Purchase Decision: Surefire and Lumens Factory LED drop-in

I've been thinking about picking up a Surefire C2-HA or a 6P and dropping in a Lumens Factory D26 with the R2 and 5000-5500k warm tint.

This light will be primarily used outside in woods type areas as well as pitch black urban areas.

Do you think the warm tinted R2 in the Lumens factory D26 and a C2 or 6P would be a good combo for this?

I will be running the light with AW RCR123 3.7V cells.

I try to buy all my lights with extreme durability and reliability in mind, would these combos follow along with that mindset?

Also on a side note, what kind of runtimes should I expect?

If you are looking for extreme reliability, I would suggest not to use rechargeable batteries for the light. I have made the experience that rechargeable lights that you don't need every day are always empty when you do need them.

You can get CR123 batteries from china for about 1 dollar a piece from ebay, including shipping.

Gerhard said:

If you are looking for extreme reliability, I would suggest not to use rechargeable batteries for the light. I have made the experience that rechargeable lights that you don't need every day are always empty when you do need them.

You can get CR123 batteries from china for about 1 dollar a piece from ebay, including shipping.

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Hmm, lithium rechargeables hold their charge as well as Eneloops, about 80-85% after one year.

Maybe you're using bad rechargeables?

The flashlight would be used on a daily basis and I would cycle a pair of rechargeables every week regardless of whether I actually ran the cells down fully.

I have plenty of primaries if I'm going to store the light for a long time or go on a camping trip or the like.

Ebay batteries from china for $1 a piece is not exactly what I have in mind when i think "realiability". Many of them are utter crap: low actual capacity, high self-discharge in storage, lack of thermal fuse protection (unsafe). If on a budget, go for Titanium brand cells (BatteryJunction carries them for $1 a piece). Avoid Tenergy.

I just ordered one of the Lumens Factory Warm Tinted D26 LED dropins and it's going into my Surefire 6P Defender. I recall Mark at LF saying that he still preferred using an incandescent D26 dropin for outdoors...I would venture to say that a warmer tinted LED light will perform better than a cool tinted one. From my casual nightime outdoor use of my LED flashlights, I really don't care much for cool tints.

As for RCR123 rechargeables, the AW ones are probably the best. I also like the ones Battery Station sells and they have a special priced page for CPF members.

ace0001a said:

I just ordered one of the Lumens Factory Warm Tinted D26 LED dropins and it's going into my Surefire 6P Defender. I recall Mark at LF saying that he still preferred using an incandescent D26 dropin for outdoors...I would venture to say that a warmer tinted LED light will perform better than a cool tinted one. From my casual nightime outdoor use of my LED flashlights, I really don't care much for cool tints.

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Me neither, although cool tints fair well indoors, they suffer outdoors. A warmer tint is a lot more pleasing to the eye also, IMO.

I've moved away from incandescent because I hate changing lamps. Maybe I'll pick up the D26 Warm Tint and an EO-9 380 lumen drop-in, for when I need some extra power outdoors. It says it works with RCR batteries also, so that means I can standardize on them.

Tell me how the warm tinted D26 drop-in turns out. :twothumbs

shomie911 said:

I've been thinking about picking up a Surefire C2-HA or a 6P and dropping in a Lumens Factory D26 with the R2 and 5000-5500k warm tint.

This light will be primarily used outside in woods type areas as well as pitch black urban areas.

Do you think the warm tinted R2 in the Lumens factory D26 and a C2 or 6P would be a good combo for this?

I will be running the light with AW RCR123 3.7V cells.

I try to buy all my lights with extreme durability and reliability in mind, would these combos follow along with that mindset?

Also on a side note, what kind of runtimes should I expect?

Click to expand...

I have a Surefire 6p sitting in front of me that I plan on using for the same use as you. I'm kind of torn between the Lumens factory with warmer tint(5000k-5500k?)and the Dereelight Q2 5a(4000k?) 3mode drop in.I am waiting on feedback once people have received and use them for awhile.Hell I might just buy both to compare them.

metlarules said:

I have a Surefire 6p sitting in front of me that I plan on using for the same use as you. I'm kind of torn between the Lumens factory with warmer tint(5000k-5500k?)and the Dereelight Q2 5a(4000k?) 3mode drop in.I am waiting on feedback once people have received and use them for awhile.Hell I might just buy both to compare them.

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Well the Dereelight is a Q2 and the Lumens Factory is an R2, so their should be a nice jump in performance with the Lumens Factory drop-in over the Dereelight.

shomie911 said:

I've been thinking about picking up a Surefire C2-HA or a 6P and dropping in a Lumens Factory D26 with the R2 and 5000-5500k warm tint.

This light will be primarily used outside in woods type areas as well as pitch black urban areas.

Do you think the warm tinted R2 in the Lumens factory D26 and a C2 or 6P would be a good combo for this?

I will be running the light with AW RCR123 3.7V cells.

I try to buy all my lights with extreme durability and reliability in mind, would these combos follow along with that mindset?

Also on a side note, what kind of runtimes should I expect?

Click to expand...

Two words for you.....

DO IT!!!

Lumens Factory products have always been pretty much top notch....
Malkoff is know for bullet proof reliability though....

Cant go wrong with either of those 2 for what you want to do in a c2.

Your right.However,I'm going after quality of the beam and color temp. over max lumens.The Q2 driven at 1 amp ought to have well over 100 lumens which for outdoor use in a light like the 6p is plenty.

shomie911,

You really need to check out OpticsHQ for the drop-in and tail-cap mod. They're superior in my opinion and their advanced tail-cap is AMAZING. Bright light comparable to the Malkoff or BOG and I ordered a C2-HA to go with the HAIII tail-cap.

I'll have an almost indestructable light that puts out 250+ lumens when I need it, and about 3-5 on low when I don't need the full blast with three levels in between (5 level step or infinite available).

Check their site out. My link is to my thread I just posted. Talk to Kobi and he'll take off $50 for CPF discount. Brought the whole package down to $200 (was $250).

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/208451

That link has several links to videos, reviews and the sight.

Good luck...
-RC

FliGuyRyan said:

shomie911,

You really need to check out OpticsHQ for the drop-in and tail-cap mod. They're superior in my opinion and their advanced tail-cap is AMAZING. Bright light comparable to the Malkoff or BOG and I ordered a C2-HA to go with the HAIII tail-cap.

I'll have an almost indestructable light that puts out 250+ lumens when I need it, and about 3-5 on low when I don't need the full blast with three levels in between (5 level step or infinite available).

Check their site out. My link is to my thread I just posted. Talk to Kobi and he'll take off $50 for CPF discount. Brought the whole package down to $200 (was $250).

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/208451

That link has several links to videos, reviews and the sight.

Good luck...
-RC

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I really don't like multi-mode lights, so that would likely just annoy me more than it would help me.

I think I'm going to go for the D26 R2 Warm-tint drop-in and a E0-9 380 lumen incandescent drop-in.

The incandescent drop-in will be for when I actually know I'll be using my light outdoors.

Plus they both work off of two RCR123 3.7V rechargeables.

I think the Malkoff which has a warmer tint than most drop ins would be a much better and more reliable choice.

I had the LF EO-9 380 lumen incandescant lamp and did a lot of testing on it. Also had the 320 lumen model.

You are not going to get more than 200 lumens out of them with those batteries. These modules suck down over 1.6 amps of current and if the battery voltage sags substantially than the brightness drops. I measured my lamps with various batteries in an Integration sphere at work. 3 primary SF batteries, brand new (not for long) couldn't do it.

2 each 17500 Lith Ion rechargeables could not do it.

I put 2 primaries and 1 rechargeable in series to bump up the voltage (just for a short test I would never run it that way). Could not get it up over 200 lumens. I then put 2 RCRs and 1 primary and still could not do it.

The voltage sag with primaries was dropping it down to 7.6 to 7.8V real quick and the current was down in the 1.54 amp range.

With 2 17500's the voltage was down in the 8V range and around 1.56 amp.

With 4 18650's with 2 pairs of 2 in series (that puts the pairs in parallel). And these batteries fully topped off I was running 9.0V and 1.62 amps. It was brighter, still a yellowish beam. Didn't make it jump up another 180 lumens though. It was in the 260 lumen range. As the lamps heat up, the lumens comes down a little as well.

These are good lamps, but there is no way you will be getting a nice white beam and 380 lumens out of them.

Running little RCR batteries, I doubt that they will run 5 minutes.

The other module that is supposedly 150 lumens. Draws a little over 1 amp. with freshly charged 2 X 17500's I could not get it over 100 lumens. 3 SF primaries was around 85 lumens.

I have access to a calibrated Integration sphere at work.

It would be interesting to see how their new LED warm tint R2 compares side by side to the Malkoff, but I have been very happy with the very good reliability of the Malkoff M60 and M60F, and have dropped them on the concrete several times with no adverse affects. The M60 I have tested puts out 220 lumens out the front through the glass of a SureFire 6P. Very nice useable beam. I would forget about the RCR 123s and carry primaries.

Otherwise I would get the C3 model or 9P and run 2X17500 with a battery magnet (lighthound.com) to make for a good connection, and have 3 SF primaries as my back up. Very good run time at full brightness and then more gradual dimming for few more hours after that. I have been running these combinations on my mountain bike at night and been very happy with the results, run time/brightness/durability. Until I fixed the clamps on the bike, they fell off a few times.

Well I would be running on RCR batteries for sure, I use flashlights for up to an hour nightly. CR123 batteries would get extremely expensive.

How far does a Malkoff throw? Would it be useable outdoors at ranges of 200+ feet?

I like warm tints a lot more than pure white or blue. Will the Malkoff have a warm-tinge to it?

And I guess I'll forget about buying the E0-9.

A couple of points from all the above....

The new Dereelight 5A Q2 is rated at 1.2A, the LF R2 units at 1.0A, not sure of the difference in output or color tint.

I would not run my EO-9 with anything less than 2x 18500 cells to make it useful.

Consider getting a "skin" for your D26 drop-ins that can take the wider cells, in the long term you will be glad that you did.....there are enough to choose from nowadays.

LF make very good quality products, can't go wrong with these, as long as technically they are what you want them to be.

I just got the LF LED.
If you have an M60 stick with it. If you'd like an M60 but money is too tight then do the LF one. Output level and throw is very similar between these 2.
I'll know more tonight after testing.

cernobila said:

A couple of points from all the above....

The new Dereelight 5A Q2 is rated at 1.2A, the LF R2 units at 1.0A, not sure of the difference in output or color tint.

I would not run my EO-9 with anything less than 2x 18500 cells to make it useful.

Consider getting a "skin" for your D26 drop-ins that can take the wider cells, in the long term you will be glad that you did.....there are enough to choose from nowadays.

LF make very good quality products, can't go wrong with these, as long as technically they are what you want them to be.

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I'm trying to standardize on RCR cells because a few of my lights use them, so I'll be sticking with RCR.

Ya, I decided not to get the E0-9.

Sgt. LED said:

I just got the LF LED.
If you have an M60 stick with it. If you'd like an M60 but money is too tight then do the LF one. Output level and throw is very similar between these 2.
I'll know more tonight after testing.

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Make sure to let us know how testing goes. Is your the warm-tinted version?

Beamshots maybe?

On a side note I've decided that I'm probably going with the 6P over the C2. It's half the price and offers the same functionality. Its body is also sleeker which will make it easier to throw in a pocket.

i tried the EO-9 and liked it until i smoked it........ actually, i have found much more success with the LF SR-9. i think that if you like the warmth you will like this bulb... it has a lot of throw and a tight beam. this is with AW 123's
i am back and forth now over the LF tint LED and a malkoff p60. and if i choose the malkoff which one should it be? i know i can get 2 LF LED's for the price of one malkoff. $55.00 is pretty steap for an LA in my opinion.
the 6p gets it done as a hoste with the most bang for the buck.

shomie911 said:

Well I would be running on RCR batteries for sure, I use flashlights for up to an hour nightly. CR123 batteries would get extremely expensive.

How far does a Malkoff throw? Would it be useable outdoors at ranges of 200+ feet?

I like warm tints a lot more than pure white or blue. Will the Malkoff have a warm-tinge to it?

And I guess I'll forget about buying the E0-9.

Click to expand...

It has a warm tint. The optic of the M60 is not designed for real long throw, here are 2 links to beam shots I have helped put together.

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=201722

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=205842

I don't have any 200 foot range beamshots, sorry. But I think those types of ranges realistically are really in the forte of a maglight with a Malkoff drop in (single) that can be tightly focused down to longer ranges and put an heck of a good beam on target. Or the Dereelight that is the supposed "king of throwers" for a pocket light.

MrGman said:

It has a warm tint. The optic of the M60 is not designed for real long throw, here are 2 links to beam shots I have helped put together.

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=201722

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=205842

I don't have any 200 foot range beamshots, sorry. But I think those types of ranges realistically are really in the forte of a maglight with a Malkoff drop in (single) that can be tightly focused down to longer ranges and put an heck of a good beam on target. Or the Dereelight that is the supposed "king of throwers" for a pocket light.

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Well the Olight M20 Warrior with the smooth reflector I had would light up a house at 200 feet pretty brightly in a pitch black (moonlight) environment.

I just sold (it's SPF at the moment) the M20 to raise some funds for this purchase and for a new R/CR123A EDC.

I guess I'll pick up a Surefire 6P and a Malkoff M60 for my medium range light.

I already have a Maglite Q5 3D Aspherical that lights up a two story house at about 650+ feet. So I a good LED thrower already.

Now that I think about it, a 1D Mag with a 3AA D battery carrier would make for quite an incredibly small, throw package.

I'll probably pick up a incandescent drop-in for the 6P also, but this is the wrong section for that question.

Thanks for the help everyone. :thumbsup: