Hurry up new Quarks!

[Chauncey Gardiner]

CG, Do You remember if You used a different email for Kickstarter? These early specials were sent to the registered email on file with KickStarter, not Prometheus mailing lists.

I had to reregister at Kickstarter. My e-mail addy wasn't on file. It was active a month ago.... strange. Thanks much. :kiss:

 

[Got Lumens?]

I had to reregister at Kickstarter. My e-mail addy wasn't on file. It was active a month ago.... strange. Thanks much. :kiss:

Bummer. Alls it takes is one misclick to unsubscribe via accidentally clicking one of those microscopic unsubscribe links in the emails

 

[Got Lumens?]

So far 645 previous backers have pledged support for this KickStarter.
As soon as it goes Live I will post, or someone will beat me to it, with the url for the KickStarter launch.

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

Here ya go - https://www.kickstarter.com/project...ashlight-the-legacy-continues?ref=thanks-copy


DANG IT! Couldn't decide. Had to get both. Well, 2 is 1 ..... so that's what I told The Lovely Mrs. Gardiner when she asked me if I bought a new flashlight.

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

Congratulations, Jason! $12,500 goal reached in 49 minutes.

 

[InvisibleFrodo]

So I'm still not sure if I did this correctly. I clicked count me in, it said I was one of the folks who counted in, I pledged for the AA light, because I don't have many "good" AA lights, is the $10 credit something that comes later?
I didn't pledge extra money, just the cost of the light... Am I doing it correctly?
I'm not sure I entirely understood the response that you sent me earlier... Now I feel kinda dumb. HAHA

 

[Got Lumens?]

Our Kickstarter is live!

You guys make all of this possible, so I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your support over all these years. My sincere thanks!

Would you consider sharing the campaign with your friends and family? Even if you don't want a light...but like what we are doing...you can still make a (really) big difference by letting other people know. I can also guarantee that you know at least one person who can't see in the dark, and they will thank you later

Thanks in advance!

Jason

Kickstarter Project

​

Notes on your BackerKit credit:
The $10 credit (for add-ons) will be applied to your account after the campaign ends. BackerKit is our fullfilment platform that allows us to manage shipping and also to offer add-ons like batteries, chargers, and other Foursevens lights.





Hooray! Foursevens just launched their project, Foursevens Quark MKIII LED Flashlight: The Legacy Continues.






Foursevens Quark MKIII LED Flashlight: The Legacy Continues


by Foursevens

If you only have one flashlight, make it a Quark$12,500goal

21 daysremaining


View this project
Now's your chance to be one of the first backers!

 

[BigBluefish]

Been away from CPF for quite awhile. But on the Prometheus e-mail list. So, I got the notice of the Quark KS project. A 16650 Quark with a Nichia 319? Yes, please!

IN!

(Looks like they funded in less than an hour! Impressive. Really looking forward to this. Liking modes 1-3.)

 

[ncvarmint2016]

Dont really understand the kick starter thing. When can i buy a quark from your website?

 

[knucklegary]

KickStarter is new to me as well.
It sounds like participation is by committing to purchase one, two or more flashlights pre paid via KS downloaded app. Along with customers personal info, and guessing that includes your credit card numbers which you will be billed later when the product arrives in USA for sale. At that time only those customers receive 20% discount off msrp for funding the whole project, I think that's how it works :shrug:

I am sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong

Btw, I'm in for a QK16L after they arrive..

 

[Illumination]

There are also several other flashlight companies in violation of the copywrite, but they were not served due to being based outside the United States.
I don't have an answer to why Malkoff Devices is offering those. Perhaps You can write them. I am guessing they are selling off stock they have ???

It would not be based on copyright (protects authorship) ... SF must have a pertinent patent?

 

[Got Lumens?]

Yes. Patent protection. Sorry for the poor choice of wording

 

[spyderco monkey]

Yes. Patent protection. Sorry for the poor choice of wording

Any idea of when the SF patent expires? The old interface (head tightened = turbo; Head loosened = L-M-H) was the best flashlight UI ever conceived. SF should really live in infamy in this community for a) suing to have this feature removed b) then not using this UI in any of their lights. Its been a tremendous setback for the development of flashlights, resulting in a regression in the industry to increasingly baroque UI's that require flowcharts to understand.

I've been carrying my Foursevens QuarkX for nearly 10 years now, and much as I look I have still not found a better flashlight. I've even purchased a number of NOS Quark's should my trusty companion ever ware out.

That said, I'm intrigued by the new Quark. Can you better explain the UI of this model?

It seems that its set to "3" from the factory:

Medium (100lm) - High (400lm) - Burst (700lm)

1. Is 'Burst' like the previous Quarks, where it produces 700lm, then steps down to 400 after ~30 seconds?
2. How fast does this double click have to be to activate burst vs accidentally swapping to another mode?
3. Given that there is almost no difference in runtime between Burst (1.5hrs) and High (1.75hrs), why include a "High" mode at all? Would it not be simpler to have it just be Medium/Max?

4. I noticed that the ad copy warns against the use of 2xCR123's. CR123's were the staple of the previous Quarks, and were sued safely for the lifetime of the older company. What about this new design makes them unsafe?
5. If rechargeable batteries are required, why use the 16650 vs the 18650 battery, which is becoming the industry standard? The difference in diameter is only 2mm.

6. I notice runtimes and brightnesses do not seem to have noticeably improved over the previous Quark QP2L-X, what is the reason for this?:

Quark QP2L-X

• Burst: 780 lumens / 1 minute; then 390 lumens /1.9 hours
• High: 300 lumens / 3.2 hours
• Medium: 55 lumens / 14 hours
• Low: 5 lumens / 96hrs
• Moonlight: 0.5 lumens / 600hrs

Vs the new Quark:
Brightness Levels:
[FONT=&quot] Low (Moonlight): 1 lumens, 270 hrs[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] Medium: 100 lumens, 9.5 hrs[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] High 400 lumens 1.75 hrs[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] Max/Burst 700 lumens, 1.5 hrs

[/FONT]

 

[Illumination]

Where is the real "medium" level? The output levels don't make sense. Basically moonlight or what would have been considered until a 7 or 8 years ago scorching

 

[InvisibleFrodo]

Where is the real "medium" level? The output levels don't make sense. Basically moonlight or what would have been considered until a 7 or 8 years ago scorching

This was actually part of my motivation to get the AA light. Medium mode is 80 instead of 100. That, and the light I really want (but cannot have) is the single cell AA light, because the brightness settings will be basically cut in half, which will work really nicely. Anyone know if the bodies will ever be sold separately?

I wish I could buy Preon Mk III bodies as well, instead of having to buy a whole new light...

 

[Got Lumens?]

Good Question. I'm sure they may come eventually. This is a new beginning, the MKIII's.
Prometheus is known for supporting new adaptations of their products in the past, and has
followed through with upgrade product offerings for FourSevens products. It boils down to
production costs. Jason want's to save us money by adding extra spare parts to an existing
manufacturers order. These spare parts orders are usually submitted simultaneously to a
production stock order to cut setup costs. We may not see availability to purchase individual
parts until, or if, they can be done cost effectively in the near future. I will ask Jason about
spare Quark parts for sale.

PS I hear You on the AA vs Lion difference of 80 vs 100. I have made a suggestion to add
back the removed fourth level from within the "L" series.

 

[sebis]

I concur, Medium should be at around 50 lumens or below. The Mini MKIII Turbo I got recently has much better spacing. I really like the Mini thus I pledged for the 16650 version. Too bad there is not a 16340 option available, like a Mini but with clicky activation.

Speaking of activation, getting in turbo mode on the Mini is a pain, hope will be much easier with the clicky switch.

To answer the earlier question about 18650, It makes quite a difference the extra width. I have in my carry rotation a Malkoff MD2 light with a Surefire Z41 tail and a Surefire EDCL2-T, guess which one is easier to carry in spite being significantly longer.

 

[spyderco monkey]

To answer the earlier question about 18650, It makes quite a difference the extra width. I have in my carry rotation a Malkoff MD2 light with a Surefire Z41 tail and a Surefire EDCL2-T, guess which one is easier to carry in spite being significantly longer.

Thats because the Malkoff is a beastly, overbuilt flashlight with much thicker metal walls in both the tube and head then the Quark series. I say this comparing my own MD2 to my Quark right now.

The Malkoff has a 25.4mm body, but an 18650 is only 18mm - that leaves ~3.7mm of metal surrounding the battery on each side aka seriously overbuilt. You could probably stop a .38 special with this thing.

The actual 2mm difference in diameter between the 16650 and 18650 is minimal. It would just mean increasing the body diameter of the Quark to the diameter of the head of the light - essentially zero impact in its carryabillity.

And 18650 compatibility would have been a gateway to the new Quark actually offering improved performance/runtime over the previous QuarkX Pro. As it stands the new Quark does not offer any appreciable increase in either runtime or brightness over the previous Quark of ~4 years ago, with the exception of the Medium mode (55lmx14hrs vs 100lmx9.5hrs). Yet this is counter ballanced by a reduction in runtime in Hight (300lmx3.2hr vs 400lmx1.75hr)...

 

[sebis]

4. I noticed that the ad copy warns against the use of 2xCR123's. CR123's were the staple of the previous Quarks, and were sued safely for the lifetime of the older company. What about this new design makes them unsafe?

5. If rechargeable batteries are required, why use the 16650 vs the 18650 battery, which is becoming the industry standard? The difference in diameter is only 2mm.

Jason has a thing against using 2 cells in his flashlights, see his postings on the matter. He may be right but one can do it safely if the cells are not mismatched and checked regularly. Unfortunately not everyone can be as careful as you and me.

For example, to my wife I only give single cell lights since she never checks the battery level. To take it further, my 6 year old is not allowed to use Li-Ion cells, only NiHM. Myself, I regularly carry a 1200 lumens Surefire EDCL2-T usually with 2 high discharge 16340 cells or Surefire CR123 depending on the circumstances. If I use primaries I check them with a pulse tester, if I use rechargeable cells I make sure to recharge often before the voltage gets too low. How many people you know (that are not flashoholics) can do this?

It is a matter of acceptable risk, I know the risk and I can manage it, but not everyone can do it safely. I also carry daily thus my level of acceptable risk may be different than most.

 

[sebis]

Thats because the Malkoff is a beastly, overbuilt flashlight with much thicker metal walls in both the tube and head then the Quark series. I say this comparing my own MD2 to my Quark right no

The Malkoff has a 25.4mm body, but an 18650 is only 18mm - that leaves ~3.7mm of metal surrounding the battery on each side aka seriously overbuilt. You could probably stop a .38 special with this thing.

The actual 2mm difference in diameter between the 16650 and 18650 is minimal. It would just mean increasing the body diameter of the Quark to the diameter of the head of the light - essentially zero impact in its carryabillity.

And 18650 compatibility would have been a gateway to the new Quark actually offering improved performance/runtime over the previous QuarkX Pro. As it stands the new Quark does not offer any appreciable increase in either runtime or brightness over the previous Quark of ~4 years ago, with the exception of the Medium mode (55lmx14hrs vs 100lmx9.5hrs). Yet this is counter ballanced by a reduction in runtime in Hight (300lmx3.2hr vs 400lmx1.75hr)...

It may have to do with the overall diameter vs wall thickness ratio, the bigger the diameter the ticker the walls thus 2 mm in extra cell diameter may translate into extra 4 mm in the overall diameter, just speculating .