Pila GL-2 question & first impression

Does the Pila GL-2 normally come with a spare bulb? I ordered a GL-2 and a spare bulb, and the good news is, I received it with a spare bulb ( ) but it was included in the box with the flashlight, in a little cutout in the foam where a spare bulb was clearly supposed to be... so I wonder. Do they normally come with a spare, and I didn't get the spare for which I paid an extra $20ish? Or do they normally come without a spare?

For what it's worth, a couple thoughts on the light itself:

Good things: It's just a really cool design. LEDs for low light and xenon for brightness, pushbutton works fine and can be locked on or locked off with twist.

Other things: Slightly oval-shaped beam. Peak brightness seems about equivalent to my Streamlight TL-2, but with a bit more spill/flood. The LEDs have a slight blue tint. The LEDs are almost impossible to keep on using the tailcap button as it only takes slightly more pressure to activate the main bulb, but screwing the tailcap in to the right spot for the LEDs is trivially easy. No clip. Short, but a bit more bulky than my TL-2. Unscrewing the tailcap for lockout makes the tailcap almost spin freely. There's some friction, but not much. (Still takes about 3 turns to actually remove it though.) I folded about 2 inches of teflon tape into a tiny square, applied it to the threads, and now it feels secure when it's locked out.

Conclusion: nice light for EDC if you have a roomy pocket. The bulb is bright enough to light your way, the LEDs are comfortable for reading a map.

But how many bulbs do they normally come with? Just the one in the light, or is there normally a spare?

Hi NFW, you weren't ripped off, did you get two bulbs?

The template for the foam inserts inside the Pila box is standard throughout in pattern, a lamp is usually transported in the cutout, not inside the light head. To send 2 they would have inserted a lamp as well as put one in the foam cutout.

If you want the LEDs to be a bit more responsive, you can open the tail cap by removing it from the body, unscrewing the little centre screw and the whole lot should plop out.

Then, get a small flat blade screwdriver and - being careful to not displace the mica that is slightly stuck down under each of the two springs - gently pry the spring up away from the tail cap so it sits up a little bit higher than it did before.

This will make an earlier contact with the brassy looking part of the inside of the lights body, thus giving you more of the 'twist' in the LED range.

Reassemble and you're away!

Good luck!

Tim.

(Oh, the slight oval beam shape is due to the natural shape of the filiament in the globe - take a close look at it when the light is not on and you'll recognise the shape.)

I have its tactical-switch Wolf Eyes twin, the 6A-II Explorer. I've always preferred 3x123A bodies, but I'm becoming a big fan of this light. I think it throws nearly as well as its 9V big brothers.

There's something joyful about using a single-cell light (168 lithium-ion), and its easier to carry a spare cell. In fact, I keep the spare rubberbanded to the body.

This week I began EDCing the light in my winter coat's inner pocket, together with an [oversize] traffic wand for crossing the street.

If you decide you want more one-third throw and don't mind a head that's about 6mm wider, fit your GL-2 with a $15 Wolf Eyes 42mm bezel and a $12 3.7V Wolf Eyes lamp.

OddBall beat me to it, but I'll have to add: if you do peel off the little mica-thingy-ma-jigs, you can paint the area with some coats of nail polish (cover the coils with masking tape first). I just did that with mine. Right now, and IIRC, it takes about 1/3 turn for my LA to turn on after the LED does (before it took much less). The little coils will get squished over time (depends on how tight you twist the head for the LA to come on, so you may have to re-extend the coils at some point. You'll know it's time when it's hard to switch between the LED module and the LA.

Also, you can replace the 5mm LED's with other ones (desolder old ones, solder new ones), for a better beam.

Thanks everybody.

Yes I got two bulbs - one installed and one in the foam - so I'm happy. They people who packaged everything just outsmarted me. (I bought from bugoutgear and would not hesitate to do business with them again.)

Rotating the tailcap to switch between LED & xenon works fine already. It's a bit challenging to have steady LED light using pushbutton pressure (without twisting the tail), but that's not really important, just an observation. But thanks for the tips.