Gliderguy
Newly Enlightened
dtsoll: Haven't heard anything, He was hunting down a new supplier for thin UCL lenses and that may be a time consuming process.
Haz: There is a simple threaded ring with 2 dimples that screws into the bezel that you unscrew to replace the lens. A pair of lockring pliers works really good for unscrewing the ring. This lockring is a few millimeters thick plus it screws down just a little deeper than flush with the bezel, so the lens is recessed a moderate amount. I carry the light in a pocket by itself and have had no problems, but if you carried it in the same pocket with your keys I am sure it eventually would get scratched.
UPDATE on RCR123
In another thread I heard that RCR123's are O.K. for the McKinley. I tried one through a meter to drive my Caribbean head. I got about .65A while driving the head, and voltage under load was around 3.8. That is right at 2.5 watts so the LED isn't likely being overdriven even if the converter is bucking the voltage down. I don't have a meter but to my eye, the Caribbean on a regular 123 is about as bright as the Q-111 on a rechargable. When I put the rechargable in the Caribbean, the brightness increase seemed proportional, i.e. with both the Q-III and Caribbean on rechargables, the Caribbean was the same amount relatively brighter as compared to when both lights were on primary cells.
One negative, the rechargable cell I have is a tiny bit longer than a standard CR123 (mainly because the negative terminal is pretty much flush with the bottom of the battery instead of recessed a millimeter or so). The head just gets seated past the O-ring before the light comes on. I suppose I could order a non-pocket body to get around this since it has a screw in the base that can somewhat adjust for battery length.
Haz: There is a simple threaded ring with 2 dimples that screws into the bezel that you unscrew to replace the lens. A pair of lockring pliers works really good for unscrewing the ring. This lockring is a few millimeters thick plus it screws down just a little deeper than flush with the bezel, so the lens is recessed a moderate amount. I carry the light in a pocket by itself and have had no problems, but if you carried it in the same pocket with your keys I am sure it eventually would get scratched.
UPDATE on RCR123
In another thread I heard that RCR123's are O.K. for the McKinley. I tried one through a meter to drive my Caribbean head. I got about .65A while driving the head, and voltage under load was around 3.8. That is right at 2.5 watts so the LED isn't likely being overdriven even if the converter is bucking the voltage down. I don't have a meter but to my eye, the Caribbean on a regular 123 is about as bright as the Q-111 on a rechargable. When I put the rechargable in the Caribbean, the brightness increase seemed proportional, i.e. with both the Q-III and Caribbean on rechargables, the Caribbean was the same amount relatively brighter as compared to when both lights were on primary cells.
One negative, the rechargable cell I have is a tiny bit longer than a standard CR123 (mainly because the negative terminal is pretty much flush with the bottom of the battery instead of recessed a millimeter or so). The head just gets seated past the O-ring before the light comes on. I suppose I could order a non-pocket body to get around this since it has a screw in the base that can somewhat adjust for battery length.
