Mako Flood Run - A Titanium, Two-Stage, AAA-Based Flashlight

[PoliceScannerMan]

Like a old skool luxeon UV1J vanilla? Come to daddy!!

[fyrstormer]

Fit and finish are as expected... very nice. As far as the beam goes, its nice and wide, and definitely warm. It seems more vanilla to my sapphire's cool neutral that leans more blue. I like it!

Intriguing. How do the brightness and beam width compare?

[jemab]

Like a old skool luxeon UV1J vanilla? Come to daddy!!

Yeah that's exactly what it brought to mind for me....

The beam pattern and brightness is similar to the sapphire. More rings in the mako, but I would think that would be expected. (Isn't noticeable except for the white door I've been stalking this morning, lol. In real world use, this is a non-issue for me)

These are of course my initial observations, and the work closet certainly doesn't give me a whole lot of room for comparison etc.

[Kestrel]

These are of course my initial observations, and the work closet certainly doesn't give me a whole lot of room for comparison etc.

Good God man, 84 CPF'ers are waiting on your every word, lol!
This is your five minutes of fame, grab your digital camera and lock youself in the closet for the review!

[fyrstormer]

Seriously. It's Friday afternoon. Nobody else is doing anything productive. Stop making everyone else look bad and get on with writing a review!

[Kestrel]

Seriously. It's Friday afternoon. Nobody else is doing anything productive.

+1, just look at what the rest of us are doing right now.

[jemab]

Oh the pressure!!

Ok here is a pic to tide you over. Sapphire is on the left and mako on the right. As you can see the beam is in fact broader than the sapphire (maybe 15%? just a wag). This is a not so stellar cell phone pic, and the wall is not white, but eggshell or whatever that slightly beige neutral color is, but it does give you an idea of color differences.

[coyote]

wonderful news. congrats everyone!!!! bravo on a job well done, enrique.

and so sad that i can't get off this remote mud-covered mountain until wednesday to make the trek to town to get mine. hope i can survive that long.

keep the posts coming, because i'm living vicariously through you.

[moeman]

Dammit!!! Mine didn't come today! Lol...

Looking forward to getting them though!

[JMP]

me neither

Dammit!!! Mine didn't come today! Lol.
Looking forward to getting them though!

[fyrstormer]

Wow. The beam color is remarkably different. I have no complaints about the tint of the Sapphire, since dim bluish light is actually pretty easy to see with, but it's striking how much warmer the Mako is.

[Endeavour]

Well jemab, it looks like you were the only lucky one, but then again, you're apparently just down the road from here! I hope you enjoy your light.

I think (hope) that a fair number of you all should have these waiting for you tomorrow - I look forward to seeing what you all think of them!

Fyrstormer: The beamshots are a little misleading in some ways (as were my own quick ones posted several weeks ago). One its own, the beam is pretty neutral white, but unless you fiddle with the white balance settings on the camera a lot, it's difficult to capture the color of two different beams accurately. It's also being projected (both in my shots and jemab's) on a wall that isn't white, which makes it more difficult to compare accurately.

Anyway, the point I'm making is this: The beam isn't yellow! You all will see what I mean when you get them in hand.

Enrique

[jemab]

Yes, I should have been clearer in that... keep in mind its a phone pic... the mako beam is a lovely vanilla, but its not yellow. What the pic does capture, I think is that the sapphire leans cool and the mako is warm with a larger flood beam.
This one's a winner in my book.
Thanks Enrique for another great light!

[fyrstormer]

Endeavour, what kind of lube did you put on the threads? They're Ti-on-Ti, unlike your other lights which are Brass-on-Ti.

[senna94]

Dammit!!! Mine didn't come today! Lol...

Looking forward to getting them though!

Good thing USPS still delivers on Saturday.

[Endeavour]

fyrstormer: The same lube you use on other lights should be just fine. I've never had a problem on my lights with the oft-mentioned titanium thread galling; the Aeon and Nautilus are brass threads on the head and titanium in the case, but the previous Mako, and this Mako Flood, were both 6AL4V titanium-on-titanium and the threads have never been gritty unless they were unclean.

Enrique

[fyrstormer]

I suppose the very light pressure exerted on the threads by the little foam disc helps with that. Other, larger lights usually have one or more springs that exert more pressure on the threads and cause the lubricant film to shear off.

Normally I use a polar-molecule petroleum oil that I've specially doped to resist titanium's famous oil-shedding properties, and it works well, but on my Sapphire I use Krytox because it's less sticky and the tiny head is easier to turn. Mostly I was curious whether I'd have to wash the threads before I could apply Krytox to them.

[Endeavour]

fyrstormer: There's really no reason to remove the lubricant that the light came with, but if you decide to anyway you can wipe it off with a paper towel in the head and case, I'm sure. Avoid using any water or cleaners (water for obvious reasons, and the cleaners because they'll usually attack the adhesive on the foam pad).

I hope that most of you all receive your lights today.

Enrique

[JMP]

Mine just arrived in seattle. Finish is perfect. Tint is very pleasing neutral. More later after it gets dark.

[chris975d]

Mine just arrived here in Georgia. This is my first look in person at a Mako...wow! As JMP said, the finish is perfect. These are by far the smoothest turning Ti threads I've encountered. They are so smooth, they don't even feel like Ti. No grittiness at all. And the neutral tint is perfect (for me). The bluish tint of all my other AAA 5mm emitter lights always give me a "cheap" feeling becuase of the crappy angry blue tint. The tint of this light just reeks of quality to me, and of course the fit and finish of the light itself backs that up. I'm extremely happy with this purchase! Thanks to Enrique and all of those that prodded him to make these again.

[nbp]

No Mako for me today. Will have to wait till Monday. Hope some can post pics to tide me over.

[Kestrel]

No luck yet here in Oregon - if they've gotten to Seattle mine is probably in Portland. Dagnabbit.

[OtisCampbell]

Here's a beam shot (on low) versus a high CRI Nichia Sapphire Mule (on the right)....

I dislike overly warm tints but I think this is perfect..

[PoliceScannerMan]

Touchdown, I knew what to expect bc I have had three makos in the past, a cool, a red, and a warm atwwod splash. Still have the atwood splash. Nice floody light, nice tint too, my iPhone 4S got it pretty good, this looks pretty accurate...

This is three inches from my off white wall. Flood on left, warm on right.


Warm:


Neutral flood:


Business end:


Nice light!

[scout24]

Very pretty... Congrats all! Brandon- PM incoming...

[fyrstormer]

Mine arrived today in Virginia. (I do live literally next to an international airport though, and my post office is within walking distance.)

This light has the best bead-blasting I've ever seen. Most lights that are bead-blasted still have a raw surface texture, but this one looks and feels like it was lightly polished after blasting, to remove the microscopic peaks that form when you attack a non-self-polishing metal like titanium with an abrasive. The emitter is definitely a neutral color to my eyes, warmer than most of the lights I own. What I think of the tint is something I'll have to mull over for a while, but that's the only aspect of this light that I'm not instantly enthusiastic about. It's amazing how small it is, too. Much shorter than my Sapphire. Partly this is because it doesn't have the rounded tail that my Sapphire has, but the head is shorter too since it has no lense.

Pics will follow this evening.

[nein166]

Got mine today its a great little light
Put a white tritium I got from B@rt in the slot with N61, and the split ring on.
Can't decide on a carry method maybe fine Ti chain for a necker

I love how easy it is to turn the head with a one hand hold
Really great for reading by just enough light and no glare from a hot spot and the color looks great very nice neutral.
Only hint of yellow is in the outer edge, only thing wrong is theres no glow epoxy on the backside of the LED, I can forgive that.

Thanks Enrique

[moeman]

Mine came today! I have played with them a little. Put a Monroe Dangler on one... Will post pics soon....

Thanks Enrique! Makes me want to buy a new Aeon to go with my Alu-Bronze Cr2Ion!

[Kestrel]

Nice floody light, nice tint too, my iPhone 4S got it pretty good, this looks pretty accurate...

This is three inches from my off white wall. Flood on left, warm on right.

I'm really liking the look of that tint on the new Mako.

[calipsoii]

Enrique, if I may ask: is that a Cree 5mm? If you don't want to say that's fine, but I'm always curious what emitters my lights are sporting.

PSM's "business end" shot:

Looks quite similar to the NW Cree's I've worked with (which are also 55 degrees):


If so, I'm excited, because they have a gorgeous floody NW beam - by far the best out of a large number of samples that I tried.

I guess I could wait until my Mako arrives but it might take a while to make it's way up here.