I think the Meteor will be a great light for impressing people, in addition to being good for actual use. Little light, big reactions. But as far as reactions go… sometimes things don’t go quite as I hoped. Here are two times things went a bit wrong:
Shortly after I built my Cypreus, I used it to look around a park at night, making sure not to shine it near or toward anyone within visual range. Someone else attending the same event came to ask about it and had some of the usual questions like “What is that?” and “Where can I get one?”
I was feeling pretty anti-social so I explained that they’re not sold like that and I made it from parts, but this didn’t deter them. They wanted to know how much it cost, because they worked with several children who had severe light insensitivity (probably legally blind) and the kids could really use some bright portable lights to see better.
Red flag. Pimped-out Cypreus plus … young children? Bad idea.
I tried to explain that it would be a bad idea because, not only is it bright enough to hurt people, but it’s also a significant fire hazard and I know an adult who hurt themselves with one. Also… small children. Fire. No.
This didn’t deter them either, so I told them how much it cost to make one and suggested they get some SK-68s instead. That worked, but … wow. Responsible for special-needs children and not concerned about giving them dangerous objects? Problem.
A couple days ago I asked my Significant Other if I could buy a Meteor. A “rainbow meteor”, even. She didn’t know what I was talking about, so she asked something like “In the sky? Um. I’m think I’m okay with you naming a meteor… What quadrant is it in?” I told her it was the Noctigon quadrant, and that it was called “M43”.
She was like “… wait, I’m confused. What?” I told her it was like a Skyray King, only much cooler. Then she understood, sighed, and said “… oh. I get it. I don’t understand, but I get it. I mean, I don’t understand why you get so excited about flashlights. I was more excited when I thought it was a rock.”
Let me repeat that. “I was more excited when I thought it was a rock.”
Edit: OH SNAP! I was supposed to ASK my wife first? Crap, I knew I got SOMETHING out of order! What about the 10 trits from Bart? Oh yeah, or the BLF Ti host? Or the 96CRI emitters from Cutter… I really need to work on this memory thing, remembering I bought all that makes me feel guilty for forgetting to ask first. :~
I wonder what it would look like if the 10511 were used but the interior TIR surfaces polished for a more throwy effect while the outer TIR’s kept the diffused surface for spill? Or maybe the other way around? Polish the exterior set?
Jetbeam at one point came and made a flashlight which they said limited production 1000pcs world wide. Just put that into perspective, such companies as Jetbeam and Nitecore with huge distribution worldwide make thousands of each model, maybe like 10,000pcs per model.
You can read the claim here of 1000pcs: http://www.jetbeamlight.com/ShowProducts.asp?ID=68
Some of the weakest cells, they won't power the M43 on Turbo, voltage sag is way serious on those.
And if they are protected they are even weaker. Even Sanyo UR18650FM outperform the NCR18650A and they were available at the same time.