Ideas for a spare 9P tube?

[Dave.]

Heya folks.

Having finally switched over to my new 2x18650 Leefbody (congratulations on a fine product by the way Leef! ) I now have a 9P tube and extender spare, and this will not do!

So, what to do with them?

Of course I will be needing some form of tailcap and bezel, and my initial thoughts were to just replace the standard 9P ones. This still might turn out to be the most sensible option but I am open to the idea of something a bit more interesting such as an LED head if it wasn't too expensive.

It certainly needs to be something different from the P91, which I am currently running on 2x17670 until the lovely AW hopefully changes to button top 18650s... :devil: I would still like to stick with rechargable cells all round though, so given I can either use the extender or not, from what I can tell the options would be:

3xRC123
2x17500
2x17670
4xRC123 (although I think we can discount that idea!!)


I guess the first question is what am I looking for this new light to be like?

Well the P91 is my workhorse, and I reach for it whenever I need a torch so mainly it gets used for walking the dogs at night. I have an L4 as my EDC which goes with me everywhere for whenever I unexpectedly need a light. Or more often when someone nearby unexpectedly needs a light! I also have an Arc AAA-P on my keyring as a backup/emergency light, or for when I take my eye off charging and every damn protection circuit kicks in one after the other...

That's pretty much everything I *need* covered, which leaves this as either a bit of fun for me, or as a solid torch for the rest of the household. In which case main requirements would be easy operation and decent but not necessarily astounding output in favour of longer runtime. Maybe with one of the new LumensFactory lamps, as I am desperate to give them a try!

So there you have it, two briefs: fun or sensible.

What would you do??

 

[kelmo]

Welcome to CPF!

You need a KT Turbohead!

I have a turbohead, 9P tube, A19, MN60 LA, and tailcap. A poorman's M4.

kelmo

 

[Hoghead]

I would get a TurboHead. That would open up a whole new can of worms for you.

 

[GeorgePaul]

I guess the first question is what am I looking for this new light to be like?
... main requirements would be easy operation and decent but not necessarily astounding output in favour of longer runtime.

For the sensible option, you might consider: (1) a G&P 1 watt drop-in, which is claimed to deliver 6 hrs of runtime or (2) one of the Cree drop-ins, which combine good brightness with long runtime.

 

[kelmo]

Almost forgot, for a long runtime option get a KL3. 7 hours of regulated bliss. A very decent short to midrange thrower. Get a FM64 beam diffuser with it. Then you'll have a very cool flood light too.

Double check to see if SF is going to use Cree emitters on the KL3. If so you might want to wait before purchasing. That way you can either buy the older style cheap or enjoy the enchanced performance of a Cree based light.

kelmo

 

[zx7dave]

KL3 has a very narrow beam, but good other than that. The poor man's M4 mentioned above is nice idea too. I have the poor man's M4 with factory bezel and G&P 12V LA and it was almost as good as my actual M4 with LOLA.

 

[Strauss]

Another vote for the KT turbohead. There is a lot of AWESOME combos that you can run with that set-up

If you want to go LED, you could put an LED tower module in the turbohead or go with a KL6 Surefire head....

 

[Dave.]

Thanks for all the suggestions, some good ones so far! :thumbsup:

I like the idea of a drop-in LED option, and I hadn't considered the posibility of one with a turbohead. I did see the Cree ones for the standard bezel over at Lighthound and was going to look into them a bit more. Anyone got any experience with them?

If I were going with a turbohead though it would definitely be for the fun side of things so there would have to be an edge, be it throw, output or both. The P91 is already very bright afterall. I dont think it would be too long before the turbohead ended up on the 18650 body and as Hoghead has already said that's a whole other can of worms for me! Then it would be another 18650 body to run the P91 properly once again, and me wondering wha to do with the 9P... I wonder how many people that sounds familiar to?!

Also, wouldn't running an M60 or M61 require further extenders to be able to run off rechargables given they are 12V? I'm guessing 17500s or RC123s wouldnt stand up to the drain, and I wont be using primaries. Life here in the UK is expensive enough without that.

Some tempting ideas though, and some more research to do... I'll sleep on it for now. Thanks again everyone, and feel free to throw more ideas into the pot!

 

[nzgunnie]

Of course if you got a KT turbo head you would want to put it on your leef 2x18650 body and run an MN16. Absolutely no reason to run the lamp and head on the 9P body when you have a leef.

So get yourself a turbo head and another tail cap for your leef, and put your 9P back together with a cree drop in.

 

[TORCH_BOY]

You could always turn the tube into a carrier for spare batteries

 

[Strauss]

I was in the same position as you almost. I have a C3 body that I put a cell extender and turbohead on. I decided to go all out(almost) and put the MN16 in with 2x17670's. I absolutly LOVE this set-up! I get 400+ lumens out the front when the cells are fresh, and get about 30min. total runtime with output being 250 lumens right before the protection kicks in on the cells. It holds it's own against my ROP high, and runs right with my MC60 :rock:


I also had a spare 9P, so I put the original bezel on it with one of lighthounds CREE drop-in's. I threw a pair of 17500's in it, and get just under 3hrs of regulated runtime, at just under 100 lumens. I really have been satisfied with that set-up....good brightness, awesome runtime, and no dimming. It brought life back to a light that was destined for retirement :laughing:

I say get a turbohead, and throw it on your leef body. That will be your new workhorse. The MN16 in the TH will DESTROY the P91 in output. Then you can put your 9P bezel back on your 9P, and throw a CREE drop-in in it. Problem solved

 

[Dave.]

So the plot thickens...

An interesting plan you have there Strauss. Get rid of the P91 entirely and have two new toys instead!

I have to admit I would be a bit sad to see it go though, I've never seen it run to its full potential yet as it's always been a bit sickly on these cells. I got it as a fun companion to my L4 after asking what else would run for a laugh on the 17670s, and fell in love with it instantly. The output for the size of the bezel, and the whole package in fact even with the extender, is quite incredible. It fits into various pockets when need be and it's like a solid rod of iron in your hand. I even like the way the thing heats up after a while. Sure I would like it to be brighter and whiter, and that's the reason for the 18650 body. If I can get my hands on some Pila cells it might just be my perfect everyday working torch. It's even bright enough to make people's jaws drop at times!


So I think on balance I will save the turbohead and the journey it brings for another day... perhaps a richer day! For now the P91 fits my needs and life nicely. I'm glad to hear a good report about the lighthound Cree drop-in though, as I think that's the future for the 9P once I get a hold of a new bezel and tailcap.

Am I right in deducing that the drop-in has something like a 350mA draw then for that kind of runtime? That's really quite impressive if so. I would even be tempted to still buy some 17500s and do without the extender to get the smaller body size at that. The difference between 4 and 3 hours runtime wouldn't be all that meaningful given it wouldn't be used for great stretches of time, it would just be less recharging work. The smaller size would be worth the trade-off in that case.

Thanks again for all your ideas folks, given time I'm sure I will try all of them in the end!