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Greetings,

I have come to realize that it's good to have lites that run on different batteries, in case you cannot get the right cells.

For example, if you have one of these new LED Mags but run out of D cells, you can use C cells.
2D Mag will take 3xC cells (Just reverse the spring or put alum foil inside the tailcap)
3D Mag will take 4xC cells
5D Mag should take 6xC cells

I have a Malkoff drop-in module for the Mag, it runs on either 2 or 3 cells. On 2D it runs for about 30 hours but dimmer, on 3C cells you get shorter but brighter runtime.

Furthermore, here is Surefire 9P. The incan module taken out, Malkoff drop in put it (M60LL at 80 lumens)

You get about 12 hours on 3xCR123A primaries at full 80 lumens and much longer but also much dimmer on 2xAA cells. Maybe 20-30 lumens, declining down to 10 lumens.
Note that for AA, you can use any chemistry: L91 Lithium, Alk, NiMH, even Carbon Zinc junk cells.

I got an aftermarket body from FiveMega and it gave me the 3rd option: Li-Ion cells. Here it's pictured with 2x18500 cells. Incredibly diverse light and bulletproof too. Lack of multimodes doesn't bother me.

The really cool thing is, if you have AA as the standard (radio, GPS, lite, et cetera) then you can use 123s for most lumens but be OK with AAs also, for half the lumens but twice the runtime.

Here is another Malkoff product, this one is full power M60 module at 230 lumens. It's configured to run off 1x18650 cells. It's the most readily available Li-Ion cells, usually found in laptops. I run 2900 mAh Panasonics for incredible runtime (1.5 hours of full lumens and then 2 hours of tail lite as it drops out of regulation)

The really cool thing here is you can also use 2xCR123A cells. I usually have a Li-Ion in it but for backups, use primaries. You should be able to always find something for it.

This one is another aftermarket body by Leef, designed to use either 4xCR123 primary cells or 2x18650 Li-Ion. I would think it can also run on 2x18500 plus a spacer cell. It has a custom made Malkoff module that runs on 5V-12V. Very nice lite, great runtime for serious TSHTF time.

Now who said Surefire cannot run on AA cells?
Here is a custom made body by FiveMega, to take 3xAA cells and a P60 drop-in. It has another Malkoff, M30 in it.
(On the left)

The 3xAA Malkoff M30 will run on any AA chemistry: Energ Lithium (L91), NiMh, Alkaline, old style "heavy duty" garbage cells. The output will vary from strongest to weakest. For serious TSHTF get lithiums but it will run for hours even on non-Lithiums, at reduced lumens. In all honestly Alks quickly get dim but once they get dim they still run forever. I was really shocked when Zinc Carbon cells "Eveready 'heavy duty'" cells worked in it. Another strong candidate for TSHTF lite.
Disadvantage: Tailcap is non-standard.

Here are all 4 of them:

The really cool thing is that modules can be shuffled around, for example M30 can be put in 6P clone to get more lumens but shorter runtime. Or M60LL can be put in the 2x18650 lite for greater runtime. Start messing with Surefire (Or SF clones) Legos and there is a good chance you might end up with a configuration nobody else has.

 

[gsxrac]

The Surefire C-series is the absolute best platform to build off of. Start with a 6P. Add a Malkoff M60. Then an extender. After that you can get a C-M adapter and an M series Turbohead! Or the new Seraph P7 LED Turbohead from Lumensfactory. Its nice not to be stuck with the same old emitter for the life of the light. The P60 hosts are infinately upgradeable as technology advances :thumb:

My personal favorite would be the fivemega 2C body! Talk about a long runtime!

 

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Right.... I've thought about FiveMega 3xC body with Malkoff M30 module. Should have great runtime. Problem is, it would fail my test of multiple types of cells, that is, I could *only* use C cells in it and nothing else. So if you are out of C cells, you are screwed.

I believe the original concept involved Li Ion C cells from AW, once he stopped making them, everybody with these bodies was screwed and had to rebuild these lites with other modules.

The 3C does look really neat on the pics however. It's a little longer than needed, as the original cell was longer than Alk C cell.

Here is another multi cell lite. Junky Ultra fire, modded with P4. It can run on either CR2 or 2xAA. Neat. Cannot believe how small the former is.

 

[gsxrac]

Man I have been thinking about buying my fiancee a CR2 light. Probably a Muyshondt Aeon. If I had the money id buy myself a titanium one! It sounds like you really need to look at the 4sevens Quark line. They are ALL interchangeable with eachother and they make a 123*2, 123*1, AA*1, AA*2, and 18650 battery tubes. They just came out with the XP-G R5 Turboheads which will later on be an option as just the head. Once you have the light the switch's, body's, and head's are all interchangeable. Not to mention they are way cheaper than Surefires. But you still get an awesome quality light with a great warranty!

 

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I thought about a 1x123 lite for a while. My main thing is, I want it to be dim and long -running. Picture Gerber Infinity with 40 hour runtime and 5 lumens, I want the 123 version.


OK maybe brighter than 5 lumens, I think 20 would be really nice.

I suggesting staying away from CR2 if you can... 123 is better in all ways. I only got CR2 because I had another device that used it, and not a lite.