Sometimes the easiest way is the best way ;)
Seriously the way you described is probably the easiest most cost effective method to push these. I would love some pics of that build for sure
Thank you DNF. Cool mod Pulsar13.
WarHawk. A 17mm driver will fit as the head is bored out bigger than the battery tube section.
They are designed for AA 1.5vdc, not 14500… 
By that much? (maybe on the gold one, my black one is literally only 1/2" diameter, plus my kids have successfully managed to loose em already so finding them to mod them will be a pain…really wanting to try the straight up 2x7135 1 mode (off/on) regulated 14500 with a XP-E or XR-E…
I have other pressing issues/mod to tinker with before I go after this though :D
Yes, both models have excess space for a 17mm driver. Heck, with just a tad of filing, you can fit the driver in the battery tube. The battery tube almost accommodates 16mm cells.
I'm snowed in today. Yeah, no going into work! I think I'm going to make a 14500 version this morning using a Nanjg with 4 7135's. I would go higher, but my Sanyo 14500;s are only have 2C max continuous current rating.
Kind of hoping to lose power. Got the wood stove loaded and ready to go.
Really, still cold around there? We’ve been on hot spell for months. The reservoir dams are on low level, almost to the point where pipe water going to be rationized soon.
All this after severe rain and flooding affecting 1/3 of our peninsular. Really weird weather these days.
Good luck with the build. I have newfound love for 7135s after using them several times (often for these cheap AA lights) - they’re very efficient for such small package. More importantly they’re so easy to use by themselves, just solder a few wires and you’ve got your stackable current limiter.
Very nice. I have one around someplace that I got from banggood for nothing. I might just have to give that a try.
I’ve been running one on the 14500 without problems. It doesn’t get hot and the output makes it much more useful. Both light and battery were cheap so not a big loss if either fails.
I will give it a go then...
A word of caution: I’m using a cheap blue UltraFire so the current may be lower than a better quality battery.