A few SF M3 question

Hey guys. A few question about SF M3. M3 comes with 2 bulb. MN10/125 MN11/225. Single stage

1) MN10 for 1hr. Is it enough time to use?? 1 hr goes by rather fast.
2) MN11 for 20min. Man that is hardly a performance for long use. Most likely....when u wanna use something with 225 lumen, you might forget to carry the extra bulb on you to change it.
3) When M3 in change with MN11, light gets much brighter, but does it throw longer at the same time? or it is same throw as MN10 cuz of throw is depends on reflector.

for 25 lumen less, L2 perform with 100 lumens 1hr. But has option to go for 18hrs longer run. A2 perform a bit shorter in throw but size is much smaller & with option for low light 20hrs.

Not sure M3 is good light to get for use regularly. Sounds like a lot of battery spending for me.

Any comment?

IMO, this sounds like a flashaholic experiencing sales resistance! :laughing:

I have spent tons of money on 123's for my old m3 (I always liked the bigger hotspot of the brighter bulb) I would recomend buying 2 AW 17500 batteries. (and charger and spacers) They will make the m3 rechargable (with the 125 L lamp)

I use this setup with my tl3 and have had guilt free lumens for some time now. You can find AW in the dealer section of cpf. Also check old threads for info. The AW batteries fit perfictly into a 3 cell light. The charger tells you when the batteries are done, and they are protected lithiums so they will just shut off when they get to a certian point so you do not dammage them. I am not sure of a combination to run the high output lamp on rechargables. But I am sure someone here will know. Hope that helps.

Also, the L2 runs 30min before dropping off full power on high...check out the reviews at flashlight reviews and led modifications...it is a great site.

wuyeah said:

Hey guys. A few question about SF M3. M3 comes with 2 bulb. MN10/125 MN11/225. Single stage

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By the term "single stage" I can tell you've grown up around LEDs!
Incandscent came first - think of Incandscent first, before LEDs not the other way around to get yourself in the right frame of mind!

wuyeah said:

1) MN10 for 1hr. Is it enough time to use?? 1 hr goes by rather fast.

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Depends what you need/want to use it for?
The M3 and the associated WeaponLights are designed and used as so-called tactical tools to help gain the advantage in situations involving firearms and confrontations etc. 60 minutes is a long time when such encounters can last a few minutes and don't happen that often.

wuyeah said:

2) MN11 for 20min. Man that is hardly a performance for long use. Most likely....when u wanna use something with 225 lumen, you might forget to carry the extra bulb on you to change it.

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These lights aren't really intended to be used for more than a few minutes constant-on at a time. I am not a policeman nor military etc and I much prefer the High Output Lamp Assemblies (HOLAs) even though their runtimes are rated as 20 minutes. When I need light I need light. If I need runtime I take a larger flashlight. It's a choice to take with you the most light in the smallest package knowing that you won't need it very much, or take with you a larger flashlight which can output a lot of light for a longer runtime for when you need it for a different application.

wuyeah said:

3) When M3 in change with MN11, light gets much brighter, but does it throw longer at the same time? or it is same throw as MN10 cuz of throw is depends on reflector.

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That's right - the HOLA's don't increase the intensity (or throw) of the beam compared to the standand lamp - they increase the quality of light which makes the main beam larger and the surround beam brighter since the reflectors are the same dimensions.

wuyeah said:

for 25 lumen less, L2 perform with 100 lumens 1hr. But has option to go for 18hrs longer run. A2 perform a bit shorter in throw but size is much smaller & with option for low light 20hrs.

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For me it is pointless comparing incandescent light with LED light since for me LED light is almost useless outdoors [unless it's totally dark and you don't need to see things in the distance]. I find that LED white light gets washed out really fast under streetlights or any ambient lighting - also for ease of identifying details further off incandscent light is far better to my eyes.

wuyeah said:

Not sure M3 is good light to get for use regularly. Sounds like a lot of battery spending for me.
Any comment?

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That would tend to be valid if you are not the type of user that SureFire designs the M3 and other "tactical" lights for.
What does "regular" mean? Recurring at fixed times; periodic ie: Once a year? You may have the MN11 installed in a WeaponLight which is used regularly about once a month, Your M3 may only be used in conjunction with your firearm for those high-risk situations - the rest of the time you use a rechargeable dutylight.
I believe you mean "frequent" meaning many times at short intervals.
And even then; perhaps your use does not justify the running cost (either to yourself or the organisation you work for that supplies the batteries) ?
Since the M3 and it's WeaponLight versions are some of SureFires high-selling products and they struggle to meet demand I would suggest that there is a market for it. Don't worry if you're not part of that market just as I am not either.

Al

wuyeah said:

for 25 lumen less, L2 perform with 100 lumens 1hr. But has option to go for 18hrs longer run. A2 perform a bit shorter in throw but size is much smaller & with option for low light 20hrs.

Not sure M3 is good light to get for use regularly. Sounds like a lot of battery spending for me.

Any comment?

Click to expand...

The L2 on high has a pretty short run-time as well. Out of the Luxeon V Surefires, its about the only one that actually produces 100 lumens. It drops out of regulation and stops putting out 100 lumens after about 30min.

The thing about the Surefire combat lights is that they are designed for serious uses, like SWAT teams, and military special forces, or in other words "combat". They are not designed for general use and long runtimes. They also use lithium batteries that offer a lot of voltage and flat discharge. The result is that you don't get the long tail of low output that you would with alkaline batteries. Sure it sounds nice that a Maglite can run for 10hrs, what isn't nice is that after 1 hr the output is below 50%. This long-tail of low-output is utterly useless for tactical uses. You have to take the Surefire combat lights for what they are; bright and extremably durable lights that won't let you down. Once you start introducing different power levels and funky switches there is more that can go wrong with the light. Surefire combat lights aren't intended to be primary general use light sources. They are for when you just have to have a lot of light and failure is not an option.