five cree R2 "maglite" drop in

so i got one of these http://www.dealextreme.com/p/5-cree-r2-5-mode-1200-lumen-white-light-drop-in-led-module-52-7mm-42mm-8-4v-max-35242

i thought it was kinda of a maglite drop in, but i can tell, that unless you have a lathe or other way of grinding off some of the reflector lip tickness it wont make the flashlight close properly

also the bulb holder assembly has the modded in the maglite, takes 5 minutes with a knife to shorten it, and you can still go back to stock maglite stuff if you regret

price i 28 bucks

it took me roughly 15-20 minutes to cut it down a bit in the lathe, the head needed to be shortened a bit and one of the cooling ribs needed to be resized a bit too to fit in the maglite head…but other than that, easy

the light is good ! it runs of a 3V (2 cell maglite, i tried its ok but 3 cells are better, im running 4 cells)

it is brighter than the xml dropin i got in my 6 cell flashlight, the center is larger, and bighter spill is better as well

compared to the xml they are pretty equal, in real life with and edge to the 5xr2 in brightness

i have net tested battery life or any of those things, nor did i run it long enough to really heat up…im sick (more than usual) so batteling a toddler and a two year old is more than enough for me atm….i should get back to bed…make some soup or something…

if you can mod this “dropin” i can highly recommend it, otherwise just get the fandy flashlight and have twice the power for 10 bucks more (not counting batteries and stuff)