Hi there 98dinan3, glad to have you here! Hope you find a lot of helpful resources here for your flashlight hobby.
I only own the Ultrafire 3-mode XM-L dropin from Manafont, but I would recommend it without reservation.
Thanks for the advice, and the warm welcome. As far as my soldering ability, it's not world class, but certainly not terrible either.
That is the dropin I have been buying. I love it. On every one I have bought so far the second reflector wont screw onto the pill. I still like getting the extra reflector though.
What is keeping the op reflector from working properly? You would think that they should work together considering they are being sold as a set... lol Have you had any luck fitting it to any other pills? or is it basically useless?
The threads just dont quite match up. The OP reflector did fit nicely on a KD dropin I have. Its like the threads are the right size but the tolerance is off too much. It's budget quality tolerances.
Great dropin though. If you get it you can come on here, talk about how awsome the strobe is and get a rise out of somebody.
Just to appease my imagination as I was reading 98dinan3's choices. Would anyone have beamshots of the Ultrafire XML T6 with OP on a P60 host (maybe the Manafont Skyray or the L2T) with a DX aspheric lens..
Any idea? Too much artifacts, even with an OP reflector?
Welcome to BLF 98dinan3!
I love your choice of hosts but I'd say go out of your way to avoid strobes .Because no matter what you do... you'll end up with a million of them anyway like it or not .Can you solder is a good question because it opens up another window of options ,tints ,drivers etc..most of which is pretty standard fare ...sounds like you're doing fine .I might have suggested choosing another emitter like the xpg ,and I might have suggested a different battery choice like a AA. but i like your pick of the solarforce l2t well enough to simply repeat what langcjl said ..looks like you know what you're doing .
*I'm sure someone out here is a real expert ....I just haven't met them yet ..Are you refering to fishinfool? :P
Welcome 98dinan3. Since you've already got the XM-L with your C8 you might get a XP-G drop-in for the L2T or a XR-E for some throw or maybe both just to see what those 3 types are like.
XM-L flood, XP-G large hotspot with some throw, and XR-E with a small hotspot and more throw!
I agree regarding the strobes! Soon you'll (probably) be avoiding them like the plague :)
I don't think you're going to like an aspheric with a reflector. You're probably not going to like an XM-L with an aspheric but that's a personal preference I suppose. Personally I only like aspherics with a XR-E.. Regarding the reflector/aspheric combo though...try it sometime as see how you like it.
EDIT: Actually I have a 6P with a XM-L drop-in (Thrunite) with an OP reflector and I have a 28mm lens from DX laying around and it's now dark here so I took all that outside to see what it looked like and how it performed.
It looks like a disco ball until you get to the reflecting of the emitter image. That image is of course larger than that of a XR-E but it didn't throw that far. It didn't throw much further than if I didn't use the aspheric. It certainly didn't throw as far as a XR-E in the same 6P using the same aspheric would have thrown.
My particular XM-L is only driven at 1.4A. One driven at 3A would throw a little further still not as far as a XR-E. 3A can get pretty warm in a small 6P anyway.
Hope this helps.
Welcome to BLF 98Dinan3
I would recommend http://www.bavauto.com/ they are right up the street from my house and they have everything you could possibly need. I think these would be the best budget light for your application.
how about some links to some quality xp-g and xr-e drop-ins?
I believe that if you are not the kind of person who needs detail in 100m XM-L will suffice.
I could hook you up with some custom drop ins if you are interested.
@gcbryan
Thanks for the detailed and quick reply.. Since I'm not a dancer, the disco ball XML is not for me..
but you're right, probably will buy an XRE R2 or XPG R5 drop in, and the aspheric lens since its so cheap, and try it.
I guess all flashaholics get that itch sometimes a lot of times, to experiment with various "legoable" parts available, just to see the result and get it out of the way.
This is a little more expensive than some. It's Thrunite XP-G for (1) 18650 or (2) CR123's or (2) 18650's for that matter.
http://www.sbflashlights.com/Solarforce-Dropins/Solarforce-LC-1-Cree-R2-3-Mode-4-2-8-4V-p69.html
Here's a Solarforce 3 mode XR-E R2 for (1)18650 or (2) CR123. It's not very expensive.
Here is a Solarforce 3 mode XP-G R5 for (1) 18650 or (1) CR123. It's not very expensive either.
http://www.sbflashlights.com/Solarforce-Dropins/Solarforce-LC-1-Cree-R2-3-Mode-8-4-2V-p22.html
Check all the stats before you buy as I did all this in a hurry :)
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Here you go, Doby... XP-G R5 in P60 w/ 28mm aspheric (and red rubylith)
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Errr... mmmmmm... ahhhhhh...
It's one small bright hotspot... but those rings!
How do you like it @Be-Seen Triker?
welcome to BLF. Good choices made. I second the xtar 2600's. Great value for money.
A lot of the newbies are having trouble fitting the x tars in there lights i would recommend some Trustfire flames.
By the way, an aspheric thrower doesn't have to be ugly! You need to just buy a cheap XR-E drop-in and dedicate it as a thrower rather than trying to keep it so you can switch back and forth.
Just buy an $8 DX XR-E R2 drop-in (1 mode) and a $2 aspheric lens for your P60 host. Paint the reflector flat black. Paint that little Cree ring flat black. Take some Scotch "Magic" tape and mask out a large rectangle on the back (flat) side of the aspheric. Put it all together and you will have a "light sabre" with no spill and no artifacts.
If you're going to make a thrower however do it with the XR-E and not a XP-G or XM-L. Throw is about emitter surface brightness and about the diameter of the reflector or lens. The XR-E or XP-E have the highest surface brightness not the XP-G or XM-L. They have greater lumen output but not greater surface brightness so they won't throw as far.
Welcome to BLF, Dave! Your purchases sound great and I can't wait to see how you like them. ;)
Johnny