fashion trend in 2009

[outdoorslight]

Everybody can imagine the flashlight fashion trend in 2009 ,high brightness,long space,multi-function,digital function?

 

[carbine15]

Fashion is for shoes and dresses.

We want lights to be small, reliable, bright, long running and simple.

Small can be achieved with small high density batteries and space efficient designs.

Reliable is a must and it means a robust design capable of submersion and drops onto concrete.

Bright and long running can be achieved with multimodes but they have to be simple and contain no modes that get in the way like strobe and SOS. Forward clickies are preferred.

So far Chinese lights (IMHO) are lacking in the reliability and simplicity categories.

 

[cruisemissile]

hmm, I don't know if I care for this one , (light above).
I have seen some super sweet lights in other threads other folks have in their collections that are shiny and sleek, and definitely have "style".
"fashion" may not be the right word. another word may be simply "design trend" much like guns have their trends, knives have their trends, etc..

 

[Fallingwater]

Fashion is for shoes and dresses.
We want lights to be small, reliable, bright, long running and simple.

Thank you. I cannot stand the fashion-centric way of seeing everything in modern society. Useful tools must be useful, not pretty to look at. It doesn't hurt if they are, but it shouldn't be a priority. I'm looking at you, Apple.

As far as flashlights are concerned, the only obvious trend will be to make them brighter and longer-lasting, IMO.

 

[hippy]

I think the "Marketing Focus" will shift towards higher CRI LEDs.

and I didn't even use the word fashion.:nana:

 

[Search]

My PD30 is almost too small. It's the smallest I would go so I really hope that they don't start going 800 lumen key rings

 

[AA6TZ]

My PD30 is almost too small. It's the smallest I would go so I really hope that they don't start going 800 lumen key rings.

If they do (begin distributing 800 lumen keychain lights), imagine the killing we could make in CR123 stocks. Look out Wall Street!!!

-Clive

 

[cruisemissile]

If they do (begin distributing 800 lumen keychain lights), imagine the killing we could make in CR123 stocks. Look out Wall Street!!!

-Clive

speakng of wall street-actually, despite this crappy stock market, CREE (the company of course) has posted solid earnings, as you can imagine.
they are publicly traded, their ticker symbol is CREE.

 

[L.E.D.]

Reliable is a must and it means a robust design capable of submersion and drops onto concrete.

Bright and long running can be achieved with multimodes but they have to be simple and contain no modes that get in the way like strobe and SOS. Forward clickies are preferred.

So far Chinese lights (IMHO) are lacking in the reliability and simplicity categories.

Wrong, IMHO. (Fenix TK20)

 

[Search]

Wrong, IMHO. (Fenix TK20)

I don't think anyone can really argue the reliability of American vs Foreign. Not on a broad viewpoint.

You would have to break it down into Company vs. Company and even then some foreign manufactures are making solid lights.

Quick example:

Fenix vs. Surefire

Both have great customer service (Surfire themselves and Fenix-Store/4sevens)

Both are reliable.

We could go on and on.

I like them all I want everything.

I don't think anyone can really imagine what 2009 has to offer. The P7 has everyone jumping and who knows what else CREE has coming. There might be some revolutionary breakthrough that puts LED's into extinction.

Fenix's new TK40 has some people going nuts. 18650 needs to be better regulated IMO. Hopefully lights and batteries will evolve into products that makes me sad when I hold my current lights.

I am grabbing an extra large popcorn and waiting to see what I will blow my money on this year.

 

[StarHalo]

Everybody can imagine the flashlight fashion trend in 2009 ,high brightness,long space,multi-function,digital function?

The flashlight in your sigline is a bit too yin and not enough yang. We want less Lv Yan and more Jet Li. What flashlight would Jet Li use?

 

[Kiessling]

Jet Li can see in the dark. He needs no stinkin' flashlight

As to "fashion" ... I don't care that much. Liek others, I'd like to see some function. Don't mind if it looks cool though.

bernie

 

[Gunner12]

I'm hoping for a seemingly simple but powerful UI, something like:

Knob, click to turn on(forward clickie or like the switch used in the Novatac, Liteflux, HDS lights). Twist the knob to change the output or mode depending on setup of light. Double press and hold for strobe or something like that so strobe is out of the way. When in strobe, twist to change frequacy or output depending on setup. Initial output depends on setup too. Can be preset to start on one output, start on previous output, or so on.

 

[carbine15]

Form follows function. If you make a simple, durable, functional light, it follows that it will have great form; timeless form that wont go out of fashion.

 

[Mike Painter]

There might be some revolutionary breakthrough that puts LED's into extinction.

That's most unlikely.
What is likely is that technology from other areas will get to the LED world and improve them considerably.
It's known that putting nano holes in LEDS lets more light escape so you get a "free" boost.
Putting the holes in is the problem.
Last year IBM announced a method for developing chips that essentially solved that problem.

Holy LEDS Batman, that's bright.

 

[Federal LG]

The new Icon Rogue light, in that "slimeball green" color, definitely is a fashion light! :naughty:

 

[Search]

That's most unlikely.
What is likely is that technology from other areas will get to the LED world and improve them considerably.
It's known that putting nano holes in LEDS lets more light escape so you get a "free" boost.
Putting the holes in is the problem.
Last year IBM announced a method for developing chips that essentially solved that problem.

Holy LEDS Batman, that's bright.

That is awsome. I was just saying though. I personally think LED's have a lot more capabilities. We just have to figure it out.

 

[tebore]

Maybe someone (SF?) will finally bring to market (actually "buy-able") pocket sized (1x123) U2 with a max of 400-500lms, U2 ring and for fun throw in focus-ablity.

The trend right now, is companies trying to achieve the above but they haven't put it all in the one package.

 

[Outdoors Fanatic]

LEDs will be surpassed by a totally new light emitting source, with the CRI of a high-quality xenon bulb and the surface brightness of a HID lamp. Now we just need to invent a spaceship capable of travelling to other galaxies in order to find such advanced source... :nana:

 

[MonkRX]

Fashion Trend?
My Prediction:

I see multi-Die emitters ((with most multi-die lights using either the MC-E or SSC P7) boasting higher efficiency and higher max output than their single die counterparts).... being used in many EDC-sized flashlights. By the end of 2009, I expect MC-E/SSC P7 P3D sized/P2D sized lights to be available around $60-70USD (from a well-backed reputable brand).

Maybe, though not likely, we'll see a trend moving towards manufaturers finding the perfect "medium" mode for EDC lights. We all know the MC-E/P7 is capable of well over 600 lumens... But we also know that too much energy is lost to heat at higher drive levels.. I see arguements such as "X light is better because it offers a 250lm medium mode, which is better than Y light's 375lm mode. The difference in output isn't noticeable, but you'll get "X" more minutes of runtime if you use X light instead of Y".


Cree's XR-E will still find it's place in thrower based lights, along with it's niche in the bargin priced lights at DX and Kai. I *can* almost see Cree XR-E's pills (for various thrower lights such as the DBS or Tiablo A10) being heavily discounted if purchased with an MC-E, but I don't see it

I believe the community as a whole will begin venturing into higher CRI LEDs. Although I believe we won't see a major breakthrough in color rendition until far into 2010 (and when I say breakthrough, I don't mean a "solution to ican"). We'll stay on the path of "Lets keep buying lower color temperature bins at the cost of flux bins..."..

Worst case sceneario is that we'll begin to see two (or more) different LED's with similar CRI's with totally different .. err.. outputs.. color rendition? Basically what I'm saying is one LED will lack light in the cyan region while the other has good cyan output... they'll end up having similar CRI numbers but in real world useage they'll prove to be totally different lights. One may lack depth perception while the other one shows reds more, etc..


I see no major changes in optics. No major changes in interface or body designs. However, I do think we'll start to see single mode, forward clicky lights beginning to disappear. Sad really . I think most flashlights will become multi mode (which I personally HATE). But many manufacturers will keep the "modes" short. (2-4 modes?).


Anyway, those are my predictions.


I do want a AAA MC-E light. It would make a very efficient light.