So, I’m looking through the Solar Force lights and there are several different versions of the L2 lineup. In many cases they look very similar, so I assume they must have mostly to do with reflector design, throw, etc. But, seeing that I don’t really know for sure, I’m hoping someone might be able to help me understand the differences between the following lights:
L2-
L2M-
L2N-
L2P-
L2T-
I’m looking for a gift for my brother-in-law for Christmas, and it seems like one of the L2’s should fit the bill, not sure what distinguishes one from another.
Just a heads up, most people who sell SF lights are selling just the HOST, including retailers. You need to get a drop in to make it a working flashlight. Not sure where you are looking but these hosts run anywhere from $20-40+ and the drop in will run $10-60+ depending on what you get
The big difference is shape. They all use the same dropins. The L2m can have the extension removed to run a single 123 size cell. The rest are 18650 or two 123 cell hosts. The L2P has a little better finish quality & a bit higher price.
That’s the manufacturer’s site, excellent place to buy. Lots of their lights are host/dropin combinations. If the description says anything like XM-L(the led), 3 mode(the driver), or 3-9 volts(the driver) it includes the dropin.
It's a reliable store and I think 80-90% of the Solarforce parts here in the forum are bought in this shop.
The quality of the Solarforce Hosts is great. The L2 is the basic model, the L2p the premium L2 (you can get also different colors like blue [I have this], grey, gold).
With the L2m you are a little bit flexible, which batterytyp you use.
The L2N has a nice design and I like the grey one, which I have in my car.
You can, by and large, mix and match parts. Example: L2P reverse clicky tail,L2P body, 2x L2 18650 extensions, L2 head, L2 flat bezel, UV drop-in, Xeno lanyard ring, lanyard from a Jacob A60, 4x Sanyo 18500 cells.
One of the best value drop-ins is this one from international outdoor. Plenty of choice of modes tints and reflector. the 4 mode offers a low firefly mode that Solarforce don’t.
I don’t think that there’s a bad L2 series and there’s a lot of aftermarket spares available.
As mentioned the Solarforce Sales HK is the factory website and about the cheapest and very reliable.
My personal favourite is the L2M because of it’s versatility, with the right drop-in it can run on 1 or 2 CR123 3v cells or 1 18650 Li-Ion cell.
The L2N is a nice one as well.
At the moment I’m running one of my L2P’s as an18v UV light using two additional battery tubes ans 6xCR123 3v cells.
Buy just the host then the drop-in of your choice or a ready to run flashlight it’s a good choice to have.
Edit…………Typed out as photon1k was posting. :bigsmile:
You bet. It is the only chinese flashlight store so far that I have been satisfied with their shipping time-frame. Most of the other sites would not even ship before 3 or 4 days. Even then when they claim that they ship on a given date, the given tracking number would not even appear after at least a 3 or 4 days. Normally I don’t expect real shipping before 5 days at least.
There is no free shipping but its a better business model.
Some of the other vendors would claim to have shipped without tracking and when I receive the parcel, the stamped posted date would actually be 2 weeks after the date they said posted it.
In any case I use Paypal, thus I can recover the expense if I don’t get the item. I think that because they are the actual manufacturer online store, not some distributor, so they have their flashlight in stock and don’t have to “order” from other ppl. They just take it from stock and post it.
Will be running it on a single 18650 (Panny 3400 flat).
I assume from reading the description that the tail switch is normally called a “forward tactical”, meaning it has momentary from off (half press from off for momentary)?
What I’m looking for is a SINGLE mode dropin, hopefully running XM-L2 (not sure if going for U2 or a neutral T6 3C yet), driving at around 3amps (only if at 3 amps you could leave it turned on with a freshly charged battery and run it till dead without overheating).
That link from intl outdoor looks flawless, but only if I can disable the modes (i.e. make it run on 100% all the time, no matter how much you fondle the button).
And to show my noobness, the L2M I linked, and that dropin, is all I need to make it into a real flashlight right?
This is single mode, but they don't list driver current, nor mention low voltage protection. You don't want to run Li-ion until dead without protection somewhere, either on the cell or built into the driver.
Thanks! I was able to order one from Vinhnguyen54 over on CPF. Single mode, U2 de-domed in light orange peel reflector, solder filled, 3 amps. Will be foil wrapped and tucked in snugly to the L2P on the way to me
