Project Africa: Easiest Way To Make Durable 4-Foot Long Flashlight

[smokelaw1]

What about: http://www.sabob.com/products/28_LED_Baseball_Bat_Flashlight.html

 

[borrower]

FWIW, the baseball bat linked above is about half the price at DX, sku 91578. (If you don't know about DX customer service, do read up before ordering.)

Anyway, my only thought to offer is that I'd try to group bundles of batteries in 3S, and then isolate them so that the weight of the battery set above can't impact the batteries below. I conjured up a mental image of a U section with a cover, so you'd end up with a square-ish stick.

I don't know how you'd wire/switch it, but you could run your "ordinary" lighting needs off one of the battery bundles, then switch to a different driver/led that picked up all the bundles in parallel for supernova.

Good luck!

 

[ToyTank]

For strength I think the Water pipe is harder but you'd be best to test them out side by side in a Hardware store if at all possible.

A P60 module I think is still a good fit and easy to get XM-L with high voltage drivers that put out 700+ Lumens. I'd not use a stock mag light engine they are poor. Like I've said before a Malkoff C drop in may work just fine.

I'd get Lifepo4 A123 26650 cells, cotton pickers 5V solar panel and 4sevens charger instead of running primaries. Good for 2000+ cycles and very abuse tolerant.

I'm trying to help with what you are after, but I agree I don't see the practical side of this light. I'd prefer a large wrecking or wonder bar with SC600 strapped to it.(regular white film can fits perfectly over SC600 to make your lantern)

If you want better throw than a P60 module can provide than you will need a larger reflector and head to house it or an aspheric lens.

Edit: Um I think it is against the rules to link directly to dealers like a couple people have done. I know I've had links pulled in discussions like this.

 

[fiberguy]

For strength I think the Water pipe is harder but you'd be best to test them out side by side in a Hardware store if at all possible.

You may be right. From a little Google time, it looks like galvanized rigid conduit is very very similar to schedule 40 water pipe. If you can find 1" pipe that is thicker than schedule 40, you would probably have more strength (although the increased wall thickness and/or weight could present a new issue..)

I agree that going to the store (and maybe even buying one of each) to test would be ideal. It would also be pretty fun IMO.

In addition, the water pipe has a weld seam on the inside making it less smooth. This seam is not in rigid conduit because the conduit is designed to have cables pulled through it. The seam could snag and/or damage cables. This seam may change the ID a little, so before actually buying a piece to use for my stick/light, I'd bring a battery along to the store and make sure it slides smoothly through the entire pipe. Regardless, I imagine this seam would make battery damage a bit more likely given the right scenario. If the conduit meets the strength, I'd personally probably lean that way.

 

[FPSRelic]

If it were me, I'd machine the end of a steel bar with a thread to take an ASP Triad Baton light. As others have pointed out, a hollow tube is weaker than a solid one. You could hollow out a little extra at the flashlight end of a spare battery or two. Not the best option based on what your wish list is, but a benefit is that you could remove the baton light as use it as a regular light for when you're not roaming the wilds of Africa. Justa thought.

 

[ToyTank]

the water pipe has a weld seam on the inside making it less smooth

Great point something I never considered and should have I have my hands on both types of pipe quite often. That is a rather big bead.

I install equipment for communication companies we use enameled(heavy duty paint) water pipe for top support and for alignment of 11' equipment racks. I also install some AC circuits in rigid galvanized steel conduit but usually I use normal EMT or MC. I'm not sure why but the water pipe FEELS much stronger but I've never stuck it in my conduit bender to see if I can bend it.

They(config authors) also tell us galvanized pipe is weaker not sure due to the steel used or the thick zinc coat. I little googling though I could not find anything to support that.

 

[cbbuff]

I'm no expert on lights, but I do complex Product Development for my profession. If we are going to be scientific about this, you need to list your requirements first and then try to design to meet them. You seem to be too focused on design before settling on a firm set of requirements. Also, if this is serious, take the time to help us understand your usage in more detail, if you can. A lack of knowledge of its application will yield poorer results.

For instance, you seem convinced that you need a lot of batteries. You don't need batteries, you need your light to have "X" Power and "Y" Run time. Your battery needs will be derived from that (and perhaps other factors). If it is storage, why does it have to be in the light as opposed to a backpack or pocket?

Also, I have not heard why a separate light will not meet your requirements. Are you sure that using a 10lb, 4 ft light is workable for what you need (ie. can you aim it reliably in what sounds like a stressful situation?).

You have described the form factor well - length, weight, rigidity, etc, including examples of it's usage. What do you need in your light?

• Lumens
• Throw distance
• UI Functions - You mentioned a low setting for walking around and a Max setting for defense (you mention 1 sec, then you say 5 secs, which do you need?). Then you mentioned a 360 light. What is this? What about strobes? Again, I think better details on the Use Case are needed.
• Battery life
• Reliability
• Etc.

BTW, is this upcoming book at all similar to "The Mismeasure of Man" by S.J. Gould? I read this in an Honors class in Primate Behavior many years ago that I loved.

 

[cbbuff]

Another Thought-

If the max setting is for defense from animals, why not pepper spray? It seems more reliable than light as an animal deterrent. Or perhaps both in combination: Big stick, powerful headlamp, pepper spray.

 

[fyrstormer]

Gosh, that's not what I was doing at all. I'm sitting here with pages and pages of notes on my desk from all the posts, 40+ websites bookmarked, and original designs that I've modified like 10 different ways from the suggestions. Plus, I've thanked people when they given a great idea. Plus, I've offered royalty rewards if these ever gets into production.

I feel like it's a good idea to interact with people -- and possibly make some mistakes myself along the way -- before coming to an educated decision. Am I wrong in this approach? PM me and tell me how I could be better for you, because my goal is to tease out genius and innovation . . . not to encourage doors being closed on my fingers. I already get those bitten enough.

No need to PM. You don't need to be "better for me", whatever that means. All you need to do is acknowledge the validity of the expertise you're receiving from people here.

AnAppleSnail brought up a couple good points I didn't think of before: what do you think will happen when you bang the end of your flashlight-stick against the ground over and over, while you're using it as a walking-stick, and the battery at the bottom of the stack has to endure the impact of 23 other batteries slamming down on top of it? Do you think the battery at the bottom will retain its structural integrity for long? Not likely. And what do you think will happen when the battery at the top bounces around enough that a small hole gets scraped in the plastic wrapper, and its metal shell contacts the interior of the metal tube, providing a short-circuit path for the 23 other batteries in the light? Do you want to be holding this thing in your hand when it shorts-out and cells start popping? Also not likely.

Even if most of the cells are contained in a storage-pod at the bottom of the stick, these problems will still happen -- the bottom cell will still get smashed by the impact of cells above it every time it hits the ground, and the top cell will still provide a short-circuit path for all the other cells if/when the plastic wrapped gets damaged.

There are lots of flashlight experts here and they've been experimenting for years. The reason a 4-foot-long walking-stick/flashlight doesn't exist yet isn't because nobody's thought of it, it's because they have thought of it and already concluded the problems are not worth the trouble.