Interested ,Pls upload new pictures
I am going to add a TP4056 based charger and a USB power circuit to it soon to do some of those tests to it.
Below are some photos of the prototype lantern being used on a mountain top camp site during mountaineering trip back in July.
Those pictures are fantastic.
I still see no reason at all that the Q8 could not have an add on attachment to get 95% of the performance of this in a screw on upgrade. The only trick would be the reflector design to get the angles right.
I think an add-on attachment that screws into the Q8 (in place of the bezel, a-la Solarforce LT-1) is a great idea.
What do you think are the odds of getting either:
A. CAD data of the bezel, or
B. Bezels available for sale individually
?
interested!
The only thing we would really need to make it work with the Q8 would be the thread pitch and size, that is fairly simple to figure out once people get them.
The hard part is the CAD design for the reflector itself. If someone could get a workable cad design for the reflector then the rest should be fairly simple. Could even 3D print a prototype for testing and cover it in mylar or other reflector coating for testing.
I have no idea how to calculate / figure out the shape of the reflector though. It would need to spring the light as evenly as possible in a 360 degree Field of view and have a sharp cutoff horizontally to keep from blinding yourself. Totally possible but also fairly advanced reflector design…
this is a lantern.
The proto looks a bit longer because DBSAR used a SRK, lots of space is not needed and the charging and powerbank functionality are sweet.
Made well this is much more sturdy then a diffuser , handy while camping.
The big Q8 output is not needed, so the led driving part can be made with less components, freeing space for the nifty camping features.
The existing driver is already as compact as you will get expect for going to a newer MCU that doesn’t have any firmware right now. In fact this light should really use a buck driver for higher efficiency but that will take up significantly more space then the existing driver.
Lantern with power bank functionality, that takes 4x18650 cells and ideally has other functions gets my vote for the next project.
ideas for other features
waterproof slot for matches, usb cables etc
12v input
Timer to off or moonlight mode
threaded base for tripod mount
flap or curtain for creating a shadow side, ideally reflective for more output to the other side.
Ah, the new photos show something that looks very much like a Q8 with a light handler on top. This is what I thought was being suggested way back.
I would suggest that such a configuration is not a waste of a Q8, but a more flexible implementation. I would recommend thinking about an attachment between a Q8 and the lamp diffuser that does not involve threading. Simply using a clamping mechanism of some sort would allow a simple and quick way to move between lantern and raw Q8. Best of both worlds. And allows rapidly going from werewolf target identifier to werewolf locator. Sorry, I am reading a werewolf series that is quite good; it just spilled over a bit here…
Still anxiously awaiting my Q8…but lets not forget a big part of what makes this light so amazing. It cost $40…go ahead say it out loud…forty dollars!
Keep it simple.
I think there’s definitely a market for DBSAR’s dedicated lantern design, Q8 attachments or not. Look at how popular Fenix’s lanterns are, for example. They’ve even been doing well enough to catch the attention of the generic manufacturers, who’ve clearly ripped off the design for themselves.
some nice ideas for additions there 
This lantern prototype uses a Nanjq Q-Lite driver which has moonlight mode, ( then Low,medium, & High) on moonlight it will run for over a month.
I am still very interested in this project.
Email send to Barry and DBSAR
1 to point Barry to this thread and urge Thorfire to make this high quality lantern
2 to provide DBSAR with the Q8 CAD files so he can do the design, show Thorfire and us what is the plan with some pictures.
I could have worded it better, what I meant was the ability to set a timer so that it maintains current light output, then at the end of the timer goes to either off, or moonlight, whichever was selected.
This is something ideal for camping, so you can read in a sleeping bag until too sleepy to want to get up to turn off the light, which will wake you (and others with a noisy zipper) up anyway, and have the light turn off by itself, or revert to a night-light function if you do not want complete darkness.
Wait didn’t TK do things with timers?
Gonna point her to this post.
DBSAR, driver software needed things?
e switch
moon yes no
low 5, med 40, high 100% (or ramp?)
memory yes no
reverse by long click yes no
voltage readout
timer setting 1 light on, dimming after X time
timer setting 2 light off, slowly turn on after X time
sideswitch, beacon or off
this lantern seems very nice, subscribing so I can buy it in the future. Thanks for all the hard work.