Honorable mention … The Novatac 120
2 Thanks
I recently found my old 2 AA incandescent Maglite that was in a box full of old flashlights. I “borrowed” it from my dad back in the 80s and it was my main flashlight for many many years.
I figured it was special enough to put on the shelf that I use for my flashlights. So I cleaned up the threads and O-rings, put on some lube which made a huge improvement. And I was surprised that there was no evidence that alkaleaks caused any damage.
I used it for a couple days and then it went dead. The bulb finally gave up, but luckily there was a spare in the tail.
What a terrible beam it has and it’s not that bright, but strange how it seemed plenty bright back then. 
5 Thanks
Yowsa, now you are talking.
I was in to P60 drop-in lights for a bit back around 2010 or so. There is (was?) a guy called FiveeMega that sold custom P60 (D26) light over on CPF. I got a few of his hosts. On called the Cooly. A one piece 26650 machined heatsink that took a P60. The P60 and lens mount from the front using retaining rings. It has a McCliky forward click switch. Another is a chopped Mag with a high amp switch designed for two 18650s. They both have a drop-in that has an XHP 50.2 with a 4 level driver.
With the Vapcell G53 in the Cooly, or a couple of 3500 mAh cells in the Mag they give super run times on the low modes. I, of course wrapped the drop-in with copper strips and used thermal paste. So heat transfer is as good as it can get with a drop-in. O they both also will run on max (turbo?) without stepping down much. Plenty of thermal mass on both. The drop-ins are advertised at 2500 lumens… but I think they are closer to 1500 to 1700 or so. Nothing compared to something like my Valkyrie, but plenty of light for most purposes.
I am using the stock photos from the FiveMega sales threads on CPF.
Cooly
Modded Mag
Ahhhh, the old days. I do take them out and use them occasionally. The Cooly lived on my night stand for years… it is a formidable weapon as well as a light.
Novatac, modded to 219b 3000K, on right
The warm one is in my fannypack, along w a knife, ready for camping action…
sitting on my dresser… LOL
The stock cool white one, is sitting in arms reach, ready to deter any intruders.
Happily, no action in that regard either… 
Theres another one in an emergency kit, in my Skiing Backpack. In preparation for any unfortunate and unforseen event, if I should be injured or stranded in the backcountry, after the lifts close…
Thankfully, that has never happened…
Novatacs are cool little lights though…
even just sitting there, waiting for imaginary action …
2 Thanks
Those Novatacs are some really cool looking flashlights!
1 Thank
Ergonomically, how does that work? It looks like the clip is at the bezel, and the button is on the opposite end. Do you have to flip it around to turn it on after unclipping?
3 Thanks
My thumb follows the body of the light when reaching into my pocket so its naturally in the right position to turn the light on with an overhand (icepick) grip… here is bezel up on my pimped HDS Rotary:
when the clip is at the tail I have to manipulate the light to position my thumb at the tailbutton:
there are a few clip variations on some novatacs, some came w no clip at all
I prefer the clip at the tail actually… but I like No Clip even better… the round host is more ergo without the clip… and I like deep pocket carry, with the light laying completely inside a vest or jacket pocket…
more Nocatac pics and lore, in this thread
1 Thank
I liked Rofis R3 a lot. I started doing emitter swap on mine, got sidetracked and now I can’t remember where all the parts are.
1 Thank
I often give old flashlights a second look.
Especially so when I can swap in a more modern LED. It’s amazing how an LED refresh can turn an old stale light into something new and fun.
Recently I’ve been swapping 519a into just about everything! Such as:
- Jetbeam RRT-01 (2013 version)
- Jetbeam TC-R1
- Jetbeam RRT-03 Raptor - much better than the stock XPG3
- Wuben X2 - much better than the stock greenish LH351D
- Sunwayman V11R - considerable improvement over stock XML2 and the SST-20 that I’d previously had inside.
- FW3A and FW3T
- Modded Zebralight SC52 Anduril triple - previously I had SST-20 inside.
… and many more.
I never did pickup a Novatac though. Kinda wish I had back when they were available.
3 Thanks
Domed or dedomed? Also, please share beamshots 
Everybody dogpiles on the '351, but are they really that green, or is it just crowdthink? I got plenty that look fine.
You want green, let me show you some 47s like my Quark 2AA-Xes, or even my Jetbeam Jet-Is and -IIs.
Especially compared to the typische Quarks, anything with a '351 looks positively rosy.
Not sure. I have a bunch of lights with that LED. Either I am just not that picky… or mine aren’t that bad… or maybe both.
Of course, I have read some say that some batches are worse than others. So …
They’re slightly greenish, but you’re right. They’re not that bad.
My impression is LH351D looks fairly good at high power, but looks greenish at low power. It’s subtle enough that if it was your only light source and you left it on more than a minute or so, your eyes would probably adjust and you wouldn’t notice it.
However, 519a is definitely superior. It doesn’t look green at all even right from turn-on. No need for eyes to adjust.
Compared to the gold standard 519a it looks a bit greenish, but without any reference it looks just fine, and it looks awesome when compared with just about any LED that’s not high CRI. Bonus points for being tougher and cheaper than the 519a.
1 Thank
Yeah, that’s kinda my point. Everyone and his grandmother was oohing and aahing about “rosy” LEDs, but when the '351s first came out, they were The Shiite, and everyone wanted them. Group-buys to get 'em loose to stick into lights. Later buy lights that came-with, etc.
Oh, but how fickle the crowds can be. The New Shiny came along, and all of a sudden the '351s were lepers. Green this, green that, etc. And I’m like, “wut?”.
So part of me was thinking that people were hearing “'351s are green!” and just parrotting it as Gospel Truth.
I forgot which lights came with what emitters, but the ones that had '351s, I just objectively liked. They ain’t MT-G2s, but then nothing else is.
The only lights (that I have) that I think have '519s are the Pokomons (1AA and 2AA). I even forgot what the OG TS10s have/had.
This is to all 3 replies, no idea how to reply in one post to everyone who replied individually.
1 Thank