All 'P60 compatible' lights universal?

berry580

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 17, 2008
Messages
1,138
Location
Sydney, Australia
My question: are all 'P60 compatible' lights universally compatible with OTHER P60 hosts (regardless of brands)?

It seems like all Surefire 'P60 compatible' lights' parts (head, body, and tailcap) are interchangeable and apparently same goes with many other brands of 'P60 compatible' lights e.g. Solarforce and Dereelight just to name a couple.

It seems like there's some sort of unofficial standard here. Why i say htat?

100320101268.jpg

100320101267.jpg


In case some of you don't recognise, this light is made up of parts from 3 different companies and yet they fit together nicely. Solarforce SS head, C2 body and Jetbeam TC-R3 tailcap.

What's going on here?:shrug:

But i have to admit, I'm loving this! Even better than the stock Surefire C2! :twothumbs
 

pfccypret

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Oct 13, 2007
Messages
157
Maybe someone can answer this better than me. But I believe it is because there are far fewer LED emitter makers than there are actual flashlight companies.

They are trying to sell their products, so make them in a standard size, sell them to everyone and profit! So yes, my understanding is that P60s are more or less standard across the board.
 

carrot

Flashaholic
Joined
Dec 6, 2005
Messages
9,236
Location
New York City
No, not all P60 compatible lights are compatible with each other, as each has a somewhat different take on the design. For instance, and I just tried recently, one of those Solarfire bodies does not fit a Malkoff M60 properly (which works in every Surefire I own, BTW) and the Solarfire P60-style drop-in did not fit my 6P. Did not try swapping the actual parts, but I have read that not all parts are fully interchangeable across different P60-style hosts.
 

kramer5150

Flashaholic
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Messages
6,328
Location
Palo Alto, CA
No, not perfectly compatible anyways. By that I mean yes the parts may work fine but little things like tolerance fits, gaps and clearances may not stack up favorably.
 

Benson

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 15, 2009
Messages
1,145
Welcome to the world of lego!

The answer is no -- all that P60-compatible means is that a P60 or similar drop-in will fit, but all the other threads may be totally different -- an example (that I have a few of) is the Ultrafire WF-501b, and a number of other lights using the same (different from Sf) threads. However, the Surefire C/M/P/???? (come on, one of you guys who even owns a Surefire help me out here! I know there's another letter or two in there...) series bezel and tailcap threads are quite popular, and a lot of lights are generally compatible. But as kramer5150 says, sometimes the exact variations in tolerancing, allowances for springs, and such between different manufacturers can wind you up with nominally compatible parts not quite assembling right in certain combinations.
 

Midnight Oil

Enlightened
Joined
Dec 8, 2009
Messages
322
Location
Earth
So I don't have buyer's remorse after buying my first P60 host because I find out my selection of drop-ins is limited by the physical fit of the drop-ins in the host, which brands are more likely to be dimensionally compatible with most of the drop-ins. I understand there is the important issue of voltage as well and that by getting a host that only accomodates an 18650 or just one CR123, I've basically limited myself to only drop-ins that operate at voltages corresponding to those configurations. I'm specifically referring to the fit of drop-ins in the host. Thanks.
 
Last edited:

kramer5150

Flashaholic
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Messages
6,328
Location
Palo Alto, CA
So I don't have buyer's remorse after buying my first P60 host because I find out my selection of drop-ins is limited by the host, which brands of hosts are more likley to be compatible with most of the drop-ins? Thanks.

Surefires will haev the highest likelihood of compatibility with all other lego and drop in parts.
 

don.gwapo

Enlightened
Joined
Feb 7, 2010
Messages
949
Location
My avatar!
Dude, your light is made of Ss+Al+Ti. I should say that you got the best lego i've seen. It's SsAlTi time. :twothumbs.
 

orbital

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 8, 2007
Messages
4,257
Location
WI
+

For reference info:


Solarforce 1-cell & 2-cell extension work with Lumens Factory Seraph, so then the Lumens Factory 1-cell extension will work with Solarforce/SureFire
& all kinds of visa versa stuff

Tailcaps also interchangeable

__________________>
there may be more
 
Top