your perfect light

day dreaming the other day i thought about would be close to the perfect light for me (at this point at least).

someone please build this light:
it would be the size of an photon but built sturdy like an AAA w/ a runtime of at least 100 hours at full power on a $0.50 battery. it would have several levels, ranging from a high of 100 lumens to a very dim theatre appropriate level. the throw should be at least 100 meters but cannot sacrifice close in flood to do it. the light should also be easily selectable between levels and have a strobe feature. the switch should be designed like a LOTC. waterproof to 50 feet with pyrex (or better) lens protector. regardless of type, the bulb/LED should last forever. the light would ideally cost $5 but could cost as much as $50.

now that would be a cool light. while we are no where close to it yet, the new LS4 promises to be a great leap for mankind.

what would your perfect light be like?

I have many I consider a "perfect light" in fact I have one thats similar to what you described. Right now I'm digging this new flashlight.
Link

tony, I hope you don't mind but I shortened your link to preserve the page width, it still goes to the same place.


My ideal light would be an Arc-LS sized Maxabeam at a Maglight cost. Wouldn't be LED but it would have a shock proof (Not resistant, PROOF) bezel. Battery life? 5 hours between charges in it's inductive charging stand. The charging stand would have 5 LEDs aimed at the celing built in as well as a battery. In an emergency these 5 LEDs could be set to automatically activate and, after draining the battery in the charging base, drain the battery in the flashlight itself.

Mine would be a focusable LS light with a lens rather than optics. It would be about the size of an Arc LS but would be thinner and use a CR2 battery. It'd have a small button similar to a Photon's that allows it to be run in a low (100ma?) and high (375ma) mode and this variable regulator is about 97% efficient. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif And, it wouldn't be round but rather oval with a flattened side opposite the button. hmmm... and there would be a pair of bipod legs that could be swung out from the underside (similar to a small SAK knife blade 3/4 open) so that it could be propped up at a 45 degree angle...

Jon

Mine would be 300 lumens the size of a 6P, rechargeable. It would have a run time of at least one hour or more. I would like to see a 2 position bezel, one focus would be a general use and the other a turbo head type of design.

well, i would like to see.

-arc aaa sized
-dimmer goes from .5x arc aaa output to 10x maxabeam output
-focusable from laser to 180 degrees
-made of tilkal
-sharp, needle-point knurling
-5000000000ft waterproof
-does not require bateries, as it sucks energy out of the earth
-extends into a beating baton
-can change to any color of the light spectrum (visible or not), with the touch of a button
-can be set like james bond's watch to laser through things
-has a built in light saber that activates when you say "cheese"

i have some other things i would like to see in a flashlight, but they are somewhat less than realistic /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Nah, gimme one of them glowing crystals like Gandalf has in Lord of the rings...

Seriously though, a focusable (flood to spot) regulated ~5W LED that runs on NiMH AA's with minimum 1-2 hours runtime not more than 8 inches in length. With a textured reflector...made of diamond coated titanium /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

i would much prefer a silmaril to galdalf's staff anyday /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

if these lights must be realistic, then:
-small, less than 4" long and abou 1" diam
-hi-tech look
-extremely grippy to hold
-black ha3
-recessed tailswitch
-innovative heatsink design
-extremely customizable
-uses any 1w color
-extremely waterproof
-extremely well made
-ultra durable
-bezel down clip
-the option to choose which converter you want used for a slight price premium
-machined from a high quality al billet

how's that? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I think my ideal light right now may very well have to be based on HID technology, rather than LED technology, simply for the reason that HID can push out 20-50X more lumens than LEDs can.

It would be no more than 6inches long, about the size of a Tigerlight, but with maybe 10,000 lumens, a selectable razor-thin true ".5" degree beam that can throw a visible white laser for 10 miles or a 60 degree beam flood with minimal rings, and using Li-Ion, with built-in charger into the light. It may cost quite a bit initially, but the price should be around no more than $200... Add the LOTC, a dimmer feature, and a pulse mode, as well as 1000ft water-tightness, with a 5 hour runtime, and I've got myself a winner...

...Ah, the wonders of dreaming... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I'm a little more based in reality than the people above...

I see the ultimate flashlight as having the following:

-a bulb that is good for the lifetime of the light (long useable lifetime and shock proof), ie. LED/Luxeon/Nichia2X. 5w White currently does not apply. Obviously, if you desire Maxabeam brightness, there is no design that currently fits this criteria so my ultimate flashlight is limited in brightness.

-a strong, nearly indestructible case, ie. X5, Arc AAA, and in practice, all Mags. Anything can be rendered inoperable but it should be resistant to nearly all abuse and as such should have a good surface coating (HA3 if Al) as well. I see aluminum and titanium as being the two primary materials here. Plastic flashlights don't apply.

-waterproof, ie. UK and some PT lights. I don't expect 1000 ft waterproofedness (who dives that far down anyways?)but a solid hundred or two hundred would be minimal. This is the kind of light that if you accidentally drop off the side of your boat, you come back the next day with dive gear to retrieve it. Push button switches may be rendered useless at depth, but they had better not leak.

-Rechargeable lithium batteries. These are the wave of the future. They are lightweight, have high energy density, provide twice the voltage (which is nice for 5ws), and have minimal self discharge. In a smaller light, the lithiums would be integrated into the light. In a bigger light, they'd be user removeable so they could carry extras. Lithium polymer may be the way to go as it allows battery shapes not currently possible, and by extension, flashlight shapes not curently possible.

-And I might as well throw in the obvious traits to make my list more complete: easily useable, confortable to carry, and very reliable.

Alright, the above are must haves. Here are a couple nice features that I'd like it to have but wouldn't cry if it didn't.

-Spot mode and flood mode. Focusable is one way to do this. Switchable light sources or optics or lens are other ways to do this. Note that carrying extra devices (such as optics and reflectors) with you to accomplish this does not apply. If its an attatchable beamshaper, thats fine because it then becomes part of the light and doesn't require digging through a pack to locate and install.

-Dimmable, from full brightness to barely lit. We all know that there are situations where we don't need or want the full brightness of a flashlight. There also may be situations where we need light for a LONG time. Ideally, this dimmable feature would consume minimal power itself.

-Regulated. This feature can go with the above feature but they can also be exclusive. A constant output is very nice as long as we have a way of determining how much life is left in the batteries. A battery indicator is essential if regulation is used for constant output and then a dropout into darkness. If no dimmable feature is available as well as no battery indicator, the regulator should sense battery capacity and when it drops to a certain level, automatically go into a constant output dim mode that lasts for several hours minimum.

I don't speak of brightness or runtime because its scaleable. The smaller the light the less runtime and brightness we should expect, and vice versa.

Mark

M3 HID that runs for 1-2hrs.

2aa
lux star
regulated
water proof plastic body
rated for hazard duty
perma on/off tailcap switch
screw on/off pocket clip
can use lithiums
lanyard hole

Did I miss anything?

Raven

A TigerLight with a 3 hour run time.

I already have 2 hour run time (I have two of them...)

Tom

I think I already have my perfect light: Arc LS with Custom 2C Pack. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[ QUOTE ]
Rothrandir said:
well, i would like to see.

-has a built in light saber that activates when you say "cheese"



[/ QUOTE ]

Everytime you order a cheeseburger at a drive through you would chop your leg off. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Integrating an extendable baton into the tail should be possible, but it would still lengthen it quite a bit.
And if it was spring loaded, ouch. Some of thoes babies can break bones if it's extended while pointing at someone. Accedents could be quite painfull.
What kind of baton are you thinking of? It would probably cost quite a bit and time, but it could be done. I don't think it would be worth it in a AAA or AA light though.
I'm thinking a 5 or 6 D Mag, but when you screw it in it would take up the space of one of the D cells in the tail, and the 'base' of the baton part itself would go a bit further. Mabey say a 5D, the overall length would be a 6D.
Auto, of course, but figure out a switch that's at least damn near impossible to hit by accedent. Most auto's I've seen are just push button. The switch would be on the part that extends a bit out of the light, preferably, so it woudn't have to be a permanent mod.
Or for a nicer reach, the collapsed baton could be near the size of a normal baton, leaving mabey 1 or 2 D's left. Lithiums can put out higher voltage right?
Could use the light or the baton standalone as well...

The one that still manages to impresses you even 24 months after purchase.

Good stuff.

You guys don't want much, do ya? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Well, I thought I'd add some of my thoughts..

My ideal light would have features including (but not limited to!) the following -

Form factor roughly Mag 2C size, a bit smaller or larger is ok.

Preset instant focus - a minimum of 3, instantly selectable via separate switching mechanisms, not by cycling though them.
#1 would be a super wide flood
#2 would be a medium spot/flood (something like an E2 beam)
#3 would be a needle-like spot which throws for miles ( Maxabeam style)
Variable focus available of course, but upon switching off it defaults back to the 3 above modes.

Dimmable, perhaps only in the super flood mode. Ie, when you switch on, it starts off low and gets brighter the longer you hold the switch. Maximum brightness of something like 300 lumens or so.

Head can be detached from body/battery holder and used via a cord connecting it to the body, allowing the head to be attached to things, or used as a headlamp. Head and body are independantly waterproof to a few hundred feet. Both head and body have clip on/screw on attachment capability.

Battery should be rechargeable by the usual in-body cradle method, but battery should be a cartridge style which can be quickly and easily swapped out.

Battery life should be something like 5 or so hours on brightest setting, 10 or more hours on a medium brightness setting - preferably enough to get through a full night (12-14 hours I imagine)

Thats all I can think of for now..

Some words from Russia. 8)
- 1xLED (like LS)
- cylindrical metal body (like MagLite Solitaire) with turn-switching head mechanism
- some ribs on head to make one-hand turning on easy (and for easy turning on by hand in gloves)
- soft rubber handle - nobody can safely hold metal flashlight at cold winter (less than 32deg. F or 0deg. C)
- synthetic-painted open metal surfaces (to prevent corrosion)
- low-reflective glass in rubber sealing (metal and glass changes its size in different ways when it's hot or cold)
- really waterproof to 5-7m (15-20ft)
- electronic step-up converter (with "low power" indicator!) for effective battery use
- different power sources (lithium, common alcaline, accumulators with different batt. holders)