Several years ago, before discovering CPF, I was living in a very rural area and NEEDED some good lights. Having seen an SF M6 I looked at the then-current SF catalog and selected several lights including the new U2, an M4 and since they touted it so highly, an M3. My needs were primarily met by the U2 and the M4 so the M3 languished unused and unappreciated. It did not have the throw to show a coyote in the brush 100 yds out, and was not as versatile as the U2 in the house and yard. Along the way I added several others: G2, L1's and L4 for the truck etc. Then a couple Fenix's and now Nitecore's... still no niche for the M3.
Jumping to the present, I decided that in order to get any use out of this I had better send it to Milky who had also done a nifty little L1 for me a while back. I now have the M3 back (thank you Scott) .... and can finally state that I will get some use out of it now. I think this may now be the perfect truck or bedside light.
Milky Project M series. M354-M3 3xCreeXRE R2 WC in McR17 reflectors.
Scott has several variations on this build insofar as lumens vs. run time. I went middle of the road with the 350 lumens version which yields a 'better-than-factory' runtime. I think he said a bit over 2 hrs with primaries. The output on a white wall is bright, totally washes out the beam from the NC Extreme or G2 with Q5 drop-in and is noticably 'warmer' as well. To my mind, the 3 cell form factor was just too much larger than a 2 cell such as a G2, and the output was too far behind the M4. I believe what I have now with this is a big brother to the L4. That is a good thing.
Jumping to the present, I decided that in order to get any use out of this I had better send it to Milky who had also done a nifty little L1 for me a while back. I now have the M3 back (thank you Scott) .... and can finally state that I will get some use out of it now. I think this may now be the perfect truck or bedside light.
Milky Project M series. M354-M3 3xCreeXRE R2 WC in McR17 reflectors.
Scott has several variations on this build insofar as lumens vs. run time. I went middle of the road with the 350 lumens version which yields a 'better-than-factory' runtime. I think he said a bit over 2 hrs with primaries. The output on a white wall is bright, totally washes out the beam from the NC Extreme or G2 with Q5 drop-in and is noticably 'warmer' as well. To my mind, the 3 cell form factor was just too much larger than a 2 cell such as a G2, and the output was too far behind the M4. I believe what I have now with this is a big brother to the L4. That is a good thing.
