McGizmo Haiku

Readers,

Just a quick post today, as schoolwork needs to be done, but I thought I'd show you something interesting.  Some of these $500US custom lights, all titanium construction, actually get USED!  Imagine that!

Malkoff MD2

Valued readers,

Some of you mentioned that the shorter/smaller light seen in the previous post about the Hound Dog would be more useful, so I think that I'd give it a quick down-and-dirtry review. 

Seen here on the far left, and ignore the SureFire Combat Ring attached to the bottom of the light.  The other three are MD3 and MD4 Wildcats.

It's known as the Malkoff MD-2, and is a 2-cell "host", if you will, for any of Malkoff's P-60 sized LED Drop Ins.  You can buy them complete from Malkoff with a drop in pre-installed, such that you just turn it on out of the package, but if you're looking for a little bit different light output, or tint, feel free to swap the LED module to any other P60 sized drop in.

Seen on the bottom, an MD2 and an MD3 immediately above it.

I'll have more pictures to add later on, but the MD2 is approximately the same size as a SureFire 6P, a very, very common flashlight.

I'll have time to post some beamshots in a later post.

Thanks for the interest!

Malkoff Hound Dog

First off, I want to mention that my friend Sarah Bananahammocks has posted a new P90X entry.  Check it out!

Next, I`m going to briefly talk about the Malkoff Hound Dog flashlight.  And sorry about the apostrophes, I`m on a silly french keyboard.

Seen in the CENTER.  Left is a Malkoff MD2, right is a Malkoff Wild Cat, both of which will be covered in later reviews.

Now, this is a flashlight offered by Malkoff Devices, visible here (and I know it`s sold out, but more on that in a second).

This is the Malkoff Devices "Hound Dog" Flashlight.  The output is 325 (measured) Out The Front Lumens.  It was designed primarily for throw (reach) and will easily illuminate objects at 1000+ feet.  The Flashlight has an approximate 7 degree beam with good spill.  The LED is a Cree XP-G.  The reflector was custom designed by Don McLeish for this flashlight.  It has a High/Low function accessed by head rotation.  The low output is approximately 40-60 lumens depending on batteries used. 

 As above, the light`s putting out 325 out-the-front lumens, which is EXTREMELY bright.  All of Malkoff`s lights come with the warning that you can cause eye damage at close range.

This light is built more for throw than for spill, but as you can see below, it does an alright job of illuminating the surroundings as well.

The light isn`t overly large, either, given it`s tremendous output.  It runs on three CR123 primary cells, but can also use two 18500 Lithium Ion rechargeables, should you choose to go that route, with the CR123`s providing a longer runtime than the rechargeables.

Wildcat MD4 top, Hound Dog MD3 next, then an MD2 head with MD3 body, and finally a turnkey MD2.

And I say that 3 CR123`s are required, but the beauty of a Regulated flashlight is that the output doesn`t change, only the runtime is influenced by how many batteries are used - so the Hound Dog can be run on an MD2 body (two CR123`s or one 18650 rechargeable), an MD3 body (three CR123`s or two 18500`s), or an MD4 body (four CR123`s or two 18650`s), all of which are available directly from Malkoff Devices as options.

Take your pick, but it`s a beautiful light!

HDS Clicky

I figured that instead of touching on a few lights for a few people, I would focus on one good light that everybody should have.

When I say everybody, I mean everybody who can work out a few mouse clicks.  If double clicking escapes your grandfather or parents, this isn't a light for them.

I've featured it a few times before, but since I ordered one the other day, I figured I'd do an introductory post now and a detailed review when I got it in my hands.

I've mentioned it before, but what I'm going to talk about today is the HDS Systems EDC Clicky (formerly known as the Ra Clicky).  Specifically, the 170 Tactical, which is the 170 lumens version (also available in 100 High CRI, 140 wide, and 140 guaranteed tint narrow).  Runs on ONE CR123!  Incredible!

You can get it from HDS System's website, or from OVEREADY.COM

The first point I'd like to mention is that the light (slightly over 3" long and 1" wide) is small enough to go in any purse, or nestle nicely in your back pocket alongside your wallet.  Personally, my phone goes front left, keys front right (with Strider SMF clipped to pocket edge), and my wallet back left, so with a pocket clip, this light may ride back right clipped to pocket edge.

With a programmable User Interface, and 4 possible fixed settings, you can choose any one of the 26 available brightness levels (including strobe, for those that had asked about it), and it'll fit your needs.  The brightest, 170 lumens on this particular model, is MORE THAN BRIGHT ENOUGH FOR ANY APPLICATION!  The size of the reflector doesn't lend itself to a lot of throw (that'll be covered in tomorrow's post), but it can get the job done.  The lowest setting (.08 of a lumen), is commonly referred to as "moonlight", and will give you enough light for dark-adjusted eye navigation.  The runtime is guaranteed 1 hour at maximum brightness, and will go for over 6 days on the lowest!  Incredible!

The crenelated bezel, while good for hitting a motherfucker in the bridge of the nose, is also good for indicating whether the light is on when bezel down.

Available from SureFire is the F-04 light diffuser, which is a rubber cap with an opaque lens, allowing for a generous spill when reading a map or lighting up a room by bouncing light off of the ceiling.

 

Seen left is an unfiltered light, with the F-04 filtered light on the right.

The cost may be a little high for some, weighing in at about $149 for the 140 lumen models, $189 for the 170 Tacticals, but you're only going to buy it once...

Have a look at either website mentioned above for more information!

Michael

A quick note

A couple of my friends are having some trouble getting started - if you like my blog (very specific towards flashlights), perhaps a photography blog would be up your alley?


http://mikescameraadvice.blogspot.com/

And if you're more into the fitness side of Apocalypse Preparedness, maybe you should look more closely at a fitness regime like P90X.  Here's a personal touch on how to get started, and a play by play (ongoing) of someone's own experiences:


http://sarahbananahammocks.blogspot.com/

I'll have more on flashlights tomorrow.  I'm thinking Rechargeables vs Primaries for which batteries you should be running in which lights.  Sometimes one, sometimes the other - runtime versus convenience, cell sizes, diameters, protected and unprotected circuitry, things of that nature.  If you have a specific topic you'd like to discuss, please comment. :)

Michael.

Maglites

So you've all been making comments about Maglites, eh, and as such, here's a little info on one of the most recognizable names in flashlights.

I've mentioned Drop In LED modules before, with the SureFire lights (the host).  Well, you'll be happy to know that the 20 year old, worn and beat up 2D or 3D Cell Maglite that's kicking around your dad's toolbox can be upgraded to a modern powerhouse.

3D Cell model on bottom.  3C Cell model in center - drop ins also avaiable!

Seriously - that flashlight may look like it's seen a few years, but it can go from throwing ~50 lumens with that little incandescent bulb to a measured 240 lumens out the front (Illuminating objects at 1000 feet with ease - anyone within ~100 feet that gets hit in the face should see spots for 8-10 seconds, and will cause eye damage at much closer ranges).  The reason for the incredible throw that this light offers (Throw = illuminating objects at distance, spill = illuminating a wide area) is the ~2" smooth reflector.

In comes Malkoff Devices, who I've discussed before, with a drop in LED module that replaces the incandescent bulb.  Installation is simple: remove the existing bulb, push the drop-in down as far as it will go inside the flashlight and tighten the screw (which wedges the drop-in’s heat sink against the flashlight body). The bottom part of the reflector needs to be cut off to accommodate the drop-in. This is a simple cut with a razor saw. If that is too much for you, Malkoff Devices sells a pre-cut Maglite reflector for 7$.

You'll be kicking out lumens in no time!

The difference between the original bulb and the newer LED module is staggering!

New LED drop in LEFT, Incandescent original RIGHT.

And speaking of kicking, if you ever felt the need to kick someone's head in with one of these lights, feel free to add a crenelated bezel to the front, also available from Malkoff Devices.

 

AA's

You don't have to rely on CR123's, a camera battery (available at WalMart, but pricey!), to power your lights, guys.  If you're buying online, they're a great battery, last forever, long runtimes, don't heat up, Lithium Ion cells are available to increase runtimes, and aren't too expensive, but if you only need a handful, consider some AA lights.

You can grab the batteries out of your remote, out of an RC car, out of XBox controllers - pretty much anything that's available.  With current LED technology, it's possible to get incredible outputs and long runtimes on a single AA battery, which allows the lights to be nice and small, and easily stashed in your back pocket, alongside your wallet.

Google is your friend, but here's a few lights to consider:

The first three are Fenix LD10's, with the furthest left being the newest generation, followed by two 4Sevens Quark lights, and a Nitecore.

All are relatively inexpensive ($50US to $70US), run on a single AA, have Hi and Lo output modes, and are brighter than most of you would ever require.

Check them out. :)

A comparison, of sorts

Some of you guys brought up valid points of not knowing the scale of some of these flashlights, so here's a few photos of an HDS Ra Clicky in hand.

A few examples...

Just thought I would include a few examples of off-the-shelf lights, custom SureFires, straight up custom lights, and so forth. :)

First up is a set of SureFire M2's that have had new LED modules dropped in.  These are available from oveready.com, and are a slightly heavier-duty version of a SureFire C2, a very common light used as a base for upgrading.  These lights, without an LED module, are about $120.  A Malkoff M60 dropin is about $65.

They are a click on-click off light, giving you no option of variable output.  It's all bright, 100% output, all the time.  They're pushing 200-250 lumen out the front for about a 1 hour runtime on 2x CR123 batteries.  To give you some perspective, that's bright enough to blind you at close distances.  You don't want to accidentally bounce this off the mirror into your face, or let a small child play with it, because you can cause eye damage. 

Something else to consider, also on the higher-end side of things, would be an HDS Ra Clicky light, available at hdssystems.com, for a smaller, almost as bright, programmable (variable) output light.  It's more suited to go in your pocket all day, every day, and with it's variable output, will give you the option to read a map, read a book, pick up your wallet off of the floor of the movie theatre without blinding everyone around you - that sort of thing.  Runs about $125-150 USD, but go to their website and have a look.  One of my favourite lights available now.

Seen lower centre.  The SureFire C2 is high centre, and two SureFire 6P's, all from Oveready.com, flank both lights.

Something to consider.  Also runs on CR123's, but only needs one.  Has a better runtime, at a slightly lower lumen output (which is arguably impossible to perceive with the human eye), and gives you that variable output I mentioned earlier.

Go to the websites.  Read, learn, and buy.  You'll find new uses for your flashlights every day, and wonder how you got by without them. :)

As some of you asked...

I thought I'd delve a little deeper into the world of custom and high-end flashlights.

The first question on everyone's mind is money.  How much do you want to spend?  There's great lights available for $50 or $100.  That might seem like a lot to spend on a flashlight, but just like a pocket knife (we'll get into those later), you don't realize how often you'll use it until you have one.  You want sometime that's water resistant at the minimum (if it keeps water out, it keeps sweat, dirt, grit, pocket lint, all of that out), and runs on batteries that you can find pretty easily.

There's two routes you want to consider - do I want to buy something from an online retailer, drop the batteries in the light from the box, and have a great flashlight?  Or do I want to buy a light or light body (a "host"), pick a drop-in LED module, pick some rechargeables (if you'd like), and build an incredible light?

That's not to say that there isn't off-the-shelf lights that are shit-hot awesome in terms of output and runtime, but sometimes building it yourself from a few select parts turns out a really nice light.

If you're looking at off the shelf, here's some brands to consider - Fenix,  Quark, 4Sevens, NiteCore, Novatac, Malkoff, SureFire, and HDS Systems.  Those are pretty much ascending in price, but give google a shot and have a look around.

If you're a custom kind of guy, and are considering throwing something together that meets your specifications, you're going to want to consider SureFire's line of products, but buying a light just to pull the LED module out and drop something else in.  Two kinds of SureFire's you need to worry about - 6P/C2's, and E2E/E2D's. One's got a slightly larger head, the other slightly smaller.

The 6P uses 2 batteries, it's bigger brother the 9P uses 3, and it's slightly different cousin, the C2 and C3 lights, all use the same sized dropin.  What's known as a P60.  Malkoff, Nailbender, and a few others are relatively inexpensive (think $60), and have an absolutely incredible output and runtime.

Either route you take, you should probably ask yourself whether you want to use AA, AAA batteries, similarly sized rechargeables, or CR123's, the industry standard.  All are available at Wal-Mart, but CR123's are going to run you a little more.  Better to buy online.

But this is just a rather introductory post - you should really head over to candlepowerforums.com if you'd like to do a bit of research yourself.

I'll post some pictures in the next few days to show you what you're looking at.

If you have any questions, comment!

Days off...

Used to be about sleeping in.  But with my university's random and abundant mandatory morning activities, it seems to be harder and harder to get back to sleep.

Maybe I should consider getting some blackout blinds, or hanging a blanket or something - those plastic venetian blinds aren't really doing much to keep the room dark...

As an aside, though - I'm big into flashlights (weird, I know), but there's an entire WORLD of information on high-end flashlights.  SureFire is where you're likely to start, and you might already recognize them or some of their lights - but check out Malkoff for dropins (as well as their own line of lights) that blow the stock SureFire's away in Out-the-front (OTF) lumens and runtime!

Get started with a SureFire G2, and you'll realize why that $4 energizer light you got from a cereal box isn't worth the plastic it's made of...


Of course, any flashlight is only as good as the one you're carrying - so figure out a way to have one on you.  Purses for the ladies, cargo pockets for the men - smaller lights can be hung from your keychains.  Check out 4Sevens or Quark for lights of that...caliber?

The university that I attend - perhaps not the one listed on my profile - is a university with a difference.  Sometimes, we do dumb shit in the name of formality, uniformity, or perhaps, in some alien way, the development of leadership.

All of which is unlikely, though.  We do things because that's the way they've always been done at this particular university.

That's not the worst of it, though.

When someone new comes, takes up the mantle of changing the institution, they often make the wrong changes.

They want to change the aspects of this particular university that MAKE IT WHAT IT IS, instead of changing the things that are detracting from the overall package.

But that won't change in the immediate future.  It's been changing in the wrong direction for years now.

Only two-hundred-and-some days to graduation, though.

This makes me smile.  More than it should.

Never say no..

Teeth

A public service announcement from Casspir...

It almost seems..

Strider DB (not L model), pictured with Kydex pocket sheath.

And Adsense has gone live.  Thank you very much, Google, for the opportunity to sell your things.

I look forward to doing business with you.

Sometimes...

I feel like Tyler.  You know, Tyler Durden.  Sometimes I ask myself, what would he do in this situation?

That's how I live my life.  Like a King.

Then there was one

First post on the first blog.  A momentous occasion, with much rejoicing amongst the masses, I'm sure.

Welcome one, welcome all.