The Official Malkoff Junkie thread - Part 2

[etc]

I am actually completely satisfied with my Super beam profile wise. True, it lacks the spill that the Hound Dog has. Or even M61. But that's not what it's for. If you want mega spill, use the regular Hound Dog. If you want maximum throw, but not to the point of being obnoxious pencil like Maglite beam profile, Super is what you want.

Super Hound Dog (or was it Hound Dog Super) is an awesome product and a must in your collection despite being north of 200 tokens. I especially love mine having extended its runtime with an extension.

 

[etc]

I do not understand the point of Wildcat of any generation. Yes, it's bright but low lux, it feels like holding a lightbulb with not much throw. Typically with large lights, you want some throw.

Hound Dog "regular" does everything you want, tons of flood and much spill as well. It's what I would use to find a needle in the carpet or something 100 meters away.

If you want just one Malkoff or even just one light, for whatever reason, without a doubt, I would take the MD4 Hound Dog. *IMO*

 

[Woods Walker]

@Infrnl: Thank you for sharing a little of your conversation with Gene.
I'm sure you already have a reserved seat at Malkoff Devices.


@Woods: what an awesome runtime!
I really liked the dropin m31w. The tonality pleased me a lot. With that high / low ring you have it should look perfect!

just about 28 hours. No change. I even tried high for a second and it looks like the battery still has lots of juice.

 

[Woods Walker]

Around 30 hours. Seems the same. Here is a comparison.

M31W running 1XAA NiMH mod low ring on left and Armytek A1 firefly 2 running 1.7 lumens 1XAA NiMH on the right.

A1 XM-L2 NW Firefly 2 on left and M31W low on right. Tint shifted a bit as each is running CC and both appear less warm to the camera than eye. Maybe around 25 hours into current test.

 

[INFRNL]

Agree that the Malkoff crew is tops. I gave him a call after I shot you that question Infrnl. He always takes the time to answer my questions. Great guy. Quick question. Does the m31 module cutoff BEFORE draining an Eneloop to the point where it could be damaged, or will it just keep sipping until the battery says uncle? I'm at 2.5 hrs with my M31w running on a regular eneloop and it's probaby .5 lumens. Don't want to jack up my Eneloops unnecessarily.

I honestly don't even know what the safe minimum voltage on an eneloop is.

I have done runtime tests with single eneloop till the light shuts off with no issues.
I'm pretty sure the m31 will only drain down to around 0.7-0.8v. I don't recall exactly. I'm also trying to recall what a primary drains down to, but they quickly recover to over 1.1v.

I don't have an issue running eneloops till the light cuts off.


@woods, that's some killer low mode runtime


@ETC, i agree that I'm fine with the super, but also at times i wish it maintained its throw but had a bit better spill. When i use a light, i just grab one usually. As we know the super is also great on low mode as well. That's probably where i would enjoy the extra spill the most, but overall I'm fine with it as is too.

As far as the wildcats, they have greater range than you give them credit for. They will light up everything including a lot of your peripheral but at the same time give you plenty of range for normal/general use. I shined my v6 down into a canyon in utah, it lit up 3-400ft where i could see the river and would be able to see objects etc. This was also done in an area with quite a bit of ambient light. In total darkness, it would have been that much better.

There are many cases where a flood type light would be better than any other option. Maybe walking into a big room, you don't want any surprises or your looking for someones cat, etc...you want the entire area lit almost as if the lights were on. Maybe you broke down on the side of a dark road and have to work on your car and need to light up the entire engine compartment, idk.

I think the v4 is very similar to the v6 but you can see the hotspot a little. I think it might provide a little more range, not sure yet.
Either way, it has it's advantages and can be more useful in many cases. I think they are actually great lights. I only wish there was an 18650 version, which the v4 can actually do, it will run on single li-ion. I think it could even run off a single primary but not so sure it would be too useful in that configuration, but definitely useful with single li-ion. V4 neutral has an amazing neutral tint as well

Wildcats will light up my entire back yard, nothing could hide from you when you turn it on, or move positions as if you had to sweep the yard with another light.

 

[etc]

Wildcat V6:

Quote:
The Flashlight utilizes a 20 degree Frosted Optic. The Lux is 7000 at one meter (cool) and 5200 (neutral).


See, this is the problem, 20 degree and 5200 to 7000 lux is M61 territory lux-wise. Now the lumens are 1350 and the current is also very high. It is a very bright flood light that excels within a very narrow performance segment.

if I wanted to explore inside some building where there is no throw greater than 30 feet yet I wanted max lumens to cover the max area, this is what you want. If you want to reach objects 40m away in the woods, Wildcat is dwarfed by the HD or Super.

I like much higher lux. M61T has 10K lux, M61HOT 15K. M91T is 18K IIRC and Hound Dog 19K IIRC (or was it 29K), and the Super is an awesome 79K lux.


Basically wildcat runs out of steam beyond a certain limit, well before the Hound Dog or even M61HOT. If you want close-up only, Wildcat is it, but if you want a combination of throw and flood, the Hound Dog is it.

I could use a 20 degree 6K lux 1x123 tiny device for the Malkoff headband I got. A headlight is the only application I can use such low lux and such floody design.

 

[Woods Walker]

40 hours still looking good.

 

[fresh eddie fresh]

I do not understand the point of Wildcat of any generation. Yes, it's bright but low lux, it feels like holding a lightbulb with not much throw. Typically with large lights, you want some throw.

Hound Dog "regular" does everything you want, tons of flood and much spill as well. It's what I would use to find a needle in the carpet or something 100 meters away.

If you want just one Malkoff or even just one light, for whatever reason, without a doubt, I would take the MD4 Hound Dog. *IMO*

The only Wildcat I held onto (the rest have PWM on low) was the V1. It has quite a bit of of throw. Interestingly, it is four emitters setup like a square, but the beam is a perfect circle at any distance.

I loved the V3/V4 WC versions for their floodiness, for indoors it could light up the whole warehouse at work I had to walk through, or outside, an entire street or yard... I completely think there is a use for both types of light, but do agree that once the Hound Dog beams started getting wider, the difference between the Wildcat and Hound Dog series started to get much closer, and prefer the HD overall.

 

[Woods Walker]

M31w low 1XAA NiMH or left. Armytek Wizard reg firefly 2 at 2.3 lumens CoolWhite.

Hard to judge output but it's maybe a bit less than the wizard which is more flood. Still has to be at least 2 lumens... I think. Not sure if it lost any output yet. Somehow I don't think so.

 

[Woods Walker]

M31W Low on left Armytek A2 NW on right firefly/low listed 1.9 lumens.

The M31W low is brighter at 43 hours. edit to add it's now around 48 hours looking the same.

 

[Random Dan]

The only Wildcat I held onto (the rest have PWM on low) was the V1. It has quite a bit of of throw. Interestingly, it is four emitters setup like a square, but the beam is a perfect circle at any distance.

I loved the V3/V4 WC versions for their floodiness, for indoors it could light up the whole warehouse at work I had to walk through, or outside, an entire street or yard... I completely think there is a use for both types of light, but do agree that once the Hound Dog beams started getting wider, the difference between the Wildcat and Hound Dog series started to get much closer, and prefer the HD overall.

Wait, really? I thought they used a resistor like the Hound Dogs.

 

[Modernflame]

Currently, the only Malkoff devices with PWM are the MDC's. Everything else uses the resistor ring. I have no direct experience with the v1-v5 wildcats.

 

[NH Lumens]

Currently, the only Malkoff devices with PWM are the MDC's. Everything else uses the resistor ring. I have no direct experience with the v1-v5 wildcats.

That is correct. The Bodyguard also uses PWM when it steps down.

Now the HD 18650 is a different beast, the high-low bezel switch uses a resistor for low output. It runs forever on low.

Here is my HD 18650 with a SF tailcap (I wish Gene made an unshrouded version of their standard tailcap), a Solarforce lanyard ring and a DIY finger lanyard.

 

[INFRNL]

The v4 has a head just like the hound dog and uses the same h/l ring. If they have pwm, i wouldn't know and i can't see it...so it doesn't bother me either way

 

[peter yetman]

I'm collecting a few Z41s, they're very versatile. Got one on an M61T MD2, it's just right.
P

 

[etc]

yeah, that's what I run for my EDC

M61T with MD2/Z41

very compact

 

[dhunley1]

Isn't the battery a bit of a tight squeeze with a Z41 on an MD2? I tried it, but didn't like how much it compressed the springs.

 

[fresh eddie fresh]

Currently, the only Malkoff devices with PWM are the MDC's. Everything else uses the resistor ring. I have no direct experience with the v1-v5 wildcats.

My apologies, the flicker is technically not PWM, but I could see it on low (more so with the V3 and V4 than with the V2) especially when panning the light back and forth, and first noticed it when using it in the rain (where it was very apparent). I am particularly sensitive to it, so it might not be an issue for most (I can't see it on the V1).

From Gene:
It does not have or use PWM to modulate the output on low. There is nothing to convert. It operates at a set cycle (like all buck LED drivers). The driver frequency is set at 500 kHz. Most people need a cycle at a minimum of 100 Hz to eliminate flicker. It is way above that threshold. However, as always if you are disatisfied with a purchase, please return for a full refund. No questions asked and no problem.

Thanks,
Gene Malkoff

 

[NH Lumens]

Isn't the battery a bit of a tight squeeze with a Z41 on an MD2? I tried it, but didn't like how much it compressed the springs.

It is tighter but less so with IMR cells, which are shorter. Two protected cells are a no-go, though....

 

[etc]

Isn't the battery a bit of a tight squeeze with a Z41 on an MD2? I tried it, but didn't like how much it compressed the springs.

I have no issues. Depends on which battery. I ran un-protected cells. Which are considerably shorter than protected. No need for protection when you have a single cell.

You can kind of tell visually when the cell is about 3.5V, at least I can.