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Detailed
Information:
In my opinion, Pelican has hit a "Home Run"
with the M6 LED. They've taken the best elements of
the original
M6, added a high powered LED for reliability and
a clickie switch for ease of use.
The body, made of machined aircraft grade aluminum
alloy, appears to have an anodized finish available
in either a matte black or matte sliver finish. The
head and tailcap have an octagonal shape while the body
is round with a checkered pattern around the center.
Two o-rings are located behind the head of the light
and appear to be there for grip.
The bezel consists of a plastic lens, a textured and
polished aluminum reflector, and a well heatsinked Luxeon
I high dome LED. Heatsinking is important since the
LED is being driven fairly hard and the resulting heat
that is produced needs to be drawn away from the LED.
The M6 LED does a very effective job of moving heat
as indicated from the fact that the body of the light
gets quite warm when the light is in use. This means
that the heat is being drawn away from the LED and toward
the aluminum body where it can be safely dissipated.
It does not get too hot to hold even after long periods
of use provided there is adequate ventilation around
the body of the light. The light produced is very white
and the reflector produces a very nice uniform spot.
The light is focusable, although as the focus spreads
out to a wide beam, eventually the ubiquitous "hole"
appears in the center of the beam as is typical with
focusable lights.
UPDATE: I have been informed that Pelican may
has changed their design of this light since I reviewed
it and it is now permanently focused instead of being
user focusable.
Ever
wonder why it's called a "high dome" LED?
Runtime Plot: Pelican advertises 40 hours runtime on
this light. This is a great example of misleading marketing...
A runtime test shows 50% output is reached in just over
2 hours, and 25% output is reached in about 3 hours.
Sure the LED may produce light for 40 hours, but it
sure as heck won't do you much good.
Runtime
completed with Duracell batteries. More information
on runtime plots is available HERE.
The switch is capable of 3 different modes. It is a
clickie switch, so you can press it to click the light
on and off. You can also apply gentle pressure with
your thumb for "momentary" operation. Releasing
your thumb will shut the light off. The switch can also
be rotated backwards about 2 turns in order to "lock
out" the switch. This will prevent the switch from
operating when placed in luggage or packed. The lockout
operation is indicated on the switch in text.
The pushbutton itself is rubber, covered with a checkered
style texture, and is bright red making it both easy
to feel and to see.
The light is protected from water entry by O-rings
which are used throughout the body.
Included in the package are two 123a Energizer e2 Lithium
photo batteries. These will power the light for about
40 hours (advertised). I would expect several hours
of bright light with diminishing light thereafter. Batteries
of this type are very expensive in retail stores and
instead should be bought from an online retailer like
BatteryStation.com.
The Pelican M6 LED comes with a very good quality Cordura
nylon sheath with a plastic insert for rigidity and
a plastic tailcap receptacle in the bottom which prevents
the light from coming on in the sheath.
What I Liked: Water resistant, Tough/impact
resistant, Long battery life, Bright, Easy battery change,
Lightweight, Great beam.
What I Didn't Like: Very little.
I wish the tailcap wasn't bright red, but that's an
easy way to tell it's the LED light as opposed to the
original M6 incandescent light.
Other Things I Noticed: High dome
LED was very slightly off center on its post, but this
doesn't seem to affect the beam at all.
Conclusions: Home Run! The crowd
goes wild!!! A great light all the way around. Highly
recommended.
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