Few months ago I asked about this light since it was incredibly cheap (compared to Surefire) yet it had amazing power. SInce it came from Pelican I knew that some kind of quality is there but nobody seemed to buy this light, everyone was still hooked up on Surefire. I used this light in mountains of Peru and during camping trips but the most important use it got was during blackout.

I gave this light a try and here are some observations:
-it is very well made but it has that rough feel to it. I mean it seams like it was finished all right but they forgot to put a final touch on it. In comparison with smooth finish of Surefire this one kind of lacks the "woman touch". I prefer it thou because it will not slip out of my hand.
-it is very powerful and beam is bright and clear. During blackout I worked in pitch dark on unconcious patient with only M6 being held over my head by a pedastrian. It was enough light for everything and than some.
-they claim that batteries are 60 min only. I know I've been using mine for more than an hour and it is going strong.
-prolonged use make it very hot.
-case that is included is a strong durable condura case but there is no place for spare batteries..
-rear switch is temporary on and off, it's not a full switch like on ARC LS. You have to screw the tail cap on all the way to get continious light. Not a problem in most situations but it is one when you hands are full.
-it is waterproof. I used it on the river to fish washed in gear. Didn't go deeper than 10 feet.

This light is a bargain. I have one in silver so I can't tell anything on how black will wear out (I heard some complains). BUT if you drop your light, leave it somewhere or missplace it silver will stand out and reflect much more than black.

With above torch my ligth arsenal consits of Inova X5, ARC LS, photons, krills, flashing led bike lights, MS2000 and pelican strobes and couple of Zipka headlamps. I belive strongly in being able to see and being seen.

Cheers mates,

Matt

Matt:

Thanks for the review. I may add this light to my wish list. I think I like the switch arrangement better than the streamlight's.

Question: Do you ever utilize any of your strobe lights in the city? Assuming you do foot responses I'm wondering if a small strobe clipped to your jump kit would make it easier to "walk" a rig to your position at night. Thinking back to my EMS days, there were a few times when flashing a mag lite from a distance just wasn't effective for signalling because of all the other white lights in the city.

Chris

I don't usually work solo but last Thursday night was an exception. Strobes catch eye because they are different. But also if you are next to the ambulance and flip all the lights, little strobe has very little chance to compete. My main thing is my safety during calls on the highways or in the parks or during times when I'm stuck by myself. On the hwy espacially if you block 2 out of 3 lines and create traffic jam, drivers let go of all the civility and than everything is possible. You always try to block the way with ambulance and leave yourself safe corridor to work but sometimes you can't and you have to walk on the outside. Moving flashing strobe is a great way to stop and snap people of of the 100 yard stare. Also signaling in the park for precise locations is helpful because sometimes I can't take the ambulance into specific site and back up crews can easly locate me. I have a strobe attached to my bag and to my belt.

I used MS2000 strobe few times with blue and white cover and they work without a glitch. It was during a water rescue.

About M6 as a signaling tool. My partner was trying to get attention of Police who were parked on the corner and looking for more info on location of the accident. He was using mag light that didn't do any good. I fired up the M6 and they spoted it right away.

Matt

Sounds good. And yes, vehicles are better than lights for protection on the highway. In CT we have the luxury of arriving after the state police. They always park behind the scene/accident and we would pull ahead of it for saftey. Its not a guarantee (one of our rigs got taken out by a dwi that got scared) but it helps. For the strobe I was leaning more to the scenarios where you are not near the rig.

Chris

Nice post, Matt (well, posts - this and your other post-blackout posts) <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
The M6 has very good word of mouth on the Candlepowerforums web site (I don't own a Pelican M6, but I'm considering it).
As far as the tailcap not having a clickable on/off switch, I've heard of two solutions. One is to replace it with a SureFire Z49 tailcap (I believe this is the higher-end, higher-dollar solution).
You can also use an aftermarket clickie tailcap from flashlightlens.com. This is apparently pretty popular, but at least one problem with this choice is discussed in this thread:
Clickie problems

And finally, another popular way to use these is to swap in an LED module. On the candlepowerforums site, a search for "McModule" will bring you to some threads that discuss these high-power units.
These are made by some very skilled fellows who collaborated on the design and manufacture - but they are not a flashlight company, just dedicated modders.
They are occasionally available in small batches either from the original makers, or occasionally a used one comes up on the buy/sell/trade portion of the forum.
I have not seen one of these, but the light output is said to be very impressive, although *I think* they don't "throw" quite as far as the original lamp does. Also, these are expensive - generally, about double the price of the original flashlight for the McModule alone.
That said, they are prized by many on the site.

I hope this helps.
Dave

Hey Dave,
Accessories were my original consideration when choosing between Pelican and Surefire. I saw so much stuff being made for Surefires especially the LED modules that I almost bought into their flashlights. But I figured that I will have Inova X5 for the LED work and Pelican just for throwing light out there. I know that it means carrying two light but it also works out better from the economical point of view I’m not using as many batteries. Plus very strong light is not suitable for very use, in close quarters it will bounce back and blind you a bit. But since such a module is available right now I will definitely look into it. Thank you for looking out and head up.

Matt

Polak,

You really should check out the Streamlight Twin-Task lights that Rasatter mentioned in the other blackout thread. As soon as I looked at them, I ordered both the one and two cell models, one for carry (one cell) and one for my bag (the two cell). So far I have been really impressed with these lights, especially for the price. I bought both lights for the price of one of my Surefires. They are slightly larger than the respective Surefires due to the elongated head that encompases both the LED and standard bulbs, and they don't have an end cap switch, but neither are a big deal to me. The standard bulb is almost as bright as the Surefires (my eyes can't really tell the difference side-by-side) and the burn time is longer, and the 3 LEDs are brighter than I expected, with very impressive burn time on the 2 cell model (25 hours or so they claim).

Anyway, they may be a real solution to your carrying two lights (not that that is really a problem <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />). I still carry my photon as well, but so far I am really pleased with this light.

Take care...

Greg

For you fellas that need to "mark" your location, check out the strobe flashers linked below. While these units are a bit heavy for hiking or EDC due to their single D-cell battery, the flashes they put out will definitely be seen. They are amazingly bright!! I've also seen these with a red lens to go over the xenon tube flasher assembly, as well as the usual clear lens. I keep one in my car so I can wear down a cheap D-cell battery that will not affect my car's ability to restart, unlike the car's built-in emergency tail light flashers.
http://www.emprep.com/Strobe%20Lights.html

BTW, thanks for the Pelican M6 review of performance in a real-world workout.

Hi,

I don't know what sort of experience you had with this flasher but mine was horrible. It really did sound tempting because of extra stuff that you can get for it such as colored lenses so I ended getting four of them. I used them to put on the Personal Floatation Devices that my girl, friends and I use during kayaking. None of those things work anymore. I'm sure they are great but first one broke during bailing out, second and third was dropped into the kayak and stopped operating and 4th just started leaking. So no thank you but I will stay away from those. I did end up getting these:

Great strobe for diving and kayaking. I've been using it for past two years, lightweight 2 AA battery operation


I carry this one with me everyday. Also uses 2 AAs. I regret not getting version that you can also use as a flashlight but hey it was an ebay bargain. Build in second color can make you stand out. Disadvantage is that when IR shield is down you can't see if strobe is on or off so battery may be drained.


SDU-5 I got for my car. I purchased converted version that uses two cr123 batteries. I find it unreliable because of the batteries but it is water proof and works fine when batteries are strong.



For street work I don't get sophisticated and use the same strobes that I use for biking. They have fairly simple circuits to clean and rubber gaskets to keep water out. They are small and can handle abuse and they are cheap so replacable just in case.

Matt