surefire MN02

[270winchester]

so I ordered a surefire MN02 bulb from ebay the other day, courtesy of cesar rodriguez from calexico, ca, and this is what i think:

wow

now i have to admit that i was the one that doubted the power of the MN02, since on the surefire catalog it is only rated at 25 lumens. Sounds like pitiful compared to its brother, the MN03, right?

boy was i wrong.

this is a heck of a lot of light in a long run time(2.5 hours) for the e2's. i bought it becasue the recommendation from numerous sources, including craig boddington, the editor of Guns and Ammo. the e2 outdoorsman is essentially a e2e with the mn02 with a longer pocket clip.

I am running the bulb as i write this. I just went for a walk in the hills for an hour, and the light has been running for another 20 minutes in my room, and it is still as bright as i first put the batteries in!!! Now 25 lumens might sound minimal, but surefire did an amazing job of making the light focus smaller, and the light is almost as bright as the mn03, except that the mn02 has less of a coverage, but heck, for double the run time i'll take a little less coverage for my back up light. The quality of the light for close range(20-30 yards) is spetacular. My streamligth with 1 c that's claimed(claimed being important) 35 lumens ain't got nothing on this surefire!!!!

in conclusion, it's still running!!! it's been a good hour and 40 minutes, i give it my endorsement. I recommend all e2 owners pick one up, if they haven't got one already. the best 15 bucks i spent in the recent time. don't let the stat fool you, for a good, reliable, long running light for the woods, this lamp will give you a good run for your money compared to LED's. no wonder the Outdoorsman is favored by so many hunters as a work and hunting light.....

take it easy,
nick

 

[juancho]

Good post!!
I agree with you as I use an Otdoorsman when I am in the woods, just because the long running time.
Since you already run the light for 1 hour and 40 minutes, why don't you go all the way to see if is really 2 1/2 hours?

Also you can comment in the heat issue, how warm or hot it gets, and since you already have an MN03, make comparisons in the heat issue.
Please "enlight" us a little more!!

Juan C.

 

[juancho]

I saw Craigh Boddington in Guns and Ammo and Hunting magazine, advertising the A2 Aviator, which is litthe longer and bigger than the E2o, but have the advantage of the 3 LED's with a looooong runtime and the 50 lumen incandescent lamp as a back up!!
It cost more but is a more versatile light for Hunters, specially bowhunters that like to walk in the dark to the tree stand, with a minimun of light, so no to pollut the area with light.

Juan C.

 

[daloosh]

Hey 270winchester, welcome to CPF and why dontcha stay awhile!

Thanks for the review, while I have several E1s and E2s, with MN01s, MN03s or LED, I've never had an MN02 lamp. We constantly strive for bigger and brighter, but do ya really need it? I often find an E1e is perfectly fine, so it seems the MN02 on 2x123 would be perfect for exactly what you say, good lite and long runtimes. While I love the P61 lamp's brightness, 20 min runtime is plain crazy!

would be interested in your answers to juancho's Qs, too

welcome again,
daloosh

 

[270winchester]

Hi folks:
Thanks for the warm welcome, always appreciated!!
The reason why i let the light run for an hour and 40 minutes was that i alread used the same batteries in my E2e for a few weeks, and it wouldn't be fair to run it as if it were new. i will run it again soon and get the actual full running time.

As for the heat, it does heat up quite a bit eventually, given the small size of the E2's and their material. Now my E2 with a MN03 heats up pretty good after 20-30 minutes, to the point of worthy of the warning on the bezel: "hot surface".

The MN02 heats up, but it did not become too hot until about an hour or so, It cooled back in baout 3-4 minutes when it was assuring ot handle. But again this was done in an indoor enviornment, which less cooled than the woods and colder areas that this lamp is meant to be operated in.

As for the A2, I would love to have the light, it's indded a good light. But it is also 185 buckaroos, compared to 95 for a Outdoorsman nad quite a bit bigger(proportionally speaking, anything more than an inch longer than the E2's would be significantly bigger. I'm waiting for the price of LED Surefires to come down before i can afford one.

It was a cheap a wonderful upgrade......Now it will be in my pack for emergencies.....

Happy trails folks.

Nick

 

[KevinL]

Impressive findings. I was just reading another post about the MN02 lamp providing just a bit less light than the MN03 with the associated doubling of runtime. I may have to relook it as a credible incan/thrower alternative to the KL1 flood.

I concur with daloosh, often an E1e's MN01 lamp is more than enough for skulking around in the dark. I stayed at a friend's place earlier this year with just my E1e and a Photon Microlight (no collection, and no CPF yet). Indoors, even in a completely unfamiliar house, the E1e lit up the place tremendously bright. Outdoors, I was lighting up a tree at something like 60-75ft and able to see the outlines of the leaves although the light was pretty dim. Not bad for an MN01 - the little light goes a long way and I love the 90-minute runtime on ONE cell, it makes me feel a lot less reticent about using it.

There is (was?) an A2 around the buy/sell/trade section of the forum for $120.

 

[nikon]

I absolutely agree with the choice of the MN02. I can see where a LEO would want to use the MN03 to light up those dark corners as much as possible, but the rest of us aren't chasing criminals. I'd much rather have the long runtime of the MN02.

 

[brightnorm]

The UK 2L will give a longer run and a brighter spot, as well as being waterproof, shorter and lighter than the "Outdoorsman" (E2E/MN02/M2 clip), but the Outdoorsman is probably a better walking light because of its broader and smoother beam.

Brightnorm

 

[Size15's]

The E2o also has a pocketclip. The diameter of the UKE 2L is a bit too large for carrying loose in your pocket (in my opinion).

The UKE-2L is in my rucksack I take to work. However, I wouldn't consider the UKE-2L to be an EDC personal light like the E2o is.

Al

 

[Ray_of_Light]

After having had a bad experience with two MN02s, I installed a third one in my E2e and I am running fine since. Very likely, I received two bad MN02.

The MN02 is, in my opinion, the best "good for all" lamp assembly, for its balance of runtime and brightness. For EDC use, it is almost ideal. Two 123 batteries lasts, in normal use, about a month.

Since my last bad experience (blackened MN02s) I am running the E2e/MN02 exclusively on SF123, since a believe that it is VERY sensitive to even small voltage changes.

Regards

Anthony

 

[StuU]

I have tried the MN02 but I prefer the MN03. The reason is that for my uses, the MN02 seems to throw out a much narrower beam than the MN03. Throw seems about equivalent tho the narrow spot seemed just a bit too narrow for me.

 

[Morganch_oh]

Can you refer me to the other Post regarding about the MN02?
Cos I would like to find out more about the MN02

Thanks

[ QUOTE ]
KevinL said:
Impressive findings. I was just reading another post about the MN02 lamp providing just a bit less light than the MN03 with the associated doubling of runtime. I may have to relook it as a credible incan/thrower alternative to the KL1 flood.

I concur with daloosh, often an E1e's MN01 lamp is more than enough for skulking around in the dark. I stayed at a friend's place earlier this year with just my E1e and a Photon Microlight (no collection, and no CPF yet). Indoors, even in a completely unfamiliar house, the E1e lit up the place tremendously bright. Outdoors, I was lighting up a tree at something like 60-75ft and able to see the outlines of the leaves although the light was pretty dim. Not bad for an MN01 - the little light goes a long way and I love the 90-minute runtime on ONE cell, it makes me feel a lot less reticent about using it.

There is (was?) an A2 around the buy/sell/trade section of the forum for $120.

[/ QUOTE ]

 

[Morganch_oh]

Can I ask if the MN02 throws as far as the MN03?

Cos I found out the beam shots between the MN02 and MN03 to be about the same at Short distances.
http://members.aol.com/qn9513/myhomepage/flashlighte2e.html

How about beamshots between MN02 and MN03 at far away distances? Any advice?

[ QUOTE ]
StuU said:
I have tried the MN02 but I prefer the MN03. The reason is that for my uses, the MN02 seems to throw out a much narrower beam than the MN03. Throw seems about equivalent tho the narrow spot seemed just a bit too narrow for me.

[/ QUOTE ]

 

[jtivat]

Here are some beam shots at about 80 feet.

JT

 

[270winchester]

jtivat:
thank you, those are good pics for this comparison.

For the purpose, the brightness of the mn02 can only be appreciated in close range work, considering it lasts much much longer. but the mn03 is a helluva bright little jewel, for sure.
nick