Modernflame
Flashlight Enthusiast
The M61T and M61HOT bot use the XPL-HI. I am the proud owner of both. :thumbsup:
Why so much hype around Malkoff?
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The M61T and M61HOT bot use the XPL-HI. I am the proud owner of both. :thumbsup:
milehigher
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It's not hype, gene makes excellent lights and stands behind everything he makes, he has earned his reputation one happy camper at a time.
XR6Toggie
Newly Enlightened
I only own two Malkoff lights plus a Maglite drop in. The quality and toughness is incredible and they put out light with no fuss. For my job I don't want lights that put out 5000 lumens and only to step down after two minutes or lights that have 8 brightness settings and three strobes that require lots of clicks to access.
My Hound Dog goes on and off. Twisting the head makes it high or low. I know that it will turn on when I click the button. I know that if I drop it on the ground it will still work. I know if I have a problem I can email Gene and he will get back to me and answer my question.
My Hound Dog goes on and off. Twisting the head makes it high or low. I know that it will turn on when I click the button. I know that if I drop it on the ground it will still work. I know if I have a problem I can email Gene and he will get back to me and answer my question.
Modernflame
Flashlight Enthusiast
Well put. I own seven Malkoff lights and have never had a warranty issue. If something were to go wrong, I have the highest confidence that Mr. Malkoff would make it right. I'm grateful to this forum, without which I never would have discovered Malkoff devices.
flashlight nut
Enlightened
I would like to share a Malkoff experience. A couple of years ago I was participating in low light training with about 20 other "students". I puts quotes around students because all of the students were firearms instructors from various departments. One exercise was to demonstrate how important a flashlight is even when the sun just went down over the horizon but still plenty of light, so it seems. The instructor had all of us walk by, one by one, while holding various objects in his hand to see if we could identify the object without using a flashlight. Even though we could make out the instructor perfectly it was very difficult to identify the objects in his hand. Next we all walked by again but this time quickly lit the instructor up to identify the various objects. Now there were many Surefires, Streamlights, etc. but at this time I had a 6P with a Malkoff M61 dropin for duty carry. Just 325 lumens. I'm sure there were plenty of lights with more "lumens" out there. I'm sure all the lights were adequate for the task but my light was the only one that made the instructor say" Holy s**t! What the hell is that!". That is what a quality light with a superior reflector and beam profile can do. It's not always about the lumens.
Malkoffs tailstand.
Nuff said.
I left mine outside on low turned on when a snow storm was expected over night. Next morning I looked outside and in a howling snowstorm saw a mound of snow on a small table had a slight glow coming from it.
I removed the 6+ inches of snow, dried it off and never looked back.
Nuff said.
I left mine outside on low turned on when a snow storm was expected over night. Next morning I looked outside and in a howling snowstorm saw a mound of snow on a small table had a slight glow coming from it.
I removed the 6+ inches of snow, dried it off and never looked back.
There is no hype. It's the real thing.
Another reason for me in addition to what has already been posted is basic operation. Malkoff has a variety of power levels available on their single level drop-ins and many times that is what I want,just one level. Nothing wrong with multi level,hidden modes,turbo mode etc. I have plenty of those lights too but much of the time I just need a reliable single level light. With my Malkoffs I know what I am going to get when I press the switch and that it is going to work.
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tech25
Flashlight Enthusiast
I am considering the M61T, but both lights aren't the same . For the M61T you loose the beam profile of the M61 (blended spill) and for the M61Hot you loose both the blended spill and runtime- even though you gain lumens.
I am talking about just an LED swap (even though it's probably not so simple) in the M61.
KuroNekko
Newly Enlightened
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- Jan 3, 2014
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I have a Surefire 6P that I bought back in 1997 or 1998. A few years ago, I wanted to upgrade the head to LED and so I just bought a Surefire KX4D head. It works nicely and all, but I really wish I knew about Malkoff back then. Not sure about a few years ago, but Malkoff certainly now offers a drop-in with L,M,H outputs with more lumens and better throw than the KX4D head. It's also cheaper than what I paid for the KX4D. I just wonder if he was making a better drop-in alternative to the KX4D back when I bought it.
richbuff
Flashlight Enthusiast
Why so much hype around Malkoff?
Because Malkoff makes product line that lots of people like a lot?
It is a big flashlight world out there. I am glad that there is a very wide variety of different items that have lots of followers. There are so many types of flashlights that if I were to purchase, I would love a lot. I am certain that if I took a detour from the center of my area of interest and purchased a Malkoff, I would love it.
@ank: When you get your Malkoff, please post back and tell us what you think and feel.
Because Malkoff makes product line that lots of people like a lot?
It is a big flashlight world out there. I am glad that there is a very wide variety of different items that have lots of followers. There are so many types of flashlights that if I were to purchase, I would love a lot. I am certain that if I took a detour from the center of my area of interest and purchased a Malkoff, I would love it.
@ank: When you get your Malkoff, please post back and tell us what you think and feel.
I bought a P60 drop in from him years ago to test fitting on custom made hosts and never liked it.
It's not bright at all, bad tint, too expensive, not fits right (bezel doesn't fit correctly) and lens came off. I never bother to use anymore and can't remember where it is now.
I know it is US made, it is reliable, good warranty but...
It's not bright at all, bad tint, too expensive, not fits right (bezel doesn't fit correctly) and lens came off. I never bother to use anymore and can't remember where it is now.
I know it is US made, it is reliable, good warranty but...
This is true, but the comparison is better defined as the difference between using a TIR lens vs. a reflector.
I have a M361LMH drop-in, a M61N drop-in, a M61T head (TIR) and a Hound Dog 18650 N head. I prefer the reflectors for general use, but the TIR lens focuses the lumens in a tighter cone which is great for certain applications (rifle WML, self defense, etc.). But at the end of the day the HD 18650 whoops 'em all with a beautifully useful beam, even on low (30 lumens, with a run time measured in the hundreds of hours). A few shots of the HD 18650 beam profile;
@hogesaybro
Newly Enlightened
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I'm considering the Malkoff M61 drop in for my Surefire C2. Only because it seams to be the highest quality led drop in I can find. I would however like something with slightly lower lumen output so as to increase the battery runtime. I use this flashlight for camping and light duties around the house. Any advise?
Tachead
Flashlight Enthusiast
I think most of the hype is mainly here at CPF. There is a group of dedicated followers around here that super into them and keep the threads going. In the normal world they are little known from my experience. I think alot of what makes them popular around here is the owners(Gene and Cathy). They are know to be very nice people, offer great customer service, and are always there to help if needed. There lights have a lot going for them too including nice quality materials, reliability, lifetime warranty, and a simple UI that some prefer. They are also made in the USA which is something a lot of Americans gravitate to. But, they do have some downsides too like fairly mediocre outputs, the use of mainly older emitters, lack of regulation on some models, outdated drivers that produce efficacy that is not great, and ringy beam patterns on some of their dropins due to a weird 2-stage reflector design. Personally, I think they are a niche company and have a lot to offer to a certain crowd for certain applications. I don't think you can go wrong buying from them if you accept their limitations and accept that one day your lifetime warranty may not be applicable if Gene and Cathy retire and don't have a succession plan.
Your considerations are quite plausible.
I really like the malkoff brand.
I have an entire collection with their products, but I agree with everything that has been said.
I could not describe it better.
I would add just the fact that the lack of power of some models is due to the brand providing an extremely reliable and durable product.
Surely the malkoff products do not abuse the power of the LEDs.
This in parts is bad because we often like more powerful LEDs, but at least gives us the guarantee that the product will work regardless of the way it is used.
We know that many armytek flashlights were experiencing problems in turbo mode due to the abuse of power over some LEDs (or lack of more effective temperature control).
With time and experience:
a) I learned to appreciate the balance between runtime and power;
b) I verified in practice that 300 lumens are more than enough, and the distribution of lumens in 3 modes 15/80/300 (mdc 16650 flashlight or dropin m361lmh) is practically perfect for me.
Currently my only criticism lies in the fact that the driver could be more efficient and that some dropins, such as nichia) are scarce.
This is true, but the comparison is better defined as the difference between using a TIR lens vs. a reflector.
I have a M361LMH drop-in, a M61N drop-in, a M61T head (TIR) and a Hound Dog 18650 N head. I prefer the reflectors for general use, but the TIR lens focuses the lumens in a tighter cone which is great for certain applications (rifle WML, self defense, etc.). But at the end of the day the HD 18650 whoops 'em all with a beautifully useful beam, even on low (30 lumens, with a run time measured in the hundreds of hours). A few shots of the HD 18650 beam profile;
That's awesome tint
Which HD is that? Which LED?
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