I have always wanted a SF C2 since I first saw one but for my use I just couldn’t justify the price (I have bought a car for less for goodness sake ) So when I found out about Solarforce (on budgetlightforum.com) I knew I had to get a L2T. Along with the L2T host I also bought a three mode (high, medium and low, no disco modes) 3.7-8.4V XM-L dropin and a pocket clip/lanyard ring for a grand total of 34.50 shipped (it took about 9 days to get here from HK.)

Fit and finish
For those of you who don't know about Solarforces typical fit and finish let me just tell you, it is amazing and this light is no exception. It has type 2 anodization, not up to par with SFs HA III ano but still very nice. The lens is crystal clear, the threads are well lubed from the factory and the dull matte finish is smooth while still offering a surprising amount of grip.

The head
The head is nicely knurled, not so aggressive that it would cut up your pants or skin but still aggressive enough to assure you won’t be dropping it under even the most extreme conditions. The bezel ring is nice but just sticks out too far, cutting off a bit of the usable spill so I switched it out with a flush silver bezel ring off of my solarfarce L2m (fake), it isn’t perfectly flush but it is close enough.


The body
There is not much to say about it, the finish is smooth and clean. There is no knurling on the body, rather the light depends on two rubber rings for use in a “cigar grip” or Harris grip, depending on if you use your thumb or the ball of your hand to trigger the forward clickie. Of course the light is still plenty comfortable to hold in a standard reverse hammer or hose grip (those are the names I made up and I am sticking with them ) due to the rings being made of rubber rather than scalloped aluminum like some other lights of similar design.

The tail
Now I know there are people who do not like forward clickies like this light has but you need to remember, this light isn’t really intended to be a multi-mode, multi-use EDC. This light is designed to be used in a Harris grip in conjunction with a sidearm, with the protruding forward clickie used to flash the light for room clearing and target ID. Surprisingly with the Solarforce dropin I bought the memory is fast enough that even when used with a Harris grip it doesn’t switch modes during my dry runs through my house. again, the knurling is nice and the forward clickie is smooth.

The dropin
As I mentioned earlier I purchased a three mode XM-L dropin with high, medium and low outputs that has a voltage range of 3.7 to 8.4 volts. I primarily intend to run this light on 18650s but the ability to run it on 2 CR123s or even 2 16340s if needed is a plus in my eyes. The modes are very well spaced (100%, 50% and 10% according to Solarforce) and the memory is very fast but still slow enough to easily switch between modes before it kicks in. The dropin offers about 500 true lumens on high, 250 on medium and 50 on low.

The clip
The clip is nice and springy, well finished and fits perfectly. The only gripe I have is the lanyard loop reverse of the clip pokes me in the side when I carry the light in between all the other junk in/clipped to my pocket so I will be chopping it off.


Here are some beam shots,
First the L2T with the XM-L dropin on high.

Next the tried and true(ly dull) 2C Maglite.

(yes the pics where taken with the exact same settings with the exact same shutter speed and iris.)
And here is a C8 with an XM-L driven about the same, but with a much larger reflector.


Thank you for checking out my review.

Any questions, comments, recommendations, ect?

I gave a few of these as Christmas gifts last year to rave reviews. I keep hoping someone will return the favor.

Glad you like them OP. I think it is traditional to show it broken down with closeups of the threads

I know what you mean, I just don't think too many people on ARFCOM care if it has square or trapezoid or triangular threads.

Two minutes on my bench grinder fixed the protruding lanyard ring problem. I have been looking at E1320s dropins but I am actually pretty happy with the factory one, it only draws about 1.24A on high but is still bright enough for all the uses I have found so far.

The modes aren't housed in the tail cap, they are programmed in to the dropin. You want a single mode dropin, not a new tailcap.

If I was a betting man I would say "you want to use your L2 as a weapons light and know that the reverse clicky and 5 mode dropin is no good." so what you want is any forward (or momentary) clicky tailcap and a single mode drop in, further I bet you only use CR123s. If my guesses are correct and I was in your position I would get this or this (though it isn't a forward clicky, it is also a good option for a weapon light.) and this dropin.

Yeah, all the L2P lights (and a few turboheaded lights they make) are HA III and best of all, the HA III actually matches between the head, body and tailcap, unlike some other manufacturers...

The OP briefly alluded to it, but there are counterfeit Solarforce lights out there. Somewhat ironic, since the Solarforce L2 is a clone of the Surefire 6P. But anyway, be careful where you buy your Solarforce stuff. The counterfeit stuff can be of noticeably poorer quality.

Link 1

Link 2


ETA: Link 3 - This one has some side by side pics.