MAO seems to be the big thing these days. The MAO lights are selling for a pretty big premium over standard. Is it worth it, is it just personal preference? S2+ is selling for $10 more for MAO. That 50% more than regular.
For me it was just another color that I could add to my collection of S2+s.
It looks pretty cool, but not my favorite since it doesn’t seem that durable. It almost looks like flat white spray paint. But I treat most of my flashlights like shelf queens so it’s not an issue. It does have a lot of grip.
Is it worth the premium? I don’t think so. My favorite, which was my first, is still the black version which has similar amount of good grip, but seems much more durable.
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I have both a S2+ MAO and a S21A MAO and they get dirty pretty quickly but like @NeutralFan I basically just ordered them to have them in my collection.
Also I thought they’d pair well with 519A sm503 5000K, White Hybrid Mule Optics and Cool White Illuminated tailcaps.
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I thought its supposed to be more durable than anodizing.
That said i don’t have one and the price premium is annoying.
That’s a really nice job you’ve done there! can I ask where you got the bits to do it? the white mule bit and the tailcap lights plus quad led board, presumably it uses the supplied driver?
I don’t like the white color of MAO anodization.
If it were blue or green, I would like it more because I’m not a fan of white flashlights.
However, I am Caucasian, and white lights matter. 
Black lights matter, too! 
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RC that was crazy funny.
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Thanks!
I was worried I would offend someone with my race-based joke, but hopefully I didn’t. 
lol Nobody has a right , to be not offended. About white lights, I don’t own any, but about every 3 or 4 months, I actually notice how grotty my lights have become, and into the ultrasonic cleaner they go. I then try to remember the last few times I held it in my mouth, because something required 2 hands. Then, I try to forget it.
They emerge looking almost new, and the knurled ones, are once again nice and grippy.
A thread cleaning, and silicone grease every 3-4 months, and a yearly pressure test to ensure that the O rings are still doing their job, and that the tailcap cover has no tears ,is about all the maintenance my small EDC lights get.
That said, the MAO andonization looks really nice. Almost frosty, like it just came out of the freezer.
The Hybrid Mule Optics are made by Andy Zhu you can contact him on Facebook.
The Illuminated tailcaps were designed by @gchart, you can check out the thread here:
The Copper spacers for the triple and quad conversion are made by @kiriba-ru and can be purchased from @Chatika_vas_Paus.
I got the 519A from @clemence
The MCPCBs are the standard 20mm Copper DTP Triple and Quad 3535.
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Yep.
I remember a while ago, someone on BLF was being quite militant with their posts, and I compared them to “1930’s/1940’s Germany.”
I’m paraphrasing, but you can imagine what I really posted.
Man, people got offended at that comparison, and now I know not to use the word that I used.
I just don’t want a repeat of something like that. 
Nicely done @INeedMoreLumens
The whiteout look is quite interesting, frosted indeed! I’m betting the beam profile is useful as well.
Good job pointing out the components! 
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Right, no need to aim it. 
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i like it, but i don;t like it any better than anything else, black, blue , plain anodizing
i don;t think it will wear off, but i don;t really know either, it just seems hard not plasticky
I haven’t anodized much and it’s been quite a while but to the best of my knowledge only black can be done ( or natural) in Type III hard anodize. Has to do with molecular size of the colored dyes as compared to the diameter of the nanotube formed in anodizing.
So colors won’t be as durable. In natural no dye is added so …
The ‘slate blue’ Skilhunt E3A is said to be the only E3A with Type III anodization iirc.