Normal people want things that are simple, easy to understand, not too expensive, and to use the overused phrase, “just work.” My mom adores her Streamlight Stylus Pro because it’s got the brightness she needs/wants, didn’t cost a lot (by her standards, as an enthusiast I think Streamlights are often a bit overpriced but compared to what the local hardware store charges for flashlights, $20 for a Stylus Pro is a great deal), has a simple and effortless to understand user interface (she needs to light something up, she clicks the button. She wants the light to stop, she clicks it again. Can’t get more simple than that), and takes common batteries. If it’s not internally rechargeable, it better take AAs or AAAs or the non-obsessed person isn’t going to be interested. Personally, when I look at Sofirn’s lineup, I see the original single-mode C01 as the most non-enthusiast-friendly. It takes AAAs, lasts a long time, and is very simple to operate. The question is, though, does Sofirn want to make lights for non-enthusiasts, AKA do they want to compete with the bigger brands like Streamlight and one could argue Surefire, or do they want to focus on our side of the market?
Obviously, the correct answer is “they want to make a lot of money,” and which side of the market will best help them achieve their goal is for them to figure out. Personally, I think a ramping, 16340 internally-rechargeable light with Hi-CRI would be super cool but I can’t say for sure I would personally buy it.
Muggles generally don’t exchange battery for a higher capacity/bigger battery. As per lowering brightness, well… muggles want long running time on the desired level, not “necessary to increase runtime” level.
Yes most don’t understand how to explain it but a lot of them ask how far can they illuminate things with a particular flashlight.
I agree with JasonWW. Simple UI, “white” not yellow tint (white being 5000K, not 6500K here) and NOT a thrower. Most lights are for outages, something has fallen behind cabinet, need more light for car repair, find something in a garage/attic… thrower is no good in these scenarios. Beams more on the floody side (not complete zoomie like flood, still with some hotspot) are usually the best.
The reasons that muggles want throwers is not because it would actually be more useful to them most of the time (the exception being living in wide-open rural areas).
People in general are used to flashlights that maybe hit 100-200 lumens, but usually much less than that even. So to get any range out of that you need a fairly tight beam. Step up to 500+ lm and it’s a different story.
I got NarsilM in small 16340 lights, including with 3 channels, so it's certainly possible. There's a few options, like using the smaller 3 leg FET's like we've been doing. Could go to dual boards like in the GT Micro.
Pretty sure he doesn’t expect the masses to do this. Even though this is a mod it could be an OEM design too if they can’t fit the parts in such a compact design.
My point of showing the M3 mod is that it's do-able by mod, therefore it's wayyy more possible to do if the light and driver were manufactured to fit a small 16340 light.
Hhmmm. That would be roughly 20K lumens from a 6 3V XHP50.2 Q8? If they go to 6 LED's, pleaseeeee make the head diameter bigger! It would be needed to help handle the extra heat, as well as making the reflectors little bigger to help on throw.
The SP03 is a good example of an expanded head on a 4P battery tube, nice pics here: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/20367. The glued handle on the SP03 is the biggest downside of this light.
6 LED's would be great for the Q8 Pro, but please, make the head bigger in width. thanx!! It has a place, a unique form factor - the SP03 and L1 are hard to find and pretty old designs now. Using the same battery tube as a Q8 will be a big advantage, specially if the extension tube happens some day.
