Impression of M31LL and M61W

Recently I received Malkoff M31LL and M61W dropins. M31LL I intend to use primary with alkalines in my Solarforce L2r, and M61W in my Surefire 9P. I have made some lux value comparisons with lightmeter and ceiling bounce test, which in this case works excellent because of similar beam profiles. With M31LL I also made a runtime test.

Impressions:

M31LL placed in Solarforce L2r and alkalines:

The tint is very similar as M61LL, just a tad cooler. It felt brighter than I expected. I became surprised when the initial brightness was higher than M61LL with 2CR123 cells. However, the output fast dropped the first minutes and then more slowly until it stabilized after around 20minutes. Then M31LL performed absolutely stable output for 5 hours and 35 minutes. After that (just minutes close to 6 hours from start) it dropped out of regulation which was sudden and very noticable. Within 5 minutes the output dropped to less than 10% of the stable output. I let the light be on over night. At morning it still shined though very dimly. And now still 24 hours from start M31 shines and the brightness seems to be comparable to my Quark 123 at moon mode of 0,2 lumen. This is very good, it will not leave you suddenly lost in the darkness when the batteries go low.

M61W placed in Surefire 9P:

I read that Malkoff recently made the tint of W models to be warmer. This corresponds well to my case. M61W is significantly warmer than my earlier M61WL, but still whiter than Fenix TK20, so the tint is between TK20 and earlier M61WL.
Tried with ceiling bounce and according to the lightmeter M61W placed in 9P has very similar brightness as my MD2/M61(non-W), not at all dimmer, and twice the brightness of M61WL.

Thoughts and summary:

Regarding M31LL the fast and big brightness drop in the beginning is reminding of LED lights with bad heatsinking. But here we know it's not the case. Only explanation I can see is that M31LL is going direct drive at 3V and then at maybe around 2,4V and below it will be regulated. That explains why it drops so fast in the beginning with alkalines. What I can read of my test is that the initial brightness was around 100lumens and then after 20min is regulated for over 5 hours with alkalines at 60lumens.
This makes the M31LL to fulfill my desire for having a no-nonsense 2AA flashlight with several hours regulated runtime with alkalines but still have a useful brightness for many hours when it falls out of regulation.

The new M61W is in my opinion a "direct hit"! The new M61W has a great tint and with 9P it will provide a respectable high output combined with a pretty long runtime. Finally I have found a great and suitable dropin to my 9P!

All credit to Malkoff for making great products, as well dropins as complete flashlights. But to be honest I like the beam profile of M61 placed in Surefire head better than the beam profile with MD2 head. Surefire head makes the beam edges to be sharper, and I like it more than MD2 head which gives a pretty soft edge. It's head also makes the spill to feel more even illuminated. The typhical Surefire gashes I don't find annoying at all.

Hope you find my short report and opinions valuable, and with another thank to Malkoff for great products! :twothumbs

Patric

great work and thank you for posting it.

i use malkoffs in all my surefires exept my m6 of course. i just bought the wildcat vr2 and i just cannot beleive how incredible the beam is. he nailed it. i must have two of these. i love all my malkoff products. :wave:

Thanks Swedpat :twothumbs

I'm just starting to get into Malkoffs - I have an Elzetta on order with an M60. I was thinking of replacing it with the M61 but I may now get the M61W.

Today I measured the runtime with M31LL and 2500mAh NiMh batteries. The batteries were fully charged since yesterday.
The initial brightness was much lower than with alkalines and with the same regulated output. It performed constant output for 7 hours and 29 minutes. As expected the brightness dropped much faster than with alkalines; instantly the brightness dropped to 1/3, and I put off the light to prevent the batteries from overdischarging.

About the batteries I know there is difference between different kind of as well alkalines and NiMh cells. The models I used are not the most expensive but not the cheapest either.

Regards, Patric

Belstaff1464 said:

Thanks Swedpat :twothumbs

I'm just starting to get into Malkoffs - I have an Elzetta on order with an M60. I was thinking of replacing it with the M61 but I may now get the M61W.

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I have gotten to where I either grab one of my Ras or a Malkoff when I grab a light. I guess I am just spoiled.

I love my M61 in a MD2 W/ high~low switch. Just got a M61W to put in there yesterday. Perfect beam, gorgeous tint. It is everything I wanted it to be.

Now I need to find a host for my M61. I've been looking really hard at the Elzettas with the high~low tailcap. I wonder if you can order the host with no drop-in from his site. I guess I need to shoot 'em an email and see.

iacchus said:

I have gotten to where I either grab one of my Ras or a Malkoff when I grab a light. I guess I am just spoiled.

I love my M61 in a MD2 W/ high~low switch. Just got a M61W to put in there yesterday. Perfect beam, gorgeous tint. It is everything I wanted it to be.

Now I need to find a host for my M61. I've been looking really hard at the Elzettas with the high~low tailcap. I wonder if you can order the host with no drop-in from his site. I guess I need to shoot 'em an email and see.

Click to expand...

I've got my M61W but no host to put it in yet - I'm waiting for the orange MD2.

You can purchase the Elzetta host ($94) on the Malkoff site but they're out of stock atm. I purchased my ZLF-M60 hi/lo from Flashlightsngear.com for $139 with CPF discount shipped to Oz, and that includes the discontinued M60 !!! IIRC, without international shipping it was $126. IMO that's a better deal 'coz you're getting the rare M60 for around $30 which you can re-sell at CPFMP for almost twice that. I think Oveready still has the M60 in stock for $68.

The Elzetta's high/lo switch works a treat. I opted for this host because I prefer the one handed operation it provided as opposed to the twist of the MD2. I only wished it was compatible with 18650. Although, the battery compartment has thick walls and looks like a suitable candidate for boring out.....:naughty: