Best HID rechargeable substitute for a Surefire M6

OK, so I love my M6, but have a general issue that if I use it on an EMS call, then I'm never sure how many minutes of the valuable 20 are left and of course don't want it to go dim during the middle of a car wreck etc... or entering a dark house at night... The only other option is refreshing the batteries way too often and that gets real pricey.

So I've been looking at good rechargeable equivalents, including the Dragon HID etc...that put out in the order of 500 lumens. My current substitute is a Tigerlight FBOP which is good, but more of a long distance small spot than a good mid distance wall of light like the M6.

Is there anything obvious, including Mods that I am missing?

kind regards,


Simon

What are you using in your UK Light Cannon Alkaline or rechargeable? I think that would make a good substitute especially with the lantern grip added. It should be much easier to carry the weight around than the spot light grip it comes with.

Kelly

You might find useful the following thread on development of a rechargeable solution for the M6, although it'll be some months before a product is fully developed...

M6-R thread

Regards,

Chris /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Re: Best HID rechargeable substitute for a Surefir

Personally I like my K3400 from Wolf-Eyes! The Dragon is great but when it comes to needing a real spot like can't be the Crocodile K3400 for the buck. Check it out more lumens and candle power then anything I've seen yet. http://www.expresslinktrading.com in their products section.

Re: Best HID rechargeable substitute for a Surefir

A little pricy, but how about the Surefire 10X Dominator ? At full output it has about the same beam pattern as a M6. You can also use the low output (60 lumens) when you do not need the full 500 lumens. Leave it charge in your vehicle, and it is always fully charged and ready to go.

Re: Best HID rechargeable substitute for a Surefir

Thanks guys for the thoughts...I'd been thinking about the Dragon rather than the Croc because of the sheer size of the Crocodile... If I were doing more S&R type work these days I think it would be great, but I really can't justify anything that can't easily slip back into a pocket when I have other things to do on scene e.g. care for the patient!!

I'd always discounted the 10X because of the Ni-cad rechargeable issue (and the appearance frankly), but maybe I should think again. I'd been secretly hoping that Surefire would do a smaller (non-beast) HID sometime like the Dragon but with an M6 quality beam and 60 minutes+ run-time - like a small KumKang!!

Is the Crocodile K3400 a very tight spot? I'm looking more for a wider spread e.g. approaching a wreck from 50 yards away and wanting to wash the whole surrounding area in light to check for any ejected occupants in ditches etc...

I'm watching that M6-R thread with interest too!

Appreciate it chaps....

Re: Best HID rechargeable substitute for a Surefir

P.S. Anyone have any good beamshots of the Croc and Dragon showing the real pattern and the amount of spill...

Re: Best HID rechargeable substitute for a Surefir

Hello Symes,

It sounds like you would enjoy the Dragon I.

The beam of the Dragon is "less smooth" than the M6, but smoother than the TigerLight. I compared my stock TigerLight with the Dragon I, and both put out a lot of spill light. The Dragon I is brighter and has more of a blue color (sorry colour /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif ).

The nice thing about the Dragon I is the LED tail cap. You can get a pretty good idea of the battery condition by checking the amount of LED that are lighting up. This light also has a generous run time (110 minutes if I remember correctly). I got slightly over that when I tested mine.

The down side to the Dragon I is the big glass lens. I am not sure how many times you could drop it on rocks and concrete before breaking it. The TigerLight is very good in this area.

I would offer to do some beam shots, but my ability in that area is slightly less than my ability to spell correctly... and that is awful.

Tom

Re: Best HID rechargeable substitute for a Surefir

As I know, WOLF-EYES is going to (or already release) a K500X 10W HID which use 4x123A batteries price under $260.
It look like a shorter version of Dragon 1. The differnce is just the battery tube. This means the rechargable Li-ion pack in Dragon 1 are also suitable for it.

Re: Best HID rechargeable substitute for a Surefir

That sounds like good news to me!
Any more info on this? Especially runtime?
bernhard