Pelican m6 vs Pelican m6 LED vs Inova XO3

Hi there

I am sorry but i am new to this and i am very interested in flashlights, currently i have the MagLite 2D flashlight, i find it ok but i am looking for something smaller and the most important thing brighter and stronger ( I mean much better than my 2d maglite flashlight) , I was considering the pelican m6 and the pelican m6 Led.

What do you guys think? I know the m6 is much brighter than the led one , but the battery life is shorter, this is the main reason why I subscribed myself to this forum I don't want to spend more than 60 Bucks on a flashlight so i am free of taking advices

thanks

Well, you need to figure where you want to fall in the runtime vs brightness curve. That's probably the most important thing. THe incandescent M6 is very bright along with the Surefire G2, Brinkmann Legend LX and Maxfire LX, Dorcy Spyder etc...

The M6 LED gets good reviews but I haven't personally played with one yet. Another light which recently got a great review over on flashlightreviews.com is the Streamlight TL-2 LED Second Gen but the trick with this one is you need to make sure you are getting the Second Generation of it and I'm not sure how easy that will be.

The X03 and T3 have very decent throw and total output, but the beam is very distinct and has minimal spill beam. Outdoors I find this OK, but indoors it can be... kind of unnerving.

i think i go for brightness i really want a flashlight that can illuminate well things in the distance , in this case the m6 is for me?

I own both the M6 and M6 LED. The LED is a great little light, not terribly bright, but the beam is amazing. The build quality on these lights just isnt that great when compared to a SureFire light. I like the SureFire G2, but I dont like the standard tailcap. You might as well give the Brinkmann Maxfire LX a try for $20, you get a lot of light for the money.

This has been said before around here and would be my choice if I could do it again. If you the PM6 get the led version and buy a spare Incan lamp assembly for it. (apperently they are interchangeable) this way you get to lights for a decent price.

One of my first good lights was the Pelican M6 LED, and I still think it is a good one. My back yard is about 100 feet deep and the Pelican puts plenty of light on my back fence so I'm happy with it. One reason I started buying new lights was to get away from unreliable bulbs.

From early reviews it looks like the new Streamlight TL-2 LED might even beat the Pelican. It is easy to tell the new one apart from the old one by looking at the design of the bezel. If you compare the photos on flashlightreviews.com you can see what I mean. Also brightguy.com is probably still selling both versions and he has them clearly labelled as old vs. new.

I've got a Pelican M6 (incand) and an Inova XO3. If you only need to illuminate things at a distance for relatively short periods of time, the incandescent M6 is a very good light. It will kick the crap out of your 2D light, and it's way easier to carry. Really, it's a good light. Only thing I don't like about it is the anodizing on the light is not the greatest - it shows wear and tear more than some other lights. Since I don't seem to be able to hold onto a flashlight without dropping it, this matters to me - mines a little beat up. My brother-in-law, who is more careful, uses his often and it looks great.

The XO3 is quite bright and it will throw pretty far. It doesn't throw as far as the M6 incand, and it's definitely not as bright, but the runtime is at least 2X. (And it's really probably better than that. After 50-60 minutes, you are changing batteries on the M6 or you are walking in the dark. After 90-100 minutes, the XO3 is out of regulation, which means it's not constant brightness any longer. It begins to dim quickly, but the dimming levels off, so it's quite bright for at least 2 hours, and useable longer than that.) The property of LED lights that lets them produce useable light for a very long time is why I like the XO3 better than the M6 - I hike in the woods at night, and having the M6 chew through batteries, or worse, getting caught without, is at best really annoying.

The beam on the XO3 isn't as pretty as the M6's, but it really throws for an LED light, and it is a better built light, in my opinion.

The XO3 produces a whiter looking light. (The M6 incand looks dimmer - but this is an illusion - it's light is warmer, redder color. Some people like this better.)

The good news is that you are liable to be happy with either of these lights.

If you want the brightest and furthest-throwing 2x123 lights tested in "real life" comparisons there are currently three that fit that category: The PM6 xenon, The Original ASP Taclite ("set and forget" internal focus; I can't vouch for the newer Triad with external focus) and the TACM III which is remarkably light at 3.8oz and the shortest of the three. My choice of those three is the PM6 despite its relative bulk.

Here is a detailed comparison and review; the link is broken but copy/paste this into search/General Flashlight, including the quotation marks:

"Pelican M6 equals"

cancel all date numbers and it will take you right there.

If throw is still important but you want a lighter and smaller light then the Streamlight TL-2 or Nightfighter would be among the best in that category. The Strion is an excellent small rechargeable light but its brightness and throw are significantly inferior to the three top lights.

Note: If you decide on one of the three brightest lights I would suggest the PM6 (my first choice) or TACLITE (if it's still available; it must be the INTERNAL focus model otherwise I can't vouch for it). Despite the TACM's many good features I am no longer recommending it for reasons I won't go into here.

Brightnorm

[ QUOTE ]
alpha said:
i think i go for brightness i really want a flashlight that can illuminate well things in the distance , in this case the m6 is for me?

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi, Alpha.

I too own PM6 and PM6 LED; and for sure the incan PM6 will out-throw the PM6 LED when needed.

I don't know much about XO3 besides playing with it in a shop, but by what MrBenchmark just posted, then PM6 incan seems to out throw both the other two and it might just be the choice for you as a flashlight under 50 which could throw pretty well.

Some considerations when you do get the PM6 incan, I remembered seeing ad saying that it now has the clickie version instead of a LOTC(lock out tailcap), and also a sliver colored PM6 might look less worn then a black PM6 in a long run.

Good luck with your search! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

What rogue_monkey and brighthorn said. You can't go wrong with the Peli; buy the LED version and get an incan. lamp assembly.

Also, spend some time at flashlightreviews.com, and The LED Museum.

Hey, alpha, under what conditions will you mostly use your light? City or country? Sporadically for short intervals, or frequently / long intervals?