Hi BLFers,
Hope everyone enjoy your great lovely holiday now.
I have established two flashlight design options for Wurkkos Grandma Lights.
A: handheld magnetic ring B: tactical magnetic ring
Which one do you prefer? Or maybe you have the better ideas, just shotting me my man, I need your strong fist :heart_eyes:
Last, I must to say thank you @djozz, thank you so much for your excellent creative idea from three years ago and your great post Interest collect for a new Sofirn design: tube style18650, magnetic ring control, USB-C charging, 500 lm max (AKA grandma light)
Pay tribute to you 
My wife, who is a grandma, wants the magnetic ring in the front near the head as she’ll never carry it with an ice pick grip.
I don’t think grandma uses a tactical grip. 
Most older people I know will hold it the first style.
Only the flashlight enthusiasts or ‘tactical’ guys will hold it the second style.
For a tactical light with additional tail switch I’d like to see the ring at the tail. But that is for a tactical light.
For a grandma light the ring should be at the front. Is there a reason for an extra tail switch? It makes it harder to use (switching from tactical to normal grip). A simple ring with off/low/med/high like the DL30 or DL10R would be good in my opinion.
What about the charging? Silicone covers for the USB port are hard to open. Screwed tailcap like DL10R is better, but still difficult to close afterwards.
Left option, please. And make sure the light can be switched off with the control ring.
Nice you’re still at it 
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My vote would be for the magnetic ring near the front and no tail switch. Two switches on a Grandma light would just be asking for confusion/frustration. But thanks for considering such a light.
My vote is for option A, and no tail switch.
Things I’d like to see:
Charging port
Detents in the magnetic ring
Some form of battery indicator
Just what I want.
Magnetic ring! This will be a gamechanger! Not many magnetic ring flashlights around, this one will be very popular!
- front magnetic ring with On/Off function
- no tail switch
- charging port
- neutral to warm LED
- good, efficient driver(boost, buck, NO direct drive)
Would magnetic charging be expensive to include? I hate those little rubber covers, they always end up breaking and most older people have trouble seeing/putting in usb cables. Or I suppose you could buy one of those magnetic usb cables and just leave the little bit in the usb slot all the time (that’s what we do with my mums tablet, thankfully the smaller end stays in the slot well) - maybe include just a magnetic usb cable including the little bit which usually comes with them or, make it an option?
if i was building a light for a grandma, i'd not have any switches or rings at all, no mode controls. Grandmas usually have arthritis and not be able to easy use the ring with 1 finger. We have some relatively young folks sometimes complain about stiff buttons. Imagine a ganny hears something at night, grabs a light from her nightstand, even young healthy person has limited control, lower strength in his fingers the moment they wake up, now imagine a grandma with arthritis and scared, she'll forget where the switch and rings are, and wont be able to use them.
I'd use simple sensors around the body, when she( lets not discriminate, lets include grandfathers too) or he grabs it, it turns on, puts it away it shuts off. that is all.
Front ring with no tail clicky.
Neutral and/or warm LED options.
No strobe or SOS.
Good thermal control.
Efficient driver.
User configuration option of moonlight (some people will want, others will argue that it makes the light confusing).
Clear marking/detents on the dial, especially which position is off.
Is it possible to have no parasitic drain when off?
I have to agree, I think members here have got a bit carried away with what ‘they’d’ like and not what a Grandma might ‘need’. I can tell you with some certainty most old people want stuff as simple as possible, and where possible ‘how it has always been’ for them - on off push/slide switch on side would be way more sensible for an old person and I’m not convinced modes are needed, they’ve never been needed on basic flashlight that 99% of the population use, so why would they be needed on a model for the section of society who need it the simplest?
My mum wants one thing from a light, for it to switch on when she needs it to by pressing a side button. Anything else will for sure create confusion for an older person, especially in the middle of the night. All it NEEDS is off/60% for a Gramdma. If you want a light that has modes and so on, they are already out there….this is specific, so maybe keep it on brief.
If it were me it would be aa sized too, most old people have them and experience of using them plus they are available just about anywhere - what if grandma’s lion fails or the charger or the lead? shes left with no light - if it were aa they would be easily replacable by anyone visiting or spares already in the house.
Honestly the FC11’s simple on/off while charging is almost a grandma light.
I would increase it to 250 lumens (bright enough and no thermal stepdown in normal use) and have it as a simple one mode light and voila its a grandma light. 4000K is a good colour. And remove the magnetic tail (or provide a rubber washer to the package so people can decide if they want magnetic or not). Make the side switch larger if you can.
That said a magnetic rotary would be another good grandma light. In the front to make it easier to use.
So my recommendation is two lights.
A new line of grandma lights!
Magnetic charging would be great. tail switch might be hard to press for elderly people, a very tactile and relatively wide ring in the front would be nice for operating the light with one or most likely 2 hands.
I’ve dealt with many older people pressing remotes.The magnetic ring would be good as they can use their whole hand to turn on. Grippy and more surface area better for the ring. Rubberized body coating. Off Lo Hi. Floody. Simple
Grandma & Grandpa grew up in the era of side-mounted slide switches on their EverReady and Ray-O-Vac incan flashlights. That muscle memory is likely still there. An easy ON / OFF slide switch would be the most suitable IMHO.
AA size might be to small for arthritic hands & fingers to wrap around comfortably. Something larger to mimic the aforementioned old incan D-cell lights in size might be more easily handled.
Whatever it is, it needs to be drop PROOF. Nothing to break, no glass to shatter, no thin metal to deform, making unscrewing the tailcap impossible, or circuits to open. I remember ruggedized, armored 2x D cell lights from the day that were intended for rough service mining use. Something like that.
Deep-ish crenelations, so that if the light is stood on it's head, one could still see that it's ON.
Might suggest we ask our elderly friends & family what they'd like to see in a light?
Thanks OP, for the interest is making a Grandparent muggle light.
EDIT: forgot to answer the question; twisty ring at the head end. It's gotta be easy to rotate. Square profile ring for easy grip, with gently-rounded corners, and to prevent rolling.
slmjim
I ended up gifting a Shiningbeam modified Romisen RC-G2 to an elderly relative, 1 mode, 1AA battery and 100 lumens.
It was almost perfect, the tailswitch sticks out the back, forward clicky, one mode and plenty bright.
No longer available 
Make the body square or rectangular so it stays put when set down. Grandma won’t be moving the recliner to try to find the flashlight that rolled off the chair side table.