Me too, for this light.
Quite sure the more people involves, the more options we’ll get. But let’s take a wider look.
Assuming the Authors aim in creating an over - time classic, widely accessible and for many applications. Shouldn’t we think of ‘the market’? I don’t think (with all due respect) BLFers are a representative group. We’re all crazy about flashlights. To make it right, the Authors should ask a question, who is the potential customer. Let’s say it’ll be very lucky at BLF and sells in number of 1000. And then what? Mugles who bought are likely to return due to too complicated UI.
Why not to use advanced processor and program it (flash the bios) just before sending? The same way we choose led temp. or ref type, we could choose software. Like at MTN. This way the light could reach more people, be more flexible and satisfy each group. Moreover, modding this light could be extended by multiple software versions.
Anyway, I think the success of this light depends on its sales. BLF won’t bring more than 1000? But if it becames common at gas stations… BOOM,millions….
So… The software could be developed, best if market research could prove which exactly functions are desired most by a regular buyer. Who that buyer is (statistics on many factors) etc…
If people are going to flash it, then design it with “pogo pin” access and sell it bundled with the pogo pin connectors.
Well, let’s make a high CRI light with a simple, but good UI like this:
Moonlight (0,5 lumens) — Low-Low (5 lumens) — Low (40 lumens) — Medium(200 lumens) — High(500 lumens)
Shouldn’t be too hard now, would it?
With a SST-20 95CRI 4000k, a reverse tailswitch, simple coated clear anodization, OP reflector, 2x AA compatibility, it could be a killer.
The only problem would be the cell choice and USB charging.
USB charging could be implemented with 1x AA NiMH LSD cell included in the box, but the cell would’ve to be included at all costs.
2x AA could be doable, but not required.
Multiple cells except for parallel Li cells (eg, the DC7) do not take well to in situ charging without at least some kind of rudimentary BMS, so yeah, stay away.
And alkaleaks will take a crap in the light, so the pricier the light, the more bux someone has to throw away to replace it. And smart people who experienced that before will likely stay away from such a light unless it’s cheap enough to be considered disposable.
As much as I like my TK4As, I rarely use them anymore except with brand-new cells, and at the slightest hint of a weak cell, dump them and burn them down as singles or doubles in cheaper lights. One of the brass nipples in the tailcap is already “browned” from a hateful little alkaleak that started to do its thing.
Suggestion? At the risk of making the light slightly bigger, stick the cells in a separate sleeve to at least try to contain leaks, and insert the sleeve in the light itself. Alas, pennies count, so I doubt that’d happen.
Well, that’s a great idea actually.
Since people will stick Alkaleaks anyway, a sleeve should be included to put in the cells.
What about cycling? off/flood/throw/both/off/…
Of course someone’ll want to be able to fade between flood/throw in a continuous way (like the T1 lantern mixing CW⇄WW), so of course people’ll be demanding that as well. :person_facepalming:
Or have buttons fade between flood/throw, and overall brightness up/down.
Designed for muggles, overcomplicated by demanding “flash[ao]holics”…
Are the cells in series or parallel? I'd ideally like good NiMh support. Parallel would be cool for the "use on 1AA in an emergency" factor, and I believe Sofirn is getting some experience with boost drivers of that type already
Damnit, I was just thinking that. Boaz was going on about having a sort of snap-on diffuser cap for I think a Q8, so yeah, something like that would/should work fine.
Here’s a revolutionary idea…
Everyone’s fixated with pushbuttons to control things, but what do most crappy plastic lights have since the 1930s? A slider. Slide forward to turn on, backward to turn off.
In that vein, and thinking of the magnetic slider in my DV-S9s, a 3-position slider can be used to turn the light off|low|high and that’s it.
Or if pushbuttons are a must, an “up” and “down” button.
Up goes off→low→high→high→high→…
Down goes high→low→off→off→off→…
and that’s it.
Add another brightness mode or so, but that’s it.
No blinkies, no shortcuts, no nothing. No longpress, no click’n’hold, nothing.
So simple a monkey could use it. So who’s smarter, you or a monkey?
This. It’s also an easy way to figure out in the dark.
One “maybe”, press’n’hold both buttons for battery-check or some not-critical function, for those who can handle it.
Do waterproof slider-switch designs exist? I think they are used in diving lights, right? Slide for off-low-high would be cool. (and it will make this light more attractive than my MT22A)
At least I agree on a very basic UI, 3 or 4 brightness modes and nothing else. And it helps if the flashlight is really budget. And if it runs on 2 AA cells, I think that USB charging is overkill, everyone has a NiNh charger and is used to charge these batteries. You can give this to muggles no problem.
Oh, and batt-check could be a plain indicator led somewhere, if it lights: charge soon, if it blinks: almost dead.
I love slider switch. Actually this was my initial idea and reason I tried to resurrect Durabeam.
Here are my initial sketches from April: 1 & 2
and thanks to huge help from i_me_andrew we had first rough drawing
Example:
Yep, I liked the 2D Eveready flashlights that had the old 2-way slide switches with the button in the middle to lock them
Sofirn is already familiar with magnetic slide switch
(above: Sofirn MS11)
Magswitches usually have about 10mA parasitic current, though. And probably need a fairly higher voltage (closer to 5V than 3V, let alone 2.whatever when under load).
You can probably put 2 pb switches under 1 boot to make it look/feel like a rocker switch, but a (nonmagnetic) waterproof slider might be hard to come by (read: I haven’t ever seen any).
OK, so a simple light with high quality components and high build quality.
No USB and no LCD, but a plain led indicators as batt-check, like this one:
This is the most simple UI that I could think of:
https://i.imgur.com/6zPTNsN.jpg
Immediate thought, may or may not be sensible 
Put the two e-switches under a single flat rubber cover, with a space between them. Put a roller on the bottom of a captive slider. Two detents on the slider.
Off is the centre position, with the slider on one of the two detents and the roller on the gap between the switches so nothing happens.
Push forward is momentary-on. No detent there, the roller engages the front e-switch, with a spring pushing the slider back to the centre-off position when the user releases it.
Push backward is constant-on, the roller engages the rear e-switch, with the slider on the other detent. Push forward to the centre-off position to turn the light off again.
Extra constant-on modes are possible by having extra rear e-switches in line, each with its own slider detent.
BREAK
Alternatively, you could do it magnetically with a magnet in the slider and using reed switches (no parasitic power requirement) instead of the constantly-powered Hall Effect sensor that continuously-variable controls have to have.