etc
Flashlight Enthusiast
Okay, all the well-known names are here except for Surefire. With all the mods it seems that there is little if any Surefire left in the picture.
I wonder if the Malkoff/Leef/AW mod, as a Surefire clone, should be called CertainFire, or perhaps PrettySureFire+.
With that said, my AW 18500 protected cells finally arrived, incidentally at the same time as the Pila charger. The cells all came charged to 4.0V. As I ran out of primary 123 cells a while back, this was a good time to finally fire up the Malkoff M60 mod and see how these cells perform.
This is the config used, my favorite setup, Leef 18500 body with Malkoff M60, Z49 tailcap and 2x18500 AW cells. Tailcap aside, on the outside, it looks identical to Surefire 9P, minus the missing logos and serial number and a slightly different (and better) knurling pattern.
And the M60 module:
Here is the FiveMega setup, also 2x18500. Basically it has the stock P90 module until I figure out an LED upgrade and the stock Z41 tailcap.
After some contemplation, I realized I like Z49 better due to instant, one-handed click-on. Even despite its size. Plus, the instant-on is easier to hold with less resistance. Until Surefire designs a better TC, I am stuck with this one, and I really don't want to get a Z59 due to all the issues I hear about.
Firing them up, no exciting fireworks, just the same breathtaking performance I am used to. I couldn't tell any difference between M60 on primaries vs. 18500 Li-Ion cells, they light up the same way the primaries do as expected.
Here is the pic of M60 vs. the stock incan P90 module. Both lites running off 18500 cells. It's obvious which one is which. I don't "get it" why it's often said that incan has better color rendition. Maybe not all incans are the same but P90 is horrible, sickly yellow tint, most unnatural (Not to mention the awful runtime) while M60 gives a pretty good rendition, not to mention being over twice as bright. I think its color rendition is as good as it gets.
Here is the Leef and FiveMega 2x18500 dwarfed by the larger Leef 2x18650 lite. The latter should have more runtime for sure but forget EDC.
And here is the whole and happy Leef + FiveMega family.
18650 is a cool lite that deserves something special for its drop-in module. Right now it has none. I don't have the cells either. I am debating whether to get AW's 2200 mAh cells but the word is, 2500 mAh will be available so should wait until they become available. Of course the ever-expensive Pila cells are another option... Anyway, unless Gene can come up with a custom module that can do up to 12-13V unlike M60 which is limited to 9V, I likely won't get a Malkoff drop-in for it. There is more stuff on the market. I am in no particular hurry, maybe in the future we will see even more impressive performance from P60 type drops-ins...
I wonder if the Malkoff/Leef/AW mod, as a Surefire clone, should be called CertainFire, or perhaps PrettySureFire+.
With that said, my AW 18500 protected cells finally arrived, incidentally at the same time as the Pila charger. The cells all came charged to 4.0V. As I ran out of primary 123 cells a while back, this was a good time to finally fire up the Malkoff M60 mod and see how these cells perform.
This is the config used, my favorite setup, Leef 18500 body with Malkoff M60, Z49 tailcap and 2x18500 AW cells. Tailcap aside, on the outside, it looks identical to Surefire 9P, minus the missing logos and serial number and a slightly different (and better) knurling pattern.
And the M60 module:
Here is the FiveMega setup, also 2x18500. Basically it has the stock P90 module until I figure out an LED upgrade and the stock Z41 tailcap.
After some contemplation, I realized I like Z49 better due to instant, one-handed click-on. Even despite its size. Plus, the instant-on is easier to hold with less resistance. Until Surefire designs a better TC, I am stuck with this one, and I really don't want to get a Z59 due to all the issues I hear about.
Firing them up, no exciting fireworks, just the same breathtaking performance I am used to. I couldn't tell any difference between M60 on primaries vs. 18500 Li-Ion cells, they light up the same way the primaries do as expected.
Here is the pic of M60 vs. the stock incan P90 module. Both lites running off 18500 cells. It's obvious which one is which. I don't "get it" why it's often said that incan has better color rendition. Maybe not all incans are the same but P90 is horrible, sickly yellow tint, most unnatural (Not to mention the awful runtime) while M60 gives a pretty good rendition, not to mention being over twice as bright. I think its color rendition is as good as it gets.
Here is the Leef and FiveMega 2x18500 dwarfed by the larger Leef 2x18650 lite. The latter should have more runtime for sure but forget EDC.
And here is the whole and happy Leef + FiveMega family.
18650 is a cool lite that deserves something special for its drop-in module. Right now it has none. I don't have the cells either. I am debating whether to get AW's 2200 mAh cells but the word is, 2500 mAh will be available so should wait until they become available. Of course the ever-expensive Pila cells are another option... Anyway, unless Gene can come up with a custom module that can do up to 12-13V unlike M60 which is limited to 9V, I likely won't get a Malkoff drop-in for it. There is more stuff on the market. I am in no particular hurry, maybe in the future we will see even more impressive performance from P60 type drops-ins...
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