Long ago I kinda threw out this name (LG5) hinting that perhaps this was the next thing after the LGI.
Even bought a bunch of Brinkmann Legend LX's in anticipation of the imminent release of Lumileds' Luxeon 5-watt LEDs.
Well, the 5W's eventually did come out, I scored a few successive reels, and then got caught up in the ever-brighter-mod thing and got sidetracked making NexNeedles and Space Needles and knitting needles and...they were all big.
Over my past year-plus of affiliation with this wonderful place called CPF, it became apparent that the old adage commonly applied to other hobbies was just as true here -- the best (*insert hobby item*) is the one you have with you.
Now I don't know about others, but rarely do I religiously EDC my Maglite 2C Space Needle II. Yet the various little lights I tried out with the 5W's were never that bright, unless of course one went with circuitry, etc., and even then you'd never attain that dangerously blistering overdriven Direct Drive effect that most of the stuff I've come up with always featured.
So last night I tried something a little different. A full-tilt Nine Volts inside a body no longer than a Brinkmann Legend LX, retaining its tailcap clickie and bulbuous head that is actually one heck of a good heatsink.
Here's a comparison against another well-known 5-watt light (uh -- the LG5 is on the right...):
* For reference during this post, the resistors were Removed from the Blaster VI and it is running in Direct Drive mode as well, on a full 9V from three fresh CR123 SureFire lithiums.
First I tried the stock reflector in the Legend LX, cut down at the back with the hole enlarged to allow the V2T 5W HD to move up and down for focusing range. But it just didn't cut it in the brightness department, even when focused to its tightest spot (LX beam is on the left, making 1740 lux):
So I removed the outer rim from one of Wayne's 30mm optics and found it to be a perfectly snug fit inside the bezel of the LX's head:
Suddenly we were cooking. Here are the same two lights, LG5 still on the left, but look at the size and intensity of its hotspot (it was so bright it affected the camera's auto settings compared to the first comparison beamshot above):
WHOA, DUDE!!! The dramatic transformation in beam output is also because the 30mm collimator, when turned down to the correct diameter, will remain held up in the bezel ring, thus allowing the beam to be FOCUSED by backing it away to an optimal height above the emitter. It now makes a stellar 2910 lux as compared to the resistorless DirectDrive Blaster VI's 2860 lux (although this is probably also a function of the flux ratings between the two individual Luxeons).
Here's a look down the barrel of the LG5 with the 30mm optic in place:
And finally, the trick to getting 9V's worth of Direct Drive out of the short body of the LX:
I used three CR2's!
Introducing -- the LG5...
*I apologize but due to the time consuming lathe work required on the 30mm optic, as well as the unusual construction of the emitter mount/heatsink subsystem necessary to fit three CR2 batteries inside the short LX tube, the LG5 is not for sale at this time -- just wanted to show it off... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Even bought a bunch of Brinkmann Legend LX's in anticipation of the imminent release of Lumileds' Luxeon 5-watt LEDs.
Well, the 5W's eventually did come out, I scored a few successive reels, and then got caught up in the ever-brighter-mod thing and got sidetracked making NexNeedles and Space Needles and knitting needles and...they were all big.
Over my past year-plus of affiliation with this wonderful place called CPF, it became apparent that the old adage commonly applied to other hobbies was just as true here -- the best (*insert hobby item*) is the one you have with you.
Now I don't know about others, but rarely do I religiously EDC my Maglite 2C Space Needle II. Yet the various little lights I tried out with the 5W's were never that bright, unless of course one went with circuitry, etc., and even then you'd never attain that dangerously blistering overdriven Direct Drive effect that most of the stuff I've come up with always featured.
So last night I tried something a little different. A full-tilt Nine Volts inside a body no longer than a Brinkmann Legend LX, retaining its tailcap clickie and bulbuous head that is actually one heck of a good heatsink.
Here's a comparison against another well-known 5-watt light (uh -- the LG5 is on the right...):
* For reference during this post, the resistors were Removed from the Blaster VI and it is running in Direct Drive mode as well, on a full 9V from three fresh CR123 SureFire lithiums.
First I tried the stock reflector in the Legend LX, cut down at the back with the hole enlarged to allow the V2T 5W HD to move up and down for focusing range. But it just didn't cut it in the brightness department, even when focused to its tightest spot (LX beam is on the left, making 1740 lux):
So I removed the outer rim from one of Wayne's 30mm optics and found it to be a perfectly snug fit inside the bezel of the LX's head:
Suddenly we were cooking. Here are the same two lights, LG5 still on the left, but look at the size and intensity of its hotspot (it was so bright it affected the camera's auto settings compared to the first comparison beamshot above):
WHOA, DUDE!!! The dramatic transformation in beam output is also because the 30mm collimator, when turned down to the correct diameter, will remain held up in the bezel ring, thus allowing the beam to be FOCUSED by backing it away to an optimal height above the emitter. It now makes a stellar 2910 lux as compared to the resistorless DirectDrive Blaster VI's 2860 lux (although this is probably also a function of the flux ratings between the two individual Luxeons).
Here's a look down the barrel of the LG5 with the 30mm optic in place:
And finally, the trick to getting 9V's worth of Direct Drive out of the short body of the LX:
I used three CR2's!
Introducing -- the LG5...
*I apologize but due to the time consuming lathe work required on the 30mm optic, as well as the unusual construction of the emitter mount/heatsink subsystem necessary to fit three CR2 batteries inside the short LX tube, the LG5 is not for sale at this time -- just wanted to show it off... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
