Nekkid LED, no reflector, lens, or other optix.
Usually about a 140° swath of light.
I pine for another Utorch S1 Mini CREE XP - L HD V6 LED Flashlight 5 Modes - Black 5000K. Fixed aspheri lens. Tiny 16340 form.factor. Change for warm, high cri led
A BLF GT sized LEP. Man, that would be incredible to make a crazy long range LEP.
what’s IPS?
about cooling - why not a small fan?
or a liquid-cooled heat sink for the led, liquid goes to radiator, radiator has fan!
should be able to do 25 watts or so
minus the pump and fan motors power
wle
1. 18650 OR 21700
- capability to run 2xCR123 when needed.
2. LED is easy
- 519A
- 50.3 high CRI
3. Who cares about thermals! Really though, maybe something like the Convoy M21C with a good thermal mass and some finning.
4. I don’t know. Anduril seems to be the benchmark these days. I’m very happy with ZL and AT driver UIs but no idea if there are better efficiencies out there…
5. Features?
- High CRI
- battery omnivore
- thrower with balanced flood
- tail clicky only or at least only one switch, dual switches are the worst
- USB-C sounds good but consider water resistance
- IP rated. Preferably IPX8 compatibility but this does not really play well with integral charging
- bezel size fits an existing flip up red filter
- non-black anodizing. I love convoy’s sand ano but there are many colors out there
It boiled down to:
- 21700, can take every cell thats equal or smaller with adapter, as long as max discharge current lasts
- OR 2x 14500 can take two AAlkaleaks as well
- compact size, EDC (at least close to)
- aluminium, not the usual anodizing, microarced?
- High CRI
- technically best possible cooling (but please, no moving parts like fans…)
- IP68 (at least by default, before modding)
- rectangular bar style, the “corners” can be adding to the cooling fins
- tail switch
- more stable, efficient driver, capable of tail clicky, has to have backup capacitor or tiny backup cell (or other type of wear-resistand NVRAM) to not always write every change of mode to the EEPROM
- USB-C with PD (will need to turn the light on at least in moonlight with tail clicky to close the battery circuit!), on separate charger PCB
- moddable for future enhancements (standard size MCPCB and optics, no glue)
The battery size is still an issue. both have their benefits and their downsides. The larger cell calls for a larger light, with more power and cooling, the smaller cells could enable a nice surprise as well, with a properly designed shell.
PS: I really start to lean towards the twin 14500. This could really be an engineering challenge to make a totally awesome light that “never gets old”. USB-C PD makes no sense with a whopping 1600mAh possible…. so, less complexity.
it seems like the goals are diverging, rather than coalescing
i don;t even want to say what i want
but it would be small with anduril and cheap
oh wait i already have it - sofirn sc21 pro, and fw3a
i don;t want throwers, things too big to go in pockets, multiple cells, big-head lights, copper, titanium, steel, 21700, super CRI, warm color, mod-ability, fins, sharp edges, bluetooth, internal charging, USB-C anything!, mule, LEP, de-domed, white lasers, right angle, zoom, aspheric, proximity sense, fire prevention, or a built in potato peeler
i might like 3 color small leds around the edge, but that goes beyond anduril i think
wle
Hmmm, that sounds like something I should’ve predicted.
Oh, wait… 
Yeah, a typical zoomie has IP of about 44 which nay sayers abbreviate as “not enough” or zero.
Making a waterproof zoomie is harder than a waterproof fixed body light. And for practical purposes may not be worth it as a regular zoomie is actually waterproof enough for almost all uses, including walking in the rain. I will survive dropping to a puddle…but not necessarily every time.
There are a few ways of waterproofing a zoomie better that offer different tradeoffs.
My favourite is the default of cheap zoomies so poor protection but simple, cheap and safety is just marginally below what I would consider perfect.
Some time ago my favourite was something I haven’t seen implemented - fully waterproof mule light with additional zooming element. Unless it gets deep under water the worst thing that can happen is that it will be dirty between lenses and will require a cleanup. Compared to the basic zoomie without such waterproof flat lens it’s costlier and larger. The flood beam is narrower. So now I actually don’t think it’s worthwhile for a budget light.
Some zoomies have just very thick o-rings which are a more reliable variant of the basic ingress protection. I don’t like them because for me what makes or breaks a zoomie is smoothness and quickness of focus change. As I look around I want my light to follow my eyes. Thick o-rings (or, even worse, a twisty zooming mechanism) means that light lags behind which makes the experience terrible. I suppose that this is what you call a tunnel vision…but I may be wrong.
There are also fixed body zoomies that change optical parameters f.e. using liquid lenses. They have many benefits including good thermals and waterproofing. But cost is not among them. 
Also, liquid lens flashlight was illegally patented by Manker (Manker developed a Zoom with NO MOVING PARTS (updated info) - #140 by Agro Manker developed a Zoom with NO MOVING PARTS (updated info) - #142 by Agro) which adds to legals costs or risks of anyone who would like to implement such light.
BTW, how about a mule with a removable zooming part? And maybe several zooming bezels with different lens diameters to cover multiple size classes?
No one said a light with aspheric lens must be a zoomie zommie, though.
I got an old SK98 that I epoxied shut to full wide beam only, and while I haven’t used it in ages, it was more useful than a leaky but “fully functional” zommie.
My Cometa is pretty much screwed-tight as full-flood, too.
Just got an Acebeam Pokemon that’s got a nice wide buttery smooth beam from a fixed aspheric.
A goof wide-angle beam is almost as good as a mule, and probably doubles the intensity inside the beam, because that “ring” from the extra few degrees around the periphery, can be a big chunk of the total area.
Take a zommie on full flood, then quickly remove the head altogether. Marginally wider beam, but about half the intensity.
The question is whether/not going from ~110° to ~140° is worth the hit.
Just to let you all know, I jumped the gun a bit and asked one of our very active, and newer manufacturers if they might be interested in this project - and good news, they got back to me saying they may well be and asked what type of light and how to help. I won’t say who it is, as I suggested they post in here themselves. Needless to say getting a manufacturer on board, and interested is often difficult and if they are indeed interested in working on this project, that is a big help going forward!
Someone posted ‘it seems like the goals are diverging, rather than coalescing’ well that is what happens at first, it’s brainstorming to find out what ideas are the most popular, and from there it gets narrowed down.
Obviously everyone is not going to come on and want exactly the same thing immediately, but as we share ideas people often warm to more focussed ideas.
I am open to any design really, but I’d favour something smaller and cheaper over some huge thrower for example. I think price is a big consideration at the moment as we are all strapped for cash, so producing something too expensive should be avoided - $50 or less ideally, I think should be the target so as many users as possible could afford it.
I do like the side by side option that has been thrown out there by a few, though I’d opt for 18650 or maybe dual 18350 rather than 14500. If it was going to be 14500 size, I’d like it to accept the alkaline equivalent too.
I also wouldn’t object to a smaller, same form factor more keychainy style light, perhaps like the Nitecore Tini2 - but ideally with replaceable cells over a built in one
My idea about the modular one is I think, nice but ultimately a bit too ambitious.
I’d be very happy with a light in this form factor - just maybe not quite so long, but it wouldn’t be a deal breaker if it were this size.
I would sign up a light inspired by the Utorch S1 Mini.
My wish list for that kind of flashlight is:
- 16340 cell
- fixed aspherical lens (no zoom)
- low CCT, high CRI emitter
- Anduril 2 firmware
- flashing pads on the driver
- magnetic tail cap
- USB-C charging, that works with a C-to-C cable
Lack of built-in charging wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me.
It might be interesting if the the light could be ordered with multiple lenses, so the user could change the width of the beam.
The Utorch S1 Mini itself might not be a great host. There’s one flaw in particular that annoys me - the lens protrudes slightly beyond the bezel, so if you place it head down on a surface it wobbles a bit and the lens can get scratched.
I think aiming for a relatively low price and relatively broad appeal is important.
Unless the idea is really unique and/or fits in with a growing trend (MAO LEP? :money_mouth_face: ) a more expensive light is likely to be a bigger risk for manufacturers. If a low-cost light is successful, the manufacture can milk the idea with endless special editions… 
There are a few ideas in this thread I’m interested in, but at 50 USD or less I would put my name down for just about any BLF project (knowing I would probably have at least a year to save up )
Well that was my thinking behind the $50 limit - I think most would/could stretch to the max of $50 and I agree with you - I too ‘would put my name down for just about any BLF project’ if it were $50 or less. :+1: I am not too fussy, the only type of light I strictly wouldn’t buy is a thrower, simply because it would never be used. A zoomie would be ok if that were chosen, because I can use that short range as well. I definitley would prefer a smaller pocket light over a larger one, if I could have exactly what I’d like it might be a candy bar, side by side - one side or both sides in triple lol! call it a fw3a candybar duo lol, but that wouldn’t be possible for $50 it would be nice if it could be modded to be like that though afterwards, or as you say, a follow on version if it were possible!
That said…… the wurrkos TS10 is cheap, maybe a side by side candybar version of that……hmmm yeah I’d like one of those also fits in with the 14500 someone mentioned!
Now I’m crap at using drawing and painting programs….but this is what (ish) I mean! Take my money!!! BLF SE TS20 MAO lol!!!
I suggest something not really available.
2xAA and 2x14500 side by side edc flashlight.
Rectangular style. Pocket slim.
I can’t search for pictures booty it’s like those old Energizer flashlight
I’d not really want 16340, runtimes are poor due to very low capacity of these batteries.
Somewhat harder to find, but a 16500 would offer better capacity and allow you to run a 14500/AA or CR123/16340 as well if you wanted too.
18500 might be even better (more battery availability), although it would start to get chunky as a light.