Its taken awhile and the second attempt so far looks like a winner. The components used were as follows. Solar Force L2M for no other reason it was used as Foys ramblings had left subliminal messages in my head that could not be removed without hitting the buy button. I must send him the bill. This reflector from KD http://www.kaidomain.com/Product/Details.S010132. An XP-G2 1D tint on a 20mm star from Cutter filed down to fit in the threaded part of the reflector. A KD 7135 8 driver and finally the pill which the pictures should explain. Initial running in the shed against the door blew me away for a start against the two other contenders which I will detail later. Night shots will follow when I get time. (The misses has gone out and I'm supposed to be mowing lawns so I'll be in trouble again when she gets home, you on that b____y waste of time forum again will be asked of me).
We'll start with the pill. Chunk of copper.
The reflector with the led sitting inside it. 1.5 mm was filed of the thread end of the reflector so that when an insulator is placed on top of the led and the reflector is pressed into the pill there would be no play of the led. The led was Fujiked to the pill. Sorry but its 90 degrees out. Edit, magically the picture is now in the correct orientation. Wow.
The next two pictures are what it looks like assembled out of the flashlight. I discovered later that the reflector was still not pressed all the way into the pill when this picture was taken and has since been fixed. It is a very tight press fit.
The pill is a really tight fit in the host itself and was hand lapped in to make maximum contact beetween the flashlight body and pill and has a thin film of fujik on it to fill any spots not in contact with each other. The initial running as mentioned above has me excited as compared to the other two flashlights of which are, a MF 3 mode dropin and a KD http://www.kaidomain.com/Product/Details.S007702 running an XM-L U2 on the same driver as the XP-G2. All leds on high are around 2.8 to 2.9 amps. More to follow soon, (I hope if the Darl does not maim me. She got her black belt in Zen Do Kai last weekend).
Night shots. All the shots were on manual and are slightly under exposed. The colour is not exactly true to life either but it gives a pretty good idea of what the different reflectors and led beam paterns look like. The distance to the shrub at the end of the drive way is 73 meters. There was a slight fog at the time as well that was not helping.
First of is the MF 3 mode dropin. The smallest of the XM-L hot spots and good spill.
Secondly is the XM-L U2 with KD reflector. This would be my favorite as it gives tremendous throw with a very large spill.
And finally the XP-G2 with KD reflector. This is a very intense beam as you can see the shrub at the very end. It leaves the other two in its wake for intensity and throw but has a reasonable spill.
A picture I forgot to add of the hosts used. Left to right. MF Ultrafire 504B with KD reflector and XM-L U2. The tint is either 1C or 1A. At a guess 1C. Secondly is the need I say more Foy (a really nice host) with the KD reflector and XP-G2 1D tint. The light colour is not quiet as white as the U2 and thirdly is the MF Ultrafire 3 mode in what I believe is an older model 504B host, thanks ezarc. It had a faulty switch when I recieved it and now has the old switch from my HD-2010 in it.
The next two pictures are taken on low and medium. Both drivers are identical and readings at the tailcap were the same.
XP-G2 left and XM-L U2 right. Tailcap current was .03 amps. At this very low current it blows the XM-L away even though they have totally different beam patterns. The low on the XM-L is really nice for a low and good for creeping around the house at night where the XP-G2 is just bright. Not a good creeping around low.
The next picture is medium and because of the different beam patterns is probably not a real good comparrison as the XM-L does not have a hot spot as such which is not that evident in this picture. The XP-G2 is a lot brighter but has a small hotspot that concentrates the light. Tailcap current readings on both lights was .73 amps.
. Good stuff.