have the flashlight so that I could read the numbers on the thermostat as I set it.
The flashlight proved useful for a number of similar tasks. It was always there, ready to shine, when I needed it.
Conclusions
The Litt Industries LED Upgrade for the Mini Maglite 2 AAA flashlight significantly improves the battery life and brightness of the flashlight. Battery life improves from about 6 to about 19 hours. Brightness improves from 12 to 61 lumens.
From a cost-effectiveness perspective, it may be a better investment to buy a new Mini Maglite LED 2 AAA flashlight at $14.99 rather than the LED upgrade at $13.99. The new flashlight has a pocket clip and is 100 lumens rather than 61 lumens.
In spite of those considerations, I do not regret upgrading my Mini Maglite 2 AAA flashlight. I find upgrading something to be more satisfying than replacing it. At the time, the process saved me $2.51. Currently, it would save me $1.00. A buck in my pocket and a warm feeling in my heart are good enough for me.
Disclaimer
I did not receive any financial or other inducement to mention any vendor, product, or service in this article.