I hope we get to see a BLF triple or quad XHP70.2 pushing 12-15K lumen in a BLF Q8 form factor with a slightly larger head.
What kind of solderless surface mount?
Your #2 is intriguing on various levels. Specifically to mod LEP’s I ponder that one should/will become an expert on this laser class. Especially the type that can/will blind you permanently if you don’t know what you’re doing.
I kinda equate this upcoming LEP paradigm to electricians that know how the wiring IN your home works and can play with it competently vs a lineman that understands the unique characteristics of the high tension overhead that supplies power TO your home.
So I wonder, if the typical BLF LED modder (home level electrician) is adequately prepared to deal with some of these lineman level deals when he takes these LEP modules apart and starts fooling around with a laser. Maybe a P60 sealed module approach for most of us here is the way we’ll end up approaching this shift.
I guess we’ll find out. Maybe it’ll be easy. Maybe not. Hopefully no one gets hurt in the process of learning cuz ya know they think it’s just another flashlight.
Obviously this ain’t.
“Have you lost yer mind?”
Answer: “Nope. I’m just a BLFer.”
:laughing: 
Hmm…Haikelite MT09R or MT03 II? Seem to check all the boxes except that they are only partially BLF developed.
Indeed, the hobby becomes much more dangerous. This applies not only to modders but also to consumers of lights. Before the first LEPs appeared there was speculation that light manufacturers would use fully integrated LEP modules. That turned out too optimistic. A manufacturing defect is very dangerous with LEPs….
No, they aren’t. There is a reason why the use of Class 4 lasers is restricted.
You’re absolutely right. It’s not a flashlight. It’s the flashlight.
This is a rare case of bragging where it’s entirely warranted. 
Ya know my wife wood completely agree!!!
:laughing: :+1:
If you blind me one good eye from Norway I’m suing. :person_facepalming:
Deal! :sunglasses: :person_facepalming:
Zebralight never produced a follow-up to their compact S6300 reflector triple.
MecArmy/Altun exploded on the scene with their PT series triples offering efficient noPWM, larger than Carclo optics flood, interchangable battery tubes with easy to mod heads featuring unglued bezels. They only produced PT16 reflector triples in titanium and bra$$ models. The beams were CW only, and full of artifacts.
Now we have to hope for something from FF (are you guys reading this?), with special order sm4070e Nichias, reflectors by Eagtac orAndy Wei (Sunwayman), infinite mag control ring from the Jetbeam rrt01/TCR1, the same Altun USB (rechargeable) battery tubes (with addition of 16500 and 18500 sizes), offering extra heads and tubes a la carte like Emisar and Jaxman.
Include additional finishes Olight is fond of, and easy UI flashing as on the already exposed contacts Altun has on the undersides of the heads for those wanting ramping, presets, or attachment to your smartphone
I predict Thorfire may make a comeback in the industry with new flashlights models. Their quality is typically good, even though I didn’t see many models in the pre-Christmas shopping season.
Who knows, maybe 2019 could even bring another community-designed Thorfire light?
DD ‘drivers’ will finally lose popularity in 2019 due to low Vf LEDs.
“Peak torch” will be reached. The tiny proportion of the population who are interested in these things will have already accumulated so many, that are already more than good enough for any conceivable purpose, that they have no room for any more. A one-in, one-out policy will have to be adopted.
Torch mountains will build up as the recycling chain fails to cope with the megatonnes of discarded torches and cells.
Collectors and “investors” will grow older, and their heirs will take little interest in their obsession, when the time inevitably comes, and it all has to be cleared out.
The practice of buying multiple copies in every body material and LED tint, then boasting about it (with pictures) will become socially unacceptable. Rampant consumerism will become confined to only one part of one continent, where it is compulsory, part of their “way of life”. Thoughtful use of “surplus” money for humanitarian and charitable causes will become the norm. Mostly.
People may become nicer to each other, worldwide, but that’s not the trend at the moment.
Quality, rather than quantity, or cheapness, will become better appreciated.
The ubiquity of the voucher code, affiliate link, flash-sale, pre-sale, special holiday, special edition, group buy etc. will diminish, sellers will eventually realise that this is just an annoyance, better just to price and market things correctly, and not waste money paying intermediaries, which can only put up the price to the customer overall. The way things are done at the moment nobody with any sense pays the list price, but demands a special code, or gets upset when one is not available. Then whinges when the product is delayed, or turns out not to be the perfect Unicorn that they felt entitled to.
Cylindrical torches cheaply and easily CNCed out of tube and bar and poorly finished will become unfashionable and some design sophistication, and use of more interesting materials may finally prevail.
A new true BLF Special Edition, put together swiftly by a tight BLF team, that is really special and does something better than anything else, might be started, but I have no high hopes of that, there aren’t many left who have the experience, and I don’t see much new blood coming on.
Bug free UIs may be developed that are instantly understandable by anyone (along with efficient drivers), that don’t require an MCU the size of a planet and a gazillion lines of code just to turn on and off.
Magnetic with filament pathways.
Trying to figure out how to make the patent drawings. :sunglasses:
This. IMO the EDC fabric is about to be resown. Essentially small quads ala DS4, S43, etc., with Osram Flat Whites. Heat management issues subsequently for the most part resolved. Carclo type setups specifically tuned to specific LEDs. Drivers, firmware, et al to adjust designs accordingly. I see all this coming. Osram sees it. Maybe even a small cottage all U.S. made company will crop up out of it at some point depending on how far this tariff spiff goes.
PS. I’d go to work sweeping floors at a new U.S. flash company if they gave me a 50% discount. I figure considering what I’ve spent in this “hobby” I’d be ahead even making minimum wage. :laughing:
Some crazy high powered blue module, no doubt. Got a link?
A crazy obsessive genius with no funds, maybe called Emmet, will put together, in their shed, an arrangement of salvaged laser modules from scrap DVD and Blue Ray burners.
Focussed onto a single Dilithium crystal, to charge up a flux capacitor, using inertial fusion confinement.
Which can then be bounced off the moon, or just a fake moon.
Maybe we could all have our own individual “fake moons” precisely directed, using CubeSat technology.
But that would never be allowed by big business, and the Lizard people.
Nah, the Lizard People are cool with it. I asked.