New Member! I have a few questions, and a basic who I am type post!!!

Hello, I just recently stumbled upon this forum. I am very excited to have found it and I have started to tell me friends about you guys.
So basically, I have loved flashlights ever since I was kid. My younger brother and I would play "flashlight tag" and "Indiana Jones" in our house when we were growing up. Our lights of choice as children were the twin packs of the red Ever ready 2C lights. When I got older I bought my first 3C mag-lite at the age of about 13. I have been hooked on mag lites ever since. I currently have three of the 3D Mags, a 3C mag, I have a 4D mag, a 2D mag, I have one solitare, and 4 of the 2AA mini mags. I never modded any of them as I never really knew that much about modding lights. I just ran good batteries and the Xenon bulbs.
THen I found the the Photon Micro II keychain lights. I love these little guys. I thought I was set I had my Mags, and I had these little LED lites. I was wrong. I stumbled across a web site called the "Gadeteer", anyway she was reviewing a Coast LED Lenser P3. I was blown away, I thought LED lights were still just the little keychain lights. I had no idea at all that these lights had grown to this magnitude. I mean I knew about Surefire because I compete in defensive pistol comps from time to time. I always thought ofthose lights as way out of my price range and something that was just for police and shooting.
Anyway, like I said I found the review on the LED Lenser and I was hooked, I had to know more about these powerful lights. Research led me here. And it lead me to Fenix, and to Nitecore, and all of the other ones that are mentioned on this site. I have been watching youtubes videos and just trying to find any info on these hand held light cannons.
I have finally made my first purchase I ordered a Fenix P2D and it should be here within a few days. I am very excited. I have also turned a few of my friends on to the Fenix light, one of them ordered the P3D. We are hoping to get them on the same day.
So now for the questions.
I would like to know what all I can do with the P2D, I read some posts where I could buy different bodies and use different size batteries. I would also like to know what is the best battery for this light. I will not be using rechargable for at least a few months. My friend and I actually thought about ordeing a ton of battereies from either "Lighthound" or "BatteyJunction", we found both of those sites from the forums here at CPF.
Also I want to modify my Mag lites. I think I am going to keep them pretty simple and mainly just drop in stuff. Could some one give me some insite as to some good ones and which ones are just wastes of money, I have started to research this topic but it seems to quickly turn into a large multi headed monster. I like very good battery life, I want to keep the adjustable beam. I love throw, I like to be able to seem a beam at the other end of the street. I also like a good tight look with reasonable spill, but not sloppy ( like my old Ever Ready from when I was a kid, they were sloppy!!! )
In the future I plan on buying a few EO1's from Fenix, and I want a Nitecore, and I want the LED Lenser P3, (which, why are the LED Lensers not popluar? they seem nice to me, but I am the new guy) I am not sure what else I will buy.
Oh and is there any hopups I can do on my Photon Micro II. Can I just role into Radio Shack and buy different LED'S?
I will probally ask a lot of questions. I am very excited about these lights and I can not wait till my forst one arrives this week.
Thank you in advance, and I hope that I posted this in the rigth area.

Welcome. First here's a link to Maglite mods https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/193434

I have a P2D, and yes you can buy other bodies for it. I got an L2D body for mine so it can use 2 AA's. I don't notice any difference in performance between a CR123 and 2 AA's, but I do like having the option.

:welcome: my friend!

So, you ordered a P2D? I have one myself, a CE one.

I suggest you only use CR123A batteries in it and enjoy it. It is a very nice light, if you have the Q5 (I have a PD20...), it should be very powerfull, versatile, and satisfy you in whatever you want from it.

You have 2 options now :

- Take our advices, enjoy your perfect light and run away from here...
- Become a flashaholic like the rest of us!

If I were you, I would run away, but as you already envolved your friends, you probably won't have a chance... Welcome to the world of flashlights! Just ask what you should buy next, we know...

Greets,

Henk

NB : i should get my Ra Clicky 140C tomorrow, I'm still waiting for my polished Olight Titanium Infinitium....

Don't expect too much, they are good lights but technology might not be where you want it to be.

You can use the Fenix L1D, L2D, L1T V2.0, L2T V2.0, LD10, LD20, and PD20 body with the L1D/L2D/P2D head, the LD10/LD20/PD20 head, and the L1T V2.0/L2T V2.0 head.

As for the Maglite, as long you have the same/similar reflector, you should get pretty good throw reguardless of focusability(presuming the light source is at the focal point).

And LEDLenser, they seem to have gotten better. There runtimes are still miseading(Runtime to 50% for most of their lights on max is probably around 1-2 hours). In the past, an maybe even now, their lights have been overpriced for what they do and quality was also crap. Not water resistant at all and also broke easily. Quality seem to have improved though and the price seens more resonable now looking at what they have added to many of their models.

:welcome:

Woah that was a mouthfull. Anyway, the LEDs in Radioshack are overpriced and dim. The LED in the PM2 is gonna be the best you can get for 5mm LED's. You can buy kits or dropins for your mags, and i suggest malkoff for the absolute best. If you want to play around with it for a while to get the taste for it, then get some nite ize dropins, available at your local Wal-Mart for 5-20 dollars. there are also terralux dropins that are popular for minimags, which you should try out too. If you want to mod, buy some high power LED's like CREE or Luxeon. dont use ratshack cheapys, you will end up with a light that wont outshine the PM2. you will need a driver for the high power leds, and other members can steer you towards modding.
Hope I Helped!

Didn't see the last part about you Photon Micro.

The most efficient 5mm LED right now seems to be the Nichia DS or GS LEDs. Radio Shack most definitely won't have them. Look for them online.

Thanks everyone, I am sure I will bug the heck out of everyone until I figure all of this stuff out.

:wave: Welcome to CPF!

Two words for your Mags: Malkoff Devices. Outstanding drop ins for the Mag that will blow you away. Not the cheapest option but extremely high quality and high performing LEDs.

www.malkoffdevices.com

Search, read and ask lots of questions.

P.S. Get a PayPal account now.
:welcome:

da.gee said:

Two words for your Mags: Malkoff Devices. Outstanding drop ins for the Mag that will blow you away. Not the cheapest option but extremely high quality and high performing LEDs.

www.malkoffdevices.com

Search, read and ask lots of questions.

P.S. Get a PayPal account now.
:welcome:

Click to expand...

i suggest you not, unless you want your bank balance very very thin.

The Malkoff "D" dropins are excellent but you lose the ability to focus. Being able to focus the beam is something Helstar asked for.

I just got a fenix L1T V2.0, and am very impressed with its build quality and feel. Its compatible with the P2D body so I can run it with either AA or bump up to CR123 for 150L.

Dont quote me on this but I think Leef also makes Fenix-compatible bodies.