AFAustin
Flashlight Enthusiast
As a former owner of one of the beautiful black A2s from the Supremeco buy a while back, what I most miss about that light (which I probably sold too soon) was its looks. Something about the shiny black HA III, long clip, etc.---it was and is a stunner.
However, I lean strongly towards LED lights, that run well on rechargeable cells. So, ultimately, the black A2 wasn't the one for me.
I am also a big fan of the E2L, and likewise admire its compact, clean look, long clip, etc. When I recently came across a sales thread for a Milky Black E2L: http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=171283, I got all hot and bothered. I damn near pulled the trigger on AzGB's beautiful light, but I hesitated, and it was quickly snatched up.
I couldn't get the idea of a black E2L out of my mind---it really did seem to combine the sleek beauty of the black A2 with the great qualities of the E2L. So, I contacted Scott/Milky and asked about building me one, but with a 2-stage feature to make it even closer to my ideal. Milky did me one better---he proposed putting inside that gorgeous black E2L body the essential ingredients of his Gotham---SSC LED, Acorn 4 level / 2 configuration driver, smooth reflector, etc. I was sold. I secured a black KL4 (old style) head from a nice CPFer, shipped it off to the Milky lab, and Scott supplied everything else, including the black E2D body with my "must have" long clip.
Amazingly, and even while under the weather, Milky got my light built in mere days, and it was soon in my hands. It was just what I had imagined! Absolutely gorgeous on the outside, and an engineering marvel on the inside. It has a bright clean SSC beam, with very smooth transition between hotspot and spill. The output is an excellent combination of throw and spill---sometimes I think its a throw light with terrific, bright spill, and other times I think it's a flood light that happens to have great throw. In any event, the overall amount of light coming out of this very small light is amazing.
There are 4 output levels: high, medium, low, and ultra low. The levels are changed by tapping (partially depressing) the Z61 tailswitch (within ~ .5 sec.). And, you can choose between 2 schemes: one where it defaults to high, and the other where it remembers its last level. This set-up is well known by all Gotham owners, and it is very user friendly. It makes for a lot of versatility without the bother of an overly complicated UI. The Black E2L runs great on a 17670 cell, and gets at least 1.5 hrs. of flat output on high (I never finished my informal runtime test, but it was still going strong at an hour and a half).
The only hiccup I've experienced was the switch. After a few dozen clicks, it became yet another victim of the Z57/Z61 sticky clicky syndrome. However, it is currently in the hands of a kind CPFer who I hope will rehabilitate it, and in the meantime, SF Customer Service came through in a big way and got a replacement Z61 out to me in a very short time
thumbsup: Surefire!).
Below are a few photos, which are about the best my poor photography skills will allow, but really don't do it justice. As you can see, it's slightly smaller than the new E2L Cree (a wonderful stock light itself, IMO).
I want to say thank you to Scott for this gorgeous, elegant mod. He truly made real exactly what I had imagined. Not bad for a day's work. :bow:
However, I lean strongly towards LED lights, that run well on rechargeable cells. So, ultimately, the black A2 wasn't the one for me.
I am also a big fan of the E2L, and likewise admire its compact, clean look, long clip, etc. When I recently came across a sales thread for a Milky Black E2L: http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=171283, I got all hot and bothered. I damn near pulled the trigger on AzGB's beautiful light, but I hesitated, and it was quickly snatched up.
I couldn't get the idea of a black E2L out of my mind---it really did seem to combine the sleek beauty of the black A2 with the great qualities of the E2L. So, I contacted Scott/Milky and asked about building me one, but with a 2-stage feature to make it even closer to my ideal. Milky did me one better---he proposed putting inside that gorgeous black E2L body the essential ingredients of his Gotham---SSC LED, Acorn 4 level / 2 configuration driver, smooth reflector, etc. I was sold. I secured a black KL4 (old style) head from a nice CPFer, shipped it off to the Milky lab, and Scott supplied everything else, including the black E2D body with my "must have" long clip.
Amazingly, and even while under the weather, Milky got my light built in mere days, and it was soon in my hands. It was just what I had imagined! Absolutely gorgeous on the outside, and an engineering marvel on the inside. It has a bright clean SSC beam, with very smooth transition between hotspot and spill. The output is an excellent combination of throw and spill---sometimes I think its a throw light with terrific, bright spill, and other times I think it's a flood light that happens to have great throw. In any event, the overall amount of light coming out of this very small light is amazing.
There are 4 output levels: high, medium, low, and ultra low. The levels are changed by tapping (partially depressing) the Z61 tailswitch (within ~ .5 sec.). And, you can choose between 2 schemes: one where it defaults to high, and the other where it remembers its last level. This set-up is well known by all Gotham owners, and it is very user friendly. It makes for a lot of versatility without the bother of an overly complicated UI. The Black E2L runs great on a 17670 cell, and gets at least 1.5 hrs. of flat output on high (I never finished my informal runtime test, but it was still going strong at an hour and a half).
The only hiccup I've experienced was the switch. After a few dozen clicks, it became yet another victim of the Z57/Z61 sticky clicky syndrome. However, it is currently in the hands of a kind CPFer who I hope will rehabilitate it, and in the meantime, SF Customer Service came through in a big way and got a replacement Z61 out to me in a very short time
thumbsup: Surefire!).Below are a few photos, which are about the best my poor photography skills will allow, but really don't do it justice. As you can see, it's slightly smaller than the new E2L Cree (a wonderful stock light itself, IMO).
I want to say thank you to Scott for this gorgeous, elegant mod. He truly made real exactly what I had imagined. Not bad for a day's work. :bow:
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