Getting a Surefire 6P incandescent. Should I buy a dropin or just buy another light?.

busseguy · Jul 20, 2013

I have never had a Surefire 6P before and I am getting one in trade.

It is like new but has the incandescent bulb. So I came here to get help on figuring out what to do.

I have handled the pricier surefires before and they were very nicely made, but never handled a 6P. Dont know why they are so much cheaper ?.

So basically I want a reliable thrower and edc type light. I would prefer something that can use rechargeables and have a low and high mode.

Is that possible with the 6P by getting a drop in?. If so which one?.

Or would I be better off trading it and getting an actual LED light?.

Thanks in advance..

kelmo · Jul 20, 2013

You should run a set of batteries through it before you discount the incandescent lamp.

The 6P is cheaper because it does not have electronics to run it other than than the lamp.

Get a Malkoff M61L, 170 lumens for 5 hours.

I have multiple 6Ps.

kelmo

busseguy · Jul 20, 2013

kelmo said:
You should run a set of batteries through it before you discount the incandescent lamp.

The 6P is cheaper because it does not have electronics to run it other than than the lamp.

Get a Malkoff M61L, 170 lumens for 5 hours.

I have multiple 6Ps.

kelmo

Believe me, I have discounted the incandescents long ago. 60 minutes or so of runtime doesnt cut it for me, also the beam color is a turn off. I like WHITE beams.

Cerealand · Jul 21, 2013

You can get the 6p bored to use 18650. Malkoff have a multi mode drop in, but it's a mixed of flood and throw. Nailbender or Vinhnguyen would be your best options if you want a thrower 6p drop-in with two modes (hi/low). I have six 6p hosts and counting. I love them.

Sgt. LED · Jul 21, 2013

I say skip it and opt for a different light.
It doesn't sound like you would appreciate the platform to build off of that it can be.

GeoBruin · Jul 21, 2013

That's not fair Sgt. LED. How could you appreciate what the 6P has to offer if you've never had the opportunity?

The 6P is a fantastic platform and based on the drop in you choose, you can go any number of directions. Massive flooder, decent thrower, multifunction EDC, etc.

A dedicated thrower and and EDC are often at odds because throwers tend to sacrifice some of the things that make EDCs great but that doesn't mean you can't have an EDC that throws pretty well.

I love Malkoff drop ins but I'll be the first to say that they're not known for their throwyness. If you want a super efficient EDC with very good throw, check out one of Nailbender's XP-G2 drop ins. A multi-mode drop in is great for EDC because you can milk the run time on the lower modes and click it over to high when you really want light things up down range.

It will perform quite well on primaries but you can really increase your runtime with a 17670 lithium ion. As others have mentioned, you can have it bored to accept an 18650 but that's more of a bonus.

I'm a huge fan of the P60 format myself for all it offers and the Surefire 6P is the mother of all P60 hosts. Help your light be all it can be as the Sgt. says.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 4 Beta

busseguy · Jul 21, 2013

GeoBruin said:
That's not fair Sgt. LED. How could you appreciate what the 6P has to offer if you've never had the opportunity?

The 6P is a fantastic platform and based on the drop in you choose, you can go any number of directions. Massive flooder, decent thrower, multifunction EDC, etc.

A dedicated thrower and and EDC are often at odds because throwers tend to sacrifice some of the things that make EDCs great but that doesn't mean you can't have an EDC that throws pretty well.

I love Malkoff drop ins but I'll be the first to say that they're not known for their throwyness. If you want a super efficient EDC with very good throw, check out one of Nailbender's XP-G2 drop ins. A multi-mode drop in is great for EDC because you can milk the run time on the lower modes and click it over to high when you really want light things up down range.

It will perform quite well on primaries but you can really increase your runtime with a 17670 lithium ion. As others have mentioned, you can have it bored to accept an 18650 but that's more of a bonus.

I'm a huge fan of the P60 format myself for all it offers and the Surefire 6P is the mother of all P60 hosts. Help you light be all it can be as the Sgt. says.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Great post, Thank you. I guess I shouldn't have said EDC. It will be used for hiking, night walks, etc. I will be getting a AAA keychain light for more of the EDC tasks.

The light which the 6p will be replacing is an Eagletac 2AA model P10A2 which has a lux of about 5600 on eneloop batteries. I cant remember what led it had but it had pretty decent throw (Which I much prefer over flood).

The runtime was only about an hour and a half though.

Will the 6P with a Nailbender or Vinhnguyen drop in give it more throw with longer runtime when using rechargeable RCR123 batteries than the eagletac P10A2 on 2 rechargeable AA's?.

BenChiew · Jul 21, 2013

Getting a Surefire 6P incandescent. Should I buy a dropin or just buy another l

If you want some decent throw, get the Malkoff M60. It has a built in optic running the XRE emitter. It will run on 2xCR123 or a rechargeable 17670 straight off from the 6P without boring.
XRE still is the king of throw.

busseguy · Jul 21, 2013

Re: Getting a Surefire 6P incandescent. Should I buy a dropin or just buy another l

BenChiew said:
If you want some decent throw, get the Malkoff M60. It has a built in optic running the XRE emitter. It will run on 2xCR123 or a rechargeable 17670 straight off from the 6P without boring.
XRE still is the king of throw.

Are the 17670's the same thing as RCR123's?.

BenChiew · Jul 21, 2013

Getting a Surefire 6P incandescent. Should I buy a dropin or just buy another l

RCR123 is (16340). This is basically a size of a CR123. 2 pieces of this will make 1 piece of the longer 17670. The length of your 6p.

In terms of voltage, each of them have a fully charged voltage of 4.2v.

So if you use 2pcs of RCR123, it is starting at 8.4v where if you use a single 17670, you will start at 4.2v.

Despite the lower voltage, the 17670 packs twice the amount of juice as compared to a single RCR123.

leon2245 · Jul 21, 2013

Re: Getting a Surefire 6P incandescent. Should I buy a dropin or just buy another l

Do it, DO it.

Keep upgrading, so you only have an ever growing line of retired drop ins, instead of a row of entire lights.

Swedpat · Jul 21, 2013

Re: Getting a Surefire 6P incandescent. Should I buy a dropin or just buy another l

I have several 6Ps. Two are bored for 18650. My advice is the same as other here: get some bored and use it with 18650 and replace the incandescent bulb with some Malkoff M61 dropin! So excellent allround beam profile! M61N XPG2(similar tint as former M61W but brighter) is my favourite. Also Malkoff now offers 3 modes dropins.

busseguy · Jul 21, 2013

Re: Getting a Surefire 6P incandescent. Should I buy a dropin or just buy another l

BenChiew said:
RCR123 is (16340). This is basically a size of a CR123. 2 pieces of this will make 1 piece of the longer 17670. The length of your 6p.

In terms of voltage, each of them have a fully charged voltage of 4.2v.

So if you use 2pcs of RCR123, it is starting at 8.4v where if you use a single 17670, you will start at 4.2v.

Despite the lower voltage, the 17670 packs twice the amount of juice as compared to a single RCR123.

Thats great to know. For some reason I always thought a single 18650 was basically 2 RCR123's. Guess I should do some more battery research

KeyGrip · Jul 21, 2013

Re: Getting a Surefire 6P incandescent. Should I buy a dropin or just buy another l

I say keep it. The 6P is a rock solid platform on which you can build most any light you want. I think you'll have a lot of fun with it.

Norm · Jul 21, 2013

Re: Getting a Surefire 6P incandescent. Should I buy a dropin or just buy another l

If you want to use 18650 cells you could use a SolarForce body which will cost less than paying to have your body bored.

Norm

busseguy · Jul 21, 2013

Re: Getting a Surefire 6P incandescent. Should I buy a dropin or just buy another l

Norm said:
If you want to use 18650 cells you could use a SolarForce body which will cost less than paying to have your body bored.

Norm

What is the average cost to have a 6p body bored?.

Cerealand · Jul 21, 2013

Re: Getting a Surefire 6P incandescent. Should I buy a dropin or just buy another l

Unless you have someone local, Oveready does them for a good price.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...ezel-Tailcap-Options-%28P-C-Z-and-M-Series%29

DellSuperman · Jul 21, 2013

Re: Getting a Surefire 6P incandescent.

The main reason it is expensive to bore, when you are not in US, is the 2 way shipping.

- JonK

BenChiew · Jul 21, 2013

Re: Getting a Surefire 6P incandescent.

It is nice to have the high capacity 18650, but a 17670 is not too shabby for normal usage. If you run a Malkoff which is at max current draw between 700mAh to 1amp, you will still get some meaningful runtime from it.

Norm · Jul 21, 2013

Re: Getting a Surefire 6P incandescent. Should I buy a dropin or just buy another l

busseguy said:
What is the average cost to have a 6p body bored?.

The last C2 I had bored cost me US$40 plus shipping both ways.

Norm

Getting a Surefire 6P incandescent. Should I buy a dropin or just buy another light?.

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