My first ROP mod...

So I after dinking around with LED lights for a couple of years I finally decided to do my first hotwire light. So far I'm underwhelmed but I think i's probably my fault. Here's what I did....

2D mag
borofloat lens
camless smo reflector
6aa to 2d (sanyo 2700 batteries)
ROP High bulb

So it just doesn't look all that bright to me...what I think I need to to is get a cammed metal reflector so I can focus and I'm getting the 1800MaH 18AMP batteries from batteryjunction. Will that help? Would I be better off trying to do this in a 3D mag instead with 8 batteries and a dummy cell?

Sounds like you did it right, well backwards but right. Had you started off with a hotwire mod, before playing with LED's you'd have been more impressed. Having dabbled in LED's first you'll find that most hotwire mods are...underwhelming.

That said, the classic ROP is six cells with a metal reflector, hopefully cammed (you can melt a plastic one if you're not careful). My current ROP is six Eneloops, but I've also tried 2700 mAh NiCads and six traditional D cells. All were about the same in brightness. Any will impress a friend who doesn't know any better. None will get any real use, save once or twice a year when you turn it on to see if it still works. Just my experience, YMMV.