Joking aside…… I’m surprised we don’t see more of this given the big ‘eco’ drive - it doesn’t have to be done with a whopping great handle on the side like these, maybe something you can disconnect after winding and store on a key chain. I know you won’t get hours of use, but for short spurts of 2-3 mins it’s possible? I literally use my lights for 5 mins at a time usually.
They managed it in 1924 - look at this beauty!Ivar-Lite Nickel Plated Brass Hand Generator Dynamo Light - I want lol!
What may be new for 2021? Lights that have more and more runtime at feeble max mode.
And lights that have even less runtime at brief blaze of glory max mode.
And lights that have normal run time at normal max mode.
Lights that are larger than the MF05, for two specialized groups of people: Those people who need maximum performance at longer range, and another group of people who just want such.
Also, new emitters. More efficiency, less heat. When I am done replacing my collection of XHP35 lights with SBT90 lights, it will be time to replace the entire collection with SBT180 lights.
would love to see an app controlled light in a small-ish form factor.
I hope to see a greater choice of emitter temps from manufacturers, other than CW/NW, I hope to see WW apearing more often with good CRI ratings.
I want to see an end to Olight type flashlights entirely, but we`ll probably get more an more “built in” batteries appearing too (which sux!).
but I do see a lot of lights that offer good tint and cri choices running out of stock of the decent LEDs leaving the 5000K+ lights unsold, so market forces are at play! 
I’d like to see tweaked (more accurate) thermal throttling circuits that let some of the mid-range lights run longer without dropping output so quickly.
Anduril settings can get the job done with some trial and error (and I love this UI because of that!) Perhaps I don’t have as many expensive lights (that already do this), but it would be nice to have MOST lights able to run at their top performance- and not limited by the driver where some engineer selects the “safe” point (whatever “safe” is to them), and instead allow the user to decide.
I guess I am saying put Anduril on everything- eh? But my rifle lights I build out with FET tail switches (from our very own Lexel) need to run bright for a few minutes… not 30 seconds. Heat isn’t a concern as the light is mounted to a (usually very cold) gun in the field and night, and usually in winter.
Simon at Convoy is making me some s2, S21B, and C8 lights right now that have NO thermal limiting at all (thanks again to Funtastic!) But it would be cool to have future UIs that “select” thermal management (on/off) OR have ACCURATE thermal limiting that cuts in ONLY TO PROTECT THE LIGHT… not my hand. 
I’m hoping Anduril2 might have some additional features like this and the current Anduril IU can get it done on some lights, with some effort.
And lastly… I’d like to get CURRENT versions of Anduril (or other good UIs out there) please! 
I once asked ToyKeeper if she could see a future where driver chips could be hard-wired to the USB port for firmware updating via standard PC- plug and play. She thought it a good idea, but warned that manufacturers are a ways away still. But WHEN THAT HAPPENS… there will be a lot more code tweaking going on here at BLF and lights will get even more interesting to “tweak” for us all.
I’ll finally push the BLF Charger project considerably. 
I’d call this year the year of auxiliary LED’s. I’d like next year to finally be the year for good flashlights with multiple buttons.
More silly lumen lights, with frustrating UIs, than can only sustain less than a 1xAA light’s output after 30 seconds.
That’s good news. If sale could start in March, that would be super awesome.
A 3×21700 powered multi 3.5×3.5mm emitter thrower would be super awesome (big head, at least d=10.5cm /but even up to 14cm would be good/, and not more than 7 emitters, high CRI, not more than 4000 lumen, small LES per emitter).
There are too many hotrods nowadays. I’d love something, which can hold its turbo for a few minutes.
LOL you are allowed to NOT buy them if you don’t like them, but some people do enjoy them and judging by their popularity, these people are not exactly a minority.
Overpriced lights with cr*p emitter (cold white 58-65 CRI) and also overpriced batteries? Yes, this phenomenon is also familiar to me.
I haven’t bought any (h)O (le)light yet, and I will never own.
On the other hand, when a flashlight brand decides to cooperate with and/or listen to enthusiasts, that can make many worthy best seller flashlights.
Enthusiasts are relatively small group of flashlight buyers. Most people out there do not care about high CRI or tint. You may not like it but this is a fact. There is a reason Olight is so popular, actually a few reasons - ease of use, dependable UI, great build quality + reliability, magnetic no-hassle charging, everything included in the box…
As I said to the other user - you’re free not to buy them, but saying you want them to vanish just because they don’t fit your taste is downright… I’ll let you decide on this one.
I definitely want this but in a form of maglite baton style rather than a shorty soda can
You would be surprised, how many people DO care. Just they don’t encounter them without help/reference from other people. I showed two different headlamps to a few people around me, and first, I gave them 6500K 65CRI, then later 4000K 95CRI. And you can guess the reactions, but I shall tell, too: they were amused by the latter, and once they saw that, they never even touched the 6500K 65CRI one. There were no exceptions so far.
The same is the reason for the popularity of (h)O (le)light, as about the popularity of the mobile phone brand with bitten/used fruit - many people are overly sensitive to good marketing (even poop can be served, when it looks good on dish). But just because many people are obsessed with them, and buy them without any criticism, it does not mean, that they are good (considering value for money, too). They may look good and even are good in many areas, but still can fall short of fundamental requirements.
[quote=Katherine Alicia}
I want to see an end to Olight type flashlights entirely,[/quote]
Olight is not a flashlight, but a cult. Of which I’m a proud member. (Gold Diamond.)
I just bought the Fryr with my name engraved on it.
If you have enough of them, the battery is not an issue. Besides charges with a string.
Or you can put it on a charger too.
The Xtar Over 4 Slim charges them with ease.
And, of course, any protected 21700. Like my Acebeams and Thrunites, etc.
The Xtar SC1, a 5 dollar charger, can also charge any protected 21700 @ 2A.
The Xtar VC8 also charges this particular battery. Not all of them.
The Xtar Dragon charges 21700 unprotected. Not this battery.
Now seriously, the Warrior M2R Pro is hard to beat for any situation.
If I’m traveling, it inspires confidence. You can’t put a price on that.
Even if I always carry a E300S Nichia from RoviVon.
Try ’em, you make like ’em.
P. S. I buy Apple phones every time they come out.
I’m on the 12 waiting for the 15. It’s a hobby.
Cheers.
I would be even fine with a 2×21700 parallel connected battery case, which could let the 21700 batteries sit like they were being serially connected.
I’d like to see a light that uses Elon Musk’s new 46800 cell
I actually don’t mind that turbo only holds full brightness for 60 seconds or even 30. For one thing, that’s why it’s called “turbo” and not “high”. Also, when would I ever need my MS18 to run at 100,000 lumens for hours? Dropping to 30k or whatever the next level down is fine with me. Much better than only having the option to only have 30
If you think about what we have now compared to 10 or 15 years ago, it’s really astonishing. I’d have done anything for a W30 as a kid or my FF5 HID that can literally set things on fire
Yes, I believe you! But you said it yourself - they don’t encounter them. If somebody explains the CRI/tint to them, gives them a comparison, then maybe they start caring. But in real life this does not happen often. You don’t need anymore proof than to check the quantity of lights Olight sales vs. the quantity an enthusiast brand like Emisar/Noctigon sales. Hint: the difference is massive.
You just proved yourself wrong, buddy. You are absolutely right about Apple - I was an user and I stopped after the 7 because their system is crap, went to Google Pixel and never looked back, on my 3rd device now.
BUT Apple still shifts the highest number of expensive phones on the planet, so they DO appeal to the masses.
So this claim —> “On the other hand, when a flashlight brand decides to cooperate with and/or listen to enthusiasts, that can make many worthy best seller flashlights.” —> is not correct. And your comparison with Apple just proved it.
And… the reason an iPhone is around $1000 (for the better models) IS because they have a lock on the market (very well planned out) and google/android is following them in NOT competing on pricing- they are all making buck (like “Olite”).
I agree with Alicia in that keeping these lights “open source” keeps the price DOWN and quality UP- the literal definition of competition. So I too won’t be buying proprietary designs where I get “locked in” — IF I can help it.
My background is high-tech marketing and I GET how it works. That is why we in the US today have lesser internet service than a LOT of other first world nations. WE HAD terabyte speed, SYNCHRONOUS ability 15 years ago (I know I was building it out in several start-ups back then)… THEN Congress blocked their own 1996 Telcom law (which WAS supposed to “opening up” the POPs to non-telco providers) right after Sony, Paramount, etc. wined (and paid the bribe) because of what happened to the music industry (remember Napster?)
In the US (and a lot of the world) we have WAY more oligopolies than we had back in the 80’s where we SHOULD have more competition with the advent of the internet (which BTW is WHAT we have with buying lights from China- thus the low prices and high quality)
This applies to banking, insurance, energy, and most of the big industries today. Modern “inventors” have been shut out of a lot of markets trying to bring improvements to our lives by the big players— to keep the “old money” flowing and competition (and innovation) IS going away. Not what I was born or taught to believe was right and so I’ll always choose an open platform to support a FREE (not fixed) market.
We “vote with out dollars” -until there are no options to vote for.