luxlunatic
Flashlight Enthusiast
Good day everyone!
For your consideration in an old school and mint McGizmo Prototype for the true McGizmo collector, the 27L-PD in titanium that was made by Don back in 2006. This was the fore runner design to the 27mm production heads that came later (XR27, S27, LS27). This is a grail that I lusted over from my early days here on CPF some 17 (yikes!) years ago until finally scoring this fine specimen just over 6 years ago and it still ranks as one of my favorite all time designs, just pure rugged beauty and a piece of McGizmo and CPF history!
I enjoy providing some history to the offerings that I put up for sale, especially a piece as rare and important as this one so here goes!
My research shows that Don had only 8 of these heads made in titanium, 4 for 27L (the piston drive single cell body here) and 4 for the 27LT (the"Tootsie Roll" style 2 cell body). The titanium used for these protos is of the 6AL-4V grade variant.
The piston on this one is clean and does not have a tritium slot and the threads are buttery smooth.
You will notice in the photos below, the differences between the 27L Proto head (left) and the later, 27mm production head (right and for comparison only and not included in sale). The 27L (and LT) heads have double O-rings compared to the production head single O-ring. The teardrop indentations were moved closer towards the bezel on the later heads. The 27L (and LT) head also has a threaded bezel where the later 27mm production head is O-ring sealed at the lens on both sides. The later production heads did not offer threads for a bezel mainly due to the difficulty of machining titanium but this design allows for a bezel ring to be installed and one member here, Yaesumofo, had a run of Ti bezels made that were mainly intended for the aluminum version of the 27LT since those were available from Don as a production run but work nicely on this head as well, and look great!. A Yeasumofo bezel will also be included in this sale as well as the stock bezel.
You will also notice the unique PD body of the 27L that is longer than the later production PD bodies and features a deeper collar to accommodate the two O-rings.
The light still sports the original LUXIII which I believe is a UYAJ binning (snowy white).
Along with the other Gizmo PD lights, it is a 2 stage light. Twist for stage 1, twist more for stage 2 or press and hold the piston drive for stage 1 and then press harder and hold for stage 2. It is powered by a single CR123.
Shot with the Yaesumofo Ti bezel:
A pic of each side here:
These pics highlight the differences mentioned above:
Below, you can see the 27L on the left incorporating a screw down bezel with 1 O-ring behind the lens and on the right, a production 27mm head with 1 O-ring on each side of the lens and no threads for a bezel.
Here is a link to the thread that I purchased this item from back in 12/16:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/both-sold-rare-mcgizmo-protos.427079/#post-5021147
I believe that I am the second owner and the prior owner received it from Don.
I really enjoy owning and photographing wonderful gems like this and sharing some (hopefully!) drool-worthy pics for all to enjoy!
Although I never thought that I would part with this gem once I scored one, it has been an honor to be a part time custodian of it but it is time for someone else to have the privilege, honor and responsibility of taking care of this rare piece.
The Ti forum hear has been pretty quiet of late so hopefully this will spark some activity!!
27L-PD Proto - NOW $1000.00 $1100.00 $1250.00 $1400.00 $1500.00
Please let me know if you have any questions, or if any of my information is inaccurate, or you have more info on this light. Information, even from Don, on this relic is scarce!
-Paypal or Zelle.
-First "I'll take it" in this thread has priority.
-Fees and shipping to CONUS are included in the price as well as insurance.
-Not interested in trades at this time.
-Thanks for looking!
-Michael.
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