Yeah, I got the L2 + 2 18650 extensions not long ago, expecting the extra tubes to match the glossy L2 body in the kit. When it came I found they are the same "HA III" as an L2P, not the L2. For me, this was a happy surprise because I prefer that finish and I can now Lego my L2P(s).
I don't mean to sound like a Solarforce fanboy but the more lights I get from here, there and over yonder, I'm amazed at how much quality I get for the money. My L2P with the killer Ultra Fire 3-mode XM-L feels like an expensive flashlight in my hand. Performs like one too and, you could tell someone that didn't know otherwise your Skyline 1 cost $80 and that would not seem unreasonable. That damn thing throws a couple of city blocks and it cost $30. I definitely like what I get from Solarforce.HK. (well, their drop-ins aren't all that)
Glad to here you say that ... too many talk about how great stuff is ..lets be honest and stop all the glowing reviews ..i know if you've gone to the trouble of photographing a light from 30 different angles you want to say something nice about it . I hate a cheap cross threaded piece of junk.Quickest way to tell if a light is junk .. look at the threads.
The cheap lights cut corners in lots of sneaky ways that might at first go unnoticed. I've got a 502B that barely has three threads on the tail cap. Turn it one, two, two-and-a-half - and the cap comes off. The boot is paper thin, the screw holes for the clip arrive pre-stripped out and the lens o-ring is squished flat and twisted, right out of the evnelope. At least the switch lasted a month before going dark. It gave fair warning of its impending doom however, by flickering and changing modes by itself so, there's that.