Solarforce L2i, L2r?

Since ITC is having a a pretty good sale on these lights (as low as $7.99) I was thinking it would be a good chance to get one. The L2i is 3xAAA and the L2r is 2xAA. The 3xAAA looks kind of fat (and I know 3 AAA batteries don't last anything like as long as 1 18650) and the L2r is probably a little long and skinny. Also with 2xAA, would the lower voltage mean less light with most drop-ins? I'm kind of on the fence about whether I should get one of these hosts and leaning towards no. Any opinions?

I have the L2R in sand colour and 2 low voltage drop-ins. Actually I had 2 L2R (black/sand) and 3 low voltage drop-ins, but my father has the black one now. If you can live with colour - get the sand one, because of it's satin finish and more grip. (also less fingerprints) I like my L2R even if the head/body ratio feels kind of "wrong", but it is still the best out of the box 2AA solution for 3 modes without strobe and P60 support. If you find a suiting spacer (18/15mm) you can also try the Superfire-mod from my sig. The price on the L2i also made me trigger happy, but so far I resisted. On 18650 the dropin is brighter, but it's also bright enough on 2AA (see Don's list). The dropin is highly recommended... if you go with L2R/L2i, Superfire 501c, Ultrafire 502c or something else is a matter of taste. To sum up - for 2 AA you better take a special low voltage dropin, for 3xAAA a normal dropin should be fine, but you have a short runtime.

If you order the L2R/L2i ... do yourself a favour and order the flat bezel with them.

Some nice pictures.

Someone on cpf says the new ones suck. Only 0.8A instead of the proper 1.2A.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=296548

If true that means it's not as bright as the better 2A draw AA lights.

I have one of these l2r's with 14500's for now, and i"m not sure about buying the LV dropin. Nobody else makes LV p60's that I can find.

vectrex, can you check yours?

I was going to buy the sand L2R, but they are charging $2 shipping, so it's not as good a deal as I thought. Plus I was going to buy 2 flat bezels (one for the new one, one for my L2), so it started getting to be more than I wanted to spend for something I didn't really even want that much.

I lost my iTP A3 (that's the problem with tiny flashlights!) so I bought a replacement for it and got a birthday present for myself: a Quark 123-2 tactical with a neutral XP-G R4. That's plenty to spend on flashlights for a little while.

I have the L2i

= It will just take a 18650

18500

17500

14500

AA

Also CR123A with a battery adapter as well as AAAx3

I like mine ,

I have a L2M and a L2R and I like them both very much. Best P60 hosts you can get.

To me, the L2i is a better bet, I have an L2R as well but I have never been all that fond of the 2AA layout. Adding a huge P60 head to it makes it even less wieldy. The L2i feels better in the hand and gives a lot of power options.

Hmm, just made a quick measurement (don't know the state of the battery- I guess rather full), the one in my L2R (EZ1000) is pulling 1.6 A, the one in my Superfire (ez900) is pulling 1.0 A (same batteries - both hosts) . So yes, there seems to be fluctuation in the drivers.... I always thought it would be the different emitters (ez900 vs. ez1000) that caused the difference in output... like I had written HERE... if they are even lower than that now (0.8 A - that is low).... maybe I have to over-think my recommendation... better build your own dropin with:

http://www.kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=9208 This pill

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15880 this driver (but it has strobes)

and an XP-G r5 http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.44306

like old4570 did HERE... a shame that the kaidomain driver is gone...

Why do they always worsen products over time.... or stop production on the good ones...

not to be very familiar with the matter, but I did a research on http://www.videofoundry.co.nz/ianman/laboratory/research/driverlist.php

and I found this one:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.7882~r.85749907

Couldn't this be another candidate for this? The description from Acualab sounds good.

That one has strobes in every of the 3 mode-groups... bah... and you have to be very careful, when you adjust the max. output by turning the potentiometer. And people seem to get different drivers under the same SKU...

Solarforce's P60 hosts are awesome. Great quality for a great price. L2i is nice and bulky and can take almost every battery. L2r is great is you wan to stick with AA. With low voltage 3 mode (no strobe!) drop-in it's quite bright. Modes are very well spaced. So what else can you ask from ~20$ flashlight?