A quick review of the new Dorcy Metal Gear XL-M Extreme - ANSI rated 618 lumen
I’ve been into flashlights all my life - I’m soon to be 45yrs old, and so I’ve seen a lot of changes come to pass in the world of flashlights. I remember when not so long ago - maybe 6-7 years ago, we were spending countless hours and tons of money building custom made flashlights that were not as good (quality/output/runtime wise) as this Dorcy. Now anyone can just lay down about $50 bucks (on sale now) and have a flashlight we would have given our left arm for not all that long ago. These are good times for the flashaholic!
So I’ve had this light for about a year now, and I really like it. Originally I thought it was a bit behind the competition due to lack of settings or modes, but then I realized that its simplicity is part of what makes it so good. Let’s face it, not everyone out there loves flashlights like most of us here on The Bright Side, and multi modes and flashing SOS etc. is just some confusing stuff to get in the way of “light when they need it” for joe home owner. I think Dorcy made the right move by keeping this light simple (just three choices high/low/off) with this light, besides we didn’t need another alternative to the TK40, this simple version is really good at what it has set out to be.
My observations:
- Fit and finish are excellent!
- Beam is excellent - nice hot spot for good throw and two layers of fading spill, really great beam pattern.
- It tail stands, which is important to me, and a very useful feature.
- Has anti roll away built in with bezel and tail cap design.
- Comes with lanyard.
- Buy it from Dorcydirect.com and get 15-25% off, free shipping and free batteries!
- It can run on only 3 batteries if you need to do that in a pinch.
- I really like the looks and hi-vis color.
- It feels really good in the hand. Decent grip, good balance. Not too long, not too fat, not too heavy.
Further info:
DESCRIPTION: 600+ Lumen – 6AA LED Metal Gear XLM Flashlight (618 ANSI rated lumens)
ITEM NO: 41-0435 on the Dorcy website
COLOR: Gun Metal Gray
MATERIAL: Aerospace Grade Anodized Aluminum
BATTERY TYPE: 6XAA
LUMENS (HIGH / LOW): 618 Lumens / 173 Lumens
RUN TIME (HIGH / LOW): 5 Hours 45 Minutes / 25+ Hours - see runtime graph below which was done with alkalines
BEAM DISTANCE (HIGH / LOW): 363 Meters / 200 Meters
SWITCH SETTING: Side Mounted Push Button Switch – High & Low
PRODUCT DIMENSIONS: 9.00” L X 1.50’ W X 1.50” H
PRODUCT WEIGHT: 9.90 Ounces / 15.50 Ounces (including alkaline batteries)
ADDITIONAL FEATURES: Rotatable Lanyard Ring with Nylon Wrist Lanyard
FYI - just for some reference, I own dozens of flashlights including Surefire, JetBeam, Fenix, ITP, Wolf-Eyes, LumaPower, etc, etc. So I’m not just comparing this to department store flashlights. It really is a decent light. Do you remember those Oldsmobile car commercials that said “The new Oldsmobile… this isn’t your fathers Oldsmobile”. Well that slogan comes to mind when I look at this light… this isn’t that inexpensive plastic Dorcy light your mom gave you to go trick-or-treating with when you were a kid. This thing is a serious flashlight at a reasonable price, and I love that it is fully tested and rated by the ANSI standards!
Also worth noting: Dorcy now sells slightly different versions of their lights under the DieHard name. They offer a version of this light as a DieHard branded light as well. It has a black body and gold bezel, and slightly different cuts to the body. You can check out the DieHard lights on the Dorcy website or Dorcydirect.com
I had some issues posting the images - please see gearjunkie’s post below with the images.
, the pictures didn’t actually come up, you have to click on them - sorry guys, this image shack thing is a pain for me. If someone can give me the idiots guide to easily adding an actual photo to a review/post, that would be great. I already looked in the how to add photos section before posting this post, and that information got me what you see above.
just doing a search for this light, on sale at sears for $162.44, on the dorcy website on sale for $65.00!
