MBI #3 - Codename: HF

[Cataract]

That zoomhead looks very nice on the ring! Cataract, why's that? Do Panda's like zoom flashlights? Or are they stealing cars now? Who knew? They look so cute and innocent!

D³

A panda eats about 45 kilos of bamboo a day. Gotta watch where you leave your keys...

 

[onthelake]

I just ordered a red HF-R with a Nichia! Very excited!

(I wasn't given the option to leave a comment during my Paypal checkout, btw. I wanted to leave my CPF handle.)

Your going to love it. My red HF-R is always in my change pocket no matter where I am. It is the handiest little light. For what it's worth, the three position switch is the way to go, as most times the lowest low is all that is necessary.

Btw, great to see you back on CPF Colonel! Are you getting much use from that non aspherical king of throw?

 

[kaichu dento]

Watch out for Pandas BTW...

Unfortunately, no pandas where Guy is...

 

[sassaquin]

Your going to love it. My red HF-R is always in my change pocket no matter where I am. It is the handiest little light. For what it's worth, the three position switch is the way to go, as most times the lowest low is all that is necessary.

My HF-R Red (Nichia) with the new three-mode switch arrived last week and it has been in my pocket ever since. I find the new switch so much smoother and fluid compared to the two-mode switch on my HF copper and, like onthelake said, most times the lowest low is all that is necessary. It is especially practical for me since I primarily use my lights indoors. The expanded runtime is a nice bonus too.

Tgwnn - Great job on the new switches and really looking forward to adding one of those zoom heads to my rapidly growing MBI collection. :thumbsup:

 

[Colonel Sanders]

"Btw, great to see you back on CPF Colonel! Are you getting much use from that non aspherical king of throw?"

Thanks for the warm welcome back! (Will send you a PM.)

TGWN, I appreciate the confirmation on my light last night. When you do ever have time to make lights? Some other custom light builders can't seem to answer an email or PM and rarely ever post on CPF, let alone send out personal order confirmations. I can see I will be buying a lot of lights from you.

Will you be offering one of your lights with an XP-G2 or XP-E2? I think eiter of those in a nice neutral would be a fantastic option!

 

[Cataract]

Unfortunately, no pandas where Guy is...

Shhh, the pandas don't know that...

 

[DBCstm]

For those that already have the 3 mode tail switch, is there a palpable feeling of where the mode is? Like getting near a click in the "on" position? Guess I'm so old school it's a mental thing that it needs to feel like a switch with a solid difference between off and on. Can't get used to the liquidity of the switch.

I am beginning to think like Colonel Sanders, perhaps the Torpedo would fare well with an XP-G2 emitter for the more focused throw capability and similar 500 lumens on half the amperage. (XP-G2 puts out 520 at 1.5A on the data sheet) A copper star or direct to copper pill would give higher amperage capability and probably get the XP-G2 up to over 600 lumens fairly easily at around 2A. There's a lot of excitement on how much a copper star helps bring the levels up over on Budget Light Forum, and I'm sure similar talk can be found here as well. It would appear that a copper star pcb can make a big difference by itself, and in conjunction with copper heatsinking can make a big difference in output and power handling. Just a thought.

I have an XP-E2 in a direct drive MiniMag running a single 14500 Li-ion and it's impressive! I got lucky with a nice white tint (bought 4 of the bare emitters, first one was very bluish...mis labeled apparently) Not actually using this one in a throw context, have a TIR on it with a diffusion film over the top for a nice flood of light for looking for things under the desk, in the drawers and such. This kind of output would be nice in a smaller light as well, still makes some decent heat though so that would need to be addressed for the big picture.

D³

 

[DBCstm]

I'm becoming increasingly concerned with what seems to be a universal practice...lying about what's in a package on a customs declaration. I just received 2 18650 Li-ion cells from Hong Kong. They were nicely packaged in a hard plastic case designed for 2 cells, very nicely done and bubble wrapped to boot with clear packing tape sealing the whole deal. But on the customs declaration it's stated that the contents are "Electronic Parts". No mention of the potentially dangerous cells inside. This company did go to the trouble of putting the cells in a case designed for them, and wrapped and then sealed them against water. But still, in a possible case of shifting cargo and this small package is not treated as one bearing Lithium I can see a potential for crushing and leakage in which case the possibility of a fire would be high and then all he** would break loose!

Seems to me that a small package properly labeled with Lithium content could be separated and contained for safety. With no such indication the possibilites for disaster are frightening! So what's the general thought on this universal practice of lying on the customs forms? Does this really create a bad situation or should I not worry about it? (just got a quick scare...glanced at my Cottonpickers charger with this new Panasonic cell on it and saw the word "OLE"....the charger is a right hand model and my computer is on my left, it's reading 3.70V lol )

Ahh, getting old is so much fun!

D³

 

[KuanR]

If there's enough cargo shifting in an airplane that can crush batteries, leaking batteries are the last things the pilots have to worry about as they will be dealing with much bigger issues

 

[onthelake]

For those that already have the 3 mode tail switch, is there a palpable feeling of where the mode is? Like getting near a click in the "on" position?
D³

<reaching into change pocket and checking the HF-R 3 way switch>

Hello DBCstm,

The switch is a very fluid and easy turning switch with zero detents in any of the positions. It seems to work much better than the earlier versions of the HF medium/ high switches though as their is little if any flickering. The switch also is a lot easier to turn as said previous model. I think detents would be nice as they might even give you a better contact point because the switch would stop at the perfect place for each setting-in theory.

 

[DBCstm]

Hahaha Kuan, I was digging for examples! Although, a flaming cargo hold wouldn't exactly be the LAST thing a pilot would have to worry about! I couldn't think of any other reason that labeling a package with flammable or dangerous content would be such a big deal for air travel, so I figured maybe it was shifting cargo but all the smaller packages are most likely put in containers I guess. I know stuff is smashed to no end when it's made international travel, just don't know how it happens. Like I said though, this time the cells were nicely packaged, just mis-labeled.

Thanks onthelake, nice to know about the function. Send me one of yours and I'll check it out, But seriously, either a detent for the switch or a constantly variable sensing switch like a potentiometer would be cool. Just don't know how realistic that is in a tiny light as there's not much room for adding things.

D³

 

[Cataract]

We have to ship lithium-ion batteries INSTALLED on equipment every now and then, and it is a nightmare (talking about battery packs, though). One little mistake or one forgotten check box and the package stays forever at duties before it is returned at the shipper's cost. Then they quintuple-check the next time you send the package, so it stays for weeks at customs even if everything is in order. It is extremely expensive and time-consuming, especially when comparing with the actual amount of fires that did happen - almost none. I think the main reason this new regulation has been put in place is that someone in airline regulations saw some of the videos of burning lithium batteries and got freaked out. I understand (actually I know since it's part of my job too) that airlines need to make sure things are secure, but if lithium batteries were THAT dangerous, entire cities would have burned down by now. What is going on is an imposition that is killing businesses due to an over-reaction. Yes, lithium-ion batteries over a certain size or amount definitely should be declared, but if I can send 5 flashlights with batteries installed, what makes a pack of 5 lithium-ions in a plastic box more dangerous? I think the installed batteries are much more dangerous since a self-discharging battery pretty much never catches fire on its own.

What I'm trying to say without venting too much is I think that people lie because they are losing too much business and money to unbalanced security measures.

 

[DBCstm]

I thought it would be something like that, stiff regulations making it difficult to do business. And at the end of the day, batteries are part of the electrical circuit so calling them "electronic parts" is not a bald faced lie. Unlike the company that labeled it "toy". And I can see the point. Everyone wants the lowest prices, bureacracy makes it very difficult to keep prices down. Somehow or another it always comes back to the politics. I just despise lies, been burned too many times and can't stand it when people...especially businesses...are willing to bald-faced lie to you while wearing their smile!

Tough world we live in, eh? All the more reason folks like Guy are head and shoulders above the crowd. Pleasant to do business with and you can trust he will make it right, before or AFTER the sale! Big Kudo's to our business model!

Dale

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

Shipping larger batteries is definitely something that requires some planning in terms of the product.

So far, the 10250 nukes are just fine as the weight and li content is within the boundaries of the international regulations and they are packed "installed" so to speak in the product.

I have to agree and say that the regulations are to a large degree a little to simplified as installed batteries are not necessarily safer than un-installed batteries but its cheaper than having to have 100% of all packages including batteries be inspected and packed by a licensed Hazmat shipper and perhaps an acceptable tradeoff to the IATA who needs to keep the airlines who pay its fees in business.

From this part of the world, for battery's that exceed the no-declaration required limits, they can only be shipped from a handful of post offices approved to handle them or by a private shipping company (eg. fedex, dhl, etc)

Tgwnn

 

[DBCstm]

Thanks for the input on the Li-ion issues. Wish they were more common so it'd be possible to go down to the local Battery Warehouse and pick up what's needed without the shipping issues. But, alas, we live in an imperfect world. lol

I've still got the dented AW17650 that I received in a bubble pack with no real protection around it. Don't quite know what to do with it. Some would say it's only a dent in the side, but that's kinda like saying a dent in the skull is just a dent, no big deal.

D³

 

[Cataract]

I thought it would be something like that, stiff regulations making it difficult to do business. And at the end of the day, batteries are part of the electrical circuit so calling them "electronic parts" is not a bald faced lie. Unlike the company that labeled it "toy". And I can see the point. Everyone wants the lowest prices, bureacracy makes it very difficult to keep prices down. Somehow or another it always comes back to the politics. I just despise lies, been burned too many times and can't stand it when people...especially businesses...are willing to bald-faced lie to you while wearing their smile!

Tough world we live in, eh? All the more reason folks like Guy are head and shoulders above the crowd. Pleasant to do business with and you can trust he will make it right, before or AFTER the sale! Big Kudo's to our business model!

Dale

Well said, but at least they were not lying to you; just stretching the truth for the customs

Shipping larger batteries is definitely something that requires some planning in terms of the product.

So far, the 10250 nukes are just fine as the weight and li content is within the boundaries of the international regulations and they are packed "installed" so to speak in the product.

I have to agree and say that the regulations are to a large degree a little to simplified as installed batteries are not necessarily safer than un-installed batteries but its cheaper than having to have 100% of all packages including batteries be inspected and packed by a licensed Hazmat shipper and perhaps an acceptable tradeoff to the IATA who needs to keep the airlines who pay its fees in business.

From this part of the world, for battery's that exceed the no-declaration required limits, they can only be shipped from a handful of post offices approved to handle them or by a private shipping company (eg. fedex, dhl, etc)

Tgwnn

Over-simplified is a great way to put it. My personal feeling is that they were looking for a way to limit the number of undeclared batteries, so saying "installed" automatically obliges to fill in all the forms for any spares in the box. It still hurts business like crazy, though. In the end, for your purposes, it might be cheaper and simpler to send more packages.

Perhaps you will feel the need to invent some really cheap flashlight (as in a plastic tube with 1 wire and direct-drive 5mm LED) that can take a few li-ions of various sizes and would serve as a product to install the batteries in.

Thanks for the input on the Li-ion issues. Wish they were more common so it'd be possible to go down to the local Battery Warehouse and pick up what's needed without the shipping issues. But, alas, we live in an imperfect world. lol

I've still got the dented AW17650 that I received in a bubble pack with no real protection around it. Don't quite know what to do with it. Some would say it's only a dent in the side, but that's kinda like saying a dent in the skull is just a dent, no big deal.

D³

I have a few dents on my skull and all the Doc's said it's no biggie. And they're not new by a long shot... had them for longer than I can remember breathing and still no issues.

 

[FsTop]

FYI - I've listed a Ti HF for sale in the Marketplace: http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?288678-MBI-HF-Ti-F-S

(I prefer my Aluminum version)

 

[franzdom]

Al #116, Ti #13, Cu #13

 

[climberkid]

Look at that nice tritium!

 

[the_guy_with_no_name]

I've been extremely busy the last week with non flashlight things but should be back to normal tomorrow night...

Some of the ZoomHeads (black al) here and I've been experimenting with trit & GID combos.
I've also been anodizing a few more of the HF-R Ti's so will post some photos hopefully a little later this evening.

Thanks for the input on the Li-ion issues. Wish they were more common so it'd be possible to go down to the local Battery Warehouse and pick up what's needed without the shipping issues. But, alas, we live in an imperfect world. lol

I've still got the dented AW17650 that I received in a bubble pack with no real protection around it. Don't quite know what to do with it. Some would say it's only a dent in the side, but that's kinda like saying a dent in the skull is just a dent, no big deal.

D³

Thanks Dale,

Its a complex world though I really prefer to keep things simple.

Well said, but at least they were not lying to you; just stretching the truth for the customs

Over-simplified is a great way to put it. My personal feeling is that they were looking for a way to limit the number of undeclared batteries, so saying "installed" automatically obliges to fill in all the forms for any spares in the box. It still hurts business like crazy, though. In the end, for your purposes, it might be cheaper and simpler to send more packages.

Perhaps you will feel the need to invent some really cheap flashlight (as in a plastic tube with 1 wire and direct-drive 5mm LED) that can take a few li-ions of various sizes and would serve as a product to install the batteries in.

I have a few dents on my skull and all the Doc's said it's no biggie. And they're not new by a long shot... had them for longer than I can remember breathing and still no issues.

Thank Cataract,

I think that's actually a pretty good idea (making a plastic flashlight for the sake of transporting batteries in it, though I might be able to find one at the $1 store for single AA or AAA sizes.

FYI - I've listed a Ti HF for sale in the Marketplace: http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?288678-MBI-HF-Ti-F-S

(I prefer my Aluminum version)

HI FsTop,
Best of luck with it!

Al #116, Ti #13, Cu #13

Thanks for the photo,
nice background too

Look at that nice tritium!

+1

Hoping to have a bundle of new proto's around end of the month if all goes to schedule....

Tgwnn