The best flashlight I never heard of

[rduckwor]

I was SOing a match this weekend for a friend down in the Alabama Styx. Walked into the clubhouse for lunch and the M.D. called my name.

Seems I had won a flashlight in the drawing.

I pocketed it and said thanks and didn't think any more about it.

Later, I was sitting on my can at a stage waiting for more shooters and the topic of flashlights came up. One of the officers said "Didn't you win a flashlight?" I said yeah, I don't know what it was, probably Chinese or something. He said "I doubt it, the guy sitting beside you made it."

Thus I was introduced to Gene Malkoff.

I apologized to him and said I was embarrassed and he said forget it.

We talked about his company and imports a bit and some shooters showed up and we got busy again.

Later in the day, the rain drove us into the clubhouse as we finished the match and Gene grabbed me and showed me the flashlight I had won and explained the functions. Invited me to come by the plant and visit.

I think I will do just that.

Got home and had some time to look it over. This is one brick shithouse of a flashlight! Gene told me he sourced everything he could from American manufacturers and built the light right there in Enterprise.

I have to say, I had no idea and I am impressed.

It's always nice to win something, but having the opportunity to visit with the guy who designed and built what you won was special.

No affiliation or interests other than the fact that I am a lucky guy, but check them out.

Malkoff Devices. Super bright, powerful LED modifications for flashlights, LED light pucks, Super bright, powerful LED modifications for flashlights

Certainly the best flashlight I never heard of.

 

[derek1387]

Malkoff makes some awesome upgrade heads for other lights...didnt know they made their own lights too!

 

[snufulufugus]

Thanks rduckwor I never knew this guy existed and in our sate too, this is not good for a flashlight addict.

 

[Ninja]

Very cool story & yes lucky dude. Tour the Malkoff works is even more of a win as his P60 & other Surefire drop-in lamp upgrades are top shelf... Just received an order from them & got a nice personal thank you note from Cathy Malkoff.

 

[Jcub]

Which flashlight did you win?

 

[mikeltee]

I recently ended a quality flashlight buying phase thanks to my wife and the UPS man knocking at the door 3 times a week to deliver flashlights. This guy mods lights to make the most out of them. He buys in bulk so you can usually get a modded light for less than or equal to amazon. I have dozens of his lights. He's a great dude as well. If you are into lumens and don't want to drop $600 for a custom titanium light check out V54:

Vinhnguyen54

 

[rmfield]

I've put Malkoff drop-ins in several older Surefire incandescent lights and couldn't be happier with the results.

 

[ScottNC]

Thanks for Posting rduckwor!
Never heard of Gene's company before, I'm ordering a Drop-in for my MagLite Charger, it is just what I needed. I'm sure I'll be buying more of his stuff soon.
Looks to be a great company to deal with.
Scott

 

[jasonfaz]

Malkoff drop ins are legit, but unfortunately they don't make a drop in for weaponlights (M952/951, or M962/961) that are enough of an upgrade IMO to make it worth while. Plus they are way under driven compared to other units. Better off just building your own. From a weaponlight standpoint there aren't a whole hell of a lot of options with solid attachment mechanisms and remote activation systems outside of surefire products. They also only take CR123a batteries which is another problem and a whole different issue.

I buy the bodies, collets, tailcaps, and bezels but machine out the bodies with a boring bar to accept rechargeable 18650's, source precision molded aspheric lenses from Edmund optics, and solder my own emitters so I can use a driver and power source appropriate for any LED I decide to use for the given application. Ends up being a nice piece of kit for about 2 bills when it's all said and done.

So far I've mustered up two aspherics - one uses an MC-E with an output of 900 lumens and one uses an XP-G driven at 1.5A with an output of 380 lumens. The non-aspheric will use an SST-90 driven at 2.5A emitting 1200 lumens off a single 18650. Still working on the reflector.

This is the way to go IMO.


Beamshot (shitty pic from my iphone) of the quad die MC-E aspheric.

 

[jasonfaz]

Did a 6PX using a GG&G as a mounting bracket for the lens. Behind a scope, one could easily see light out to 500 yards. I should mention that I do understand distance isn't everything and spill is often more important in some applications. Even then, a multi-stage SSC P7, XML, SST-50/80/90 would be better than what surefire uses in most of their WLs...