Hogokansatsukan
Flashlight Enthusiast
wacbzz is absolutely correct.
Expectations. Everyone has different expectations and thoughts on what should be.
In regards to HDS, the only actual expectations that matter... are Henry's. He does the QC.
Now, if someone is looking for a light to wrap in an expensive diaper and carefully carry in their pocket and pull out the bauble to impress friends with the jewelry like constructions... HDS is a non starter. Even in the limited metal runs. Run away from HDS.
If one wants to impress others with shear raw output for 5 to 10 seconds... again, steer clear from HDS.
If you want to throw it in the back of a pickup truck with a load of bricks then drive like a maniac (Note: Anyone driving faster than yourself is a maniac and anyone driving slower than yourself is an idiot.) then dig it out from under the pile of bricks and have it still work, then HDS is perhaps the light you want. That is pretty much what Henry cares about in a nutshell. The thing has to work... no matter what. This comes from his caving, which is something he continues to do.
Now, I can't publish Henry's and my conversations publicly. I would be banned from the internet... and may have flash-bangs go off in my living room in the middle of night. But a few things I will share. When someone complains about a slightly off-center emitter (this does not effect the beam), we would usually joke by saying "look at the emitter... turn the tail to the high position... now turn the light on. Is the emitter still off center?" Kind of the same thing with dust on the reflectors, "cracks" on the reflector, which are actually the machining marks on the reflector that were supposed to come through the vapor deposition, and a whole host of other "issues" that HDS never considered issues, and in some cases, were supposed to be there.
The basic thing to remember is that the light was designed specifically to fill a need. The need was not that Henry was short on cash and thought he would design a light to make a billion dollars and retire (which is a good thing as he has failed miserably if that was his goal). It wasn't even the desire to start a business. It was all about caving and Henry's love of going into a pre-made grave.
So basically, Henry's expectations of what a perfect light is, probably doesn't mesh with a lot of flashaholics. There are no white walls in caves. You don't use the light 2 inches from what you are trying to see, and it doesn't matter if you can feel the contact fingers running over the circuit board when you adjust the light strapped on the side of your helmet.
Now, all that being said, and while I do agree with Henry's philosophy on this... that the number one thing with an HDS must be reliability... I'm sort of a... lobbyist. Not in slimy and corrupt DC way, but in that I take what I read (not all) and try to get Henry to... ack... make some changes that don't necessarily correspond to the HDS core philosophy... Like a centered emitters, moving back to OP reflectors (if nothing else, it eats up less time explaining in emails that the "cracked" reflector is supposed to be like that), and something like the 5th generation of rotary tail (while the initial complaints of "grittiness" where when Henry redesigned it to make it more... robust. Speaking of which, I should state we are holding the 18650 Rotary tubes for about 4 weeks... because Henry want's to use his new and improved circuit board in them that will make them more robust and smoother in operation. Blame me. When he brought it up to me and asked what I thought last Monday, I told him to delay shipping them until those new boards came in. My fault. Not Henry's. You can direct your hate and discontent at me.
So yep, this is what you will find in the HDS corner of the internet. In other pockets of the internet, you will find different thoughts and opinions, and a whole lot of speculation... 99% of it wrong. I know. I don't post in many other forums, but I lurk there.
Expectations. Everyone has different expectations and thoughts on what should be.
In regards to HDS, the only actual expectations that matter... are Henry's. He does the QC.
Now, if someone is looking for a light to wrap in an expensive diaper and carefully carry in their pocket and pull out the bauble to impress friends with the jewelry like constructions... HDS is a non starter. Even in the limited metal runs. Run away from HDS.
If one wants to impress others with shear raw output for 5 to 10 seconds... again, steer clear from HDS.
If you want to throw it in the back of a pickup truck with a load of bricks then drive like a maniac (Note: Anyone driving faster than yourself is a maniac and anyone driving slower than yourself is an idiot.) then dig it out from under the pile of bricks and have it still work, then HDS is perhaps the light you want. That is pretty much what Henry cares about in a nutshell. The thing has to work... no matter what. This comes from his caving, which is something he continues to do.
Now, I can't publish Henry's and my conversations publicly. I would be banned from the internet... and may have flash-bangs go off in my living room in the middle of night. But a few things I will share. When someone complains about a slightly off-center emitter (this does not effect the beam), we would usually joke by saying "look at the emitter... turn the tail to the high position... now turn the light on. Is the emitter still off center?" Kind of the same thing with dust on the reflectors, "cracks" on the reflector, which are actually the machining marks on the reflector that were supposed to come through the vapor deposition, and a whole host of other "issues" that HDS never considered issues, and in some cases, were supposed to be there.
The basic thing to remember is that the light was designed specifically to fill a need. The need was not that Henry was short on cash and thought he would design a light to make a billion dollars and retire (which is a good thing as he has failed miserably if that was his goal). It wasn't even the desire to start a business. It was all about caving and Henry's love of going into a pre-made grave.
So basically, Henry's expectations of what a perfect light is, probably doesn't mesh with a lot of flashaholics. There are no white walls in caves. You don't use the light 2 inches from what you are trying to see, and it doesn't matter if you can feel the contact fingers running over the circuit board when you adjust the light strapped on the side of your helmet.
Now, all that being said, and while I do agree with Henry's philosophy on this... that the number one thing with an HDS must be reliability... I'm sort of a... lobbyist. Not in slimy and corrupt DC way, but in that I take what I read (not all) and try to get Henry to... ack... make some changes that don't necessarily correspond to the HDS core philosophy... Like a centered emitters, moving back to OP reflectors (if nothing else, it eats up less time explaining in emails that the "cracked" reflector is supposed to be like that), and something like the 5th generation of rotary tail (while the initial complaints of "grittiness" where when Henry redesigned it to make it more... robust. Speaking of which, I should state we are holding the 18650 Rotary tubes for about 4 weeks... because Henry want's to use his new and improved circuit board in them that will make them more robust and smoother in operation. Blame me. When he brought it up to me and asked what I thought last Monday, I told him to delay shipping them until those new boards came in. My fault. Not Henry's. You can direct your hate and discontent at me.
So yep, this is what you will find in the HDS corner of the internet. In other pockets of the internet, you will find different thoughts and opinions, and a whole lot of speculation... 99% of it wrong. I know. I don't post in many other forums, but I lurk there.
