Longest throwing SF 6P drop-in or modded head?

Yes, I have searched but not found a clear answer.

What modded head or led drop-in will give the farthest throwing beam when used on a Surefire 6P style light (either 2xRCR123 or 1x18650 batteries)?

I have tried a Malkoff M60, Lumens Factory 3.7v D26 and DX R2 drop-ins. I haven't found much difference in their throw.

I have a Surefire KL3 head. It throws fairly well considering how few Lumens it actually puts out compared to the above mentioned drop-ins. I don't mind the narrow beam the lens forms.

I have also played with some aspherical lens in SF 6Ps. I can't get them in proper focus.

So, what is the best choice for a long throwing 6P? If it is a modded SF or other head, please give details and a suggest a modder that can handle it.

Contact Nailbender.

He makes a P60 drop-in with a Diamond Dragon. The DD has a tight beam and the hot spot is about half the size of my Dereelight R2. He made one with an aspheric lens for another member. If he got it focused good (which I think he did) and you don't mind loosing the spill then the diamond dragon at 1.4amps and an aspheric lens will be hard to beat in term of throw.


I have his Diamond Dragon at 1.4amps in a P60 drop-in design. Mine doesn't have the aspheric and I don't have my 6P hosts right now to take pictures. The 6P tubes are getting 18650 bored.:devil:

Thanks. I have already contacted Nailbender. The asperical lens light you are talking about was a Mag not a Surefire. His work does sound very good though. I think he will get some of my $ in the not too distant future.

flip said:

Thanks. I have already contacted Nailbender. The asperical lens light you are talking about was a Mag not a Surefire. His work does sound very good though. I think he will get some of my $ in the not too distant future.

Click to expand...

That makes more sense. Thank you.

Check out this thread. It is a Diamond Dragon Maglight vs a Q5 Maglight aspheric. The Diamond Dragon can holds its own and I can only imagine how much more throw it must have with an aspheric focused like Nailbender said he did for another member.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/225063&highlight=aspheric+diamond

Anybody else?

I think that it depends a bit on what you want to achieve and what you are going to use it for. For example if you want to keep the body stock then I think that an aspheric lens will be the answer. Now I'm sure that someone out there can build some sort of franken light using a big wide head stuck on a 6P body. I don't see how practical that might be and you might as well go for a maglite mod or something like that or just buy a thrower.
I'am using an aspheric lens on a Surefire C2 clone (ultrafire C1). I have tried to use that DX lens on a Solarforce L2 but I also can't get it to focus.
The way I'm doing mine on the C1 is by using a plastic insert that holds the aspheric lens on top of the head. I got it to focus by using an oring to give it more space between the lens and the bezel. I'm satisfied with the results so far. The best thing that I like about that set up is that I can just pull out the plastic housing holding the lens at anytime without having to take the flashlight apart. I can easily mount it again by just pushing the plastic housing back over the bezel.
I'm wondering if using one of this http://www.surefire.com/FM34-Beam-Diffuser and replacing the diffuser with an aspheric lens might work. That would be sweet since you could go from regular beam 6p to a thrower with the flip of a finger. My set up is the very poorman's version of that idea.

How about a KT1/2 TH on the 6P with your choice of LED Turbo tower -- Luxeon, Seoul P4, or Cree MC-E.

Here's mine with an SRTH and a Seoul P4:

To get maximum throw out of your Surefire 6P, first bore out the body tube to accomodate a 18650 cell. Then use a Dereelight R2 P60 module as the light source. It doesn't matter which reflector you buy with it as it won't be used. I am using a 3SD R2 module so i can use 3 levels of light with the aspheric lens, which i bought from a camera shop. Focusing the aspheric without reflector is tricky, but persevere and you will have a super thrower in a 6P size. Mine is focused tightly, so i have no spill beam at all. I have a runtime of 1 hr 48 mins on high mode. The new R2 module is very well regulated and like the older style module, the light will shut off instead of dimming to a lower level. This takes a little getting used to. I hope you enjoy your new super thrower when it is finished.

Could you give some details on the lens you used?

I have tried using an asperical lens and R2 drop-in from DX. I put several coats of flat black, high temperature paint on the reflector.

I could never get the lens far enough away from the emitter to get it to focus properly. I ended up with a light that didn't throw much better than before the lens and paint job, has no spill and it turned the tint of the beam blueish.

andylondon said:

To get maximum throw out of your Surefire 6P, first bore out the body tube to accomodate a 18650 cell. Then use a Dereelight R2 P60 module as the light source. It doesn't matter which reflector you buy with it as it won't be used. I am using a 3SD R2 module so i can use 3 levels of light with the aspheric lens, which i bought from a camera shop. Focusing the aspheric without reflector is tricky, but persevere and you will have a super thrower in a 6P size. Mine is focused tightly, so i have no spill beam at all. I have a runtime of 1 hr 48 mins on high mode. The new R2 module is very well regulated and like the older style module, the light will shut off instead of dimming to a lower level. This takes a little getting used to. I hope you enjoy your new super thrower when it is finished.

Click to expand...

Please elaborate on the lens used. I too purchased the DX aspheric, but when focused a lot of the light was lost and I didn't like the mediocore throw. If you got it focused with minimal spill beam then please post some pictures of your hosts with the lens installed. If it is not too much to ask; some beamshoots too.

Additonally; the purchase info on the camera aspheric lens.

Thanks you,
bigchelis