Yep, Prototype 2 showed up while I was at work yesterday (turned out it was a whole light and not just the reflector which is great!). I only had a few minutes to look at it this morning before heading back out to work but first impressions are it is a significant improvement.
The reflector is MUCH better.
The kurling is fantastic as well, perfect combo of style, grip and subtlety. A+ on that.
The polarity protection of the cells is also great. I like how they ended up doing it, makes it easier to insert the cells, A+ once again.
The new carriers are nice as well, all metal construction this time, double springs and should have lower resistance but obviously didn’t have time to dig further in a few minutes.
It also has an indicator LED in the switch now!
I will try to make time tonight if I don’t get home too late to look at it closer and get some pictures.
It is still at least a few weeks until it is ready to ship. So up to you when you want to order the batteries.
I think the lumintop is going to try to get some Samsung 35E or another good cells to ship with the light but they have not confirmed one way or the other yet and no clue on pricing. So might be worthwhile to wait and see what lumintop comes up with to ship with the light.
They sent along what we hope will be the final XHP35 separately as they got them last minute. I will reflow it and install it later to see what it looks like. They sent 2 of the NW LED’s as well, so the other one I can put on the sphere to see exactly what we are dealing with.
Really ??? Intrested in a bit more info on this. Is it something like they are talking about w/the K70 build……
(OP, below the last pic, and just above mid of the specs list Update: 10-22-17. KRONOS K70 GB. $50. 243 on list! )
Voltage would be different obviously …… but I kinda like the idea, as long as it’s not a large parasitic draw.
It is using the same basic firmware setup as the Q8, so it should work like the Q8 lighted switch but I neither have a Q8 nor did I mess with this one yet, so I can’t say for sure.
The switch cover is smoked which gives it a good look and the brightness is ok as well. Still have to test the current draw on the LED though.
It also has 2 LED’s vs the K70 picture you posted, so it looks much more balanced.
I guess the gt is so small that we need an indicator led to find it in the closet. I almost always deactivate indicator leds if possible from my flashlights. Not a huge fan of something I personally don’t use, especially when it introduces more places where potential problems or failures can occur. I have a feeling that at least some q8 team members would have preferred thorfire’s “gift” of double led indicators been left off since most initial problems centered around those leds. Then again Lumintop is a horse of a different color as we say on the farm here.