Is the Pelican M6 LED light worthwhile?

I have had a long relationship with Pelican, since 1987. It is a very respectable company. If you get a chance to see it's full line flashlight catalog, you will be amazed at how it has been put together. Perfection in every way!

Now that I am into LED flashlights, I need as much feedback as possible from owners of the Pelican M6 LED light. Now that you own this device, would you buy it again or recommend it to others?

How accurate are the claims of 41 lumens light intensity, and 40 hours runtime, per pair of CR123 batteries? Lay it on me, Pelican owners..... Tell me all that you know about it!

Jeff

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luxlover said:
Now that I am into LED flashlights, I need as much feedback as possible from owners of the Pelican M6 LED light. Now that you own this device, would you buy it again or recommend it to others?

How accurate are the claims of 41 lumens light intensity, and 40 hours runtime, per pair of CR123 batteries? Lay it on me, Pelican owners..... Tell me all that you know about it!

Jeff

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Its a very good flashlight. Beam quality (both color and shape) are top notch. It has good throw, and excellent sidespill. The fit and finish are very good. For the price (sub $60), I do not think one can find an LED flashlight that has a beam as good as the Pelican M6 LED. Furthermore, its darn bright for its size (shorter than a 2AA Minimag and slightly wider). Overall, I think its an exceptional flashlight in its price range. Its my new primary EDC (the Opalec Newbeam is my backup and my Arc AAA-P is my backup to the backup). /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif

I have no way of knowing if the lumen claims are accurate. I haven't used it enough to verify run time.

357 is right.

I own a SL Task Light one watt, and a SL TL-2 LED, and the Pelican has the only really WHITE beam of the three. Throw, and output, is superior to the other two.

The Pelican has a true endcap "clickie".

The Task light uses AA batts (a plus), the TL-2 LED is smaller, and has a clip (both good), but the Pelican "out shines" them both.

There was/is a special on the M6 LED in the dealers forum for a wonderful $ 45. (battery station).

No, I don't think it hits 40 Lumens, and the 40 hour run time MIGHT be real, but only at a feeble level. I would expect 4-5 hours of bright light dimming as you go, and less after that.

I'm not sure about the lumen ratings. But it is a wonderful light. The beam is nearly perfect for general use, smooth and even, with a bright hotspot and very nice spill. The only light I have that is brighter is an Elektrolumens FT-3C.

My Streamlight TT 3AA, SL TT-2L, and UK 4AA eLed are all great lights, but I prefer the Pelican for use around the house. I think Quickbeam put it well in his review, when he said Pelican has hit a home run.

I have two Pelican M6 LED's and I have to say that when comparing their brightness and whiteness against my other 1W Luxeon lights (SL 3AA, CMG Reactor, ARC LSL-S and LSH-S, Lambda IllPill), the Pelican M6 comes out head and shoulders above the others. The only modification I have done on mine is to replace the lens with a Flashlightlens UCL. Althought Pelican claims 40 hours of runtime, the instructions do say that significant dimming will occur after about four hours - so I think that's probably the useful life of a set of batteries.

Thank you for your positive and encouraging testimony, 357.
I am currently awaiting answers to many of my technical questions, from my Customer Service contact at Pelican. We all know that the M6 pup will not be bright and shiny for all of the 40 hours. We all know that if it has some type of regulation, the high brightness would be some of the batteries' lifetime, and then it would be usable to some extent for most of the time until about 40 hours transpires.

Jeff

Thank you. I pursued your tip at the Battery Station website, and left an email requesting the details of an M6 order from them. The light lists for $94.95, so $45 is an "indecent" price. I am awaiting a return email from Pelican on the runtime issue.

Jeff

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luxlover said:
Thank you for your positive and encouraging testimony, 357.
I am currently awaiting answers to many of my technical questions, from my Customer Service contact at Pelican. We all know that the M6 pup will not be bright and shiny for all of the 40 hours. We all know that if it has some type of regulation, the high brightness would be some of the batteries' lifetime, and then it would be usable to some extent for most of the time until about 40 hours transpires.

Jeff

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On my packaging, it says that after 4 hours brightness decreases significantly. I take this to mean that it is bright for around 4 hours, and then dim for the remaining life.

FWIW, the Pelican M6 LED is NOT regulated. However, the types of batteries it uses (123s) have a flatter curve than alkalines.

I'd definitely call the Pelican M6 LED a "must buy". The beam quality and initial brightness combined with small size make it a very useful light, IMO.

It seems that the M6 is a big hit around these here parts! Pelican is a wonderful company. I have had warranty service from them, that borders on the unbelievable. That is how accommodating they are to their customers. Get your hands on their Professional Lighting Products catalog, and see how they conduct their business.

Jeff

I am finding that even though lights go into a dimmed mode after a few hours, that level of brightness is usually enough to do "most" tasks that one buys a flashlight for.

Jeff

I am disappointed that the M6 doesn't have current regulation to prolong the bright light phase of it's runtime. I will have to consider this fact, when I deliberate over a possible purchase.

Jeff

Pelican has the concept that less complexity means more reliability. When the current regulation chip fails, such as recent problems with ARC AAA, the light may not function.

The power regulation is important to people who need constant brightness for a specific period of time. Otherwise, the color of the LED output remains pretty consistant even as the batteries powers down. One could change the batteries when the brightness no longer meets the need.

Pelican M6 LED gives a very small hot spot with a big over spill aureola. The small hot spot does out-throw any regular production 1-w LS lights that I have seen. Pelican M8 LED provides bigger hot spot with equally long throw with little side spill. But then, I have only seen the two lights when the batteries were new, at their brightest.

I would say Surefire publishes the most conservative runtime and lumen numbers around. I don't think others built any more efficient LED lights than Surefire, just how they list their numbers. In general, I would use Surefire number to judge the lumen and useful runtime. Others may over/under drive the LEDs to achive brighter/longer runtime, but they sould all fall into the ballpark figure.

Thank you for your detailed assessment. I am looking for a light with a lot of sidespill anyway. And I do not have a problem if the brightness slowly tapers off, as opposed to if it is being extended in time by current regulation circuitry. Likewise, if I can get about 40 hours of somewhat usable light per pair of batteries, that is fine.

I had originally considered the SureFire L1 when I was shopping for a very high output light. I did order the Arc-LSH-P after reading many posts recommending it over the L1. I was not happy with the 1 1/2 hour peak brightness period, and another 1 hour or so of usable light test results of the L1.

Jeff

PM6 LED definitely gets you the bang for the buck. I wouldn't drill too much over the 40 hour usable light though.

Both Surefire and Arc 1w LS produce very useful beams. They both would moon mode for over 50 hours of minimal output. Whether the minimal output is useful or not is subjective. Surefire had deemed that non-useful; may be Pelican views it otherwise...There are claims of some LED lights that stays on for thousands of hours for a lot less $$...

Both L1 and LSH-P use 1x123a. Carry a spare or two (2 123a fit in a advance photo film case nicely) will for sure give you the usable lights you need in a smaller package than a PM6.

If you are looking for a back-up light, PM6 LED is definitely worthwile.

Thank you again. I don't want to let the Pelican know that it will serve as a backup light to the LSH-P. It may be sensitive, and I wouldn't want to hurt it's feelings........

The term "usable light" is definitely subjective. Some of our lighting "colleagues" (fanatics) think that any intensity that is incapable of detaching a person's retina, is not usable. They are lumen gluttons. They would throw away the batteries when the light kicks down to Moon Mode, or it's equivalent if unregulated.

I am sure that whatever is left after the peak beam period is over, will have some usefulness. I just won't use it to perform brain surgery!

As for my preferred pattern of use, I will be "sporting" the 2AA extension when I carry the LSH-P and size is not an issue (most of the time), and the 123 battery when it is.

I should have the "new arrival" on Thursday the latest. I will test it thoroughly, and post the results of my "environmental impact study" thereafter.

So sit tight, and hang loose!

Jeff

Sense you have an Arc you can move the batts from the M6 to it when they start to show weakness. I really like mine. Of course I have a UCL on it...yours will not be as bright with that wimpy plastic lens... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

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Badbeams said:
Sense you have an Arc you can move the batts from the M6 to it when they start to show weakness.

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How many hours does it take to make you feel the light is weak(dim) while using M6 led?

Boo hoo! Speaking of wimpy lenses, the lens on the Inova X-1 isn't wimpy. It is glass with an anti-reflective coating. I have one of those puppies too, and love it for what it is.........a spotlight!

Good idea on the shifting of batteries from the Arc to the Pelican. Just think! I bought a wimpy flashlight! Whoa is me.........

Be good!

Jeff

Yeah Badbeams? Joseph and I want an answer ASAP!

Jeff

I wouldn't complain too much about the lack of regulation. 4 hours runtime isn't bad at all for a 1w Luxeon driven by two CR123 cells. The Inova X5T has only 5 little 5mm LED's and it dims significantly over its 5 hour or so runtime... I'm sure there are runtime plots out there somewhere, I'd like to know how much this dims during the first four hours.

My father was admiring my McModule'ed PM6 but was turned off by how much it would cost to build another one. Stock PM6 LEDs are selling for about half what it would cost to build out a McModule w/ DownBoy, Lux3 or 1w, etc...

Jon