Update Barry & the manufacturer are getting ready to build the test prototypes to send to the team sometime this month, to evaluate & test, and if all is good then the production & sales could begin by May. As this is a lantern as different than a flashlight, and will use/require many newly-designed parts that are not found anywhere else on any current flashlight, (all the top end parts, driver circuit with charging circuit built in, ramping tint feature, MCPCB, machining parts, etc. costs are expected to be a bit higher than an average lantern or basic flashlight custom design, (as many flashlights can share common parts like lenses, bezels, MCPCBs, etc. that can keep costs down) the manufacturer is estimating the cost to be around $50 per unit at this time, -which is right where i predicted it to be for a lantern that has so much features & capability that no other lantern has i ever tested. (the production version has much more features than the original concept lantern does.) The original prototype i built was a very simple design, but this production planned model has much more. There is a possibility in the future we could work on two other models, a very basic, single tint version with simple modes, no charging, etc for the 30 ~ 35 dollar range, and the second top-of-the-line model with the built -in USB power bank and include the planned accessory kit.
Fantastic to hear that DBSAR!
I was slowly getting nervous after not hearing about any significant progress since last year and now we are even close to a production model! And $50 is totally fine for a lantern like this.
For those of you who haven’t already done so now’s the time to verify that your blf name is correct on either of the linked spreadsheets (post #2). PM Notifications will be automatically generated based on the names in those spreadsheets so if your name is incorrect then you won’t be getting a PM.
This is a one-time check so once verified then you’re good to go. Only send me a PM if your name is wrong.
DBSAR make them send you a second lens / cup /acrylic part.
So you can test when it will break.
The rim of the top part locks a bit thin. A bit more Aluminium would be good
I don’t expect this as the last prototype, as you said there are a lot of new parts.
Thanks for the support. I do need to do more videos of flashlight & lanterns, and will definitely soon, especially once this BLF LT1 lantern project gets rolling.