mr.squatch

I've had surefire g2's for a while now and use them a LOT, one I use 30x a day at work and it's the best light on the market imo. I have four of em, and a couple other low/mid end surefires for various reasons. I like the +1 upgrade bulbs, but they kill the battery useage and aren't that much brighter. Also I've had terrible luck making them last. Only thing worse than a dim flashlight is a no-light one. I stick with the p60 and p90 bulbs and have yet to burn one out. Anyways, as most flashlight freaks I am always on the lookout for new brighter affordable solutions. I read on one of my AR boards about candle power forums and spent a few days reading over there. Apparently there are new technologies around that blow the surefire's out of the water, and cost far less to produce. Runtimes and lumens are both increased. I figured the modifications would be expensive until I started shopping around.

I found a "dropin" bulb at dealextreme for $12.50 that claims to put out 200 lumens AND increases battery life. My upgraded p61 bulb doesnt go that bright and kills batteries fast. My p91 bulb doesnt even go that bright. So I figured for that much money it was worth a try. On the forums people have said they fit a lot of surefires (they work anywhere from 3-9v so they cover more lights too), but in the g2 they don't seem to work without modification. I'd be willing to modify it if it was THAT much better, ya know? So I ordered four of em. Find out afterwards that they would be shipped out of HongKong, but it really only took about a week for them to arrive. They came in this morning.

Packaged in a bubble wrap envelope I hoped they survived, luckily they did. Pulled one out, dropped it in the g2, nothing. hrmm. I was kinda expecting this, and to have to search again for modification tips. Put it in the 9p and voila! omg this thing is bright, like super white light too. Its broad daylight right now, I doubt I can tell exactly how bright until later. I thought surefires were white light until I saw this, it compares to the HID lighting that comes out of my car headlights. Super white, almost blue tinted. Anyways, I started to search for the g2 solution and came across a lot of peoples who could not figure it out. One guy said he had to grind it down and take off the outer spring all together. Hmm, so I took off the outer spring, still nothing. Went to put it back on and noticed one end is smaller diameter than the other. Flipped it 180 from original and bingo it works like a charm.

I left out the part where I flashed myself with the 9p to see how bright it actually is. Broad daylight, well over an hour later, I'm still seeing circles/dots in my vision. haha... *******.

So I flipped the spring in the rest to test em out, and they all work great. There is a gap between the head and the housing, which everyone said there would be, but I can fill that with an o-ring and be happy. The new lens assembly is that much longer than the p60. The end of the reflector is straight out so you could take 1/8" off and move the whole thing up to close the gap without losing any light output, I'm sure thats the main modification people were talking about. The gap isn't enough to make the inner waterproofing o-ring lose seal, just lets in a space for dirt etc to get inside. I'll probably just grind down the tabs a bit and put in a fat o-ring and call it good.

These things are seriously bright. If you've never had a g2 before, it's about 3x brighter than any other light we have in our shop (mechanic) with the stock bulb. At night, in the darkness a p60 at 60 lumens is enough to be considered a weapon in my opinion. It can completely blind somebody for long enough to give you the upper hand. The upgrade p61 bulb is twice as bright, but lessens your battery life by about 1/3, and the bulbs seem to burn out quite frequently. I had one p91 ($25) burn out the first day I had it. This new $12.50 bulb puts them all to shame. I think I'd be afraid to shine it at somebody in the dark, for fear it may cause some permanent damage. I'll keep it in my nightstand lite for defensive purposes for sure, and my 9p which rides in the car with me.

Read up on cree technology, its some pretty amazing stuff. If surefire doesn't get on the cree bandwagon within the next 6 months it looks like they'll be left in the dust by cheaper, brighter, longer lasting foreign jobs.

Cliffs Notes: $31 dollar surefire G2, $12.50 drop in bulb assembly = one happy flashlight junkie.

g

Chooie

I've got a 160 lumen Cree LED in my Fenix light, and totally agree with you!

__________________
-Joe

Quando omni flunkus, moritati.

Virginia Citizens Defense League

Rustburg, VA Volunteer Rescue Squad

Alien Nation

I am seriously thinking about the Fenix PD3 to mount on my SKS. I just hope it holds up.

__________________
“You come at me with a sword and with a spear. But I come at you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you". 1 Samuel 17, 45-46
Brian

Chooie

I really don't think you'll have any problems that would kill the light. If anything, it might start flickering on recoil, or switch modes - that would probably be the most annoying thing.

__________________
-Joe

Quando omni flunkus, moritati.

Virginia Citizens Defense League

Rustburg, VA Volunteer Rescue Squad

gunfighter48

I bought one for my 6P and it's great. Like you I tried it out on my self and saw dots for a good hour. Here's a quote from one of the guys that posted on how to modify it to work with the G2. Still leaves a gap with the body but that's ok with me, could always get a couple of O rings to take up the gap.

"I tried using the Cree without the supplied outer spring and while the head would screw down tight the light would not function with my twist on tailcap. I had to use the outer spring and bend it a little so it would make contact with the metal sleeve inside the G2 and then it worked beautifully."

Hope this helps, by the way it comes with two springs. I just ordered another one tonight for my G2.

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gunfighter 48
A 45 may not expand but it will never be smaller than .45!!!
NRA Member

mr.squatch

Nice, I lucked out and just flipped the spring end to end and it works like a champ. No modification at all for the 9p. I think tomorrow I'll grind one down 1/8" and see if it closes the gap. Plenty of material there to take off so it should work perfectly.

g

GoodSamaritan

Would anyone mind posting a link... I think I see a couple of these in my future...

Alien Nation

That's cool. I'm not going to shoot to awful much with it on the gun anyways. I've alreadt had training in that area so all I need to do is shoot 50 rounds or so to make sure all is well. It'll spend the majority of it's life on my locking wall rack hopfully to never need to be used. I can use my 45 lumen to do any night shooting practice to any great extent and it's already proven it can take alot of abuse. Besides using my 45 lumen will keep me from gettig cocky and practice shooting at too long of a range. I know that might not make sense to some but it does to me.

__________________
“You come at me with a sword and with a spear. But I come at you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you". 1 Samuel 17, 45-46
Brian

mr.squatch

http://dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.137

The one that's $12.50 I'm not hip to the techno-lingo on what the differences are between the three on that page, but I got the 12.50 ones and they are awesome.

g

Bryan

Its 140-160 lumen's out but still brighter then the standard P60/61 bulb and more shock resistant. Run time is about 2 1/2 hours. The 200 lumen clam is for the JYE 3W SSC-P4 Seoul Z-Power 18650 Wide Projection Flashlight.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1341

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-The truth is a three edged sword.
-Your brain is your primary weapon everything else is just a tool.
-When the only tool you have is a hammer then everything starts to look like a nail.