Thanks Ubehebe, nice to know. I’d like to do this on my DST. Don’t have a HD2010 yet but gonna get one of those too.
Does the HD2010 have the potential to throw as well as the DST…hopefully with more lumens as well?
The HD2010 has an amazin reflector, very similar though to the SS T08 and maybe other lights in that same size. The DST's reflector is even bigger so should have more potential, but a fully mod'ed HD2010 does like 95-100 kcd w/dome, 200 kcd or so de-domed, and think I get in the 1,300's, maybe 1,400, for lumens w/dome.
So, as long as you don’t dedome, it won’t turn into a pencil-beam? Really, 1200 lumens and 60000 cd would be fine with me, if it would throw a C8-style beam.
No pencil beams from a HD2010 with an XM-L2, even when de-domed -- can't happen... I like de-domed XM-L2's in a HD2010 or SS T08 if you don't mind losing the lumens, and don't mind the neutral tint.
I don’t think i’ve ever seen a pencil beam from an XML (2) before.
Even aspherics with relatively large heads.
I agree with that. I don’t know about with aspherics, but I’ve put dedomed XM-L (not XM-L2 yet) emitters in several of my lights, including a T08 (stock other than dedoming emitter) and a FandyFire STL-V6 (direct drive, dedomed XM-L), and about doubled the lux readings (to ~60Klux and ~120Klux), and the beams are not “pencil beams” in either of them.
Why don’t you see the beam of dedomed HD2010 for yourself?
Ultrafire HD2010 vs Thrunite TN31 posting #25 (this one is not complete dedome though, so not the highest lux you get out of it.)
One thing I noticed about dedomed lights is that the beam seems hollow as closer distance and focus better farther away.
This may be off some help. I have compared the above lights in this thread. Cheers.
There’s no way I can compete with that MONSTER super-bad HD ST build, but I got my HDST up to about 65k lux at 15 feet with a fasttech 5-amp driver and an L2, powered by one unprotected 2800 Sanyo or 2600 Samsung pink 18650, with a glass lens and copper braid added to the springs. It is ridiculously bright and by far the brightest single-emitter light I have. Nothing comes close.
An L2 with the existing driver in the HD2010 with coppered springs gives me a solid 41k at 15 feet, up from the stock 26k lux. The beam is a little less tight with the L2, but certainly wouldn’t make me go back to a T6. Just adding the L2 and putting copper braid in the springs made a HUGE difference. I could change out the driver, but quite frankly a light that bright has limited uses for me. The low in the HDST is too bright for walking. The HD2010 with the L2 is ALMOST too bright on low for general walking in the desert. It burns my eyes up because of the really hot spot. I will definitely keep the HDST. It’s great for “oooohs and ahhhs” and really cuts the dark like nothing else, but the HD2010 is more of a usable brightness at 41k. Really bright but not too bright, if that makes sense.
Hope this helps!
So what I’m hearing is…a stock HD2010 is barely stronger than a good C8?
Hhmm, dunno bout that - certainly not with a decent cell in a EAST-092 HD2010, but maybe an EAST-092 C8 could be better with a good cell than a HD2010 with a bad cell. A fully mod'ed HD2010 is twice the kcd of a fully mod'ed C8, and brighter in lumens, but not by a whole lot, maybe 100-150 lumens. However, you can run a KK ICR in a fully mod'ed HD2010 which is a much better option than a 18650, for both consistent low resistance and runtime. And of course, you can't even compare the heat sinking of an HD2010 to any C8, mod'ed or otherwise.
I’m talking stock HD2010…I’ve seen cd ratings from 26K-58K here and elsewhere. Stock, unmodded.
I know it’s hard for you experts to even THINK about unmodded lights, but the last 2 (&only) times I tried, I burned myself, and ruined 2 emitters. 
Yes, and a stock HD2010 doing in the 40's or 50 of kcd has no C8 competition. All depends on the HD2010 and the cell you use. This is why you can't generalize stock HD2010's - they are all over the place.
I gotcha. I would do all that ‘I’ can do it, which is use a good battery (KK?), maybe center and adjust emitter in the reflector, find a good AR lens, pray.
Just the nature of the beast - direct drive driver, positioning of the LED makes significant differences, etc. Dunno - if you got an accurate way of measuring amps, what I'd do with a stock HD2010 is try to not exceed 5 amps on the stock emitter/star. So, you could try a KK ICR, but if you got a higher resistance cell and are getting 3-4 amps, than copper braid the tailcap spring. Of course if you are in the 4+ range, do be careful with it's use on high...
Other "easy" things to do first:
- back off on the pill - 1 to 2 turns - the emitter usually sits in a better position to increase lumens, and even more so, throw. However, this may be tuff to gauge without a light meter...
- UCL/p lens - costs $$$ but easy to do
>>>>>So what I’m hearing is…a stock HD2010 is barely stronger than a good C8?
Depends what you mean by a “good” C8. My stock Xin C8 U2 is 18k (at 15 feet); the stock HD2010 (at least mine) was 26k. Plus the 2010 beam is +MUCH+ more focused.
And the Xin is a “premium” C8. I just got a 10-buck C8 from Aurabuys, and that was 10k (at 15 feet), which makes the 2010 like 2.5 times brighter. Another recent $7.99 C8 from banggod (or someplace similar) was only 7k at 15 feet.
Now add an L2 to the existing 2010 driver, and you now have a 41k beast which is near the top of the brightness range in my collection of 40-or-so single emitter lights. Just about the only thing that beats it is the various mods of the HDST (in my collection). Out of the box with no mods (except for the 18650 mod), my HDST stock light does about 28k.
Then again, a stock lightmalls L2 C8 is 27k out of the box.
But then again, the 2010 workmanship and quality is LIGHT YEARS above the $10 C8s. Certainly on par with — if not better then — the Xin C8. The 2010 is a budget light in top-dollar clothing. 
I consider HD2010 one level up from C8, in general, not necessarily in quality, but in its nature and thrower potential (size, form factor). Stock lights can be vastly different from one to another, that is why TomE tried to compare HD2010 and C8 in their modded form (the best they can be). My XinTD C8 V4 is considered one of the best C8’s. But the stock light might have only 20-30kcd due to its relatively smaller reflector. My stock HD2010 was however ~40kcd.
It’s called ANSI/NEMA FL 1 but some people think they know better than the standard, even though they don’t know what it is 
As long as we use candela, cd, or kcd, or even k for short, it's pretty clear to most of us (30 secs min, back calculated to 1 meter). But in this budget world, it helps quoting cells and freshly charged, or at least mention the charge level - I usually record the voltage level at no load. I believe the standard calls for a distance of greater than 1 meter to take the reading, not sure if a specific # is referenced (maybe at least 3 meters?) -- those standards are not in the public domain - they want money for them.