Malkoff hound dog xml VS 4sevens maelstrom S12

OK, I'm going to buy one of these beauties, but which one?
The S12 is around $100- cheaper, is the Malkoff worth the extra?
It'll be used for camping, finding the dog when he runs away at night, and general showing off.....
All and any advice/opinions appreciated :duh2:
ps Anyone have any idea what the chances are of even getting hold of a Malkoff, seems they sell out pretty quick...

You have thrown too man scenarios at me at once, lemme explain:

Camping: do you plan on buying MANY of the 26650 batteries? How did you plan on carrying reloads? What would you do after you go through the first battery?

Dog: Bright as possible, as much throw as possible, to see as far down dark alleys/yards, rechargable works well here.

Show off: See "DOG"

I wanted a bright hand held light, that could search, impress, and runs on "normal batteries" so i could re-load in the field. I went with the Olight M3X

Both of these are extremely well-loved brands on CPF. It's easy to see why with great products and great customer service, but that leaves one in a tight position! How do you favor one over the other? Both are run by people I would consider friends and I think both make a wonderful light. It comes down to personal preference, then: what kind of batteries would you prefer using and what would you like your UI to be like? Also I'm not certain but I'd be willing to bet the Hound Dog has more throw than the S12, whereas the S12 should have more flood.

Thanks for the advice.
I must admit I hadn't thought about the reload issue when camping.....My plan though was to go with 2x26650's and the charger that comes with the S12 has a car accessory port adaptor so all good there.(as long as you camp with vehicle, which I do).

Also has a usb thing. The Maelstrom runs 18650's with a sleeve too.

I have the S12 and there may be better choices for camping but its up to the task. The run time is great and honestly I mostly us it in the low around 100 lumen setting. In the dark its more than enough. This is my back up so I don't exactly use it alot. I don't even have the need of a backup battery. I will get another after a year has passed just to make sure I have a good one. Again this is my back up. It is nice to have that much light in such a small package when I want it.

Instead of starting a new thread I just wanted to ask a quick question about the Malkoff Hound Dog.
Can the MD4 body take two 18650 batteries?

eh4 said:

Instead of starting a new thread I just wanted to ask a quick question about the Malkoff Hound Dog.
Can the MD4 body take two 18650 batteries?

Click to expand...

Yes, it can.

I have the Hound Dog XPG, but I haven't owned a Maelstrom S12.
However,I have owned a Maelstrom G5 XPG, and it has a pretty much identical beam as the Hound Dog XPG. The Hound Dog throws a little bit further, and has a cleaner beam, but the beam shape and performance are very very similar.

My money is on the Hound Dog.

ok, thanks twl.
I should have asked at the same time. about how long does it run on high and on low mode with 2 18650s?

Actually I don't know, since I haven't used my HD with the MD4 and 2 x 18650, but it should run about twice as long as it would with 3 x cr123 primaries in an MD3 body, if you use 2900 mah 18650 batteries. So, I'd guesstimate about 4 hours for the Hound Dog XPG on high with 2 x 18650,.
But the Hound Dog XML sucks alot more power, and with a pair of 2900 mah 18650 batteries, that would probably only run about 2 hours or so.

I have never even tried to time the low setting. It should probably be about 10 times as long as the high setting.

Just a note, if you like the S12 form factor but would like far better throw, go with the X10 instead. The lumen drop won't be much noticeably but the increase in throw certainly will be. :thumbsup: Low mode on either should put out plenty of light for camping tasks and give great run time.

Regarding the Hound Dog XML, which I sort of missed on my first answer, the Hound Dog XML does not need any thermal step-down, and will run at nearly full power for as long as the battery lasts. Of course, there will be some sag in the output from heat, but it will probably still run over 700 lumens for the whole battery life.
The S12 has a thermal management controller that cuts the power output down to about 400 lumens after 3 minutes of running.

You are really comparing apples and oranges. S12 = SST-90 emitter which is very floody. S12 = smallish light. Hound dog = XML emitter and more throwy. Hound dog = larger light.

If you want a small floody light, get the S12. If you want a large light with some throw, get the Hound Dog.

Note: The X10 is the same light as the S12 but with an XML. It will have about the same throw as the hound dog so you may want to compare those. The X10 does not get as hot so it does not have as much thermal step down and runs longer.

I've done some runtimes with my Hound Dogs awhile back, ran them until the protection circuit shut the light off. Used AW cells.

HD XP-G 18500's ran for 114 minutes.......... 18650's (2600 mah) ran for 210 minutes

HD XM-L 18500's ran for 50 minutes........... 18650's (2600 mah) ran for 94 minutes

It's been my experience that AW 2900 18650's and Redilast 3100 18650's give noticeably more runtime. Haven't done any runtime tests with these light and cells though.