Most wasted effort award
- Thread starter Badbeams3
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I would have to vote for the Trek 7 or any of the other lights you have to put into a grip of death to turn on or off. When the power goes off in a thunderstorm, I don't want to have to wrestle with a light just to turn it on. When will companies start making all lights with easy to use, one handed, and most importantly, reliable switches. At first I was very excited about getting a Trek 7 because it is supposed to be one of the brightest LED lights around, but after hearing from everyone about how hard it was to turn on and off and that it took 2 hands to do it, it really put me off of it.
Brock
Flashaholic
Just a note on teh Trek 7 if you don't need it to be waterproof to 300 feet you can remove one of the "O" rings and it gets WAY easier to turn on and off. I did this and it makes the light a lot more useable. You could probably remove both "O" rings if you really want to. You can always try it and put them back on.
Brock
Brock
The_LED_Museum
*Retired*
For me, it would be the utterly useless slow-blink mode in the Pal & Pal Gold.
It isn't that bad a light, but it is quickly being overtaken... and if you really need a 9v battery in an emergency, prepare to pay up to $7 for it at the convenience store if everything else is closed.
Been there, done that, got the T-shirt thank you.
Also, with the new Pal OneStar, they changed the LED and eliminated one of the original light's saving graces: the ability to adjust the beam by flipping over the lens.
As for administering the death grip on the Trek lights, just pop out the topmost O-ring.
The light will still be waterproof to at least a reasonable number of feet, and can often be operated with one hand.
I tried a long time back with no success (the O-ring was larger), and just now tried it again with one of my new ones with the samller rings, and it works fine here.
If your Trek is really that tough to operate (as some sold by C.Crane can be) ask for the smaller gauge O-ring and that'll fix you right up.
It isn't that bad a light, but it is quickly being overtaken... and if you really need a 9v battery in an emergency, prepare to pay up to $7 for it at the convenience store if everything else is closed.
Been there, done that, got the T-shirt thank you.
Also, with the new Pal OneStar, they changed the LED and eliminated one of the original light's saving graces: the ability to adjust the beam by flipping over the lens.
As for administering the death grip on the Trek lights, just pop out the topmost O-ring.
The light will still be waterproof to at least a reasonable number of feet, and can often be operated with one hand.
I tried a long time back with no success (the O-ring was larger), and just now tried it again with one of my new ones with the samller rings, and it works fine here.
If your Trek is really that tough to operate (as some sold by C.Crane can be) ask for the smaller gauge O-ring and that'll fix you right up.
In response to my earlier post, I didn't really mean to pick on the Trek 7 in particular, but it was just one of the lights that happened to come to mind that I would have bought if not for having an inconvenient to use switching mechanism. A lot of people have also complained about the switch on the Trek 7's in that you don't always know when it is truly off or not. I guess my main point in posting is just to condemn all flashlights that have either poor quality switching mechanisms or hard to use switching mechanisms and the Trek 7 just happened to spring to mind as a light that had both problems. It just seems to me that it's kind of ridiculous that any, otherwise high-quality flashlight (and in the case of the Trek 7 high-priced!), should have a hard to use and poor quality switching mechanism. This is the 21st century after all, so how hard could it be to come by a good quality switch?
I mean, I would gladly pay an extra dollar or 2 on a light to get a good quality switch. Wouldn't you guys agree?
vcal
Flashlight Enthusiast
telephony,
suggest for any Pal light, the only way to go is with the 9.6V (actual voltage) NimH.
That way, u spend $9.60 once, and your battery concerns for that light are over. (Thomas Distributing)
suggest for any Pal light, the only way to go is with the 9.6V (actual voltage) NimH.
That way, u spend $9.60 once, and your battery concerns for that light are over. (Thomas Distributing)
mcjamison
Newly Enlightened
In terms of wasted effort, I have to wonder why CMG chose to wade into the already crowded field of Photon competitors with their O4. Granted, it might be the only one that has both a switch and water resistance, but its styling seems to add a lot of unnecessary bulk. I think they should've spent their time making a brighter Infinity, and/or a AAA Infinity.
From a business sense, perhaps the O4 choice makes sense, as the button-battery keychain light market is potentially much wider. I've bought about 30 photon lights for people over the last couple years, while usually keeping most of the more specialized flashlights to myself.
From a business sense, perhaps the O4 choice makes sense, as the button-battery keychain light market is potentially much wider. I've bought about 30 photon lights for people over the last couple years, while usually keeping most of the more specialized flashlights to myself.
Well, what I hoped to gain was constructive critisisum (my spell checkers not here right now (wife))...what would you change if you were running the company?. For example:
CMG:Infinity...should to improve step up for brightness...0-4, should use larger size batts in attempt to take some of the Photon market...tent light, should be water proofed and improved in design.
Trek lights: should include foam insert to allow option to use of AA batts and floating by boating crowd or larger D batt in 14 and 19 LED models to improve runtime.
Lightwave: should use refector in new 4000 and 2000.
Arclight: should have gold plated positve terminal to prevent flickering and use "s" rank LED`s
Nightbusters: should have two stage light levels, low and direct flow for improved run time option
General thoughts on how the makers could improve and remain competative.
CMG:Infinity...should to improve step up for brightness...0-4, should use larger size batts in attempt to take some of the Photon market...tent light, should be water proofed and improved in design.
Trek lights: should include foam insert to allow option to use of AA batts and floating by boating crowd or larger D batt in 14 and 19 LED models to improve runtime.
Lightwave: should use refector in new 4000 and 2000.
Arclight: should have gold plated positve terminal to prevent flickering and use "s" rank LED`s
Nightbusters: should have two stage light levels, low and direct flow for improved run time option
General thoughts on how the makers could improve and remain competative.
Chris M.
Flashlight Enthusiast
I quite like the 04. The fact that it`s waterproof is nice (so say CMG- it hasn`t been in my tube of Doom yet but that`s cos the tube of Doom sprung a leak and I`m all out of silicone!
), plus the constant-on feature is always a good thing to have in any small light. The body is very bite-able for hands free operation, and it looks kind of good too.
But I agree it could be smaller, at least a bit. They could have probably fitted bigger batteries in that case for a longer runtime, that would have been better. And I have concerns about that funny on- switch lever. It`s still working fine but wearing away at the button quite noticeably. How long it will carry on working fine I don`t know.
Not a bad light I think- and it`s cheaper than the Photon-II normally, at least cheaper than photonlight.com sells them though I know there are other places that sell them at nearly half that cost.
But I agree it could be smaller, at least a bit. They could have probably fitted bigger batteries in that case for a longer runtime, that would have been better. And I have concerns about that funny on- switch lever. It`s still working fine but wearing away at the button quite noticeably. How long it will carry on working fine I don`t know.
Not a bad light I think- and it`s cheaper than the Photon-II normally, at least cheaper than photonlight.com sells them though I know there are other places that sell them at nearly half that cost.
Chris M.
Flashlight Enthusiast
KenB- I have to agree with your suggestions, I even mentioned the one about the 04 above. ESP perhaps? It`s happened on this board before!
Re- the Arc commment. I noticed mine does flicker if it`s not screwed in tightly, but I`m putting that down to the fact that it`s a prototype and perhaps not finished quite as well as the production types. There was a definate smell of oil in there (we have a type here called "3-in-1" that smells the same- it`s light and has graphite in), maybe some has got on the battery contact too and that is what was causing the flickering. Gold plating would be a nice touch though.
Perhaps on the next generation Arc? Once they`ve made their first million and put Photon out of business they could think about it?
Re- the Arc commment. I noticed mine does flicker if it`s not screwed in tightly, but I`m putting that down to the fact that it`s a prototype and perhaps not finished quite as well as the production types. There was a definate smell of oil in there (we have a type here called "3-in-1" that smells the same- it`s light and has graphite in), maybe some has got on the battery contact too and that is what was causing the flickering. Gold plating would be a nice touch though.
Perhaps on the next generation Arc? Once they`ve made their first million and put Photon out of business they could think about it?
Gransee
Flashlight Enthusiast
Thanks KenB and Chris M. for you suggestions about the Arc flashlight!
Ken suggested using gold plated terminals for the battery and S-rank LEDs from Nichia.
Chris said his Arc prototype did not flicker if it was screwed down tight. He said that maybe some oil made it onto the contacts.
I will try to respond to these suggestions and ideas to the best of my ability:
We originally asked our PCB manufacturer to use gold on the battery side of the PCB. They said that it would be expensive and we would not be happy with the wear results because gold is soft (just look at how the gold-plate wears off of cheap jewelry).
You'll notice that pretty much all lights do *not* use gold where there is a friction surface. Just because everyone is doing it doesn't make it right, but there probably is a good reason behind this particular example.
We decided to use an alloy of tin and silver for the contact. It's stronger, fairly conductive, minimally reactive with other metals and most importantly, thick (so it will wear well). This is similar material to what you'll find at the base of most flashlight bulbs.
If oil gets on the contact, you can simply wipe it off. Our early prototypes used a high friction O-ring, so copious amounts of oil was used. I doubt the oil was the problem though.
About S-rank Nichias:
As you know, they are about 35 percent extra in cost and they take over a month to get in.
I think they would make an excellent part of a future model. However, I really cannot comment on future designs.
One really good suggestion we have been getting emailed to us so far is requests for some sort of clip. Because of the volume of requests, we have decided to move the time table up for that accessory.
Thanks for the input!
Peter Gransee
President, Arc Flashlight, LLC.
Ken suggested using gold plated terminals for the battery and S-rank LEDs from Nichia.
Chris said his Arc prototype did not flicker if it was screwed down tight. He said that maybe some oil made it onto the contacts.
I will try to respond to these suggestions and ideas to the best of my ability:
We originally asked our PCB manufacturer to use gold on the battery side of the PCB. They said that it would be expensive and we would not be happy with the wear results because gold is soft (just look at how the gold-plate wears off of cheap jewelry).
You'll notice that pretty much all lights do *not* use gold where there is a friction surface. Just because everyone is doing it doesn't make it right, but there probably is a good reason behind this particular example.
We decided to use an alloy of tin and silver for the contact. It's stronger, fairly conductive, minimally reactive with other metals and most importantly, thick (so it will wear well). This is similar material to what you'll find at the base of most flashlight bulbs.
If oil gets on the contact, you can simply wipe it off. Our early prototypes used a high friction O-ring, so copious amounts of oil was used. I doubt the oil was the problem though.
About S-rank Nichias:
As you know, they are about 35 percent extra in cost and they take over a month to get in.
I think they would make an excellent part of a future model. However, I really cannot comment on future designs.
One really good suggestion we have been getting emailed to us so far is requests for some sort of clip. Because of the volume of requests, we have decided to move the time table up for that accessory.
Thanks for the input!
Peter Gransee
President, Arc Flashlight, LLC.
Chris M.
Flashlight Enthusiast
Me.....not sure. Possibly the ASP sapphire/aspen/mirage lights. They`re all pretty much the same thing, just different led colours, except the Mirage ones are see-through plastic with a choice of led colour.
You can`t change the batteries yourself so have to post it back to ASP and have them do it for you for a small fee- and those overseas owners like me may end up light-less for a month or more (I`ll be changing them myself if I can pry it open without too much fuss)! Although it`s quite nice looking, fairly tough and the clip is handy, it`s bigger than it needs to be, not waterproof (not essential but it`d be nice since you can`t open it to dry it out should it get wet) and there`s no constant-on switch. My fingers get really tired of squeezing after only a minute.
I`d choose a Photon over an ASP any day (though I`ll probably get a couple of Mirages for review/comparison purposes someday).
You can`t change the batteries yourself so have to post it back to ASP and have them do it for you for a small fee- and those overseas owners like me may end up light-less for a month or more (I`ll be changing them myself if I can pry it open without too much fuss)! Although it`s quite nice looking, fairly tough and the clip is handy, it`s bigger than it needs to be, not waterproof (not essential but it`d be nice since you can`t open it to dry it out should it get wet) and there`s no constant-on switch. My fingers get really tired of squeezing after only a minute.
I`d choose a Photon over an ASP any day (though I`ll probably get a couple of Mirages for review/comparison purposes someday).
