I currently have a Surefire G2 with a Cree XR-E emitter from Deal Extreme and I was thinking about upgrading it to the latest and greatest. Is there another emitter on DX or another el-cheapo site that is around $15 that will either put out more lumens or use less energy than the XR-E? Annoyingly, I bought a P60 drop-in from DX with an XM-L before knowing anything about voltages and of course it doesnt work. After the fact, I read that an XM-L would probably put out too much heat anyways.
What ~$15 Cree drop-in would you guys recommend for a stock Surefire G2 that will run off 2 x CR123’s? This is more of a bug out bag flashlight so I’m not really wanting to go the rechargeable 17650 route and want something with lithiums that will hold their charge for years.
Has Solarforce come out with an xpg2 dropin? They use a 3v-18v driver in some so 2 cr123 would work fine.
A regular xpg would probably be a little more efficient but less throwy than your Xpe
As long as your not running 500 lumens in a G2, there are lots of choices.
Thrunite XML dropin is roughly 500 lumens, Solarforce XML dropins, the want to sell area here, Erik makes dropins.
VinhNyugen and Nailbender makes dropins that’ll handle 6 volts (CPF)
If you are only using 2 primary “2x CR123A” batteries try to find a drop-in that’s 6v, as it will be more efficient the closer you stay at the max voltage you will be using “2x cr123a = 6v”
I’m currently looking at a few options. I was looking in to the DIY route with an XM-L U3, but I cant find a driver that supports an input voltage of 6v with an output of 1A-1.5A, and is a single mode driver. So I’m probably just going to stick to the pre-made ones.
If it were me, I would just buy all of them. Don't become like me.
Go for the one you'd think you'd be most happy with. If you don't like it, buy the second most likely and so on. Only keep buying if you can't stand it. Else you'll end up with all the P60 drop-ins on the market.
I went ahead and ordered the XP-G R5 modules from fasttech because I wanted about 1 amp to keep the heat down since the G2 has a plastic head. Hopefully they are of the non-suck variety.
I haven’t used it too much, but it seems to be within the heat dissipation limits of the body. I keep my G2 in my bug out bag, so it really sees almost zero use.
