G2ZL - Great by the bed led light

I've had a struggle over what light to keep by the bed for awhile. Had things like M2, M3, L5, G2, M6. They were always great lights that normally would excel at the task of a "by the bed light".

The problem for me is that my cat likes to abuse flashlights and slam them on the floor and smack them around. He means no harm, but I like to keep my lights in a like new condition if I can. The metal lights were always getting smacked down and I just couldn't have that anymore. Resided to having a G2 with P60 by the bed. Didn't like the lack of a pistol grip ring on it, but it was impervious to damage being Nitrolon material.

Then a couple days ago I remembered the G2Z and G2ZL. Knew it would be just what I was looking for - pistol grip ring, led (unbreakable), neck lanyard installed, reasonable bright. This light is the nicest combo of attributes for a defense light for use inside the house. Outside the M6 or such is what I would pick then.

Here are some pics of the C2, 6PL and G2ZL together. Weird thing is that the G2ZL has what seems to be an HA black bezel while the 6PL has a non HA black bezel that is much more shiny and glossy. Just found that interesting, as I was expecting a standard 6P bezel in black.

Super happy with this find. Won't be searching for another by the bed light for quite some time now. Thanks for listening to my rant!

Nice trio! Ironically, my three favorite Surefire lights happen to be the same ones you have, too.

*M2 body with a C2 head and a Malkoff M60
*6P with an M60
*G2Z with an M60L

I just got the G2Z a week and a half ago and it's a great light. At first, I didn't think I'd like it but it's certainly given my other lights a good run for the money. I took it out into the woods last weekend on a night walk and it did it's job, and then some.

Just the right combo of features if you ask me for a simple / easy to use / lots of light when you need it light; I favor the grip ring, light weight, and seemingly ding and dent resistant construction. I keep looking at the first Surefire I ever bought - a four year old G2 - and think to myself the G2Z is just a bitter fit with the slight gain in overall length. One heck of a light for a very nice price.

I have to admit I'm a fan of flashlights with grip rings, so I replaced the 6P with a C2 I just bought two days ago. My girlfriend is now the happy owner of the 6P with the M60.

Cool! They are some nice lights. I'll have to try a Malkoff sometime soon, always hearing about them around here. Very interested in getting one.

Yeah, the G2Z seems like a higher quality light than the G2. The Nitrolon is some great material for a light that has to take some bumps and dings regularly.

Nice family pic. Those Malkoff's look cool with the slight ring look in the window. Now I'm going to have to get one to try out.

Wow, your girl has a better light than mine does. My wife has a yellow incan G2 in the glove box and an Arc-AAAp on her keys. If only she'd show the same interest in lights that your girl does... that would be super cool, you're lucky!

I really like that lanyard on your G2ZL. Who makes it?

As for my girlfriend, she has been carrying a black G2 with a P60L in it for most of this year, so we figured we'd turn that into her car light and the 6P would be her purse light.

Speaking of the yellow G2, I'd really like to get that for the emergency house light. Slap a M60FL in it and call it good. Jeesh, it never ends, does it?

Thanks for the compliment! Made the lanyard myself using stuff purchased from Lighthound.com. It's fun using whatever color you want to make a lanyard. The clip is also from Lighthound and is a McGizmo clip I believe. I use the cord locks from Surefire lanyards most of the time, but have purchased those before as well.

I have a problem... I'm addicted to nice flashlights! Yeah, they just keep making stuff and I keep finding a use for different ones all the time.

I really like the lights with the combat grips like the Z2 and G2z. I only wish they made a HA version of them like the C2. I really don't care for a pocket clip (especially on a light the size of a C2) nor the square-ish body of the C2 and prefer the smooth lines of the Z2 and G2z. I'm addicted to these things and have several.

Yes, CM, a HA Z2 would be just excellent, wouldn't it? It's not that I don't like the black lights, but they don't wear as well and there's just something smooth and sleek about HA that makes your favorite Surefire that much sweeter.

Nitrolon's not gonna win any beauty contests, but it does what it does and it does it well!

The business end of the G2Z with the M60L:

That M60L beam shot looks intense!

Is that a standard G2Z with plastic bezel? If so how does the M60L run for longer times (aka heat issues). I am thinking of getting a M60L for my tan plastic G2Z and putting my P60L drop in over to my older OD G2. Are there any big gaps (bezel to body) with the m60l drop-in? Sure I know it is the O ring that keeps water out but I have OCD.

Woods Walker,

Yes, that's a standard G2Z with the plastic head. The very first Malkoff I had was an M60L that's in an older G2 with the plastic head. I asked Gene about heatsinking issues, specifically if I needed the newer aluminum head or if the plastic one would work. He was very helpful and said that since the body of the light had metal in it, the heatsinking would be adequate and it would be fine. So far, I'm on my first set of batteries with this light and I've used it a lot since I've had it. Tomorrow will make two weeks, and now I wish I'd kept track as to how long I've had it on.

As far as gaps, there are none with my NItrolon lights. The M2 and 6P I have have microgaps, but I fixed that with a very thin o-ring (sorry for the quick hijack, knightrider).

Oh, and the M60L is nice and bright, but don't let the picture fool you; it's not that intense. That was taken in a totally dark room with the light pointed at a white wall from a distance of about six feet.

I have the G2Z with 750ma Malkoff dropin. Very nice rig. Well balanced and nearly indestructible. The ultimate bump in the night light. The only criticism is that it doesn't have a low beam for navigating around the house to check things out....

The output can only be described as a light storm.

riceboy72 said:

Woods Walker,

Yes, that's a standard G2Z with the plastic head. The very first Malkoff I had was an M60L that's in an older G2 with the plastic head. I asked Gene about heatsinking issues, specifically if I needed the newer aluminum head or if the plastic one would work. He was very helpful and said that since the body of the light had metal in it, the heatsinking would be adequate and it would be fine. So far, I'm on my first set of batteries with this light and I've used it a lot since I've had it. Tomorrow will make two weeks, and now I wish I'd kept track as to how long I've had it on.

As far as gaps, there are none with my NItrolon lights. The M2 and 6P I have have microgaps, but I fixed that with a very thin o-ring (sorry for the quick hijack, knightrider).

Oh, and the M60L is nice and bright, but don't let the picture fool you; it's not that intense. That was taken in a totally dark room with the light pointed at a white wall from a distance of about six feet.

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You are right there is a metal liner inside the battery tube. Thinking the M60L would offer a good balance of lumens and regulated runtime. The Surefire P60L is not all that bad despite what some say about it however I don't have anything else to compare in terms of a drop-in. The G2Z form factor is very nice. Bomb proof and handles well.

Not trying to bag on the Surefire P60L by any means; it's well made, has a clean beam, and it does the job it was meant to do. It served me very well for many months and on many dark nights before I decided to try the Malkoff.

To me, it's like eating steak at Black Angus, then taking the plunge and having steak at Ruth Chris. Yes, they're both steak, but one is so much better than the other. To try to explain it to someone who's had neither is hard to do, but you want to convey your enjoyment to them so they truly understand how amazing it is.

The same thing happened to me when I got my first Malkoff, and now I have the ideal host for it with the G2Z. It has turned into one of my favorite light combos.

Pretty much agree with the post right above.

As far as gaps, there are none with my NItrolon lights. The M2 and 6P I have have microgaps, but I fixed that with a very thin o-ring (sorry for the quick hijack, knightrider).

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FWIW, my Nitrolon lights have a gap with both the Nitrolon and the aluminum bezels. Not a big deal...

Was looking at the Malkoff site and was interested in the M60F. Sounds similar to my L4 "wall of light". When I get one it will probably be that one. As I'd like it for the G2ZL as the indoor "bump in the night" light, so having long throw isn't very important to me for this light. A huge blinding wall of light would be awesome! Bringing L4 performance to a pistol grip ring light would be sweet!

Which Malkoff would be a good balance between spot and flood. Or maybe a touch more floody than the P60L?

I love how drop-ins have revived all the cool lights that are bigger/older. And that you can keep getting a new drop-in with even more performance. It's a great time to be a flashaholic!

This place is going to make be broke... Looks like a M60L or LL is in the future. I like the 8 hours for the LL but need more than 80 lumens. The reason is often I hike myself into a box. This weekend I hiked 5-miles out to a state park but needed to make the return trip to my truck. 5-miles is not all that long but it is still 10-miles of "dayhike" and the hills/rocks beat me up. The path was overgrown to the point of being moss covered. The blue blaze markers often hidden or far apart (marker trees fell). Started the return trip a 5pm and made it out at 9pm. I used my new EOS 2 and it worked great on hi but needed the L2D Q5 a few times to reach way out and see markers. Sometimes I pack the G2Z/P60L for this. However looking for more than 80 lumens. Any light must be able to run for at least 3-4 hours as this is often the max for a night return trip. I tend to stay out past dark in the woods being a flashlight type of person. Maybe looking for a reason to use the lights. Thinking the 140 lumens/4.5 hours runtime seems to fit into what I need. 1.5 hours (?) for the M60 is just to short despite the over 225+ lumens. Beyond that I like to light up an area more than my headlamp when using the Pulk sled.

But here is a question:

"Below 3.8 volts it will drop out of regulation and run direct drive"

That is from Malkoff. What happens after it drops out of regulation. How long is the direct drive? It would be nice to have some DD to warn of low battery. Also how is the tint. Blue hurts me in snow/fog and makes the AT white/ CT blue trailmarkers hard to see. The issue being the tint makes the markers look like tree moss etc.

Woods Walker said:

Thinking the 140 lumens/4.5 hours runtime seems to fit into what I need.
What happens after it drops out of regulation. How long is the direct drive? It would be nice to have some DD to warn of low battery. Also how is the tint.

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1. The M60L is plenty bright for most tasks. Others seem to agree.

2. After regulation the light will run with lesser output for awhile... plenty of time for you to know it's time to change batteries or recharge.

3. Mine has a nice warm tint. I like it better than bright white.

I doubt you'll be disappointed. Most guys love 'em.

Woods Walker, put a M60L in a SF G3/9P. You will get almost 7 hrs. of GREAT regulated light!

BTW, if the SF P60L works for you, don't be afraid to try the M60LL. I find it BETTER then the P60L. Throw the M60LL in a G3/9P and let the fun begin, somewhere around 12 hrs. of regulated light!

On the Malkoffs, the time listed is the REGULATED time, unlike to 50% (or to almost nothing for their 12 hr. false/lie claim) of the P60L.

My .02 FWIW YMMV

RWT1405 said:

BTW, if the SF P60L works for you, don't be afraid to try the M60LL.

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I thought P60L ~ M60L, not M60LL?

Definitely Malkoff tint is a way better than P60L.