Time for another update on my system.
The Phillips LBL I posted about earlier in the thread works quite well on high, though I wouldn't mind brighter. Just drilled a cable entry in it and stuck the guts of a USB car charger
amazon link in the battery compartment. I desoldered the USB port board and the original power connectors, and then soldered my wires in their place. Beautiful tiny little creature once you get it apart properly. The light works great on the bench, though I haven't run it long. Haven't gotten to try it at night yet or take pictures.
Next on the list is to make a high beam. I've found a 920lm four LED board
Luxeon Star and a 25mm 10 degree lens that I'm thinking might go very nicely in a piece of 1" copper pipe. Probably will wire it in two parallel sets and get their 1400mA controller and using a SP3T switch (off on on (hmmm... seems I've seen this, or at least on off on listed as SPDT)) to feed either one pair of LEDs or both in series. Should be about $70 all told, and have plenty of forward power to complement the LBL as my primary light.
This isn't set is stone, and I'm also eying some of the newer emitters, though they would probably require a more complicated setup. Anyone have other ideas for me to consider?
Tor