Review: Solarforce Skyline 2

Well darn you again for doing this! First I fell for the Skyline 1... and now the "two". I must say, the distinctive machining looks absolutely stunning. My thoughts about accumulating so many flashlights is that I will be able to mod my favorites well into the future... and it feeds the sickness right along with my other hobbies. At least I'm incorporating flashlights into many of the things I do. LOL! The "two" surely looks like a fav for a long time to come. It just screams "high tech" and damn good looking! Thanks for the great review. Looking forward to you tearing the living guts out of this thing like you did to your "one"! Its probably to early to tell, but do you think heat management is better than the typical light of this size, or is the machine work more for aesthetics than function? I wonder how it would manage heat @2.8A with an XML. Yeah, I know it would probably be pushing it if on for more than 5 min, but you never know.
Have you tried to dedome any XML's yet?

Heatsinking should be fine , it takes a 16mm round base/star ...

De-dome a XM-L , no , havent tried that .. Did it by accident to a XP-G R5 , still works .. One day ill find a light to put it in

Its still there with a discounted price!

My concern with driving an XML @ 2.8A in this host is the lack of threads (contact area) to transmit the heat from the body to the head. What do you think? Does the head get as warm as the body?

Lack of threads = To the head yes , its just a very narrow threaded part on the pill ..

I need to drill some holes to remove it [ When the newness has worn off ]

ATM heat is not an issue .. , One could try wrapping the reflector in Al-foil , and doing the foil trick , should one Mod it to XM-L

I didn't understand.. drill holes to remove what from where? how is this related to the increasing of heatsink?

The pill that screws into the body , that the LED sits on .. To remove it , I will need to drill 2 small holes , so I can remove it ..

I dont want to damage the threads for the head , or reflector , removing the pill .

I thought you wanted to increase the heat transmision between the head and the dropin with that, I didn't understood.

Laughing

Quick dumb question: The Skyline 2 is a P60 compatible host or not?

Thanks!

does'nt look like it. the reflector screws onto the body.

It's not compatable. The pill is mounted in the body, and is a bugger to remove. During upgrading my skyline II witha 1.4a driver I had to destroy the original...complete pita!

Thanks for clearing that up!

Yeah, it's rather a shame both of the Skylines are so anoying to upgrade. The driver is held in place by the push fit brass piece you can see in Match's second photo, sadly it's pushed in to place either with a press of some kind or a bloody big hammer :P

When I look at both Skylines, it appears that it would be the easiest thing in the world to design these bad boys so that at least the brass base of a normal P60 drop-in could be screwed in. How awesome would it be to drop some powerhouse combination in either of these fine flashlights. The Skyline 2 will probably be my next purchase.

lovescheapthrowersFoy

the masterpiece pro-1 is still on my list. maybe theyll lower the price.

I've read nothing but good about the Masterpiece Pro, probably one of the best throwers available. You can get the head by itself for $43.99 and just screw it onto an L2P/L2. It has the same finish as an L2P I think. Now that I look on their site, they're throwing in an L2i as well.

I'm still itching for that M8, though.

Foy

maybe you can Foyify that head and send SF sales a prototype. With the money youll be making from Foybezels INC. you can buy plenty of M8s. Im actually ordering 2 grey l2is for coworkers tonight. how have your runtimes been on them. and which leds have you used. thx

The L2i, you mean? I've got the UF 3-mode XM-L in there with an 18650. I have not run it down significantly but so far it seems to behave just like an L2P/L2 with the same set-up. I need to incorporate run times in my reviews but I get tired of waiting. I've been using it at work this week and it's fast becoming one of my top lights. This combination (L2i/XM-L) is a seriously potent flashlight for $25 complete. Your coworkers are going to love it.

hellofatorchFoy

I wonder how a Masterpiece Pro with an XM-L would be vs. an M8...

It is a shame the P60 hasn't been expanded much, if you could just screw the brass pills into another head with a large reflector that would be great...especially if the reflector screwed into the head as well for maximum contact.