The NightCutter M60L is one of Lightship Enterprises' "professional series" of lights. This miniscule little beauty houses a Luxeon V Portable LED emitter that acts like a photon firehose and just plain dumps huge volumes of light in the direction pointed. It contains a regulator circuit which is advertised to provide 60 minutes of near-constant output. I'm sorry to say that Lightship Enterprises was rather mistaken about this figure. We found that the M60L provides closer to 1 hour and 20 minutes of near-constant output with the provided batteries! That's a full 33% more than expected. Options abound for the M60L. Included with this sample were: 2 lenses which provide varying beam width, a reflector for an extra wide beam, 2 different shaped bezel caps, and a lanyard.

First off, the body. Hard anodized aluminum with a gorgeous finish in blue-gray. Dimples in the surface provide grip and an oversized removable stainless steel clip allows the unit to be clipped to your pocket or belt. Just below the head are 4 heat dissapating fins to conduct the waste heat away from the LED where it could do damage.

The screw-on bezel cap can be removed and replaced. This light came with two - a smooth round version and a crennelated version with 6 protruding "teeth" which serve the purpose of allowing the user to see that the light is on when placed face down. I'll leave it up to your imagination as to what else those "teeth" could be used for...

Behind the bezel cap is a lens which can be exchanged for other lenses which produce varying beam angles, or a reflector which gives a very wide beam. The reflector includes a flat lens and seals to protect the inside of the light.

Output varies depending on which lens/reflector setup you use. The beamshots show the narrow lens at 1 meter and a closeup of the narrow lens beam. Next is the medium lens beam closeup, followed by the reflector beam closeup. Changing the lenses is very easy and allows you to customize the light based upon your most common usage.

The light produced is quite white. This particular sample had a slight greenish tint to the light which is not uncommon with Luxeon LEDs. The quantity of light produced is amazing for a torch this size and is on a par with a famous tactical light manufacturer's very small Luxeon V personal pocket light.

Narrow lens beam at one meter and beam close-up

Medium lens close-up, reflector close-up

The runtime graph shows fairly good regulation and a regulated runtime on the included batteries of 1 hr 20 minutes. Lightship Enterprises has indicated that they have recently been testing the batteries that they are shipping with the light and have found not quite up to their high standards. They will soon be replaced with higher quality cells which will provide even longer runtimes.

Runtime completed with included "Powerizer" batteries. More information on runtime plots is available HERE.

The switch is simple twist type. Tighten for on, loosen for off. If you loosen it 1/8 turn from on you can press in on the tailcap for a pseudo-"momentary operation". You are really just taking advantage of the play in the threads, there is no special mechanism involved here. In my opinion this is the only downside to the light - the lack of a true "momentary" operation mode. Loosening the tailcap 1 turn locks it out and prevents accidental operation. The tailcap has a lanyard hole built in.

The light is advertised as watertight to 150 feet of water depth.

Ergonomics: The light is small. It fits fine in the hand. The finish is rather smooth, so hang onto it when in use and utilize the lanyard if there is the possibility of loss if dropped. The switch is easy to activate and de-activate with the thumb and forefinger when held in the palm with the bezel toward the pinky. I have found it is necessary to give it two twists in order to ensure that it is completely off.

For batteries the M60L takes two 123A lithium cells. Purchase these online to enjoy significant savings over retail store stock. To change out the cells simply unscrew the tail cap, drop out the old cells and place the new cells in the light while observing proper polarity.

Included in the package were a wider angle lens, reflector, flat lens, seals, crennelated bezel cap, and a lanyard.

What I Liked: Waterproof, Tough/impact resistant (advertised 10,000 lbs crush resistance), Regulated/good battery life, Very Bright, Easy battery change, Lightweight, Stands up

What I Didn't Like: No "true" momentary postition for the switch, Two twists with thumb and forefinger (one handed operation) needed to ensure it is "off".

Other Things I Noticed: Looks like a work of art.

Conclusions: For a new company in the lighting industry, these folks are producing products of very high quality and solid construction. Great output, a variety of options, and a simply beautiful appearance just sets these lights apart from almost everything else available today. I can't wait to see what's next!

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