HDS around the World (PICS)

[tech25]

Thanks Hondo, always nice to see the history behind awesome flashlight makers!

 

[Bullzeyebill]

Hondo, :twothumbs.

Bill

 

[bykfixer]

Post 214 was EPPPPIIIICCCCC!

Thanks.

 

[ncgrass]

^^^ what bykfixer said.

Just got my first HDS a couple of months ago. Bought second hand in basically as new condition. Immediately became daily carry and used constantly.

Thanks for that informative and well written history lesson. Always good to know where it came from. Cheers!

 

[_nw]

Thank you for the entertaining and informative read Hondo!

 

[PoliceScannerMan]

Nice Hondo!

 

[Lithium466]

Thank you for the story Hondo. I see you forgot the Arc part of this story, I would very much hear that part 😉
Cheers!

 

[Hondo]

Oooh, good catch Lithium, I said I kept going back to add details, but Arc is really relevant to the HDS story.

Between the solo project of the Action Light and the first EDC series, Henry had teamed up with Peter Gransee, owner of Arc Flashlight, LLC in 2001. While the greatest volume of Arc's were the later AAA twisty lights, the project that existed only because of Henry's presence, was the LS series, and finally the Arc4/Arc4+ before Arc folded (for the first time) in 2004. Peter resurrected the company as MTD LLC, and focused on the fixed level, AAA keychain lights, and only went out of business earlier this year (2016). But back to Henry - he invented the first programmable LED flashlight in the Arc LS (Luxeon Star, the state of the art LED back then). So while the current generation lights represent an evolution that resolves (mostly brutal durability) shortcomings of the original EDC's and Novatac lights, the original Basic/Ultimate EDC was likewise a massive upgrade (more functional and reliability than just durability) from the Arc series.

I updated the above manifesto with the Henry-centric portion of this important step in the birth of the HDS flashlight.

 

[Lithium466]

Nice, thank you 🙂
Let's forget the ugliness of the parting between Henry and Peter, time has passed and it has never been worth it.

 

[scout24]

HDS 200lm HCRI Rotary in Rothrock State Forest, Huntingdon County, Pa. Opening day of rifle season for deer. Came in handy for bringing in firewood at camp, midnight latrine runs, and the long walk in to stand in the morning.

 

[Tejasandre]

4000 k rotary. Outarville , France.

 

[Lithium466]

Nice light. Did you bore the reflector, or are you just using thicker o-rings?
Be careful not to drop it in a pit of stinking cheese 😀

 

[Tejasandre]

Nothing bored. Stock orings. Mmmm, stinky cheese.

 

[Lithium466]

How is it possible? Is the beam affected by the clip then?

 

[Tejasandre]

Beam not affected, as far as I can tell. The clip is pretty thin.

 

[emarkd]

My HCri200 Rotary hanging out in the Bahamas several months ago.

And I did replace the original front o-ring with something a bit thicker to accommodate the clip. It doesn't affect the beam when installed on this "side" of the reflector, but it did make my lens slightly loose due to the extra space. Easy to fix with an o-ring swap.

 

[PoliceScannerMan]

Ha ha I've been in that little port. Good times.

 

[nbp]

@emarkd - is it a camera angle thing or do you have enormous hands? Haha. I consider HDS to be pretty big for a 1x123 and it looks small in your mitt!

 

[emarkd]

Lol, I think it's mostly a perspective trick, although I'm definitely not a small person.

 

[slumber]

Here is my recently acquired (thanks Rstype!) HCRI Rotary 140 3000K XP-G2, keeping it warm in front of The Alamo.