hello everyone. just wanted to pass along something to longbow owners. i balked at the notion of paying $30 for a clip for my mini, even if it is made of titanium so i resolved to find a cheaper way . i did and it's quite simple. 1) find a flea market or dollar store and look for the bin of cheap folding knives they always seem to have there. many of them incorporate a simple pocket clip with one 1/4 inch hole wich the blad pivot pin fits thru unlike most folders now adays which use 2-3 little 72 torx screws.
remove the clip and toss the crappy knife away. 2) find a 1/4 - 20 button head screw. the problem is getting one with only 3-4 threads on it which i could only find in lots of 100. so i took my trusty dremel and shortened a longer one .
heres a hint thread an appropriate nut onto the screw before you cut it and if you do mess the threads up a little the nut will straighten them out . 3) use some blue locktite to keep the clip from pivoting .
this all told cost me
3.85 for the knife
.29 for the 1/4-20 screw
already had locktite (3.75)
the clip is chrome unfortunately and not black but saving 27.00 bucks makes it acceptable . the clip ist strong and works great.
something else i also did was modify the lens and optics of my mini. i had an old version of a kl1 head kicking arround and i decided to take it apart . big mistake but i slavage the beautiful thick glass lens from it and the optics .
i found these both fit in the longbow though the kl1 glass is thicker and does not allow the end cap on the mini to completely thread down. to solve this i just popped on a thick o-ring to fill in the space. it is still waterproof and looks pretty cool with the oring . though i dont really like the square pattern of the output on the longbows , with the ucl lens and the clearer optics of the kl1 i do enjoy the brighter crisper output of this setup.
i tried modifying a couple reflectors but the output had many infractions and spots . with the surefire kl1 optics and lens the hot spot is brighter and the side spill is fantastic . i am getting at least 30-35 lumens from this light now and the clip makes it easy to caryy.
hope this is of interest to you longbow guys
remove the clip and toss the crappy knife away. 2) find a 1/4 - 20 button head screw. the problem is getting one with only 3-4 threads on it which i could only find in lots of 100. so i took my trusty dremel and shortened a longer one .
heres a hint thread an appropriate nut onto the screw before you cut it and if you do mess the threads up a little the nut will straighten them out . 3) use some blue locktite to keep the clip from pivoting .
this all told cost me
3.85 for the knife
.29 for the 1/4-20 screw
already had locktite (3.75)
the clip is chrome unfortunately and not black but saving 27.00 bucks makes it acceptable . the clip ist strong and works great.
something else i also did was modify the lens and optics of my mini. i had an old version of a kl1 head kicking arround and i decided to take it apart . big mistake but i slavage the beautiful thick glass lens from it and the optics .
i found these both fit in the longbow though the kl1 glass is thicker and does not allow the end cap on the mini to completely thread down. to solve this i just popped on a thick o-ring to fill in the space. it is still waterproof and looks pretty cool with the oring . though i dont really like the square pattern of the output on the longbows , with the ucl lens and the clearer optics of the kl1 i do enjoy the brighter crisper output of this setup.
i tried modifying a couple reflectors but the output had many infractions and spots . with the surefire kl1 optics and lens the hot spot is brighter and the side spill is fantastic . i am getting at least 30-35 lumens from this light now and the clip makes it easy to caryy.
hope this is of interest to you longbow guys
