Icon lights still in business?

[novice]

I'm not trying to start any rumors, but I haven't been able to connect to their website (myiconlight.com), for close to a week, and there have been several unbelievably good sale prices lately at different places lately. Has anyone heard anything?

[Ezeriel]

I'm not trying to start any rumors, but I haven't been able to connect to their website (myiconlight.com), for close to a week, and there have been several unbelievably good sale prices lately at different places lately. Has anyone heard anything?

I wouldn't be surprised.... what makes surefire, "surefire" is the name.. no one ever heard of "Icon"

The rogue 2 is a 100 lumen 2aa light with a 3 hour runtime...


You can get twice that runtime from an LD22; the Icons won't be missed.

[mikekoz]

I own two Rogues, and two Rogue 2's. They are great lights and I would miss them! They are one of the last brands of quality lights you can buy in brick and mortar stores. Maybe THE last since Target stopped selling Inovas.

[soloz2]

I too would be discappointed if Icon is no longer around. I picked up two rogue 2's on woot a few weeks back and love them! They were my first non-maglight 'good' flashlights. Having a good light handy got me looking for an EDC and I remembered that I had a maglite solitaire. I started carrying it and now have a fenix ld01 r4 on the way.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

[Retinator]

Maybe they have new models and are redoing the site? I like their asthetics. Specs are nothing special, but they work good, look good too.

[novice]

I don't know a lot about this, but isn't it possible to prepare webpages off-line, and then make the changeover fairly quickly? I got my Woot order recently, too. The Rogue 1 still has the lanyard, but the Rogue 2 doesn't, and has a slightly higher high, and looks rounder, with less 'sharp' edges. No lanyard for either Modus. I should have gotten more IRIX 1&2 headlamps.

[HotWire]

I have one of the first Icon lights and find the switch easy to use and the light sufficient. If you can find one, buy it.

[AardvarkSagus]

Wow. I didn't know they were even close to going out. I'll have to check with my contacts (read: PK) and see what I can find out.

[ChrisGarrett]

I like my green Rogue 1. It's not the brightest, it's not the smallest and it's not the most sophisticated, but I love the looks!

$18 from B.J., so I can't complain.

Chris

[mikekoz]

I don't know a lot about this, but isn't it possible to prepare webpages off-line, and then make the changeover fairly quickly? I got my Woot order recently, too. The Rogue 1 still has the lanyard, but the Rogue 2 doesn't, and has a slightly higher high, and looks rounder, with less 'sharp' edges. No lanyard for either Modus. I should have gotten more IRIX 1&2 headlamps.

Both Rogues used to come with a very nicely made lanyard. Evidently, they made some slight changes to the later production models and also stopped incuding the lanyard with the light.

[mikekoz]

I just remembered that they make the coolest looking 2AAA light I own! The two mode Icon Solo! A good place to start looking for these in stores right now is Radio Shack. They have several models on closeout. They are not marked down as low as some of the online deals some of you got, but they are easy access!!

[Abbot]

: Even with the minor issues, it has a very unique design for a 2xAA light that I like.
There is a sizeable difference between high and low mode which is a plus.
Buy one!

[AardvarkSagus]

Official word is "No" they aren't closing up shop. Everything else has to be classified with a no comment. Good news though that they are still going to stick around.

[novice]

Thanks for getting back to us with the offical word, AardvarkSagus!

[Burgess]

Hmmm . . . .


The cynic in me sez:


this NO means YES.



_



UPDATE - 10/04/2012 . . . .

Yep !

The cynic in me was Absolutely Correct ! ! !




_

[gorn]

Interesting. It's now October and the Icon web page is still MIA. I have an Irix headlamp that is about 3 weeks old. It worked great up until today. It just quit powering on. I changed out the eneloop for a fresh one and then tried a nonrecharable AA, still nothing. I got this thing at a great price, but it won't be so great if I have no way to get it repaired under it's 1 year warranty.

[gorn]

I called Surefire to see if they could give me some contact info for Icon. They told me that Icon has been shut down. So, if you are like me and bought lots of Icon lights recently from WOOT you should cross your fingers that all the lights aren't as poorly made as this one was. I'm hoping this falls into the electronics burn in failures. I can accept that. So far I've had no other problems with the other Icons I have used.

[fresh eddie fresh]

When Icons first started going on sale I bought a Rogue 1 and 2 from Micro Center to check them out... they were nice, but I ended up giving them away to people. I just recently replaced them with a Rogue 1 and a Modus 1 for glove compartment use. Really good lights for the price... I like the Rogue 1 much better than the Modus, though. The Modus is more comfortable in hand, but the Rogues have a better beam.

I wouldn't be surprised.... what makes surefire, "surefire" is the name.. no one ever heard of "Icon"

...and no one heard of Surefire (or Laser Products) when they first came out either. They built a following over time.

the Icons won't be missed.

For me it is sad when any flashlight company goes out of business, whether I own any of their lights or not. I really like flashlights, so I think having a variety and lots of choices is a good thing. If there were only one or two flashlight companies out there, I'm sure this forum would not be around!

[Burgess]

If there were only one or two flashlight companies out there,
I'm sure this forum would not be around!

Well . . . .

There are Only Two makers of Swiss Army Knives out there,
and yet they still have a forum.



_

[stp]

Well . . . .

There are Only Two makers of Swiss Army Knives out there,
and yet they still have a forum.



_

Not really, Wenger had financial problems and currently belongs to Victorinox AFAIK. So it makes it just one maker

[fyrstormer]

Icons were unspecial in every possible way. I had one for a while, and I was so unimpressed I threw it away. It was like an E1L with cheaper construction, a lumpier beam profile, and an inferior battery.

[fresh eddie fresh]

Well . . . .

There are Only Two makers of Swiss Army Knives out there,
and yet they still have a forum.



_

Not really, Wenger had financial problems and currently belongs to Victorinox AFAIK. So it makes it just one maker

I stand corrected!

[jamesmtl514]

I would like to see PK take this closing as an opportunity to build really cool lights like we saw of his surefire prototypes.

I won't miss Icon

[F250XLT]

I never saw anything from Icon, that made me even consider buying anything from them. It's no surprise to me that they no longer exist.

[Vox Clamatis in Deserto]

Icons were unspecial in every possible way. I had one for a while, and I was so unimpressed I threw it away. It was like an E1L with cheaper construction, a lumpier beam profile, and an inferior battery.

I would like to see PK take this closing as an opportunity to build really cool lights like we saw of his surefire prototypes.

I won't miss Icon

This does beg the question of what has become of PK. A few short years ago he was prominently featured in catalogs as the genius behind SF light design.

His cult status here on CPF was remarkable:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...=1#post3855277

Has PK been sidelined to the failed Icon venture? Has he been promoted to a senior marketing strategy position in SF, no longer involved in the actual design of lights? Has he abandoned CPF because some of the SF criticism was not to his liking? Did PK and Dr. John have a parting of the ways?

I bought one of the early Icon lights at Supremeco in Hong Kong. It was a novel design but the wacky runtime plots that showed the light rapidly dropping in brightness after a few minutes did not strike me as the great innovation that others here claimed.

[WDR65]

I thought the Irix I and II headlamps were good values for the money. While their durability is suspect, especially their mounting brackets I think that the innovation behind the product was good. My opinion is that they marketed to the wrong places, putting the lights in high volume box stores like Target or Wal-Mart even would have been a good way to get the name out there. Target would probably have been the best place for them as at the time these were coming out Inova was being bought out and the shelves at Targets were getting cleaned out for the most part. Filling that gap with a reasonably priced high output light that runs on AA's might have been a good thing.

I guess we'll never know now.

[fresh eddie fresh]

This does beg the question of what has become of PK. A few short years ago he was prominently featured in catalogs as the genius behind SF light design.

His cult status here on CPF was remarkable:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...=1#post3855277

Has PK been sidelined to the failed Icon venture? Has he been promoted to a senior marketing strategy position in SF, no longer involved in the actual design of lights? Has he abandoned CPF because some of the SF criticism was not to his liking? Did PK and Dr. John have a parting of the ways?

I bought one of the early Icon lights at Supremeco in Hong Kong. It was a novel design but the wacky runtime plots that showed the light rapidly dropping in brightness after a few minutes did not strike me as the great innovation that others here claimed.

That is the way business is... people are dancing on Icon's grave because they think it will free up Paul Kim to design other lights, but when a company puts someone in charge of an offshoot company, and that company goes bust, the chances of the parent company putting him in charge of something else is pretty slim... especially since the Surefire brand is not hurting for sales right now.

I do not think Icon lights were meant for the Flashaholic market. I think they were designed for the average person who wanted a cool looking, durable light that isn't necessarily concerned with tint, or beam profile and runs on batteries they can steal out of their remote control.

[fyrstormer]

This does beg the question of what has become of PK. A few short years ago he was prominently featured in catalogs as the genius behind SF light design...

...Has PK been sidelined to the failed Icon venture? Has he been promoted to a senior marketing strategy position in SF, no longer involved in the actual design of lights? Has he abandoned CPF because some of the SF criticism was not to his liking? Did PK and Dr. John have a parting of the ways?

I am in no position to speak authoritatively, but it's entirely possible "PK" has moved on to other challenges, having essentially invented the tactical-flashlight and seen it become a successful business.

[Steve-at-Springboard]

When I first saw the Modus I light, it didn't look like a flashlight! It looked like a holder for a roll of toilet tissue with, possibly, a scent dispenser inside (not a bad idea). Worked OK for what it was but, didn't appeal to anyone. I liked the carabiner/flashlight combo but never found a good source for them.

[moerush04]

Ace Hardware still carries Inova brand lights. They have a couple X6 UV lights on the shelf. Is this a surprise to anyone out there is my question?

I bought the SOLO 2AAA penlight from Radio Shack and while it is not impressive from a flashaholics prospective, it was solely bought for appearance, and a decent backup. There is a case to be made for a sub $20 light that you do not worry about loosing. It still impresses me more than any 2AAA Mag-Lite that is out there. Though I have to give Mag-Lite credit, they finally seem to be wising up and moving past the 1980's technology and breaking into the multi-mode, regulated modern light market.