Help finding P7 host without reflector/optic

cityevader

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Nov 30, 2009
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302
Location
San Jose, CA
Last winter I posted a roughly similar thread, and found pretty much what I was after. However, I now have a more specific need, and it's closing in on winter again with its early darkness:

My wife is deaf, so going on a night walk is like making a blind person wear earplugs. Without ques of the world around her it's near-terrifying. She needs to be able to see uneven pavement at the same time as the low-hanging tree braches. A lantern would suffice if only it was pocketable, and also, I don't want the glare in MY eyes, so a flashlight it must be.

Something like a P7 without optics or reflectors, which would give a nearly half-dome of light output, would be fabulous. Are there any hosts that come to mind that would accomodate this? Or maybe a bezel that could be readily modified to be shorter?
It should have a lens for protection/weather-resistance of course, but water-proofness is absolutely secondary to having the light in the first place. But a protective lens is pretty much a necessity.

Any machinist guys here have any ideas? Any bids? Or think they could mod my old-style E2E?

Additional considerations/near-must-haves:
I'd like to run li-ion rechargeables, preferably 18650's, but 16340's would also work.
Medium amperage, like 1000-1800mA would be a good balance of output/runtime.
 

waddup

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Oct 29, 2008
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how bout her wearing a floody headlight and a light in hand?
 

LEDninja

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Jun 15, 2005
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Hamilton Canada
The Zebralight H60/H60w (18650) are the closest I can think of. All the other bright Zebralights have reflectors and the other flood ones are too dim. 190 lm for the cool white and 157 lm for the neutral white is not in the P7 range though.
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Elektrolumens makes a EDC-MCE (18650) with a faceted conical reflector that is all flood. Beamshots here:
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showpost.php?p=2449512&postcount=195
Warning: I have the P7 version of the EDC and it gets very hot very fast.
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EDIT
Usually I tell people to get the biggest reflector/head to get max throw.
For max flood get the smallest reflector/head. The smallest ones for P7/MCE I find are the P60 clones. The heads of these usually come apart easily so you can muck about with the reflector (like paint it white). As they more or less conform to the P60 'standard', you should also be able to buy lenses with LDF (light diffusion film) from flashlightlens (do wait for the light to arrive and measure first).
From the budget online place a quick look found these:
sku.44269 WF502B MC-E 5-Mode Warm White LED
sku.44270 WF502B MC-E 1-Mode Warm White LED
sku.36356 WF-501B SSC-P7-CSXO 3-Mode
sku.36357 WF-502B SSC-P7-CSXO 3-Mode
There are more but
You can always buy a real P60 and negotiate with nailbender or Malkoff for their floodiest drop ins.
 
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think2x

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Jul 3, 2009
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Pulaski, Va.
I know this isn't a P7 but I recently purchased a p60 drop-in from Nailbender for my Surefire 6P, a "linger special" which is twin XP-G emitters in one reflector. This setup is ALL FLOOD with no real hot spot. It lights up everything in front of you. I took it camping not long ago and couldn't be happier with it. If I had to guess output I would say around 400 OTF lumens (mine is neutral tint)

I hope this is of some help.
 
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cityevader

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San Jose, CA
hmmm... just looked at that EDC MCE, and it appears to have a Ledil reflector? (I didn't read through several hundred posts tho)
The bike lights I made with P7 and Ledil spot reflectors were quite floody. I still have the Wide reflector I also got and didn't use. That may just be good enough, but i really don't want to try to build something....and if I wasn't already happy with my Uniquefire single XPG, I might have tried to mod it.... but then again, it's for the wife's needs, not mine, and besides, I'm the one with the 2C ROP in the back pocket!
Thank you for the input so far!
 

cityevader

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Nov 30, 2009
Messages
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Location
San Jose, CA
Actually, 200 lm may be just fine (just not a 90° lamp like Zebralight). After all, I don't want a full tilt P7; prefer to keep temp and runtime reasonable without much reduction in light output. My bike light's output isn't much different between 1400 and 2800 mA, so it's hard to justify such power increases without a whole lot of brightness increase....but the floodiness of the P7 is what I'm attracted to.
 

Casper507

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Mar 17, 2009
Messages
85
Aren't you overdoing it a likttle. I've a Romisen with a aspherical lens which gives off 80 lumen flood with a single AA. (RC29?) It's the warm version and is perfect for finding stuff in the dark because it gives great color rendition without glare back from the hot spot. Then for safety get some kind of vest with flashing led lights. Don't get one of the orange mesh vests as the color gets almost completely lost at dusk and dark. I was informed of this by the local Game Warden. They look good in the daylight but fail to meet requirements in evening. My nephew has been using the single 123 version with body extension for 2xAAs I gave him last spring and it's held up good in shop use with a drop here and there.
 

cityevader

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Messages
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Location
San Jose, CA
That is a similar response she gets when going to the doctor, dmv, court, the store, or wherever and she's trying to communicate with somebody; the other person hears her talk and knows what she's saying, but she's deaf, she can't hear them, she can't understand them, and yet the other person never gets it, saying"oh no, you're doing fine, I understand you, you don't need an interpreter".

When out for night walks, she needs to SEE, not to BE seen. How is an orange vest going to help her see uneven pavement and tree branches?

Overdoing it? Single AA 80lm is adequate for our needs? Really? Why would I post this then....of course, you don't know that I've already got an LOD, LD05, Stramlight luxeon, ITP A3 with li-ion, E2E with16340/ HO bulb, headlamps, etc. which are in your stated range of adequate, so at least that is an excuse.

But when I ask for a very specific need/type flashlight for my very specific needs/type wife and get a response like that, it's just irks me (and her even more) that the typical citizen just doesn't get it.

As for light output, to further explain the need, we live in the city, not the pitch black country, with harsh orange streetlights and harsh black shadows, and all the obstacles and unknowns (people/things) within those shadows. She needs to have PERIPHERAL vision in this environment. Would you want to walk around at any time with a hood over your head with only two tiny holes to see through straight ahead and earplugs that truly block out ALL sounds? Would you feel safe if you couldn't hear any people/cars/animals/anything around you while you were walking with only one spot at a time visible?

Sorry if I'm the one sounding like a jerk now, but that last post really bugged me and would really **** off the wife if she read it. Hopefully the further description of the specific needs will prevent further "suggestions" such as what sent me ranting.
 
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