I didn’t see it mentioned, but how about a steel or delrin base plate to protect the bottom from rocks and rough surfaces. Using this outside did you see any wear on the base? Might be able to 3d print a piece the base sits into. Even a wider base with more lateral stability. Like the pancake bases on some lanterns.
Another idea I had was a place at the center of that base with a tripod mount. For a mini three legged flexible tripod, to use on uneven surfaces. The base would need to be a good deal thicker to thread into, as there’s not much material on the q8. Machined delrin would probably be much cheaper than stainless.
I know these would add cost, but as optional additions, I’d be willing to pay for them, for the added benefits.
One of the plans is to add a 1/4”–20 threaded tripod mount hole in the bottom of the lantern for those reasons, and to give it the option of mounting it on a tripod to illuminate a larger area when needed.
Will the lantern require button top cells? I just recently realized the BLF Q8 does, and since this lantern is using may identical parts, I am suspecting it will also?
Most likely as the four cells are in parallel and button tops are required to contact the positive driver ring when threading the battery tube on the head.
sorry i fixed that its easier i put the total number after the last list request then it is to move every one else down. Either way Thorfire has expressed lots of interest in this project as it approaches 1000 lanterns interested.
I am adding the base tripod threaded mod tomorrow to the prototype, and will do some beam-pattern ( beam shot) comparisons between the new V2 versus the V1 and some other modified lanterns i have. So far the V2 is very impressive with the new head design, with a smoother, wider field of illumination than any other lantern i tested or have, with the least lantern glare effect of them all. I can;t wait to field-test this (with photos) on our first 3-day camping trip in 2 weeks. I hope to get the USB TP4056 based charging circuit added to if i can in time, to test its off-grid sustainability using a 10-Watt Eceen folding solar charger.