What they said…

I still got some CW XP-Gs that I was going to dedome. You lose output somewhat, but gain throw by having it be a more concentrated beam.

Also, dedoming warms the beam somewhat. Albeit unpredictably, as you can end up with a lemon-yellow beam or a beam with a nasty green tint, etc.

Since Cree came out with HI LEDs (vs HD), they kind of obviated the need to dedome LEDs. And they’re already binned, so you more or less know what color/tint they’ll be.

But I have yet to see a HI version of any G chip (eg, XP-G2 HI), let alone an E or E2. If you want a flashlight laser, you can dedome an XP-E2. Not many lumens, but a pencil-beam that’ll reach quite far.

So, sure, you can “throw” more and over a wider cone of light with sheer brute force, belting out a whole order of magnitude more lumens for the same throw, but good luck with heat, battery drain, longevity, etc. Sure, a pencil-beam thrower will be quite limited in actual usage, but for that use, it’ll be unbeatable.