2003 Product Schedule

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! I want to personally thank the CPF for being there as Arc has grown over the past 2 years.

2003 Product Schedule

Goals for 2003 are:

1. Consistency
2. Availability
3. Faster R&D

We are wrestling with the differences between Arc quality goals and the reality of what LEDs are available:

1. We want to make the best lights possible
2. LEDs are quite inconsistent from unit to unit
3. We want to keep using LEDs
4. The higher the quality, the higher the cost. The customer ideally would have a choice.
5. We will more accurately and realistically define our lights in an effort to streamline our business.

One of the ways to improve the product is to pare our line down so we can focus on fewer products. This further enables us to concentrate on our core products.

First, we are discontinuing the following:

AW-BLK (Arc-AAA, black housing, white LED)
AT-BLK (Arc-AAA, black housing, turquoise LED)
AU-BLK (Arc-AAA, black housing, Ultra-violet LED)
P-123 (123 power pack for LS without tail switch)
LS3-NAT (Arc-LS3)

And the following are redefined:

AW-NAT (LE, binning redefined, color now standard)
LS1-NAT (Arc-LS1, binning redefined, now called the "LSL")
LS2-NAT (Arc-LS2, binning redefined, now called the "LSH")

"L" stands for "Low Dome". "H" stands for "High Dome. This convention was Don's ("Mcgizmo") idea. He suggested this because LS2, rev2, etc was a bit confusing.

LS3 Discontinued. With the help of Henry and some very smart CPF'ers, I finally realized that the 5W emitter just is not going to work very well for our 1x123 design target. The consensus now is that the 1W part is where it is at until a new battery technology comes along. I originally thought the higher efficiency of the under driven 5w would cause a noticeable increase in brightness for the 1x123 target, but the reality was negligible. We do have a small number of LS3 in the pipeline that will be sold in January. We will make the default pack the 2x123 so that they can run at a higher power (2.5-3watts). After that, they are gone. Why not continue to sell them after that? One word: simplify.

People tell me that I am too picky. I will remain picky. Hah! I do concede however, that I might be limiting the growth of our company somewhat and making it difficult for people to own one of these lights by expecting perfection too soon from these technologies. It has been suggested that there are compromises that will give you the best choices.

The costs for our products will be going up for 2003. This is normal for the industry. For most of our products, I have been able to offset the cost increases by simplifying the manufacturing of the product and reducing interruptions in supply.

Here's what the 2003 Product line looks like:

Arc-AAA

Standard. Natural color HA housing. Nichia LED. Binning (R-S flux, B2-B3 tint). All the latest improvements. Standard engraving. Some tint variations in HA, lighter/darker. Minor blemishes in HA permitted. Available through dealers and direct web. $28.95 list. Ready to order by February.

Arc-AAA Premium

Same as above except binning is S flux, B1-B2 tint only. Less HA tint variations and blemishes permitted. Engraved "Premium Edition". $39.95 list. Direct sales only. Ready to order by March.

Arc-AAA thoughts...
The LE (SB1 rank) has been frustrating for all concerned. Availability has gotten worse. Even the standard Arc-AAA bins have been difficult to find at times. The color LEDs don't move as fast and dilute our manufacturing growth. Most people prefer the natural HA so it will become the standard. By providing a range of ranks, we should be able to ensure more consistent availability.

Arc-LSL

Standard. Natural HA. Latest revision. Low dome Luxeon. Lumiled LED. Hand sorted (m-o flux, 3-5 tint). Some tint variations and small blemishes permitted. TSP-123 included. Dealers and direct. $120 list. Serialized

Arc-LSL Premium

Same as above. Hand sorted (P or Q flux, 3-5 tint). Less HA tint variations and blemishes. TSP-123 included. Engraved, "premium edition". $150 list. Direct sales only.

Arc-LSH

Same as LSL standard except High Dome LED used. $130 list. Dealer and direct.

Arc-LSH Premium

Same as above, P and Q flux. 3-5 tint. $160 list. Direct only. Less HA blemish and tint variations. Engraved "Premium Edition".

LS Accessories

TSP-2AA Pack. $39.95 list. Dealer and direct.
C-123 Nylon Pouch. $19.95 list. Dealer and direct.

As discussed earlier, we will make the LSL and LSH heads available seperately for $30 less (the cost of the TSP-123).

Discontinued items

Most will be sold out by February or sooner. Prices are the same except for the P-123 pack.

P-123. Blemished, $14.95. Direct only. Will be discontinued.

Thoughts...
We continue to get wide variations in the parts used to make the LS. This new standard allows more variations for the lower price and premium sorting for the higher price. We would like to discontinue the "factory seconds" program, but time will tell.

Warranty

We will continue to offer a 30-day satisfaction guarantee and a 10-year warranty on everything we sell except for those items where the warranty is expressly modified. Returns within 30 days will be either credited back to your credit card or issued a store credit (our choice). Returns after 30 days will be either exchanged for a similar item or a store credit (your choice).

The purpose of the 30 day period is to give you a good chance to use the light and determine if it is what you are looking for.

"Upgrading"
We will assume that after using the product for 30 days you will know if you want to keep it or not. The unit will only be accepted for return after 30 days if it fails to light within 90% of full brightness with good, recommended batteries or it flickers (except when caused by a bad switch, in which case we will replace the switch, not the whole light).

Units affected by normal wear and tear, dropping, leaky batteries, lost parts, etc are not covered under our warranty. We are happy to repair some of these types of damage (for a fee) if you return the unit.

Units returned after 30 days for blemishes will be charged a repair fee. The thinking here is that you have 30 days to decide if you want to keep the unit.

All returns should be made to us directly. Please email us at [email protected] if you have a warranty issue.

Engineering Initiatives for 2003:

For obvious reasons, details must be limited at this time. We are working with several very smart flashaholics on some new functions. The hard decision for me is to pick from all these goodies and prioritize them. We have quite a list. If you can think of it, it is probably on one of the lists. My hope is this reduction of our product line and redefinition of our standards will help us to focus more on improving these products.

In some cases, consolidating two parts into one allows us to upgrade the remaining part sooner and add even more functions that what the parent parts had. And example of this is the P-123 and the TSP-123 coming together and then being upgraded to a new TSP-123 design.

I am not ready to talk about these new functions yet. First thing is to lay a stable foundation to operate from. Even though the LEDs are not stable, the definition of our product will become more stable.

2003 is going to be a challenging year with our ongoing legal defense, new products, new competitors, new LEDs. Overall, I think it is going to be fun and we hope to be here to give you yet another LED choice.

Thank you!

Peter Gransee

Whew, thank you PG. I like the natural anodize. Good choice IMHO.

Natural anodize is the way to go, no question about it.

As for the standard vs. premium development... not bad.

So when can I trade up my SLS2 for a LSH Premium? I'm sure I have $70 burning a hole in my pocket...

Wow!! Talk about changes!! Changes is not always going to be easy, but I know this is all for the good...

ZEPH

I been busy filling orders and haven't had time to read this forum, but someone told me I should so here I am. This is a surprise!

I am seriously going to miss the black AAA. It has always been the consistent product. There has hardly been a batch of Natural HA that has been the same as the last or any previous for that matter. Here I am with over a dozen LS heads and packs layed out before me and a couple match. The current LS1 "Two Tone" model is the most recent proof of this. I believe Natural HA is definitely NOT the way to go.

I will also miss the Turquoise and UV. The Turquoise is so bright compared the the white. Many people do not care about the color recognition and would rather have the brightest light possible.

The UV is the most powerful on the market today and will sadly have to tell my customers who love this product that they will have to find another. None will come even close.

The rest is dealer concerns mostly having to do with pending orders, last chance orders and, most of all, "Direct only" sales of Premium product. That is best left to private email discussion.

Best regards,
Randy

Originally posted by darkgear.com:
The UV is the most powerful on the market today and will sadly have to tell my customers who love this product that they will have to find another. None will come even close.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Good thing I got my order in for an AAA-UV before they ALL disappeared..(I hope my vendor has them in stock!!)
I see one eBayer seller has pulled his UV's off auction too !!

Peter,

I like what I see!

You forgot to indicate that the Arc LSH Premium edition is only direct sale.

I'm a bit confused on one thing. Does that mean that if I purchase an Arc LSH Premium (which comes with a TSP-123 tail-cap), i no longer can purchase the flat-type-123 tail-cap as an accessory? Is that what's called the P-123, which is being discontinued?

I forgot to mention that we will make the heads available seperately so you don't have to keep buying power packs. Added it to the text above. We will sell the lights to the dealers with both pieces (head and TSP-123), which they then can sell seperately or together.

Some of the items are, "direct only" because they simply are quite rare. Rarer than even the LEs and those caused all sort of problems.

Dealers keep telling me, "we need a more predictable supply". That is the goal here.

Yes, the natural HA is less consistant than the black but I made a concession on this one and decided to go with what most people have asked for. The hope is that standardizing on natural only will simplify our manufacturing and offset this.

Peter Gransee

Peter, what about us out there that have some AAA LE's on order with your dealers, (I have had a couple on order since end of NOV). Will we get premium AAA's???

Thank you BuddTX. Sometime soon I should go into more depth on the LS3 issue. Here's a preview:

Our goal is to make a compact light. We are power limited to about 1.5watts max for our target form factor. I originally felt that running a 5W at reduced power would have a dramatic effect on brightness because of higher efficiency. Turns out it doesn't. There are also other problems with the 5w emitter in general right now. For the same run time, a high bin 1W will produce more light than an average bin 5W. Also, the beam will be easier to control in a small package. A $160 LSL+ will produce more light and have a nicer beam than a $200 LS3 standard when both are driven by a single 123.

We will be selling the few LS3 we have (about 35 units) with the TSP-2x123 pack. They will be serialized and $200/pc. Power output will be about 2.5-3Watts. We won't make them a regular product because it doesn't fit my EDC criteria.

Those who have watched Arc for awhile should be starting to see our master plan for the ideal EDC light. I have a very specific target light in mind for 2003 and it is a, "must have" for EDC.

Peter Gransee

Originally posted by cman light:
Peter, what about us out there that have some AAA LE's on order with your dealers, (I have had a couple on order since end of NOV). Will we get premium AAA's???

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">We plan on filling as many of our back orders as possible in January. This will require us to keep making LEs and the other products for another month. But by February, we want to have switched most of our product line to the new design.

Right now we are out of parts for the LE and other models so there will be a lull in availability until sometime in January for the discontinued parts.

Peter Gransee

I like the direction that ARC Flashlight is going, and hope that one day you will be known for the most durable, high-tech flashlights that can be carried with you everyday...
Keep on making great flashlights Peter

Btw, I just want to pause and say I really do have a very specific product in mind for the AAA and LS. Being a flashaholic, it is supposed to be a super light. That's the whole plan here. The company is just incendental to that plan.

With the AAA and LS, I hope to strengthen what makes them ideal for EDC and add new features that make them more usefull in more situations. I don't like clutter. Someday I may even combine the two lights and just make that.

(edit: I see "cman light" posted before me and is spot on)

Peter Gransee

Hmm...as a picky person myself I'm sad to see the black AAA go. Black HA will always be more consistant than natural. I can't stand mis-matched HA, but not even I am about to pay $40 for a "Premium" Arc AAA. Seems a little backwards too...replace a complex process (Black HA) with an even more complex process (Natural HA) but hey, what do I know...I'm not the CEO of a flashlight company, I don't even play one on TV

I think this marks the end of a generation for Arc flashlight LLC. Can't wait to see what they'll go through in 2003.

HA Type III rules! My LE matches my Titanium Terzuola knife and my SureFires perfectly. Now all I need to do is get my 6906 frame done in the same color!

Originally posted by JackBlades:
HA Type III rules!

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">The current, standard, black Arc AAA 3.1s are HA III. It's not the color that's the difference between HA II and III, it's the durability.

P-123 (123 power pack for LS without tail switch)

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">So with the AA and tail-switch free 123 packs gone, the smallest LS light in the Arc lineup will now be LS with 123+clickie?

Originally posted by Gransee:
Returns within 30 days will be either credited back to your credit card or issued a store credit (our choice).

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Was that "choice" part a typo?
If not, that's a pretty drastic change in procedure.

Simple question: Is the AAA "premium" going to be brighter then a current issue LE?

Wow -

One thing for sure - I can finally make sense out of the product descriptions. Well done! I too will miss the black AAA - it is by far my favorite light of all time.