1000 lumen EDC flashlight on Kickstarter

nargalzius · Apr 18, 2013

Just saw this launched on KS. Pretty interesting, I wondered what you guys thought about it.

HelioSlight

Pretty limited given the kind if battery it requires to drive it - but at only $100 perhaps it's worth taking a chance.

tjswarbrick · Apr 18, 2013

nargalzius said:
Just saw this launched on KS. Pretty interesting, I wondered what you guys thought about it.

HelioSlight

Pretty limited given the kind if battery it requires to drive it - but at only $100 perhaps it's worth taking a chance.

Pretty small for a 1,000 lumen light. It'll get real hot, real fast.
Say "LED last forever" instead of the industry standard 50,000 hours.
Says each is driven at 1A; they don't state which emitter they're using.
Lots of pics of Moddoolar lights in their promotional materials.
8hrs runtime on low, but no mention of if that's a few lumens, or sub lumen.
No mention of runtime on Hi. Gotta be short...
Who are these guys?
Do you really need 1,000 lumens in your EDC? I find 200 to be more than enough.

Still, interesting.

msim · Apr 18, 2013

Interesting... Seems like a mistake for the area of the body right behind the head to be made so narrow (See http://i.imgur.com/92E0qFU.jpg for reference). Wouldn't it make more sense to keep it a uniform size and preserve the material for heat sink purposes? Especially being such a small light, heat seems like it would be a major concern.

Edit: All the Oblivion stuff bothers me a little bit too... They're not really clear about the connection and it almost seems like they're taking credit for Torchlab/Oveready's work.

Double Edit: The programable interface does seem pretty appealing though... hmmmmmm

nargalzius · Apr 18, 2013

I visited the site from which they say they source their LEDs - it's also a flashlight maker and the LEDs that are being promoted on their lights are Crees or Nichias

The lights are north of $400 and they have similar design cues as to how to deal with the heat.

My guess is that they have some sort of wholesale agreement with LuxRC and are intending to use Kickstarter to make the bulk order and make some cash for themselves. It also would explain why they don't get into much detail about their design (either they consider it as a secret sauce or they intend to rely on what ever LuxRC will give)

Pretty clever scheme (if that is in fact what they plan to do) to be honest and I don't see anything disingenuous about it. If LuxRC can actually deliver decent lights, then bringing a LuxRC light to 1/4 of its price seems to be a worthwhile endeavor.

KuanR · Apr 18, 2013

I'm more curious as to what Moddoolar has to do with this light

idleprocess · Apr 18, 2013

Not a fan of raining on parades, but I'm not seeing the value-add here... Appears that someone worked on props for Oblivion (or just looked for some tie-in for their pitch) and/or discovered Lux-RC, now wants to commercialize a product but lacks the funds? Curious what they're offering beyond what I can get from Lux-RC unless they plan on being a lot more reasonable on pricing for the finished product. EDIT : I see that there are vague references to $120-$140 price range on thee sidebar

Why does the KS page (and their website) read like someone wrote the pitch in another language then ran it through lower-end translation software?

"Carbon button" and "neodymium magnet" might be cool buzzwords, but the former doesn't add anything over a more mundane switch, and a powerful magnet in the base of a pocket EDC/keychain light is going to be a liability most of the time.

nargalzius · Apr 18, 2013

msim said:
I. Wouldn't it make more sense to keep it a uniform size and preserve the material for heat sink purposes? Especially being such a small light, heat seems like it would be a major concern.

I'm not really a physics person so I'm not savvy on thermodynamics. But IF this design is already being used, all I can surmise is something like:

If the surface was larger and made as a heat sink, then the heat would definitely spread throughout the body easily - which would make the whole light uncomfortable to hold in a high temp situation.

Now if they separated it, it focuses the heat on the area which you don't touch - and minimizes the rate of spread to the body. In short, I'm guessing they're relying on the air cooling the narrow barrel just enough to not make it spread to the body (or at least not as easily)

Of course this says nothing about what effect such isolation would have on the head the assuming the isolation is effective in the first place.

bullinchinashop · Apr 18, 2013

Not crazy about the mode changing method.

twl · Apr 19, 2013

The Moddoolar TorchLab Triple Stubby that is shown in those "Oblivion" movie pics is a much nicer package that is already available, has "lego-able" body options, and great support, for about $296.
The LUX-RC version of it is also much nicer, and more expensive too.

I don't think these things are going to come out at the prices the Kickstarter advertisement claims they will be.

I have the Moddoolar TorchLab Stubby, and it's an awesome light.

ledmitter_nli · Apr 19, 2013

KuanR said:
I'm more curious as to what Moddoolar has to do with this light

Or why the project creator is referencing their Oblivion ad originally from their website.

Russian or Chinese wannabe's?

nargalzius · Apr 19, 2013

My guess is he doesn't have even a prototype - which begs the question: what flashlight's in the "live" pictures!? Maybe he DOES have a custom light he made himself in the past and would want to "update" it with the newer technology LuxRC has - and earn while he's at it.

As for referencing Oblivion; probably to give people an idea what 1k lumens looks like (cuz the regular joe wouldn't know what the big deal was)

apurva · Apr 19, 2013

Was about to pull the trigger on this one, but realized I must consult the wise people here. Lux RC was always beyond my budget for an EDC light. Wondering if this fills the gap.

msim · Apr 19, 2013

Comment from Oveready over on their forum:

ElectronGuru said:
Neither Oveready or TorchLAB is in any way affiliated with 'Helioslight'. Lux RC continues:

"My name is Serge Dolgov and I'm the owner of LUX-RC Labs company. Yes, we made LED engines for Oblivion movie as well as for some companies in US which produce hi-end flashlights.

Helioslight team has NOT our permission to use our name (LUX-RC), our documents (they used the UI diagram from our documentation in their promo), our beamshots (photos of the light in action).

No one contacting me asking for any kind of permission using my company name or any part of our proprietary information such as beamshots, the LE specification and so on."

Looking at numbers:

Triple related items have the lowest margin of everything we sell, on the order of half what most stores consider a healthy minimum on even high volume items.

Genuine LUX RC boards alone would be 60% of Helios' minimum retail. An unlikely margin of zero, would leave a scant $30 for making the entire rest of the flashlight.

Someone is taking advantage. The question is, of whom?

sinnyc · Apr 19, 2013

Hmmm. I posted this on the comments section of their Kickstarter page:

I just read a post on a flashlight forum from Serge Dolgov, the owner of Lux-RC who said:

"Helioslight team has NOT our permission to use our name (LUX-RC), our documents (they used the UI diagram from our documentation in their promo), our beamshots (photos of the light in action). "
Please respond to this.

No response yet.

ThirstyTurtle · Apr 19, 2013

Looks pretty sweet but I'd like to know what leds they're using and maybe some runtime information...

TEEJ · Apr 19, 2013

ThirstyTurtle said:
Looks pretty sweet but I'd like to know what leds they're using and maybe some runtime information...

And I'd rather patronize Overready instead of people who would plagiarize his accomplishments.

Jumpmaster · Apr 19, 2013

sinnyc said:
Hmmm. I posted this on the comments section of their Kickstarter page:

I just read a post on a flashlight forum from Serge Dolgov, the owner of Lux-RC who said:

"Helioslight team has NOT our permission to use our name (LUX-RC), our documents (they used the UI diagram from our documentation in their promo), our beamshots (photos of the light in action). "
Please respond to this.

No response yet.

He just posted a reply...

I saw this when it was first launched yesterday and something just didn't seem right about it...glad I skipped it...

sinnyc · Apr 19, 2013

Jumpmaster said:
He just posted a reply...

I saw this when it was first launched yesterday and something just didn't seem right about it...glad I skipped it...

Heh. He says it's a "simple misunderstanding". That's a phrase that sets off alarm bells every time I hear it. I just emailed Lux-RC asking if they could confirm if they are in fact supplying LED modules to Helioslight for this project. We'll see...

sinnyc · Apr 20, 2013

I emailed Lux-RC and Serge responded directly to me. I'm not going to post the email but Serge told me that Lux-RC has had no discussions with Helioslight and are not in business with them. So, I'm calling BS on Helioslight and am going to contact Kickstarter and report the project as a scam.

PocketBeam · Apr 20, 2013

The thermal design seems lacking, they should have filled in the gap to so they could dump more heat into it and so it would conduct heat to the body better.

The UI is not the best if you want a level between max or low. You have to use favorite mode which means you have to hold the button for a second to turn it off. That delay would drive me nuts.

Do you have to use IMR cells?

What is the runtimes, and how low in lumens can it go? 1%?

I don't like how they are misleading... Oblivion tie in, making it look smaller by using over sized keys, etc.

I do like the red location led, the pulse every 30 seconds, and even the mental strobe sounds interesting.

BTW, there are many tales of people losing their money on kickstarter. It is considured a investment, not a purchase. Be careful.

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