6P Clone - Body
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carrot
Flashaholic
When you can get a full 6P for only $45 or so why bother with clones?
Jash
Flashlight Enthusiast
Where can you get one for $45? I was in a camping shop yesterday and they were asking AU$158 :green: . $209 for the led version.
recDNA
Flashaholic
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2009
- Messages
- 8,762
Well an Solarforce L2 is a lot cheaper and you don't need to pay to bore it out.
carrot
Flashaholic
Sometimes some dealers provide discounts to "preferred" customers. I think at least some dealers consider CPFers to be preferred customers. I do not care to name them but in other threads they may be named.
Ebay: ITC store
ITC Shop on e-bay (official Solarforce Dealer and probably the best one there) has a complete Solarforce L2 body for $12.63 shipped. To me, still arguably the best cheap Surefire 6P clone on the market. Don't get me wrong, I love my 6Ps too, but for $15-$18 will only get you just the body component when people are selling them and then you have to pay someone else to get it bored out to fit 18650s...add in another $15-$18 each for the head and tailcap and you're looking at $45-$50 for a complete Surefire 6P body. I just got the new Solarforce L2-S6 tailcap from ITC Shop and got it 1 week, so pretty fast service.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Solarforce-L2-B...iewItem&pt=US_Flashlights&hash=item414ad90c18
http://cgi.ebay.com/Solarforce-L2-B...iewItem&pt=US_Flashlights&hash=item414ad90c18
The head, body and tailcap are Surefire C/P format compatible, but the lens/bezel ring is not. So yes for the most part, you can interchange Solarforce L2 parts with Surefire 6P parts.
I personally haven't used their clip myself, but looks well made and useful from what I've seen of other people who've used it. I just got their new L2-S6 tailcap and it's the same great value I expect from Solarforce...good quality, works as advertised and low priced. Pretty much all of their products are good quality and great value.
shark_za
Enlightened
The Solarforce will serve you well even all the way into high end builds.
The HAIII special edition is better than a Surefire in my opinion.
I see the S6 is out, I want 4!
The HAIII special edition is better than a Surefire in my opinion.
I see the S6 is out, I want 4!
carrot
Flashaholic
Am I the only one who noticed that the Solarforce is not exactly 100% compatible with P60-style drop-ins? My P60L and M60 rattle around inside the body and do not form a proper contact and so do not work.
I knew that, but I never use a P60 or P60L on my Solarforces or my Surefires, so didn't think it was worth mentioning. The Solarforce L2 is however compatible with all the other aftermarket P60LED dropins from themselves, generics, Dereelight, Thrunite, Malkoff, NeoFab and so on. But yeah if you plan on using a stock P60 or P60L, that will be an issue...otherwise for the most part you have plenty of dropin options to chose from.
carrot
Flashaholic
Malkoff M60 rattles around for me.
Solarforce bodies are great. Foil, or strips of aluminium (from drink cans) around a loose module will stop rattling and help heat escape. I've actually had to do with with my 6P as the drop-in I use is a bit loose.
The clip's aren't so good though, it's soft metal that bends quite easily.
The clip's aren't so good though, it's soft metal that bends quite easily.
Good point Zatoichi, extra space allows for wiggle room of the different modules...though some people do think the Solarforce L2's dropin compartment is a little big, but of course there are always solutions like aluminum foil or strips help that as well as giving additional heatsinking. With My Gunmetal L2 that I use my Malkoff M61 in, I just use one of those module outer springs that comes with the standard aftermarket P60LED dropins and it works great for me. Though it's a minor gripe and maybe Solarforce (and the other clones) should have made the dropin compartment a little tighter, but not a huge fault in my opinion...especially when you consider how low in price they are. That new place called Lightake has them for even cheaper at $9.30 shipped for an L2 complete body.
