Rat6P
Enlightened
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2007
- Messages
- 319
Went for a hike the other night, up a small mountain (it's called a mountain around here) of around 600-700 meters elevation.
Not a technical climb at all but plenty of uneven ground, tree roots, loose earth, rocks, and some steep drop-offs to contend with.
Bloody cold this time of year and there was a nice little earthquake while I was enjoying a coffee at the top.
I would have to say without artificial light you could not safely get up or down.
It was almost pitch black. Whatever ambient light there may be is soaked up by all the flora.
I would not have tried it without at least a few lights…….at least 1 to use and the rest backup.
I took a Novatac 85P, a Nitecore Extreme and an M30 (tried it in 2 different setups..1xAW16340 and 2AA alkalines.
For most of the time (ascent and descent) I used the 85P clipped on the backpack strap pointing just in front me and the M30 AW combo in the hand.
It was quite useful this way and I did not regret not bringing a headlamp.
The ascent took about 1 hour 30 mins and the descent less than 50. Medium to fast pace I guess
In between using the different lights as I walked up and back down the mountain and stopping every now and then just to make comparisons
The 85P was on max setting the whole time and gave out plenty of light until I made it safely to the bottom again.
Why did I have it one max when a lower level would have sufficed?.......because I could
.
It had stepped down maybe once by the end but was still putting out a lot a light.
It is noteworthy to mention the battery was not fresh at all. The beam on the 85P is really nice and having it to navigate the near ground was perfect.
It was also brilliant when I needed to get something out of my pack…….and needed a low level.
Next the Nitecore with AW16340 (NEX). This light also has one of the nicest beam profiles I've seen.
Definitely has a more concentrated spot than the 85P but still manages to maintain a symmetric beam.
Both the 85P and NEX have flawless artifact free beams.
Obviously the NEX thrashes the 85P in the output department and was great for looking ahead and spotting something but still had lots of flood for in close…….
A really nice light. I used this on max when I was using it. And if it was all I had it would have been great!!!
The Malkoff M30. This little beast is my favourite. I only have the normal tinted (not warm) version but this has the best tint I have ever had in a LED flashlight.
It makes the 85P look green and the NEX look blue. I really want to get an M30W.
I used the M30 with AW16340's for the most part…..but did try it out with 2AA alkalines as well. It turns out that either setup was my favourite.
The M30 does not have the flawless beams like the other two, but it does have a VERY nice spot with heaps of spill.
Using 2AA's the M30 gave about the same output as the NEX, and had a nice tint to boot.
If I had to choose which was the better thrower…..The M30/2AA would be it…..just slightly.
It is also a really nice profile light (think surefire 9P length) and easy to hold onto…just like something else I know……but that's a story for a different forum :naughty:
The 2AA powered M30 really is a great light and I would have used it the whole time to light the trail, but had a pocketful of AW16340's to burn through
The M30 with these batts in a single cell tube is a real pocket rocket
By far brighter and with more thow than any of my other lights.
It's really a bright little sucker on 2 alks, but on a Li-ion, WOW!
To say the least, this setup was fun. It was also interesting( for me) to note that even though
it's not a Warm version…it is a lot warmer than the other 2 and this really made a difference in
picking out the uneven terrain and helping the eyes to focus on objects.
Did I already say I want a warm version?
I managed to use the M30/single cell for the whole trip back and the result was 40 minutes of nicely regulated light then it shut off.
It would only reactivate again after shutting off the light for 10 secs or so then it would light again for another minute before shutting off by itself again.
Nice to know even when the Li-ion batt is near finished you could still get some momentary use.
Anyway I tried this once then swapped out the batt, I would imagine prolonged use of the batt in this way might deplete it past the safe point of recharge.
Just in case you are interested I was using the M30 in an FM1x16340 body.
When it was used with 2AA batts all I did was screw on the 2 single cell extenders (which were already screwed together with the AA batts and spacer inside……quite a handy thing actually)
Hope it wasn't too boring for you…….
Not a technical climb at all but plenty of uneven ground, tree roots, loose earth, rocks, and some steep drop-offs to contend with.
Bloody cold this time of year and there was a nice little earthquake while I was enjoying a coffee at the top.
I would have to say without artificial light you could not safely get up or down.
It was almost pitch black. Whatever ambient light there may be is soaked up by all the flora.
I would not have tried it without at least a few lights…….at least 1 to use and the rest backup.
I took a Novatac 85P, a Nitecore Extreme and an M30 (tried it in 2 different setups..1xAW16340 and 2AA alkalines.
For most of the time (ascent and descent) I used the 85P clipped on the backpack strap pointing just in front me and the M30 AW combo in the hand.
It was quite useful this way and I did not regret not bringing a headlamp.
The ascent took about 1 hour 30 mins and the descent less than 50. Medium to fast pace I guess
In between using the different lights as I walked up and back down the mountain and stopping every now and then just to make comparisons
The 85P was on max setting the whole time and gave out plenty of light until I made it safely to the bottom again.
Why did I have it one max when a lower level would have sufficed?.......because I could
.It had stepped down maybe once by the end but was still putting out a lot a light.
It is noteworthy to mention the battery was not fresh at all. The beam on the 85P is really nice and having it to navigate the near ground was perfect.
It was also brilliant when I needed to get something out of my pack…….and needed a low level.
Next the Nitecore with AW16340 (NEX). This light also has one of the nicest beam profiles I've seen.
Definitely has a more concentrated spot than the 85P but still manages to maintain a symmetric beam.
Both the 85P and NEX have flawless artifact free beams.
Obviously the NEX thrashes the 85P in the output department and was great for looking ahead and spotting something but still had lots of flood for in close…….
A really nice light. I used this on max when I was using it. And if it was all I had it would have been great!!!
The Malkoff M30. This little beast is my favourite. I only have the normal tinted (not warm) version but this has the best tint I have ever had in a LED flashlight.
It makes the 85P look green and the NEX look blue. I really want to get an M30W.
I used the M30 with AW16340's for the most part…..but did try it out with 2AA alkalines as well. It turns out that either setup was my favourite.
The M30 does not have the flawless beams like the other two, but it does have a VERY nice spot with heaps of spill.
Using 2AA's the M30 gave about the same output as the NEX, and had a nice tint to boot.
If I had to choose which was the better thrower…..The M30/2AA would be it…..just slightly.
It is also a really nice profile light (think surefire 9P length) and easy to hold onto…just like something else I know……but that's a story for a different forum :naughty:
The 2AA powered M30 really is a great light and I would have used it the whole time to light the trail, but had a pocketful of AW16340's to burn through
The M30 with these batts in a single cell tube is a real pocket rocket
By far brighter and with more thow than any of my other lights. It's really a bright little sucker on 2 alks, but on a Li-ion, WOW!
To say the least, this setup was fun. It was also interesting( for me) to note that even though
it's not a Warm version…it is a lot warmer than the other 2 and this really made a difference in
picking out the uneven terrain and helping the eyes to focus on objects.
Did I already say I want a warm version?
I managed to use the M30/single cell for the whole trip back and the result was 40 minutes of nicely regulated light then it shut off.
It would only reactivate again after shutting off the light for 10 secs or so then it would light again for another minute before shutting off by itself again.
Nice to know even when the Li-ion batt is near finished you could still get some momentary use.
Anyway I tried this once then swapped out the batt, I would imagine prolonged use of the batt in this way might deplete it past the safe point of recharge.
Just in case you are interested I was using the M30 in an FM1x16340 body.
When it was used with 2AA batts all I did was screw on the 2 single cell extenders (which were already screwed together with the AA batts and spacer inside……quite a handy thing actually)
Hope it wasn't too boring for you…….
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