manufacturers, concept lights

alot of car companies make concept cars to show off their technology or give brand imaging.
should flashlight manufacturers do the same? one off , never to sell, something awesome but not really marketable or profitable.

Re: manufacturers, prototypes

f22shift said:

alot of car companies make prototypes to show off their technology or give brand imaging.
should flashlight manufacturers do the same? one off , never to sell, something awesome but not really marketable or profitable.

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I think Surefire already does that.....

Re: manufacturers, prototypes

one reason i was thinking a company might not want to do it is not have another company copy an idea.

i dunno. i just like what olight did with the sr90. kind of made this insane light and put a hefty price tag.

Re: manufacturers, prototypes

F250XLT said:

I think Surefire already does that.....

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Yup ..... does anyone have that photo of PK standing by a desk full of
"prototype" lights ?

Re: manufacturers, prototypes

Yeah, pretty sure most companies already do. We just never hear of / see them.

Re: manufacturers, prototypes

I would think that any manufacturere would have a prototype which then goes throught testing for improvements before final release.
I think if they just brought a bunch of stuff to market without a prototypes being utilized for testing we would have a lot more threads going in the "jeers" section.

Re: manufacturers, prototypes

Yes... prototyping (and design test/evaluation) is an essential part of new product development. I am sure every new design concept was prototyped at some point.

Prototype field testing is a requirement for US military suppliers, so like it or not its a military requirement.

Re: manufacturers, prototypes

i think i worded this thread wrong. i shouldve said "concept lights" like in concept cars.
flashlights never meant to actually make the market or fill a demand. something to show off their ingenuity and capabilities.
farthest reaching flashlight.
solid gold light
indestructible light.
brightest light.
longest light.
liquid cooled light
etc

Re: manufacturers, prototypes

f22shift said:

i think i worded this thread wrong. i shouldve said "concept lights" like in concept cars.
flashlights never meant to actually make the market or fill a demand. something to show off their ingenuity and capabilities.
farthest reaching flashlight.
solid gold light
indestructible light.
brightest light.
longest light.
liquid cooled light
etc

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I am in favor of "concept lights". Sometimes the best way to learn something is to get your hands dirty, so I think it works both ways. Its an opportunity to showcase ones skills / ingenuity and an opportunity for the designer to learn via hands on experience.

Conceptualizing on paper and in CAD model space only goes so far. As a designer you never really KNOW exactly how well something is going to work, or how well received it is till' you build it and show it off.

IMHO of course.

Besides the crazy s--- that SureFire cranks out every once in a while (most of which we never see), there are some examples of CPF's makers doing things along those lines. Look up Cool Fall's Databank 70. I think it's a perfect example of the "hold my beer and watch this" approach to flashlight making.

Fenix TK45.

Elektrolumens built many prototypes which never went into production. I snagged this one:

I think there would be advantages for both the manufacturers/designers and us customers in producing some concept lights.

It gives the designers a chance to be a bit more creative without having to worry about whether a light would sell in commercial quantities or not, we can give feedback about what we like (or dislike), some of the more popular ones could end up in production (just like some concept cars), and some of the prototypes might just find their way into our hands if we are patient and/or persistant :thumbsup:

I'd agree that most do create product prototypes, how else could you "thrash out" possible design issues other than build it & test it?

Re: manufacturers, prototypes

tx101 said:

Yup ..... does anyone have that photo of PK standing by a desk full of
"prototype" lights ?

Click to expand...

that pic haunts me and i've been trying erase it from memory...now i have to start all over

Re: manufacturers, prototypes

I know that most products go through a prototype phase. However, I don't really like to see prototypes of an item I will buy. The final homogenized product is never as nice or cool as the prototype, which normally leaves me wanting.

Most flashlights are within the purchasing ability of most people. So, I'm not sure there is really a flashlight that can be prototyped, but not sold profitably (unless you want to mill it from pure platinum).