KC1 keychain light is available now

I think MCU-controlled flashlights these days have mostly moved to side switches because then they can be soft switches, controlling signals rather than switching large amounts of current that are easier to switch with a FET. The side switch connects the switch to the MCU without having to run a sleeve through the battery tube. The current itself is also a lot higher than in old lights, like 7+ amps in the case of the D4v2. High current lithium ion rechargeable cells let us do that. In the consumable cell era, even the insane Surefire lights that burned through two or three CR123A cells in 15-20 minutes only used 3 amps or so. The M6 may have used 6 amps since it had two sets of cells (6 cells total). So with the MN21 lamp (500 lumens) it cost around $30 an hour to operate. The tail switches on those lights (power only, no microprocessor) were quite massive. They were momentary-only pushbuttons which you could lock by tightening a lock ring. Surefire made several attempts to make clickie switches for its smaller lights, but afaik none of them worked very well.

Anyway I think an illuminated tail switch would take more compexity than we’ve seen here so far. I don’t mind the idea but it doesn’t sound like a big enough gain to be worth the increased diameter and other issues. I’m very happy with the D4v2, I can understand wanting a thrower of similar size, and I can also see wanting a thinner light, straight sided and maybe using 16650/16340. I do like the the coming SP10 Pro (dual fuel AA/14500) and would certainly buy a Hank light (i.e. same general idea but higher quality and minimal size) with that design.

Yes I’m in favor of switching to the Attiny1616 in future drivers even though it means a new flashing device. It’s a better chip in various ways.

Not sure how reliable it would be, but if the inner signal tube actually became bat+ powered from a current sensing circuit, and switch LEDs drew a constant baseline current which would be considered ‘0’ to the sensing mcu, then the switch would ‘short’ to gnd through a current limiting resistor, which would spike the sense voltage and therefore act as the switch signal. Maybe a zener could be utilized to differentiate between ‘baseline’ and ’ signal ’

There are plenty of side switch Anduril lights. For some use cases (such as my hobby of light painting photography) a tail switch is required as side switches are inaccessible when the flashlight is connected to a tool. Some flashlight users just prefer a tail switch. Hence my suggestion of an tail e-switch with Anduril 18650 tube light (approx. 25mm dia), as it simply doesn’t exist in the market right now. I think I can give up on the illuminated tail switch idea!

Oh, that is interesting about light painting needing a tail switch. Maybe what we really want is a remote controlled light? There are lots of lights with remotes these days. It would be great to have one with Anduril. Here is a Fenix remote switch that seems to replace the tailcap on some of their lights:

I guess for a side switch design there could just be a switch port on the side as well. I’d be supportive of this, especially with the t1616 processor, since it could be used for other stuff too, such as configuring or reprogramming the light.

Some light painters use remote pressure switches (notably Klarus, Nitecore, and Olight), and again they need to be connected to the tail as the head of the light is in the adaptor/connector and inaccessible. RF remotes are more of an annoyance than a help and only really useful in RGB lights. Personally I like the momentary mode on Anduril, as it allows fine control of on/off. My buying guide to flashlights for light painting is in my signature.

I’ve not seen any Zebralights with tail switches!

You wouldn’t want to use one for light painting anyways. Zebra’s UI just isn’t cut out for it

Very true. The only Zebralight that has interested me is the FC700D as it can sustain 1500 high CRI lumens, so great for backlighting, however they don’t sell it in Australia. So I’ll just stick with my Q8!

How about a tail switch with tritium vials?

That’ll do!

Who has tritium? more like unobtanium.

Speaking of unobtanium + 1 for 5000k SFT-40 emitter!

New torch looks super interesting, look forward to more specs.

Hi Hank,
are there any new informations about the problems with german customs and resend the packages ?
I still wait for one flashlight

This new 40mm TIR looks like the battery tube screws in deep, a bit like in the K1. Is this the case?

I’m trying to make sense of the proportions. Is the switch farther away from the tail-end, comparing to the K1?

Looking at it makes want to hold it (edit meaning: it looks ergonomic, has a nice size, and I want one). Thanks for also making this green!

@Hank

Could you please post a picture of the DM11 standing next to a D4V2 + D4SV2 so we can a better feel for the dimensions?

We have already started to resend the package one by one, please let me know your order number via email, so that we can resend your order.

As you ask for Ti, which is horrible for heat dissipation and more of a show piece variant. The very thing you’re accusing ano’s of.

Read again…TiCu…


This looks terrific. Specs sound excellent. Really looking forward to this, Hank! :+1:

is it possible to create an optional usb-c charging module?
only a 10mm long module to screw between body and head with charging port and passthrue

in my dreams i got a D4V2 with charging port, tail switch AND side switch and 3 levels of AUX brightness :laughing:

This with SFT40, Ti-Cu, and K1 style in body usb C charging… PERFECTION!