Compared to the Q8: 1 led instead of 4, no chunky copper board, less aluminium needed, but added is onboard charging and powerbank function. $30 ??
I’m in for one, maybe later more if I can show a factory prototype to people.
I’m not in this team but can I do a suggestion? Use 3 18650’s parallel instead of 4 (and thus leave legoing with the Q8). I made a lantern attachment for my Q8, and although I used it with pleasure it is all pretty chunky and heavy, for me it will be more usable if the lantern is a bit leaner and more lightweight than SRK-size, and runtime will still be long with 3 batteries. It will also set the BLF-lantern more apart from the cheapo lanterns currently in the market.
Put you on the list for 30 craig-IL
Time not clear, I hope that Thorfire does it and it is done before summer northern part of world. But who knows
Yes let us compare with Q8 from the ground up:
Tail
Lantern needs lanyard holes and tripod mount, little more expensive
Tail PCB and springs same
Tube same
Head bottom side
3 tripod mounts more machining but no shelf so thinner tube to make it from
Probably a little cheaper.
Driver
More expensive with charging and power bank chips and connectors
Led board cheaper for sure
Top part head
No refector but the way to get power to the led and hold diffuser and transparent thing and heatsink makes for a lot of parts and steps to make.
Sure this all cost more
Larger better box , costs more.
So I don’t think $30 is realistic.
I think it will be more and writing all this $50 seems not a bad guess.
But feel free to correct me
I don’t recall if it’s been asked but wouldn’t the ability to just get a lantern head that fits on the Q8 body be enough for most people? On the other hand the body is probably cheap compared to the head so that may be a non-starter.
Sigshooter lots of diffuser things can be used with the Q8 but DBSARs aim was a really good lantern
Hence the down facing LED in warm tint.
There are no real good ones now, either plastic or expensive or both
It is possible to design & build the production model of the BLF lantern using the exact same body-center section, bottom PCB & springs, and a slightly modifived version of the tail cap as on the Q8 to help save some costs in new machining and parts.
Most all those predictions with the ideas are good. even if this lantern is sold for $50 ~ 60 That is an great price for a quality lantern with the capabilities this will have compared to the many large, all-plastic, bulky, cold-tinted and badly designed lanterns on the market in stores or online in that price range. Even the best lanterns in the $80 to $100 dollar range i have & tested don’t come close to what the Prototype does right now.
That was kind of my thought that the head was the most significant and costly part of the lantern. I can definitely see a modified tail cap with perhaps a hook on the bottom to allow hanging it from a limb, etc. In any case it was just a passing thought and I wouldn’t expect the body to add more than $10 - $15 to the lantern (just a guess of course). The ability to swap heads would allow some flexibility when taking the Q8 into the outdoors since only a single light would be needed. But then again it’s not that much more effort to take a Q8 and a lantern than a Q8 and a large lantern head.
The tail cap on this 4-cell flashlight almost threads onto the bottom of the lantern prototype. I really like this design, as it is very stable as a base, has lots of slots for a bottom lanyard, and is thick enough to add a tripod-mount hole in the center.
its not only me, we now have a team working on this.
It got started as a project to design & build a lantern that works better than any store-bought lantern i have used & seen on the market so far, and to be able to offer a tested design as a production model with the help of some great people here on BLF.
BLF is a great place with lots of talented people who are willing to share their time and expertise. It’s also a bad place that tempts people to spend spend spend :money_mouth_face:
Just kidding on that last part of course…well maybe :person_facepalming:
Well, it certainly is promising to hear that there is now a team working on this. My sincerest compliments to the team! Nonetheless, special thanks to you for vision and motivation.
This makes me think, probably impractical, but how about using one slot of the battery tube from the Q8 for the USB charging/powerbank function. That way if you buy the lantern, you have the option of converting your Q8 into a 3 cell with USB charging/powerbank.
Will be to difficult to design the driver base contact plate, (adding to the cost & complexity, and require 2 charger circuits, & a complex set up for battery configuration. Also the capacity of a single 18650 charging power bank is almost useless for thew newer larger phones like an iphone 8 or Galaxy 8 , and a 3-cell set up for the lantern will just lower total run times and form the lights i seen the size reduction is not even worth the redesign for a complete new body when we already have a great body design with the Q8. A four 18650 in parallel set up like the Q8 is the only practical way for best performance overall to power both the lantern & a power bank option.
You must not over-estimate the effort of designing body parts for the manufacturer, that is thinking for them, what they are and are not prepared to make they are perfectly capable of deciding themselves.
For the Q8, we went with an existing Thorfire battery tube which IMO does not really fit the head in a design point of view, which I still think is a bit of a pity (and looking at the picture in post #670, that would have been a nicer and more practical tail end). And thinking back, that was not because of cost and complexity but because we were uncertain of the dedication of Thorfire to the project and wanted to make them feel comfortable by using a part of their own design (a thing that should not be needed anymore, now that the Q8 project has proven to be succesful).
