4Sevens Maelstrom G5 updated




4Sevens is a flashlight enthusiast that started making lights some time ago, first a series called Quark, then Preon followed by Quark MiNi and now Maelstrom with a few specials in between. The G5 is designed as a tactical light with a forward switch (i.e. momentary function), brightness and flashing modes is selected by turning the head. This makes it possible to select maximal brightness before turning on the light. The light is made of aluminum with hard-anodized (Type 3) finish.



The light is sold in a very stylish black cardboard box with a window. This box is a bit large for the light, but there is a reason for this.



The contents of the box is: flashlight, black bezel, flat ring to replace the grip ring, 3 spare o-rings, lanyard, batteries, hard holster for the light and a manual.



The light uses a XP-G led in a deep smooth reflector, this kind of reflector will usual give a good throw.



The bezel on the light can be either a stainless steel bezel or a black aluminium bezel. Both are supplied and it is easy to swap.



The head has some fins that work as a heat sink and some knurling to get a good grip when twisting the head to select mode.



The backside of the head has the usual battery plus connection with a spring behind. Around the plus connection is a plastic ring, this works as a mechanical polarity protection. Outside the protection is not the usual metal ring, but four separate connections points, all has different height and a spring behind them. This is the mode selection, depending on how many are connected to the battery tube, the light selected different modes.



These four points works together with this frontend of the battery tube. The wide part has two purposes, one is connecting to the four points on the head, and the other is to hold the batteries back. This is useful when light is used on a heavy gun or dropped on a hard surface. The threads are square type and there is an o-ring.
The polarity protection and the frontend on the battery tube prevent the usage of flat top batteries (They might work in high).



The light uses square threads and has two o-rings in the back, but only one in the front. The anodized threads make it possible to use the tailcap for lock-out. The head can also be used for lock-out but must be turned beyond the low level.



On both the battery tube, head and tailcap is knurling.



On the battery tube is an optionally grip ring, it can be removed and replace with a supplied flat ring. To do this swap the o-rings must be removed.



The light also has an optionally clip, it is mounted under the grip ring and can be removed or mounted when the grip ring is removed.



The tailcap has the battery connection spring hidden under a cap. The switch is very easy to access, because this light is designed for tactical usage. The switch must be pressed halfway down to turn on, fully down to lock on. With this kind of protruding switch the light cannot stand on its tail!




The supplied holster is an hard holster and is designed to hold the light in, even if it is open.



One interesting detail is the supplied batteries. There are two batteries wrapped in plastic, but the ends are free, i.e. the batteries can be directly loaded into the light, no reason to unwrap them first.



The user interface has two set of modes that is controlled with the head. Tight head will always give maximum brightness, loosen the head and the modes will depend on what bank is selected. To change between the two mode sets, loose/tighten the head 4 times fast. Note: This illustration is for the updated version of the light.



This is the parts I could disassemble the light into without using tools.



This second version of the G5 is a nice light, both for tactical and for general purpose. The light has both a high light output and a good throw for its size. The user interface works well and some settings can reliable be selected with the light off. The supplied extras are a nice detail.



Technical specification and measurements



This light is designed for 2xCR123, or 1x18650 LiIon battery, 2x16340 LiIon will also work, but with a short runtime.

Measured size and weight:
Length: 155.2 mm
Diameter: 25 mm to 38.6 mm
Weight: 177,6 gram with CR123 batteries and 183,4 gram with AW18650-2200.

The light uses a Cree XP-G R5 led.



In the above table I have used a 2600mAh 18650 battery for measuring and estimating runtime. The estimated lumen are based on the specified 350 lumen and then scaled according to measured brightness with CR123 (That was the highest value).



In the above table I have used 1400mAh CR123 batteries for measuring and estimating runtime. The estimated lumen are based on the specified 350 lumen and then scaled according to measured brightness.



The voltage scan shows that the light is stabilized down to about 3.8 volt. This light also has a very nice current profile with a maximum current draw below 1.4 ampere. The light goes out at around 2.6 volt and the current draw is very low, this makes it possible to use unprotected batteries in this light, just remember to remove the batteries when the light goes out.



The light has a nice flat runtime as long as the batteries can supply power at high enough voltage, a single 18650 cannot do that on high and will have a slowly dropping output. CR123 can keep the full brightness for nearly an hour, then they also starts to drop. Go one step down in brightness and 18650 can keep high enough voltage for full stabilization.

The brightness modes use current control and has a smooth output without any noise or pwm.



Strobe is a fast strobe with 9.6 Hz at 50% duty cycle.





The SOS uses 0.35 second for a dot and 11.4 seconds to transmit a SOS, then a 3.1 second pause before the next. The start of the SOS pulses looks "funny", the second curve shows it in detail. This is just the regulation that needs some time to stablize and is not visible to the eye.



The beacon is a slow 1 second pulse with 9.3 second between pulses.




Comparison to other Flashlights

Reflex Reflex1, Ray X60, 4Sevens Maelstrom G5


JetBeam RRT-2 Q5, ITP R01, SureFire E2DL


For the full comparison to other lights with graphs and beamshots see here.

The included lights are: