It's not a deal breaker for me either, but I was just trying to sneak away the prototype flat tube if Sofirn decides to use the round one in production
I like the flats, but I think they are best done when the threading is indexed so the flats line up with the button/other features on the light rather than random orientations. The indexed threading requires more labor for machining setups and thus more cost.
Thanks, I know it will be really low due to their old chemistry that has high internal resistance and big voltage sag plus the protection circuits add even more resistance.
For the cool white Q8, it makes sense to use NarsilM V1.2. It keeps the new Q8 faithful to the design of the old Q8, but uses an updated version of the firmware. The memory bug is not a major issue, considering that 2000+ old Q8 owners did not notice it.
For the SP36 and other new lights, I do not think it makes sense to keep using NarsilM. It is not really maintained any more, and it is not easy to update, so it may complicate the development process for new lights.
However, Anduril might make sense for new lights. It is intended as a newer, simpler, and more flexible replacement for Narsil… and its FSM code base makes it easy to create other custom interfaces if desired. Much like how a computer operating system allows the user to choose hardware and software, running many different applications on many different computers, FSM allows people to run many different interfaces on many different flashlights.
I would also recommend including Lexel’s firmware flashing port on new drivers. It allows people to install different interfaces fairly easily. Sofirn could potentially even allow the customer to choose their favorite interface at time of purchase, and flash the desired firmware to the light before shipping it to the customer.
I rather not have flats for some of the same reason(s). It makes the light look cheap, unrefined, if it is not clocked/indexed to the e-switch button. But flats can be sometimes easily indexed…… sometimes, using a piece of sand paper and a hard flat surface drag the battery tube across the sand paper to remove stock from the end(s) of the battery tube. On my DS4 even with the round tube, I wasn’t happy with the lanyard anchor point sitting at 9:00 O’clock, from the switch, so removing stock from both ends of the round tube, I moved it to line up with the switch button, in a matter of 10-15minutes of careful sanding/checking. Be warned, there can be risk’s incurred if you remove too much. Now if given the choice…I would vote NO FLATS ever! Your not saving that much weight, less machine work,cost savings possibly and a more refined look, IMO.
As an example. Do you think it was pure LUCK to get a GT mini where the flats lined up perfectly to the switch and the lanyard anchor was 180 degrees opposite…
I do a lot of indexing……I can not help myself…. :person_facepalming: