solarforce L2 questions

I'm looking to pick up an L2 for a P60 host and had a couple questions.

First, are there such things as fake L2's? There are tons of L2 packages with different options on ebay for pretty good prices, for example, but should I worry that they're not "genuine" (which I know is a weird question since the L2 is itself a cheap chinese "fake" surefire)?

Second, are L2's anodized (type II) or painted? Are there any type III ano versions out there?

Finally, what are my options for getting a forward momentary clicky for an L2? The Solarforce forward clicky (L2-S4) is tactical in style and, frankly, looks weird (and is apparently sold out everywhere). Will the Surefire Z59 fit the bill and fit the L2?

pipspeak said:

First, are there such things as fake L2's? There are tons of L2 packages with different options on ebay for pretty good prices, for example, but should I worry that they're not "genuine" (which I know is a weird question since the L2 is itself a cheap chinese "fake" surefire)?
yes, there are fakes... even cheaper brands using the brand of solarforce but not gutsy enough to use surefire.

Second, are L2's anodized (type II) or painted? Are there any type III ano versions out there?
anodized.
the L2P is type III HA

Click to expand...

not sure about your other questions.

I think the coating is a type of anodize, I'm not up on my numbers though. And as far as the tailcap goes, solarforce and surefire parts are pretty exchangeable. I have an L2 and a 6P, head, body, tail all interchangeable. I don't know about the strike bezel, haven't tried that yet.

Yes, there are definitely fake solarforces. I bought mine from jake25 over at the dealers' corner. He's got a nice website set up for customizing what you want, and it's all solarforce. He might even have the new L2P (L2 professional) which is advertised as HA-III (as if I even know what HA-III is... I have nothing to compare that is HA-III. What is the 6P? here I go asking questions while answering)

6P = Surefire / US made flashlight .

A lot of chinese lights come from the same contractor , so some are re-branded .
Which is why you see so many lights that look exactly the same with different names on them .. The ones that end with "Fire" , are a good example .

I think the cheap ones on DX ATM and KD are either seconds or counterfiet .
Either way , for the price , still a good buy .

If you buy from jake25 in the marketplace (sbflashlights.com) or itc_shop on eBay, you'll get legitimate Solarforce products.

I'm pretty sure the regular L2 is Type II anodized.
As csshih said, the new L2P is Type III anodized.

OK, I bought from sbflashlights and got me an L2P with an extra forward clicky switch (which I assume is not HAIII). Half the stuff on ebay from HK or China sellers scares me a bit, not least because of the funky broken Englsih descriptions.

The L2-S4 forward clicky is Type III HA

There are fake Solarforces but at least Solarforce doesn't print someone else's name on the lights.
They are a respected brand that happen to share the same format.

They have some improvements over Surefire, the new high quality L2P is probably a better body than a Surefire. The fact they take 18mm cells is also a big plus.

Z59 is a good fit and function on the L2.
A bit over capitalising but hey, in my country you can get a whole L2 with a top quality Lumens Factory LED in for the price of the Z59.

The only area Solarforce seems lacking is in the switch space.
When I get my hands on a S3-S4-S5 I might change my mind, till then the reverse clicky is good but not what I like at all.

jake25 said:

The L2-S4 forward clicky is Type III HA

Click to expand...

Is the S5 also HA-III?

(Some semi-necroposting...)

LV426 said:

Is the S5 also HA-III?

Click to expand...

I beg to differ with the previous poster: I own two of the Solarforce forward clickies (S4 and S5, IIRC), and I'm pretty sure they aren't HA-III. The color doesn't match my L2P, and the finish is wearing already, whereas the original HA-III L2P tailcap is pristine, but has seem more use. So if it's HA-III, it's either very thin or badly done.

Besides he finish, the switches are both rather mushy, and the tailcaps themselves are huge; f'rinstance, with the S4 and the stock head, the light looks backwards, with the tail seemingly fatter than the head!

LV426 said:

(Some semi-necroposting...)

Click to expand...

Nice neologism

shark_za said:

The only area Solarforce seems lacking is in the switch space.
When I get my hands on a S3-S4-S5 I might change my mind, till then the reverse clicky is good but not what I like at all.

Click to expand...

Jake has to persuade Solarforce to make a forward clickie with that KD forward switch (same switch that is also used in Fenix and Jetbeam) soem of us...

Or even an extra comact tailcap... there is a market for it even here in Greece, mainly the police and military guys....

The South African distributor of Solarforce is very involved with the police reserves and all the guys buy them from him.
A forward switch would take the Solarforce to the next level.
Guys are mounting them on their R5's as weapon lights with the tape switch but it would also open this market up to personal tactical lights.

You don't want to know what a Surefire costs down here.

I got the S3,4 and 5 and only like them when using 2x18650 and funny enough the S4 looks really mean on a L2m.
A mini fattie-tac thats quite handy to actually shoot with.

thanks for the input....wish the local retailers were that open minded....

BTW a SF G2 Incan costs 65 Euros here....I know very well...damn!

Wow this is kind of an old thread that got new posts...

Having been a Solarforce nut myself (which started with my interest in the Surefire C format), I think it's funny how the Solarforce L2 is a clone of the Surefire 6P and then itself gets cloned. From what I've been told, most of the Chinese flashlight brands come out with the same design because their factory workers aren't very skilled and don't know how to make changes to the machines that make the flashlights and so they just copy each other. The Solarforce L2 has clones made by another brand called Spiderfire, and those are thread compatible with the Solarforce and Surefire flashlights. I've seen Ultrafire and Uniquefire versions as well, but I've been told they're not thread compatible. There is another very similar flashlight out there made by G&P that is also thread compatible with Solarforce and Surefire. All in all, this has been quite a robust and versatile flashlight design.

To my knowledge, Solarforce does listen to their customers and I know they're working on improving their flashlights. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a new tailcap soon enough.

I have an A001 head on a 6P body with a S5 tailcap and Solarforce 3 mode R2 drop in that gets a lot of compliments. Although I have tons of 18650s lying around, I like using the unbored body for strength. I use 17670s and the output is very impressive for a drop-in that can be purchased for about $14.

Lighthound carries both Type II and Type III L2 hosts.

from my experiences, Lighthound overcharges for shipping. why not sbflashlights?

thanks for the heads up, looks like a great place for solarforce stuff.

csshih said:

from my experiences, Lighthound overcharges for shipping. why not sbflashlights?

Click to expand...

Lighthound's shipping is reasonable. I've ordered many times from them and to me they're a great place to get flashlight stuff from. Say for example you order a L2P from Lighthound as they sell it for $20. For me, shipping on that would be roughly $6 and so you're looking at $26 shipped. SBF sells it for $30 shipped and so it's cheaper for me to get it from Lighthound. I think it can be about buying power and relationship to the manufacturer. In Lighthound's case, they've been selling Solarforce stuff for a very long time and so I think that reason as well as the amount of product they buy from Solarforce gives them better dealer prices than SBF. No knock on Jake25 and all of his efforts with his SBF store, but sometimes you can't argue against the bottom line with pricing.

Just out of curiosity how tough is the Solarforce Type-II vs the Type-III? does it justify the extra $10?