Introducing two neutral Rebel 100 SF E series mods - one Milky, one mine

Hello fellow Surefire E series fans. :wave: I have been collecting and modifying E series lights for a little while now, and I would like to share two of my newest ones using neutral tint Rebel 100 LEDs.

The first one is a Milky mod he named "MudLux". I requested that he use the Rebel 100 because it has a neutral tint and can be driven to 1 amp at spec. I was hoping for a beam similar to the new Cree optics used by Surefire, but I wanted more spill. I also requested a custom UI based upon the 'Califon' firmware. For a review of the 'Califon" firmware, please refer to this excellent description by Police Scanner Man.

For my firmware, dubbed "C-Mudman", I decided to take the strobe and locater flash modes out of the main groups with the exception of the tactical group. So, when cycling through the modes in either the theatre or memory groups I don't have to cycle through an annoying strobe or locater flash. I decided to leave strobe in the tactical group as the second setting after high. None of my groups contain a locater flash. What I really like about my firmware is that I can access strobe and two different locater flash modes at any time, from within any group, by using a 'gesture'. If I tap 6 times I get strobe, 7 times for the bright locater, and 8 times for a dim locater. Of course, I also custom set 4 levels of output to span the range of brightness and runtime I desire.

Scott tried many different reflectors with the Rebel in the KL1 I sent him, but settled on an optic intended for a Cree XR-E. The result is a large and even circle of light with ample spill. There are some slight artifacts in the beam that show up on a white wall, but I find that they do not matter in actual use.

Here is a pic of MudLux on a single cell body:


And here is a shot of the business end showing the tiny Rebel behind the optic:


Beamshots have been combined with those of the next light, and appear at the end of the post.

Next I have my latest creation, a KX1 head in which I installed an E2DL circuit and another neutral tint Rebel 100. This one uses the stock optic to produce more throw than the MudLux and yet somehow more spill as well. The only way I can figure that is better efficiency of the optic and/or the fact that the hotspot is slightly smaller. Either way, this one turned out great! Both lights have a gap in the bezel as shown in the first picture of the MudLux, but with the addition of a Glo-Ring it doesn't look out of place.

Here is a pic of the front end of this light showing the Rebel peeking through that deep Surefire optic.


If I had used a KX1 or KX2 for the MudLux instead of a KL1 there would have been more room and the gap would not be there. In the case of my KX1 mod there is a gap due to differences in the focal heights between the Rebel and Cree LEDs. If I tighten the head any more I start to lose focus.

Now for some beam shots. First is a white wall shot from 9 feet with the MudLux on the left and the KX1/E2DL/neutral Rebel 100 mod on the right.


And now a beamshot from 50 feet, again with the MudLux on the left. You can easily notice some variation in the tint between these LEDs. Unfortunately, the vendor did not allow me to know anything about the tints other than the fact that they fell in the 'neutral' range.


I don't know if you can get an appreciation for the spill coming from these lights in this beamshot or not, but believe me when I say that I was anti-optic due to a perceived shortcoming in spill, but now I have seen the light! Modern optics have come a long way since the first Luxeon optics!

Now I need to borrow an E2DL from a friend to get some comparison shots between my KX1 and it to compare throw and spill. :naughty:

And of course, the best part about these mods is playing legos with them: 16340, 17670, 18650 or primaries all in HA nat bodies.

Nice job ...to you and Milky. I have been eyeing up the Rebel 100 Neutrals for a while now. Nice to see it works well with the KX optic. What did you have to do to put one in the KX1 replacing a Cree XR-E? I was thinking to get one on a star & trim that down.

Thanks for the kind words. That is exactly what I did. If I do another I may try one of the small (8mm IIRC) Rebel MCPCBs from the sandwich shoppe. It may require thin washers to make use of the stock MCPCB attachment screws, but then again maybe not - I haven't taken measurements. Of course, one could always attach the MCPCB with thermal epoxy, but you better make sure it's centered before the epoxy cures. The other issue is that both wires won't reach their solder points, so you will need to add an extension to at least one of them or just replace them.

While I prefer the beam with the Surefire Cree optic found in the KX series as well as the E2DL, the optic in the MudLux may be the better choice for some builds due to its wider spill and much shorter length. I believe it is KD S004594.