You can easily put 2 18650’s in that light. Some of us have parallel arrangements (post 552).
Yeah, I’m not really trying to fab that 18650 adapter. And I don’t have an A8 (of course…). I’ll keep it in mind for sure.
Might spring for a JM26 instead.
I’ve found an a8 clone on ebay, tube screws straight into the defiant head and its about half the price of an a8, colours god awful but I bought it to mod for use in my work tools, as it takes a 17mm and 20mm star, that at least will be easy enough.
How much was that clone?
$10 or so, hang on…….
there you go. These are pretty rife on ebay now.
At about a hundred dollars the K40 is a quality light with no need to mod. Not quite 70 but not 150 either. I think it can take the slot directly before the BTU. There are crelant models at about 70k stock as well for a little less that can take up a slot before the K40.
I like single cell shorties, so kinda like that actually 
yeah, its handy, just a shame the tube light is not black as I doubt the defiant will flame but you could de ano and polish everything
Paint/coat the coffee tube white for some storm trooper badness.
Did your a8 clone come with a 18650 adapter by chance?
it did indeed, not the usual cut down piece of conduit either, its one of the best budget ebay lights I’ve bought, once I get some qlite drivers I’ll be building it up and putting it to work.
Nice. Think I’m gonna give it a shot.
The Crelant 7G9, it outhrows the hd2010 and is under $90 at MDlightaource
60-70k lux
T13 for $24 at manafont here: http://www.manafont.com/product_info.php/small-sun-zyt13-t6-5mode-1200lumen-led-flashlight-black-218650-p-10728
Resistor trim pot from FT, qty 5 for $2: http://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10002999/1224400-10-ohm-potentiometer-trimpots-5-pack
U3 1C emitter for $5: http://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10001903/1189702-cree-xm-l-u3-1c-6500-7000k-1100-lumen-white-led-em
I'm getting 56 kcd on the stock emitter trimmed to 3.4A effective (1.7A measured at tailcap).
Replacing with U3: maybe 60-70 kcd?
De-dedomed in gas: maybe 120-140 kcd?
All for $31 out of pocket. Simple, pretty easy mods. I would add $3-$4 for a SinkPAD though 
.
Now we’re getting somewhere! Several of the suggestions look like they have promise. It looks like there aren’t many off the shelf choices. I checked out the Crelant 7g9, the small sun zy-t08 w/mods, and the t13 w/mods. I have to be honest I love the Convoy L2. I’m thinking of getting the host edition.
My first and only mod was with the Keygos M10. I mimicked gords mod with the same driver with lots of groups and U3 led. It was pretty simple. It’s much brighter than the stock one. Yes I bought 2 M10’s just so I could compare. On my fluke its running 4.2 amps at the tail.
So what does the group think of this:
*Convoy L2 Host, same driver as the keygos M10 mod, dedomed U3.
*
It’s either that or go with the East driver like in my direct drive HD2010. Not sure how good that is with the 2 battery config of the L2. I’ll attempt to gas dedome for the first time. I’m such a nerd.
Depending on the quality of the batteries, using the East driver could smoke your LED. Don’t be afraid of gas dedoming. It’s very simple. Toss the led in gasoline one night and remove it the next. You might want to give the glass a few swirls or spray the led when your done to get the loose bits off. Tom E started a good thread on dedoming here.
Both driver choices sound like single cell drivers, reducing the L2 to a 1 cell light only -- not a good choice for an XM-L2 but if you stay with a U3, better, but I'd rahter use that nice host with 2 batts.
This is it right here. $59.49 78mm head this thing throws like you would not believe it.
Trustfire X7 aka T8 SST-80 (actually a SST-50) It’s amazing the way it is also easy and cheap to mod it.
I have the Crelant 7G5CS on the way and have had the HD2010 in the past so can make some sort of comparison, not direct unfortunately as I no longer have the HD2010. From everything I’ve read it throws further and was $80
dayum that is a big bastid
Convoy L2. 2x 26650, large reflector, what else do you need.