Anybody else getting a little "antsy"?

I've been somewhat of a flashoholic for as long as I can remember. Since joining CPF in March of this year, I've become an incureable flashlight fanatic!!! In that time, my flashlight collection has gone from around 10-15 lights to somewhere around 70 lights...and this has happened just since March. The lights I've bought have ranged from some "cheapies" to some top of the line $$ eaters (Arc LS, SF, etc...). The new technology is fascinating, and I don't play with my lights any less now than I ever have. But if I'm not mistaken (and I follow our forum VERY closely...), the amount of new and intriguing products on the market has sorta slowed down. I mean, there's always new stuff coming out, but nothing that we haven't already seen in one form or another. With the exception of the highly anticipated SF A2 (Surefire does have an uncanny way of keeping us "dangling" as long as they possibly can...), which will give us our first taste of a regulated incandescent...and will probably be out of most of our reach price-wise, does anybody know of any new Earth-shattering revelations on the horizon? I still feverishly comb the internet and wander aimlessly down the sporting goods/outdoor aisles of every department store, sporting goods store and discount store I go into, hoping something "genuinely NEW" will catch my attention. I think I need help ...Anyway, I'm not getting bored with my "love of light" by any means; I'm just getting really antsy waiting on the next great innovation . I've always been fascinated with the most amount of light from the smallest possible package...something like the output of a Legend LX in a package the size of a SFE1e In the meantime, I'll continue to browse the stores and internet, "tweak" the lights I already have, buy a LOT more of what's already out there, and hope that my "dream light" eventually gets realized by some enterprising engineer and eventually comes to fruition. Until that happens, I'll just remain "antsy"...

PJD

I feel your pain. I am wondering when the next thing is going to break as well. I would think with the holiday season almost upon us that all the manufactures would be pushing and clamoring to get attention and release new products to the market. I guess that the light business does not follow the usual rules for retailers.

It could be that companies like ARC and SF have pushed so far in terms of R&D that the technologies they now need have yet to catch up. An example would be the 5 watt HD LS for the LS3. ARC is held hostage until they have a consistent supply from the manufacturer. Just a thought...

Either way, I am sure we can look forward to more fantastic lights in the future and we still have CPF to act as a support group until then.

PDJ-

I was hoping no one would say that. I did not want to admit it. Sometimes when I look at the boards I wonder why the long-time members even bother. Then I remember that at one time they were new to this too. Someone helped them on their first post.

I feel fortunate that I came here when I did. A few months ago I read through the ARC/Luck_Of_The_Draw_LS dilemma. I read and read and researched and researched and finally decided that an 11 or 19 LED regulated 3AA would beat the LSs because they were all green or blue or purple or angry or impertinent. Then, I started reading about what the modders were doing and they had solutions.

I've watched the KL craze peak and subside, then levelize. Seems like a big mess to me but people are purchasing things and liking them. I was about to give up, get an SL 4AA 7LED, and come back in 90 days to see what was up. I'm glad I stuck to it. I now have several mods on their way and am exited by the prospect.

What gets me going is what the modification gurus do. They are also limited by the shock wave preceding leading edge technology. Right now, I know that at least one or more of these creatures can build the 3AA 5W RBLS I want but I'm trying not to request this loudly. They are geniuses and should be delt with gently. Or...they are aliens and should be exterminated...kinda depends on what mood I'm in that day.

I've been watching a start-up company with great interest as they build and offer multi-LS drop-ins for big mags. I just bought an itty-bitty dual LED, focused lense, single A regulated, step down light that I think will be fun and it just came out two weeks ago.

In your case, with 70 lights in three quarters, you are past the curve. For now, I might suggest watching the 'homemade' forum if you are not already. Since you indicate that small, powerful lights are your preference, I would not think you would be in the market for a Helios or an FBD but it might be interesting to trak their speed to market.

At any rate, if you get to feeling too antsy, just say so. Or what the heck; open up another thread. This is your house. It's a little crowded with over 2,700 people but I'm sure most them understand how you feel.

I think what you are feeling is the effect of being on the cutting edge of just about any technology. You are seeing the best of the best before anyone else does, and really, it's very exciting! However, it does take time. The photonic inventors out there are by far DECADES ahead of the run-of-the-mill consumer-focused products. Things like the Lambda Illuminator, Ill Pill, Madmax and Badboy are what you would expect to find in a large company's R&D center. Few of these products would actually make it to market. The fact that Surefire is making a digitally regulated incandescent reality demonstrates that they have a commitment to R&D and pushing new innovations to market.

Peter Gransee is, by far, one of the leaders in taking this new tech. to market. Big risk trying to build a top of the line flashlight based on unproven (at the time) technology like the LS, but he was the first. Incorporating step-up circuitry to make it work (instead of just more batteries and a resistor) demonstrates even greater focus on making "non-standard" approaches to personal lighting work for the consumer.

There is no other forum out there like this one and there are no other people quite like the ones you find here. Everyone wants to push the envelope for the collective purpose of making lighting devices better, brighter, more reliable and, in a word, the "best". If we could harness the energy found here and focus it into one huge coporation dedicated to design, development, and marketing of new devices, the world would be stunned by what we could do.

But since we can't, we watch innovation occur in little pockets here and there, a little collaboration between the inventors and the makers here and there, and get to watch the entire lighting field grow bit by bit.

LED's instead of bulbs in a genuinely usable consumer flashlight? A good xenon 123a lithium flashlight for under $20? Unheard of! Never happen! LEDs are panel lights! High intensity lights too difficult to make inexpensively!

But we were there when it happened.

I enjoy being one of those folks who get to watch the evolution of the industry from what I would call "the inside", even though it may be something that is rather insignificant to the average person. To wax poetic: We are aware of the dawn when most people are content to sleep.

Icebreak & Quickbeam...WELL SAID! When it comes to mods, I'm nowhere near where some of the esteemed members of our forum are. I have neither the time, equipment, knowledge, or assets. The mods that I do are simple "tweak it a little here and there" mods, but they're all done with the tricks I picked up here. A lot of my friends come to me with simple requests like how to get more oomph out of their Maglites, how to increase run time, etc..."old hat" here, but things they never would have thought of. With the little knowledge that I've picked up, my friends see me as somewhat of a flashlight "guru"! I'm content with that for now...but it's amazing to read through CPF and see what my more capable fellow CPFers are cooking up in their "labs". It's like having a front row seat to watch the evolution of personal and professional lighting technology. This is exciting stuff, but with it comes a price. For me, the price seems to be nerve-wracking anticipation!!! While I sit here in the "bleachers" cheering on the experimenters and the innovators, I'm drooling and pacing around like a cat on acid waiting for these wonders to hit the street!!! CPF is the most fun I've had since I was a kid, and as the innovations keep coming, it never seems to get any less exciting...but patience does seem to get a little harder to come by!

PJD

Wow you guys. Almost brings a little tear to my eye! Good stuff, and obviously heart-felt.

Just like in any business, there are members here who specialize in the various aspects of their industry or hobby. Some are artists in metal, others are maestros of electronic engineering, many have marketing skills and some can dream better than their peers. Any flashlight business would benefit from having all of these specialists working together. Already we see that some of our revered modders are supplying their talents to various of our favorite flashlight manufacturers. And I couldn't be happier about these symbiotic relationships. We ALL win.

It would be a great trick to have a bunch of our favorite modding members get together and whip something up, wouldn't it? They'd be free of the profit-driven contraints of a larger business. Hmmm. Sounds almost too good to be true... or is it?

These ARE exciting times!

Companies come out with truly NEW lights less often, due to R & D costs. I will also wager that many companies' people lurk on CPF for ideas, since inventors think outside the box.

I am sure that the finding here on CPF, that LS side emitters work great with reflectors, is now being looked at seriously by several companies. This is that much experimenting they don't need to do.

We do live on the cutting edge here, and many of us really enjoy reading and commenting on this. In a way, it is like the Open Source community, like Source Forge. However, many of us don't have the skills needed, so we read the reports, comment, and throw in ideas for consideration. I enjoy seeing new concepts here, workable or not.

I think that there has been some nice excitement here over the past several months.

Streamlight introduced at least 3 new LED lights
SureFire introduced 4 new LED lights
There is a new company, called Gomecz (spelling wrong)
UKe introduced new lights
Inova upgraded their X5
ARC has several new revisions and tailcaps
There have been some great modified lights (lambda, dat2zip, Mr. Bulk)
Elektrolumens went from hobbiest to building his own brand of lights,
InReTECH has introducd some really inovative lights
The 5 watt Luxeon is just on the horision
SureFire's 10x rechargable light

Sure, I want more, but that is still a lot!

I can tell you what I want to see and I hope someone comes down the pike with more of them. Lights like the not-yet-released Surefire Aviator. Combining a super strong long reach lithium light with battery saving LED's. One light for everything. Right now, I always carry a SF E2 and a some kind of LED (Arc, PT, Brinkmann) so I will have battery life and I won't get blinded looking at something close up.

I would love, love, love, love, love to see Arc do something like this.

Originally posted by BuddTX:
The 5 watt Luxeon is just on the horision

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I wish. The information coming from Lumileds indicates the 5W whites are 6-9 months away. That probably means that they are really 12 months away. IMHO Lumileds has taken themselves out of the running for 5Watt White market for the forseeable future. I'm hoping that Nichia or some dark horse in the business will splash onto the scene with a high-power (1W+) white LED.
Having said that, I'm still looking forward to cross-over products like the SF A2.---Marc