Designing an LED flashlight for Kickstarter

[campingnut]

+1
Honesty and transparency is a good trait!

I love hearing about the journey...the honesty and transparency just make me want to buy one even more. Keep up the great work.

 

[jashhash]

I would like to keep you all informed with the progress of this project including the difficulties, that way you all know I haven't forgotten and abandoned this project, also you know when there are any complications that occur. I also appreciate the input of the community here for their advice since there is no better way in developing a product these days than to be in constant communication with a group of expert customers. I think of CPF as a massive think-tank upon which the entire future of the flashlight market is directed. In 2004 I joined this community and at that time there were just a few flashlight companies which had already established an excellent reputation namely Surefire, Pelican, and Maglite (among others). However since then these companies have been far surpassed by new flashlight companies such as Fenix who founded their businesses through a close relationship with the CPF community. It's because Fenix was honest and transparent with the CPF community that they earned respect here and built a strong reputation here. My goal is to follow this example in developing the Firefly and perhaps other flashlights.

 

[Wolfy1776]

CPF is a great resource for a flashlight community. We are a educated community dedicated to the development of a better flashlight. I consider CPF the perfect focus group. Big name companion pay BIG bucks for this type of feedback.

I also look forward to your progress reports I feel more emotionally connected to a product because of your stories and challenges.

 

[jashhash]

The first post has been updated now with more current information.

FYI I've decided to remove a few optional ideas which were additionally discussed here in this thread. First of all I'm deciding not to make the LiIon charging case as part of the packaging. I feel like building a charger exposes me to a lot of liability if anything were to go wrong, also most people who own Lithium Ion batteries already have a charger. Secondly I'm removing the titanium nitride coating option since this will add too much complexity to the project at this point. Copper and fancy coatings may be offered later on if this flashlight meets my funding goal on kickstarter.

 

[akhyar]

Excellent update on the 1st page.

 

[KuanR]

Superb update and great details.

When the production run comes I'll go for the titanium with tritium and clip.

In the mean time the ss version will be put through its paces and I'll try everything to find weaknesses and flaws!

 

[jdboy]

Excellent job on the update and I'm looking forward to a Ti, Trit, and Clip version of this!!

EDIT: The black aluminum version with trits and a clip is really looking nice as well though!!

 

[Overclocker]

it needs a better user-interface. the quark or eagtac D25 heat-tight head-loose is good, and doesn't require additional side buttons

 

[snowlover91]

I like the UI seems simple and easy enough. Is there memory to this or will it always start back at the lowest mode?

 

[jashhash]

The UI is 4 modes starting in the lowest brightness going up to the highest. There is no memory so it will always default to the firefly mode.

 

[jashhash]

Alright folks,

I received a new LED driver today and put together another flashlight assembly. I discovered the source of the short now, it wasn't the solder pads like I had once thought, actually the short is caused by the reflector back making contact with the 4 front corners of the XM-L2 LED, apparently the front corners of this LED are electrically active. To resolve this I used tape to electrically isolate the reflector. I have 3 more LED drivers which will be hopefully coming in the mail tomorrow. Henry at Manker lights made a slight tweak to this driver again to get the firefly mode even lower, I would say the light output now on firefly mode is between .3lm to .5lm (with all battery types). I would like to send out this first sample to Gunga tomorrow for review. Here is a photo of what Gunga's samples look like, note that the switch boot is still glow-in-the-dark green though I will be having a batch of black ones made for the kickstarter campaign, so this is a slight difference between the prototype and final product. Gunga will also receive a dummy light with a titanium clip bolted on so he can review the clip for the CPF community as well.

 

[Megatrowned]

Oooo! That looks real nice! :twothumbs Nice pic with the tritium as well! I can't wait to hear some feedback about them from Gunga and the other testers.

 

[easilyled]

Watching this with great interest. Very nice looking light which appears to be well thought out. I'm awaiting the reviews eagerly. :thumbsup:

 

[Roger Sully]

OK Now i'm officially excited! Those are some nice lights and the price points seem ridiculously reasonable....to a flashaholic anyway..

 

[SVT-ROY]

I have been following this light along, and although I'm a TAC guy(high mode first). I'm falling in love with this beautiful light. Not a fan of how the clip looks, but not one product on the planet makes every consumer happy. Although I'm sure it functions well, this is a light for looks.
I just just re read the first posting and it states "reverse clicky". Please tell me this is a forward clicky and I'm just fried and need sleep.

 

[gunga]

I look forward to checking this light out!

 

[reppans]

it needs a better user-interface. the quark or eagtac D25 heat-tight head-loose is good, and doesn't require additional side buttons

Just don't come back into the US and SF won't be able to touch you

 

[nfetterly]

Looking forward to my review sample as well.

 

[rickyro]

I am really interested with the option of titanium without tritium with clip. How to be listed/qualified in that 50 pcs ($135) only?


I don't know sure about it. But the GITD green rubber I saw before looked a bit cheap to me compared to the normal black ones. And I like the rubber of McClick very most.

 

[gunga]

This looks like a standard 14mm boot. It should be easy to change if you want another colour.