Besides firearms, my other obsession is with flashlights. I had heard a lot of people rant and rave about the Malkoff drop-ins and just never understood what all the hype was about. I will do my best to explain what all the hype is about... but I don't think its possible to fully understand without trying one for yourself.
Malkoff M61
First off, lets just take a look at this beauty:
This is the first Malkoff to use a reflector instead of optics. It uses a custom orange peel reflector designed by Don McLeish (owner of McGizmo). I imagine this decision was made because he built these using a Cree XP-G LED, which creates more of a flood beam than a spot.
Output:
These drop-ins have been tested in an integrating sphere to put out 260 lumens OUT THE FRONT. Lumen measurements can be misleading by most manufacturers because they merely use the numbers off the LEDs white papers for a given current. That is often times 50% more than you will get in reality. These however truly give you 260 lumens.
Input:
This drop-in will run in full regulation from 3.4v-9v, which is nice because that means you can run it with a single Li-Ion cell, 2 primary lithium batteries, or 2 Li-Ion cells. I run mine on a single 17670 Li-Ion cell made by AW. However in an emergency, I can still rely on my stockpile of CR123s. This drop-in pulls only 650mA at the tailcap @6v, so you get good runtime and excellent output.
Beam Quality:
EXCELLENT! As already mentioned, it is more of a floody beam. If you want something that will light up a house 2 blocks away, this isn't going to do it. If you want something that will light up a room like someone flipped a light switch, this is for you! It does have a nice large bright hotspot that very smoothly fades outward. There are no rings and the beam is perfectly centered. The color is much warmer than other LEDs I have used.
Build Quality:
EXCELLENT! When you first take this thing out of the packaging its like holding a small art sculpture. It is much heavier than other drop-ins and because of its design, most of it is in contact with the body of the flashlight. If there is a bit of a gap, you can cut a strip of aluminum from a can and it makes it very snug. The design also allows you to remove material from the front to fit your light perfectly. You just put it face down on a piece of sandpaper and lightly swirl it. It is also fully potted. All of the contents are encased in thermal epoxy, so you don't have to worry about messing up the circuitry when you drop it. The biggest advantage to the design is that the bottom comes in complete contact with the flashlight body without relying on those springs that never fit. I have never had an electrical connectivity problem with this... while all of my others have been constant struggles.
Pros:
Almost everything
Cons:
Price... at $69 + shipping, this is a pricey drop-in. However given the amount of time I fussed with other 3rd party drop-ins to get good electrical contacts, I think it is well worth it.
Here are some pictures of the light I have it installed in:
Malkoff M61
First off, lets just take a look at this beauty:
This is the first Malkoff to use a reflector instead of optics. It uses a custom orange peel reflector designed by Don McLeish (owner of McGizmo). I imagine this decision was made because he built these using a Cree XP-G LED, which creates more of a flood beam than a spot.
Output:
These drop-ins have been tested in an integrating sphere to put out 260 lumens OUT THE FRONT. Lumen measurements can be misleading by most manufacturers because they merely use the numbers off the LEDs white papers for a given current. That is often times 50% more than you will get in reality. These however truly give you 260 lumens.
Input:
This drop-in will run in full regulation from 3.4v-9v, which is nice because that means you can run it with a single Li-Ion cell, 2 primary lithium batteries, or 2 Li-Ion cells. I run mine on a single 17670 Li-Ion cell made by AW. However in an emergency, I can still rely on my stockpile of CR123s. This drop-in pulls only 650mA at the tailcap @6v, so you get good runtime and excellent output.
Beam Quality:
EXCELLENT! As already mentioned, it is more of a floody beam. If you want something that will light up a house 2 blocks away, this isn't going to do it. If you want something that will light up a room like someone flipped a light switch, this is for you! It does have a nice large bright hotspot that very smoothly fades outward. There are no rings and the beam is perfectly centered. The color is much warmer than other LEDs I have used.
Build Quality:
EXCELLENT! When you first take this thing out of the packaging its like holding a small art sculpture. It is much heavier than other drop-ins and because of its design, most of it is in contact with the body of the flashlight. If there is a bit of a gap, you can cut a strip of aluminum from a can and it makes it very snug. The design also allows you to remove material from the front to fit your light perfectly. You just put it face down on a piece of sandpaper and lightly swirl it. It is also fully potted. All of the contents are encased in thermal epoxy, so you don't have to worry about messing up the circuitry when you drop it. The biggest advantage to the design is that the bottom comes in complete contact with the flashlight body without relying on those springs that never fit. I have never had an electrical connectivity problem with this... while all of my others have been constant struggles.
Pros:
Almost everything
Cons:
Price... at $69 + shipping, this is a pricey drop-in. However given the amount of time I fussed with other 3rd party drop-ins to get good electrical contacts, I think it is well worth it.
Here are some pictures of the light I have it installed in: