Entering flashaholic stage

Thanks for joining the conversation KawiBoy, owned a ZX6R myself for a few years, that was fun!
Those sportacs look pretty nice, little spendy.
Sorry, but you lost me with boring out and spacers. You’d bore out my cabelas flashlight? That’s how close they are to fitting?! That’s ridiculous! Seems like I’d be better off just getting a new host instead of paying you to bore, paying for shipping both ways….unless I’m seeing this wrong?
I do appreciate the offer though. And we’re fellow Michiganders!

I’d bore the light out to 18.7mm the CR123 bore should be 17.5mm so about .024” per side or .048” on the diameter. No biggy about 1/2 hr to do. I’ll PM you a price, I’ll think you might like it? Now you can use rechargeable batteries and still use cr123 as back up’s. Depending on what drop in you have or want to use, many options are now opened up to you. (3) cr123’s (1) 18650 with spacer, (2) 18500’s and so on…if it’s a good host, why not…

Like we’ve said. It’s best not to get us started. LOL. In a day you won’t have ANY idea what you want.

I fully stand behind my original statement with a new P60 host (for 18650) and a general usage XPG2 or XML2 3/4 mode dropin.

Maybe the best route for you would be the two stage (for now… lol) route.

Daily Driver
-SF host (L2T and L2m are my favorites)
-You say you like throw, so get a smooth (SMO) reflector and an XP-G2 running between 2.28 and 3.04 amps (not going to be 1000 Lm OTF but that’s the trade-off for range)
I’d recommend doing this with a 3C or 5A2 tint LED and an NLite 3.04 amp driver with 120 sec turbo timer from Mtnelectronics (RMM is what he goes by around here)… You can easily de-solder one or two chips (I believe in you :p) if you don’t want to run it as hard.
-Panasonic PF protected cell. I personally prefer the PFs over the 3400’s because the actual “usable” capacity is the same or better when running these P60s. The 3400s make up their lead at the very end of their life (discharge cycle), where you won’t be able to achieve max brightness any longer, which is the point that I usually recharge my cells anyhow. Another real world analogy would be if you lived and drove only in a congested city, the 3400 would be a car with the same or slightly worse city MPG rating than the PF, but moderately higher HWY rating. If you don’t drive on the highway though, you’ll never see the benefits. Make sense?
-MC1 charger. $5 universal tiny awesome charger. ’Nuff said.

Hunting special
-UF 502B host
-OP reflectored RGBW XML running this driver
–3400 or PF juiced up by the charger you already have

Or if you can be somewhat patient. The hottest truly “budget” light going right now is the EagleEye X6 we’re brewing up in the ongoing Group Buy. For around $20, an almost perfect light can be yours. That one WILL do 1000 OTF and out-throw an XP-G2 P60.

This would serve as the DD of the two. A P60 is still indispensable for the specialty setups though (RGB/UV/IR)

Wow lots of info there, thanks Jared! All the advice for hunting/long throw setup kinda went over my head lol.
I just ordered a solarforce L2 for dirt cheap to get me started, and did a laptop pull from my own laptop that was laying around, broken anyways, hopefully they still have some life!
I also ordered the new Opus C3100 v2.1 with the BLF discount, went with that because I will be running eneloops in my aa/aaa headlamps and other flashlights at some point.
How do I sign up for that group buy flashlight and is there an estimated time they will be shipping out? I tried reading through the thread but it was jumbled with updates and didn’t get much usable info out of it.
I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend and spending at least SOME time off BLF and with family! :wink:

Just read the first page and read the update there. Getting in on the x6 is just a matter of ordering when they become available.

For standard setup, I prefer Solarforce L2P (HA III) + Int’l outdoor drop-in XM-L2 or Nichia. Depend on your need, higher output or higher cri.
There’re options depend on your preference for tint and modes.
If you prefer throw, pick smooth reflector. Imo standard P60 more practical for short range, so orange peel reflector for me.

I’ve been following along in that GB since the beginning. They are keeping an interest list, asking whether you prefer NW or CW, but at the opening of the GB, when it gets to that point, it should be just as you said, just ordering what you want. I think the original intent of the interest list was to get to 200 pcs and get a free BLF logo on the lights included. Now, it is probably most useful to Neal, so that he can make sure banggood has enough stock. A while back, he promised to order at least 500 when they are ready. Now, the interest list is already close to 500, so he may have to go higher to have enough to go around! I’m on the list for three lights, and several others are in for four or more!

It’s gonna be a great light at the expected price point of around $20USD, fully customized! It is a beautiful light, too. It would be a great choice to get started into this hobby. Dale (DBCstm) and others have already bought a stock version of this light and shown it to be very mod friendly. There just isn’t anything to not like about this light, unless the “no mode memory” thing is a problem for you. The stock light has memory, but the BLF Edition X6 will not have.

Here is an interesting P60 drop-in listed on eBay for $65. It comes with a “free” Solarforce L2T! I think I’m gonna wait for that Eagle Eye X6 GB to roll out. I’m in for three of those, and it will still be cheaper than this one P60!

Agreed that is quite the marketing scheme he came up with, I think I’ll hold off on that setup.
I’m on the list for the eagle eye also, pretty excited! As far as what I’ve seen, there’s no indication as to when they will be available, would an estimate of a month or two be unreasonable do you think?

In a worse case scenario you’d be getting the X6 in that time frame. It’s pretty close to being reality, so it might not be as far away as all that.

Slippery slope is right. :wink: I haven’t been at this all that long, haven’t been on a splurge either, but have amassed ~70 lights or so. :slight_smile: And this little X6 is a favorite among bigger lights. I have 3 at the moment, and can highly recommend this little/big light. (shorter than an L2P, slightly larger diameter head) I have multiple L2Ps, a couple of L2m’s (the shorty version that uses a single 18350) and for a while these were some of my favorites. Then you start wanting to get rid of blinkies and you get to swapping drivers and it’s all over for ya!

You’ll find out, once you get 3 lights you’ll need 4. And so it goes. I remember talking to someone when I had 30 lights, they were stunned “How many lights do you really need?” Without hesitation I said “31”. It’s kind of like having a pair of vice grips and a Crescent wrench, you can do a lot with those 2, but once you start getting more tools you never have the “right” ones. Flashaholism is like that, you just keep telling yourself you need one with more spill, one with better throw, a little whiter tint, a little more powerful….and all of a sudden you have a shelf full.

Now I have too many (gasp!) and have to go out of my way to play with use them all. Every light I have is ready to go, batteries charged, at all times. It’s a sickness, and you’re afflicted now! :stuck_out_tongue:

Welcome aboard!

Edit: That little Ti light in my Avatar? Custom made to my specs. It’s about 3” long and the head is about as big around as a Nickel (between a Nickel and a Penny). It uses a AAA sized Li-Ion cell and makes 921 Lumens out the front with a fresh cell. With 5 modes it’s very handy to have, and I’ve had it around my neck for over a year now. :slight_smile: Fairly recently learned how to build my own drivers and made this little light sing with a custom 10mm driver. See what you have to look forward to when you get the fever? :wink:

Dale, wow that is a lot of flashlights, and I’m pretty sure I have flashaholic envy! Do you have any you’d like sent to a good home? :bigsmile:
Thanks for replying to my curiosity of a timeline for the GB X6.
I would definitely like to know how to build a light as small as your avatar with even half that output running a AA or AAA!
Can you give me any suggestions for easiest modded flashlights I could start out at?
I already have a decent mechanical aptitude, and 2 solder guns, so I suppose I may be a step ahead of the greenest of greenhorns.

I’ve got to brag about this buy I found a few weeks ago, even though not a flashlight, but a headlamp; stopped by the local Cabelas and walked through the bargain cave, I see a PrincetonTec Apex extreme I think it is, with the 8 AAs on the waist and 275 lumens. Regularly priced at $100 and I got it for $19.99!! I couldn’t believe it! Just wish it had a red led on it!

BTW what’s the story with your health? I saw all the responses about that, and have been praying to the Big Man for you. And sorry for asking, but I had to, I know how sick of it you get with answering and explaining, at least I do! I had my right side sacrum fused to the illium and will be having same done to the left side this month most likely (and I’m only 28).

If you just want some experience, get this host from mtnelectronics…Convoy S2 Browse through his drivers and LED selection and get those 2 items to complete the light. Total without a cell will be in the $20 ball park. Depending on the driver you pick (the Qlite is a decent option for this light) you’ll be quite pleased with what this tube light can do. And it’s easy to carry, makes a decent light for a wife or girlfriend to carry in a purse if you can part with it after using it a couple of times. If you have any questions concerning the options, Richard is always glad to help you figure those out. Just PM RMM with the dilemma. I’ll tell you that if you go with the Qlite, you will need to modify the driver retaining ring slightly to allow it to fit around the chips on this double sided driver. :wink:

Richard (RMM) also has the cells and chargers you need if you don’t already have those. The XTAR 2 bay with display is a very nice charger, it’s best to start with a good one…you’ll save money in the long run over buying several cheap ones you don’t like. (ask me how I know) For the S2 with a Qlite, a cheap Sanyo UR18650FJ works well, or a Panasonic NCR18650PF has more capacity for even longer run time.

Starting young with the surgeries arent’ ya? Wow, sorry to hear that. I’m imagining that your issues are very painful and very much in the way of whatever you wish to do. Can’t imagine what that must be like to go through. But do know the feeling, having had both arms out of service at the same time and dual Ulnar nerve relocations back in 98. I’m almost twice your age and worked years in the construction industry. My body is telling me that wasn’t a good choice for me. I’m a basket case, as attested by many here. :wink: Disc de-generation in my neck from C-2 through C-7, 15 years of muscle spasms (now diagnosed as Conversion Disorder, a stress related wiring issue in the brain it would seem), and now recent chest pains and a not so fun weekend in the hospital. Stress test in a couple of days to further insure the ol ticker is gonna make it a while longer. Should be fun. Or not.

I learned something new last weekend. The Vagus nerve is an intersting thing. I’ve been a needle phobe for many years, stemming from getting shots as a kid due to an allergy to yellow jacket wasps. I tend to pass out when I get shots. Quite used to it, 44+ years of it (I’m 52). Well, last weekend I had chest pains and with a family history of heart related issue my CNA wife talked me into going to the ER. Me no likey hospitals! When they gave me an IV I was on a heart monitor and had the wildest response ever to a needle…I flat-lined while passed out. Lot’s of testing and cat scans and stuff, and later in a room they gave me some pain meds through the IV and I did it again! This time on a monitored floor in STC. I was without breathing or heart beat long enough that the crash team was at the door as I woke up. Everybody was tripping out! Including me. Essentially, after much confusion and worry and stress and more muscle spasms than I cared to deal with they sent me home (I was gonna walk if they didn’t release me, did I mention I hate hospitals?)

My wife has talked with some surgeons that she works with and it would appear that it’s possible for the Vagus nerve to shut the body down in a high stress situation, including all systems. She was told that while this is technically possible, they’d never seen it in over 30 years of surgical practice. Lucky me, I get to be special! :stuck_out_tongue:

Chest still hurts, a week later, and the basket is still full of other issues that none of the Dr.s seem to be addressing. Unsure of the stress test in a few days, but no use in worrying about that til I get there. I got a concussion back in early July, still dealing with the symptoms of that which I believe the spasms aren’t allowing to heal. It would seem that multiple issues, while separate from each other, can have drastic affects when combined. Go figure.

I haven’t explained this before except to a couple of friends, but yeah, I’ve gone over and over it with the teams of Dr.s and interns at the hospital. Ours is a teaching hospital which is a true PITA for it’s patients.

Was planning on modding a light yesterday or today, but new meds have me shaky and just can’t manage what it’s gonna take. I’ll get there though, as I’m very stubborn and, it’s been said, more than a little crazy. :smiley: I like small lights. I like making small lights act like big lights. So my next mod will be cramming the big MT-G2 into the little (ish) Eagle Eye X6. Perhaps it wasn’t designed to do 3000 lumens, but that’s never stopped me before. :wink:

Hang in there, have fun where ya find it, and happy modding! :bigsmile:

Thanks for your support with The Big Man, appreciate it and will be reciprocating… :wink:

By the way, sweet steal on the headlight! :slight_smile:

I got to thinking about what I said about the retaining ring, and you don’t have to use it. The pill is brass so you can solder the ground ring of the driver to the pill without having to use the threaded ground ring. I used a Qlite in this one and pulled 2 chips off to reduce total power, I’ve got an XP-G2 in it and gave it to my 7 yr old. I can attest that it’s surprisingly bright, he’s hit me in the eyes with it on numerous occasions!

He’s got about 6 lights of his own and prefers this one hands down, and prefers to use it in high. Yeah, even my kid likes WOT! lol

One of my subjects has joined the forums :smiley:

MK, I was unaware of being a subject to anyone.
Now kindred soul, that could work! :wink:

What’s your flashlight forte?

Dale, thanks for input on the S2 from mtnelectronics, I was actually looking at that exact setup yesterday!
As for a charger, I’m going with the Opus 3100 v2.1 for being able to charge eneloops for my headlamps and brand name flashlights, among the many other reasons a man would want one! So it looks like I’m following your advise on buying a quality charger to start with.

Do they bind your health history folder to make it a book?! Sorry to hear all the health troubles you’ve had, but I’m confident that if you can make it this far, you’re good to go. No way they could put a new driver in for your vagus nerve? :wink:

As for me, unfortunately physical health cares not what age you are before giving problems. My current back issue stems from a 30 foot fall doing construction work, which I got L5 and 4 compression fractures, a stand up jet ski accident that resulted in L1 compression fracture, and a car accident which resulted in a T12 compression fracture. All tests show my bones are as strong as anyone else’s, I’ve just been the lucky one to have some traumatic accidents after which I feel fortunate to be able to walk and as healthy as I am! Things can always be worse, and there are many people that have bigger issues than me, and for that, I thank the Lord for keeping me alive for some reason after all the accidents. Every time I hear on the news about someone falling 10, 20, 30 feet and passing away, its a huge reminder to me that I could very well be dead!

Luke

Luke, I’m about to build an off time memory BLF driver (just got the MCU flashed) and I’ll try to get that through my ear canal, see if I can get it to work. It’d be nice to not only have dim mode but normal and bright as well! :stuck_out_tongue: Now if I’m successful, I’ll just have to get my wife to push my buttons…

We’re gonna have to make a bubble for you! lol

…or just throw you out the window to see if your anodizing will hold up! J)