A dedomed SST-40 gives you everything you want but only comes in cool white.
You can find XP-L HI in all color tints. It will not be 2,000lm but it will be very throwy and plenty bright in the hotspot.
Since I haven’t started this build yet, what about 3x OSRAM KW CSLPM1.TG 2mm2 Throw King Bare Led’s in the C8TT head? It will have a FET+1 driver running crescendo firmware & a high amp bypassed tail switch …
Thoughts…?
it wil throw but not the throw you want I think. Do you still want a dedicated thrower?
and the 2mm leds do not work well under optics because they are not perfectly square i have been told.
Correct, ok how about the 1mm white flat Led’s?
If you want a thrower light you should get one with reflector with at least the size of a c8. no optic lens or something wil work for a thrower. You can use a 1mm with the right driver(not above 4.5 amp).
I would use xpl hi or sst20.
convoy L2 is also a nice host and will give you lots of throw.
I’m going to build a 2nd C8 with a single emitter, just not sure which. More than likely I’m gonna swap out the XPL-HI cool whites for xpl-hi 5000K or 219c in the C8TT build.
you may want to consider this light:
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/gIHh9a0
its cheap, neutral white xpl hi, fet driver and good quality overall.
building one yourself is more fun tho…
Look,
for throw you need 2 things:
- largest SMO reflector you can fit into a flashlight host you have (if you want 2 leds you will have to fit 2 smaller reflectors, 3 leds = 3 even smaller reflectors, 7 = super small reflectors, I think you understand what I want to say here, forget about TIR optics and multi-led setups)
- LED with smaller die (thats the surface of the LED that produces the light) size,
but you will have to do some sacrifices, smaller led can’t do 2000 lumens but throw can be excellent, larger LEDs that can do 2000 lumens+ are not good for throw at least not in C8 size reflector (you will need much much larger reflector for larger leds like XHP70)
To make it easy for you here are 3 choices that would be best (and this is for C8 with SMO reflector):
- XPL HI or dedomed XML2 or SST40 and FET driver (sidenote: SST40 is CW, not sure there is a NW option, also it is a PITA for dedoming)
- XPG2 or SST20 dedomed, I think FET driver will be OK here also just don’t use 30A cell
- Osram white flat 1mm2 and some driver that will do 5A or FET with “low” drain cell! (but this one is CW and you can’t get it in NW)
My favorite option is 3rd but I like CW tint.
Also some funn facts:
- XHP70 runs on 6V so you either have to use 2 cells like 18350 or one 18650 with boost drivers, in both cases runtime will suck because 18350 have a small capacity and boost driver sucks the life out of 18650 quite fast.
- XHP35 runs on 12V so you have to use 2 cells AND boost driver, there are boost drivers that can run this led from single 18650 cell also but I would bet they are not 17mm wide so you can’t fit them in C8 body…
Hope this helps you 
Exactly! I would like to make my own light and build it how I would like it to be.
Three things:
It has to be clear anodized aluminum. (or stainless)
It has to be a Neutral White tint.
It has to be a dedicated thrower.
I’m still gonna build a clear C8, but the ThruNite Catapult V6 has now caught my attention!
Yes that helped.
Altho I did find a 17mm boost driver that says it can power both xhp50.2 and XHP35 at mtn: MTN-BST2 Boost Driver 17mm.
Also I didn’t know they made a clear anodized Convoy L2! This takes both 20mm drivers and Led boards plus a 26650! I may change my plan from a C8 to the L2 now!
… aaaand, thats how you spend 100$ when you only planned to spend 20$ 
:person_facepalming: (and get 5 flashlights instead of 2).
LOL
Having owned a coast HP314, I’d have to disagree with the statement that no lens will work for a thrower.
Shhh!! Don’t tell the wifey… I have her convinced that building them myself is much cheaper!! Lmao