4D ROP or 3D Malkoff for hard use?

I picked up a 4D Mag with the intensions of making it into a ROP. It's still packaged up so it's not too late. With the amount I will be spending to make it into a ROP I will reach Malkoff's 3D territory. Both are very bright have and have good runtimes. My main criteria was at least 1 hour straight runtime which both do or exceed. My question is, which one will be more rugged for outdoor/hard use? I do alot of outdoor activities (camping, fishing, etc) and I'm known to be very hard on my tools. They WILL be dropped and sometimes kicked around. I'm sure of it.

You want to be able to replace the LED or bulb when it breaks. And break it will from the shock of hard repeated drops. Kinda the reason I shied away from the Malkoff too… when the LED busts, or the driver circuit shatters, there is no recourse but sent it back to Malkoff… or…? But a ROP can be user repaired easily. And LED drop in modules can be replaced effortlessly when they fail. And upgraded in the future with awesome new powerful ones! I'm all for flexibility and upgrade paths down the road… and to get there you need a light that is simple and modular in it's repair and design. ahh... good ol' M*g's!

I've owned a Mag before but it's been several years. I remember it being pretty rugged. I eventually replaced it with my SL-20X. Now that thing is a beast. It's been able to handle everything I throw at it. Anyway with the ROP parts in place, does the Mag still retain somewhat of it's "shock resistance"?

But yes, I do agree that the ability to replace parts on the fly is important.

The Mag when modified into a ROP will be just a shock proof as a stock mag.

If you are really shooting for the runtime my suggestion is go with the LED. I used one of my modded mags last night, 3C mag with 3 17500 in series and a 1331, it lasted about 40 min but I reallly needed 60. I got to thinking about buidling me a 2C LED light and with the help of a member here on CPF I hope it will not be too long in the future and I will have it! Cree powered and running on AW's C lions! hb.

I thought about doing the Terralux drop-ins (cheap and easy) but after seeing pictures of the ROP and Malkoff it changed my mind. I can go either way, LED or Incan. Doesn't make a difference as long as it's at least 1 hour solid and rugged.

Have you considered the new terralux ministar? Very bright, buy two, and have one for easily maintained backup. Might not be bright enough for you though, since you consedered the ROP and Malkoff.

Thought about it but I'm wanting this to be my end-all outdoors activity light (within budget of course).

My lights (Malkoff) are built to be as tough as an OEM Mag. The 3D runtime is 5-6 hours continuous, at the rated output, on a fresh set of alkalines. It will continue to run for atleast 2 days continuous at a reduced output.

Thanks, Gene

LED's are kind of hard to be damaged by just simply dropping the light. That's one of the selling points. There's no filament to break when the light is dropped. However, if you are out in the woods with only one light and you drop an rop. The filament can easily be broken. Then you probably would have a hard time replacing a bulb in the dark. Not only that but the rop would be really really hot.

True the Malkoff light might also have a circuit board. But in my opinion the filament in the rop is still much more likely to break from a few drops compared to the circuit board that keeps the led in regulation.

However with that said, you are kind of comparing apples to oranges here. A good rop will probably put out at least 1000 bulb lumens (or something like that) on high or even higher depending on internal resistance. The single led is only rated at 240 lumens from the diode. Everything about these two lights are totally differnt. One is regulated, one is not etc... The only thing that's the same is the host the mods are being done in.

With that said... decide which things are more important to you.

LED-
Smaller overall package
less heat
no bulbs to replace or break
dont need to carry spare bulbs
much longer runtime per single charge
light may not get hotter than "warm"

ROP-
much more output
better color rendition
simple light without circuitry to risk malfunctioning
will probably throw a little farther because it's an incandescent
light will get pretty hot after a while

If it were me? Do it the CPF way. Get them both!

Thanks for the reply Gene. Doesn't make it any easier to choose. It's a very tough choice indeed.


Alin10123,

If it were me? Do it the CPF way. Get them both!

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:laughing:

021411 said:

Thanks for the reply Gene. Doesn't make it any easier to choose. It's a very tough choice indeed.



:laughing:

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lol, that was quoted from what i said. Not gene. lol

Of course. It was a two part reply. Let me edit the post for clarity.

Edit: Done.

Hey Gene I sent you an email.

I didn't think about this earlier, but for an extra tough package I could encapsulate the driver/heatsink in a 2 part marine/aerospace polyurethane that is specially formulated for circuit protection. I have some on hand that I have used for my own lights.

That sounds nice for an extra rugged light. I sent you one last email.

I guess I might have to do both.. ROP and Malkoff. :laughing:

Gene, I should be able to pick up my light on April 5th and it will be sent to you for the mod. REI takes forever for online order and store pickup. I got a good deal on the 3D though. Worth the wait.

Havent thought about it much before, but is the ROP really suitable for heavy duty? It seems to be screaming bright, but it also seems like so many thing can go wrong, high voltage, different ROP due to different parts, heat etc.

At this point I've decided to go ahead and try both. It seems like the ROP is a bit more delicate as Alin10123 stated. However it would still be cheaper to fix the ROP than the Malkoff although I'm sure both are pretty rugged. I just can't wait to put them through their paces. No shelf queens here. They WILL be used.

My thought was that since the ROP is a hotwire, is it really that stable? It seems more like a fun project to make an UBERbright light, but is it suitable for practical use due to the factors I mentioned before, not just cause it has a bulb to blow. To me the LEDdropins or Malkoffs(Gene) custom seems to be a more thought through offer for general purpose use. So I was wondering if anybody actually used their ROPs for moderate to heavy duty use.
So it's good to hear that they will be used and abused by you. Be sure to report back here.

Lobo said:

Havent thought about it much before, but is the ROP really suitable for heavy duty? It seems to be screaming bright, but it also seems like so many thing can go wrong, high voltage, different ROP due to different parts, heat etc.

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I guess it depends on which type of build you go with. If you go with unprotected lithiums, dont abuse them otherwise you could get into trouble. Also, what do you mean by heavy duty? If it's a light that could be knocked around a lot, you could break the filament inside the bulb.

With regards to heat, if you build an ROP the correct way, there wont be any issues with heat. Unless the light ends up getting too hot to hold.