I got laughed at by friends and family for buying $100 dollar surefire lights in the early/mid 90s. Lights like the 6p and 9P, running Incan lamps at the time and 150 lumens was bright! Lol. LED changed the landscape as we all know now. Ended up getting Malkoff drop ins for those bodies. Got a 9P that runs 2 16500 cells with a Malkoff m61. Making 750 lumens now and runs twice as long as the original Incan.
Thats funny! Ya my first real like I remember was the Surefire G2. I sort of had a soft spot for Surefire probably because of that. Good old 60 lumen light with the incan that got like 60m of run time hahahahaha!
Good overview. The MD series is the best all around serious system imo. No drivers no UI to program nothing extra. Just a solid light meant to last decades. I have modlites handhelds and Cloud defensive MCH 2.0. Those are shooters lights best used in conjunctions with firearms. Malkoff also has the best service in the game. My 10yo MD has an issue they will fix it. It probably never will though.
Yes, unless you need a specialty light like the MODlite, I think that the Malkoff lights are probably the top of their game if you want the highest quality flashlight. I think they are superior to surefire, Fenix and other brands like that. That is not to say those other brands are not good, but I think beyond Malkoff any money spent is just spent on frills and bling.
I have a lot of Malkoffs: dropins for Surefire, dropins for Maglite and Malkoff complete lights. Malkoff is really rugged and it feels it's a high quality instrument. I just wish Gene had kept the traditional aggressive knurling as in the first models. I hate slippery surface. At least as long it's not combined with cigarr-style grip. Feeling the light gliding away in the hand when I push the switch is very annoying.
Weltool T2 Tac might be a cool light to look into. It’s a high - low light but the only mode on the normal group is high. Every time you momentary or press the tail cap it comes on high. To get to low you need to very quickly tap 4 times from off.
@@johncaceyElzettas are very nice. They're a bit of a hybrid of Malkoff and Surefire. They're on the lighter side like Surefire, but on the "I could throw this through a car window" side like Malkoff. I have a Weltool. For a Chinese made light, it's a distinct step up from other Chinese brands, but compared to Malkoff, Surefire, Elzetta (US made lights), it feels a bit cheaper. Yet, it's not a lot cheaper than many of the US lights. For me, the real magic of Malkoff is that you can get different dropins, pair them with different batteries and bodies, and you can configure your light to do pretty much whatever you want it to. With the VME head, you can put dropins on the MDC (Surefire E-series) bodies, too! You can have a whole range of components, and then mix and match for whatever you want. I like using my MDC AA body with my VME head to make an 14500 light. I can swap my M61N, M61SHO, or M91BN with a high/low ring, or use my M361 drop in to keep the 3-mode operation - just with much higher output. With the MD2 body, I can use those same dropins with an 18650 or two 16340 batteries. If you poke around, some Malkoff of the higher voltage dropins will even run on AA batteries in an MD3...
Those are in a different category. They specialize in extreme candela so that sets them apart. This has good throw but its LED is not simply designed to compete with those lights. Malkoff has been in the industry far longer and doubt the build quality can be beat.
uh this is a utility flashlight compared to dedicated weapons lights. Useable pretty smooth beams that render color at night perfectly, and bombproof bodies and heads. They're made by him in his small shop so it's basically a custom light of sorts. I would say it's a Rolex. It's not common but not something rare, but the quality is as high as it goes with nothing fancy built into them. They're DURABLE. I've washed mine in the washer before, dropped it out of a moving car off the roof. They're more durable than a Surefire. My MD2 is from 2011. It's SO MUCH more durable than it looks.
I agree, Malkoff is in a class by itself. No comparison.
Yep!
I got laughed at by friends and family for buying $100 dollar surefire lights in the early/mid 90s. Lights like the 6p and 9P, running Incan lamps at the time and 150 lumens was bright! Lol. LED changed the landscape as we all know now. Ended up getting Malkoff drop ins for those bodies. Got a 9P that runs 2 16500 cells with a Malkoff m61. Making 750 lumens now and runs twice as long as the original Incan.
Thats funny! Ya my first real like I remember was the Surefire G2. I sort of had a soft spot for Surefire probably because of that. Good old 60 lumen light with the incan that got like 60m of run time hahahahaha!
Good overview. The MD series is the best all around serious system imo. No drivers no UI to program nothing extra. Just a solid light meant to last decades. I have modlites handhelds and Cloud defensive MCH 2.0. Those are shooters lights best used in conjunctions with firearms. Malkoff also has the best service in the game. My 10yo MD has an issue they will fix it. It probably never will though.
Yes, unless you need a specialty light like the MODlite, I think that the Malkoff lights are probably the top of their game if you want the highest quality flashlight. I think they are superior to surefire, Fenix and other brands like that. That is not to say those other brands are not good, but I think beyond Malkoff any money spent is just spent on frills and bling.
@@Actual-userReally.?.
@@Actual-userblue locktight?
I have a lot of Malkoffs: dropins for Surefire, dropins for Maglite and Malkoff complete lights.
Malkoff is really rugged and it feels it's a high quality instrument.
I just wish Gene had kept the traditional aggressive knurling as in the first models. I hate slippery surface. At least as long it's not combined with cigarr-style grip. Feeling the light gliding away in the hand when I push the switch is very annoying.
I feel like the current versions have the ridges, which is better than my older MDC 1aa
Weltool T2 Tac might be a cool light to look into. It’s a high - low light but the only mode on the normal group is high. Every time you momentary or press the tail cap it comes on high. To get to low you need to very quickly tap 4 times from off.
Interesting, I have been seeing Weltool pop up on the youtube more and more. I am looking at an Elzetta next :)
@@johncaceyElzettas are very nice. They're a bit of a hybrid of Malkoff and Surefire. They're on the lighter side like Surefire, but on the "I could throw this through a car window" side like Malkoff.
I have a Weltool. For a Chinese made light, it's a distinct step up from other Chinese brands, but compared to Malkoff, Surefire, Elzetta (US made lights), it feels a bit cheaper. Yet, it's not a lot cheaper than many of the US lights.
For me, the real magic of Malkoff is that you can get different dropins, pair them with different batteries and bodies, and you can configure your light to do pretty much whatever you want it to. With the VME head, you can put dropins on the MDC (Surefire E-series) bodies, too!
You can have a whole range of components, and then mix and match for whatever you want. I like using my MDC AA body with my VME head to make an 14500 light. I can swap my M61N, M61SHO, or M91BN with a high/low ring, or use my M361 drop in to keep the 3-mode operation - just with much higher output. With the MD2 body, I can use those same dropins with an 18650 or two 16340 batteries. If you poke around, some Malkoff of the higher voltage dropins will even run on AA batteries in an MD3...
HDS is way too expensive for what it is.
Depends :)
How does this compare to modlight and cloud defensive?
Those are in a different category. They specialize in extreme candela so that sets them apart. This has good throw but its LED is not simply designed to compete with those lights. Malkoff has been in the industry far longer and doubt the build quality can be beat.
uh this is a utility flashlight compared to dedicated weapons lights. Useable pretty smooth beams that render color at night perfectly, and bombproof bodies and heads. They're made by him in his small shop so it's basically a custom light of sorts. I would say it's a Rolex. It's not common but not something rare, but the quality is as high as it goes with nothing fancy built into them.
They're DURABLE. I've washed mine in the washer before, dropped it out of a moving car off the roof. They're more durable than a Surefire. My MD2 is from 2011. It's SO MUCH more durable than it looks.