Best 6P-Sized light to mod?

Hey there all. I feel like I can't read when I research modifying lights... Malkoff's website is almost not possible for me to decipher.

So I want a bright LED light with rechargeable batteries in the 6P size to be modified. I would love a VERY bright high beam and a lower output. I like the switch in the tail and it to be covered by the housing. I've been into flashlights for a long time and was proud of my Surefire 9n when I purchased it almost 20 years ago but it was not the most reliable flashlight and it kind of soured me on that brand. I also want reliability.

Not so concerned with the price as much as I want great power and reliability. Anyone here that can help me out?

Thanks in advance.

Craig

There are two options that you can choose from:
1. Get the MK MD2 turnkey with hi-lo ring. This can run on li-ion 18650. I have 2 with M61 219 and like them very much.
2. Get the SF 6P or Solarforce host with 3-mode drop in. I have ThruNite 450lumens 3 modes on my SF 6P running AW 17670. You can buy a MK tailcap and install it to the SF host as the SF tailcap is not tail-stand. If you want to use li-ion 18650, you can pick the Solarforce host or get the SF 6P bored.
I personally like the MK MD2 better.

I have a Surefire 9N and... it is obsolete. Parts are not easy to come by. The Malkoff turnkey MD2 with high/low ring is excellent (as Redhat suggested). I have a bunch of SF 6P and 9P flashlights with various batteries and light engines. A favorite of mine is a cheap host with the Malkoff SHO M61 219 powered by 2 x 18650 Panasonic batteries. It makes a great use-it light. I keep a Sunwayman V11R with me most of the time. That light gives high to very low illumination when needed. Lots of lights to choose from. Try not to believe the inflated lumens numbers from ****fire or other less expensive lights.

5001craig said:

I want great power and reliability

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That 2 words have MALKOFF written all over.. Hahah..

If budget is not a concern to you, pick a MD2 host, a couple of 18650 cells & pick a M61 series drop-in AND you are good to go.

Thanks for all the great info guys. I've got some studying to do.

OK. So I ordered a Malkoff MD2 with High/Low switch. Now I'm looking for the best 18650 batteries...

I see I can get AW protected 18650 up to 3400 mAh. Where I come from, more is better but I'm not sure. Is 3400 mAh the best batteries for this application?

3400mAh is currently the highest capacity, IIRC.
But there have been complains that due to its thickness, it might have problem fitting into certain flashlights.

The 3400 mah 18650 Eagletacs seem to be thin enough to fit most lights, at least into the tightest of mine.

I bought 2 Orbtronic 18650 3400 mAh for my Hound Dog with MD3 after some people reported that they worked with Malkoff MD bodies. It turned out that the batteries are too big, so I had to sand the MD3 body (the Solarforce 1 cell extension fits them perfectly).

Well, I have the AW 3400 mAh 18650's on order so I'll see if they fit in the MD2 and will let everyone know.

On a bit of a side note, Malkoff states 260 lumens OTF with 2 x CR123 batteries. Anyone know what it does with an 18650?

5001craig said:

Well, I have the AW 3400 mAh 18650's on order so I'll see if they fit in the MD2 and will let everyone know.

On a bit of a side note, Malkoff states 260 lumens OTF with 2 x CR123 batteries. Anyone know what it does with an 18650?

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It is probability lower because 2 primary will churn out 6v but 1 x 18650 will only churn out 4.2v max...
But run time might be longer, depending on the cells used.

JonK

Sent from my Awesome phone from somewhere in the mountains

I have MD2 with M61 219. I don't see any different in the hi mode when I use with 2 x CR123 or AW 17670 1500 mAh. In lo mode, 2 x CR123 is brighter than 17670. I think the M61 will be regulated with the voltage >=3.4V.

DellSuperman said:

It is probability lower because 2 primary will churn out 6v but 1 x 18650 will only churn out 4.2v max...
But run time might be longer, depending on the cells used.

JonK

Sent from my Awesome phone from somewhere in the mountains

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Well shucks. I thought the voltage was higher on a single 18650 than on two CR123's. Guess I need to see if Lighthound will accept returns.

I guess I need to start searching how to make the Malkoff MD2 brighter than 260 OTF lumens. I'd hate my MDC O AA to be 140 lumens brighter than the MD2...

Hey, i just tried running 2 x 16340 and 1 x 18650 on my M61.
Can't say i see much difference in the beam output.

JonK

Sent from my Awesome phone from somewhere in the mountains

Well I just got my MD2 today and let me just say that it is as beefy a light as I've ever seen. Very impressed with it. Now I just want to figure-out how to get more than 260 lumens OTF (light is great just wanting a bit of a torch lol). Not really wanting to switch heads. Can an MD3 body with two 14500's improve lumens or will the extra power not do anything?

5001craig said:

Well I just got my MD2 today and let me just say that it is as beefy a light as I've ever seen. Very impressed with it. Now I just want to figure-out how to get more than 260 lumens OTF (light is great just wanting a bit of a torch lol). Not really wanting to switch heads. Can an MD3 body with two 14500's improve lumens or will the extra power not do anything?

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Congrats for your new light. I guess that you have the M61 installed. There is nothing that you can do to get more than 260 lumens except changing the drop in. I tried my M61 219 with MD3 + 1 with 2 x 18650 3400 mAh but not getting the higher output.
How do you like the pocket clip?

There are options for achieving higher output in an MD2. An M61SHO will put out around 385 lumens, but is designed to use two cells at minimum. In an MD2, the options are RCR123s, 18350s, 16340s, etc. Runtime will be reduced. Another option is the M91AW (great tint with this one) which will give 700 lumens at startup, also with reduced run time. I run these in MD3 bodies or MD2 with bored A19 attached, with two 18500s.

The brightest M61s I know of that will run off an 18650 is the M61N from Oveready (great tint also) and the XP-G2 M61. They both are spec'd at 300 lumens.

I almost forgot to say I run AW 3400s in all my Malkoffs, and they fit nicely.

Grizz

Redhat703 said:

Congrats for your new light. I guess that you have the M61 installed. There is nothing that you can do to get more than 260 lumens except changing the drop in. I tried my M61 219 with MD3 + 1 with 2 x 18650 3400 mAh but not getting the higher output.
How do you like the pocket clip?

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Thanks for the congrats! The more I fondle this MD2 the more I like it. I can't really figure out what just feels so good about the light except it has to have something to do with the weight (it's really dense) and finish. Kinda like a nice European car. The amount of light is great and playing with it last night the beam looks just about perfect to my untrained eye. I don't see me changing anything on it except for adding some dings as I'm kinda hard on my lights. Had to take my Quark QPA in the shower tonight after a good day of use while shotcreting (along with my knife and hardhat lol). Playing with this MD2 just makes me want my MDC O AA all the more as I like to keep my lights in my pocket and the MD2 is a bit bigger than I like them to be in pocket. A holster would be great but we'll see how I like the MDC AA--I believe it was delivered today but I wasn't at the shop.

The pocket clip is good but feels a bit sharp in the hand--especially the lanyard hole that protudes on the opposite side as the clip. I will probably keep it on as I live on a lake and would like to have a wrist lanyard as my hands tend to get dumb around water. Maybe I will smooth the edges a bit with a dremel and a small flapper wheel so it is not so sharp.

It's funny that I started this thread about modding a 6P-sized light to mod and ended up getting a perfect turn key light from Malkoff.

And thanks Griz for your input. Probably won't change the MD2 unless I would go considerably more lumens.

Craig

So Grizz, My MD2 came with a M61 dropin that is rated for up to 9 volts. Guess I need to see who has hit this voltage and how they did it.

5001craig said:

So Grizz, My MD2 came with a M61 dropin that is rated for up to 9 volts. Guess I need to see who has hit this voltage and how they did it.

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I've done it, and it's quite simple. Three primary CR123s deliver 9 volts. Using two Li-Ions provides 8.4 hot off the charger, which is pretty close. Three of Surefire's LFP (or similar) would also work, and be rechargeable.

Grizz