GreyShark
Enlightened
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2008
- Messages
- 359
I live on a fair sized piece of property out in the woods so a good weapon light is a practical necessity. In fact the Malkoff Device Story definitely hits home for me. I read enough about the M60w's color rendering capabilities to be interested so I bought one to try out in my Surefire M952. I opted for this host because I wanted the extra durability and given the intermittent nature of weapon light use heat buildup in the shock isolated bezel is not a concern but being knocked over by a startled wild boar is. 
I am measuring the Malkoff M60w against a BOG Super Premium, my best and brightest P60 thrower since throw is important to me.
My hope was that the M60w would improve contrast or make things easier to see through light brush. I can't honestly say that's the case even at short ranges but I do find the warmer light to be a little more engaging to the senses. I'm not sure exactly how to describe it but the illuminated scene appears a little more "active" with the M60w than it does with the whiter light of the BOG module. It's not enough to make a difference in target ID or recognition to me and I don't even see how it could improve reaction time but it is a bit nicer of a view especially at close ranges. YMMV.
As far as long range illumination goes I can generally see just a hair more detail with the BOG unit than the M60w at ranges of 100 yards or more. It's not much and below this range there is no meaningful difference at all. The BOG unit is noticeably brighter than the 170 lumen Malkoff drop in. I understand this has something to do with the actual emitter because the manufacturer hasn't currently released a brighter LED in this warmer tint. All in all I wouldn't say there's a whole lot of difference in performance unless you have a particular tint preference. I would say the warm tint is nice and if/when these units are available with higher lumens ratings I wouldn't bother with anything else. Right now I'd say it's just a matter of 6 one way half a dozen the other as even the slight extra amount of detail at long ranges the BOG unit provides was not enough in my testing to make the difference between recognizing a target or not.
One thing I appreciated about the M60w as compared to the BOG Q5 was the fact that its spill illuminated the ground about a yard closer to my feet which could be a serious benefit if I had to chase something through the woods. This is undoubtedly a function of the optic versus the BOG reflector but the cost in practical throw appears to be very minor. I expected the tighter beam of the BOG module to punch through the trees a little better than the Malkoff but there was no noticeable difference.
Periodically there are controlled burns and plain old fogs resulting in smokey conditions out here. When the opportunity presents itself I'll test both units under those circumstances and post my results. I'd also like to do a comparison in the rain and see if the tint has any interesting effects.
I did have some contact issues with the Malkoff in the LU60. The M60w fit inside the LU60 just fine but the spring was marginal and the ring for shock isolated bezels didn't work with the LU60 at all. In fact installing the ring prevented the light from working, though I don't know why. Fortunately this problem is a breeze to fix. I stretched the spring and made a custom contact ring with some copper wire by wrapping it around a battery and clipping it to length. The light has been 100% since.
I am measuring the Malkoff M60w against a BOG Super Premium, my best and brightest P60 thrower since throw is important to me.My hope was that the M60w would improve contrast or make things easier to see through light brush. I can't honestly say that's the case even at short ranges but I do find the warmer light to be a little more engaging to the senses. I'm not sure exactly how to describe it but the illuminated scene appears a little more "active" with the M60w than it does with the whiter light of the BOG module. It's not enough to make a difference in target ID or recognition to me and I don't even see how it could improve reaction time but it is a bit nicer of a view especially at close ranges. YMMV.
As far as long range illumination goes I can generally see just a hair more detail with the BOG unit than the M60w at ranges of 100 yards or more. It's not much and below this range there is no meaningful difference at all. The BOG unit is noticeably brighter than the 170 lumen Malkoff drop in. I understand this has something to do with the actual emitter because the manufacturer hasn't currently released a brighter LED in this warmer tint. All in all I wouldn't say there's a whole lot of difference in performance unless you have a particular tint preference. I would say the warm tint is nice and if/when these units are available with higher lumens ratings I wouldn't bother with anything else. Right now I'd say it's just a matter of 6 one way half a dozen the other as even the slight extra amount of detail at long ranges the BOG unit provides was not enough in my testing to make the difference between recognizing a target or not.
One thing I appreciated about the M60w as compared to the BOG Q5 was the fact that its spill illuminated the ground about a yard closer to my feet which could be a serious benefit if I had to chase something through the woods. This is undoubtedly a function of the optic versus the BOG reflector but the cost in practical throw appears to be very minor. I expected the tighter beam of the BOG module to punch through the trees a little better than the Malkoff but there was no noticeable difference.
Periodically there are controlled burns and plain old fogs resulting in smokey conditions out here. When the opportunity presents itself I'll test both units under those circumstances and post my results. I'd also like to do a comparison in the rain and see if the tint has any interesting effects.
I did have some contact issues with the Malkoff in the LU60. The M60w fit inside the LU60 just fine but the spring was marginal and the ring for shock isolated bezels didn't work with the LU60 at all. In fact installing the ring prevented the light from working, though I don't know why. Fortunately this problem is a breeze to fix. I stretched the spring and made a custom contact ring with some copper wire by wrapping it around a battery and clipping it to length. The light has been 100% since.
