jhn.holgate
Newly Enlightened
Took delivery of the new XM-L M3C4 recently and I gotta say, I'm real impressed.
Some of the things that really impress me about this light:
User interface - twist the ring and you get very low, (which is perfect when you get up in the middle of the night and you don't want to blind yourself or need 900 odd lumens), low, med, high, turbo. It's a very good spread of light levels and I find on high, the light has similar output to my M30 with quite a bit more throw. On turbo, it's very impressive with no problems spotting critters at 100-200 yards. And I'm not talking about seeing their eyes. The ring has no detents - it sort of 'glides' from one level to the next and the spacings don't feel identical and while this is certainly no problem, it doesn't quite feel the same quality of the Jetbeam's alloy ring on the rrt series. Very easy to adjust with one hand. And speaking of which it sits in the hand very well.
I also really appreciate the fact that I don't have to access strobe/beacon/sos if I don't want to. The light tailstands easily and with a deep reflector to shield the led somewhat, it works well for illuminating a room. It's a fairly hefty light which feels well put together. Probably the only thing that doesn't make me go 'oooo' is the battery holder - nothing wrong with it, just not as beefy as the rest of the light.
The parasitic drain on standby is a bit of negative, but I will probably use this most nights and would end up recharging the batteries every week or two so I don't think the standby mode will be an issue. I just have to remember to untwist the head a bit and lock the light out if I'm not going to use it for a while. I could install the clicky tail piece, but then I wouldn't be able to tailstand it.
If I could change this light in any way, I would maybe add some detentes and some labels to the ring and lower the parasitic drain current to something that would take ages to flatten the batteries if left on standby.
The beam itself is perfect for me - excellent punch and throw with good spill. The UI is close to perfect too - no twisting of the head (requiring two hands) or multiple clicks to change mode - just twist to select the desired level (all of which are very handy).
I ummed and ah'd between the M3X, the SR51 and this. The beams are all very similar (according to Marshall's beamshot shootout on youtube - thanks, Marshall) in the end it was the one handed adjustment with five levels that sold me and now that I've used it, I'm convinced I made the right choice.
Helluva good light
Some of the things that really impress me about this light:
User interface - twist the ring and you get very low, (which is perfect when you get up in the middle of the night and you don't want to blind yourself or need 900 odd lumens), low, med, high, turbo. It's a very good spread of light levels and I find on high, the light has similar output to my M30 with quite a bit more throw. On turbo, it's very impressive with no problems spotting critters at 100-200 yards. And I'm not talking about seeing their eyes. The ring has no detents - it sort of 'glides' from one level to the next and the spacings don't feel identical and while this is certainly no problem, it doesn't quite feel the same quality of the Jetbeam's alloy ring on the rrt series. Very easy to adjust with one hand. And speaking of which it sits in the hand very well.
I also really appreciate the fact that I don't have to access strobe/beacon/sos if I don't want to. The light tailstands easily and with a deep reflector to shield the led somewhat, it works well for illuminating a room. It's a fairly hefty light which feels well put together. Probably the only thing that doesn't make me go 'oooo' is the battery holder - nothing wrong with it, just not as beefy as the rest of the light.
The parasitic drain on standby is a bit of negative, but I will probably use this most nights and would end up recharging the batteries every week or two so I don't think the standby mode will be an issue. I just have to remember to untwist the head a bit and lock the light out if I'm not going to use it for a while. I could install the clicky tail piece, but then I wouldn't be able to tailstand it.
If I could change this light in any way, I would maybe add some detentes and some labels to the ring and lower the parasitic drain current to something that would take ages to flatten the batteries if left on standby.
The beam itself is perfect for me - excellent punch and throw with good spill. The UI is close to perfect too - no twisting of the head (requiring two hands) or multiple clicks to change mode - just twist to select the desired level (all of which are very handy).
I ummed and ah'd between the M3X, the SR51 and this. The beams are all very similar (according to Marshall's beamshot shootout on youtube - thanks, Marshall) in the end it was the one handed adjustment with five levels that sold me and now that I've used it, I'm convinced I made the right choice.
Helluva good light