Life Expectincy Of our customs.

SuPpAvIlLiN · Jun 6, 2015

Hey guys, I have been admiring my custom titanium lights a lot recently and began to think about the life. A lot of us buy from custom makers who are not big company that will be around forever to replace parts. I am wondering how long do you guys think these lights should last? Say a brand new high quality LED take XML XPG for instance, you EDC the light and use it about 5 mins a day, how long should these led's/drivers last. To be more specific say a McGizmo Haiku xml.

1o57 · Jun 6, 2015

This brings up an interesting point regarding design and manufacture- it reminds me of that scene in Willy Wonka where he's telling the people about the "Everlasting Gobstopper", and that it would never get any smaller- (at which point one of the parents comments about how that's not good business)-

Good design is a double edged sword for manufacturers- it's in their best interest to design quality, so that reputation will spread, sales go up, etc- but for some items, engineering in a 'shelf life', that is a time for the product to break down, will ensure that re-purchase provides more revenue and income- some companies actually have people who do analysis on how long to make something last so that it is considered quality, and then to break after that, causing repurchase...

So a follow up question to your thought about how long some of these torches should last is have you seen engineering/design/manufacture issues that *might* be deliberate?

Just curious...

ChrisGarrett · Jun 6, 2015

SuPpAvIlLiN said:
Hey guys, I have been admiring my custom titanium lights a lot recently and began to think about the life. A lot of us buy from custom makers who are not big company that will be around forever to replace parts. I am wondering how long do you guys think these lights should last? Say a brand new high quality LED take XML XPG for instance, you EDC the light and use it about 5 mins a day, how long should these led's/drivers last. To be more specific say a McGizmo Haiku xml.

A lot of CREE LEDs are rated for 50,000 hours. Drivers and solder joints can be fragile if dropped, so those might be the weak links. Dropping a light kills a good number, so try not to drop them, if you can.

Chris

Amelia · Jun 6, 2015

1o57 said:
This brings up an interesting point regarding design and manufacture- it reminds me of that scene in Willy Wonka where he's telling the people about the "Everlasting Gobstopper", and that it would never get any smaller- (at which point one of the parents comments about how that's not good business)-

Good design is a double edged sword for manufacturers- it's in their best interest to design quality, so that reputation will spread, sales go up, etc- but for some items, engineering in a 'shelf life', that is a time for the product to break down, will ensure that re-purchase provides more revenue and income- some companies actually have people who do analysis on how long to make something last so that it is considered quality, and then to break after that, causing repurchase...

So a follow up question to your thought about how long some of these torches should last is have you seen engineering/design/manufacture issues that *might* be deliberate?

Just curious...

This thought crossed my mind yesterday - most lights now have some sort of semi-permanent memory in them, to store settings and remember the last mode and stuff like that. They also have some kind of computer in them, that can do things like measure the time "Turbo" has been on before stepping down to lower brightness.

I'm no electronic or computer person, though I do know some about batteries and voltage and the light related stuff... but it seems to me that if you have the 2 things above, you have everything you need to program in a "self destruct" that could keep a light from turning on after X hours of use. I wonder if any manufacturers are doing this, since their software is company secret and they don't need to tell us what's in the code that makes their lights run.

What do you l think? Am I just being overly paranoid or jaded? Or would some of these companies actually do this to get more future business?

SuPpAvIlLiN · Jun 6, 2015

I am talking specifically about private custom makers. I really doubt Don McLeish is making his lights with the intent for them to break at some point. Im talking high end titanium customs. I don't really have any worry about intentional self destruct mode.(I am sure it could be done) I am just wondering how long these amazing custom lights by these amazing custom makers should last me. I have a light as many of you that cost me 1300 usd and I just want to know that these things are going to last me my life time.

Amelia · Jun 6, 2015

SuPpAvIlLiN said:
I am talking specifically about private custom makers. I really doubt Don McLeish is making his lights with the intent for them to break at some point. Im talking high end titanium customs. I don't really have any worry about intentional self destruct mode. I am just wondering how long these amazing lights by these amazing makers should last me. I have a light as many of you that coast me 1300 usd and I just want to know that these things are going to last me my life time.

I understand. I was just replying to another post that touched on the "self destruct" concept.

As for the custom lights, there are no guarantees. My approach is that if I really like a light, I buy 2 or 3 of them - so I have spares in the event of a failure or commercial unavailability. I've bought lights in the past, used them and eventually lost or broke them, then been unable to replace them because they're rare or no longer for sale. Yes, it's more expensive to buy extras, but it's about the only way to get what you're after.

SuPpAvIlLiN · Jun 6, 2015

Amelia said:
I understand. I was just replying to another post that touched on the "self destruct" concept.

As for the custom lights, there are no guarantees. My approach is that if I really like a light, I buy 2 or 3 of them - so I have spares in the event of a failure or commercial unavailability. I've bought lights in the past, used them and eventually lost or broke them, then been unable to replace them because they're rare or no longer for sale. Yes, it's more expensive to buy extras, but it's about the only way to get what you're after.

Yea, that is scary. I think these makers would fix a defective light no? Sure hope so. As long as they are still around I feel secure, its later, if theu quit or pass(god forbid) or whatever, than what?? I suppose a modder could do it.

The light that raises this question for me is my THUD, I love it. I just invested in a second larger body tube for it so the total is up there now, but it could all fall to ruin if something goes wrong in the electronics. Just wondering how long these should last and if premature, would the makers fix it.

ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond · Jun 6, 2015

The great things about these custom lights is that they tend to be designed more modular than production lights. Take the Tri-EDC for example. The switch can be removed and replaced. The light engine can be removed and the LEDs can be repalced/upgraded or the driver can be swapped with one with more features/options/powers. The same applies to lights like the Haiku, P60 drop-in style lights or any light made to take standard 17mm drivers and mPCBs.

As long as parts can be replaced and there are willing CPF modders to do the work then these lights should last forever.

SuPpAvIlLiN · Jun 6, 2015

ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond said:
The great things about these custom lights is that they tend to be designed more modular than production lights. Take the Tri-EDC for example. The switch can be removed and replaced. The light engine can be removed and the LEDs can be repalced/upgraded or the driver can be swapped with one with more features/options/powers. The same applies to lights like the Haiku, P60 drop-in style lights or any light made to take standard 17mm drivers and mPCBs.

As long as parts can be replaced and there are willing CPF modders to do the work then these lights should last forever.

Thank you. Good to hear. What about the THUD, I don't know much about the specifics on these lights but I do know that the THUD has a different size than the Haiku. IS 17mm the only common size?

Luter · Jun 18, 2015

I'm one of the newest custom titanium flashlight maker and I can tell you that, as it's stand, they are high end flashlights and they will last a lot, I don't make the light to brake later on, because our business plan is in innovation, you will not want new light from me because the old one brake down, but because it's still working and you want something new and different design. You never end up with one light, you have plenty of them and you will probably never use all of them, but you will still buy new ones, because you like them, they are made to last, you can drop them you can abuse them, and they will still work, thats how they are design - to last.

TEEJ · Jun 18, 2015

The custom guys I know of at least would never even consider a "planned obsolescence" function.

The lights tend to be very well made, better than the mass produced stuff.

If lets say they died, etc, sure, no warranty, but, generally, due to the modular nature, etc, they should be fixable at least.

So far, I'd guess that the advances in technology would mean the lights would simply be dimmer than alternatives eventually, and, would be either retired or replaced before they "wore out".

Life Expectincy Of our customs.

SuPpAvIlLiN

Enlightened

1o57

Newly Enlightened

ChrisGarrett

Flashlight Enthusiast

Amelia

Enlightened

SuPpAvIlLiN

Enlightened

Amelia

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SuPpAvIlLiN

Enlightened

ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond

Flashlight Enthusiast

SuPpAvIlLiN

Enlightened

Luter

Enlightened

TEEJ

Flashaholic

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