limited production :: hand crafted :: high performance :: rechargeable :: premium flashlights

This is my blog about creating a startup LED flashlight business. I'm a designer, fabricator, and strategist and I'm passionate about making ideas real. I believe that products are about people, that they should be built to last, deliver real value, and that we need to do a better job than we have in the recent past.

Most of my career has been contract or freelance work and I've crafted products and strategies for both big international companies and startups. I also used to work in the "industry" fabricating special effects for film and TV, along with the occasional hot rod. Bottom line, I love making things.

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Monday, May 12, 2014

Customer Story: unplanned torture test of the Beta QR

One of my (happy) customers sent me the following email. Always nice to get something like this :) If anyone else has harrowing story about a Prometheus product, please send it in! Remind me to tell you about the time an elevator repairman dropped an Alpha Ready-Made 9 stories...down an elevator shaft...onto some bullets. Okay, no bullets. that is a quote from Mystery Men. It did fall 9 stories though; conservatively 100 feet.

 Thanks for the submission Ben! 

--------------------------------------------------------------

 Hi Jason,

I'm writing to you to share my own "unplanned torture test" of the Beta QR.  A friend and I went in together and ordered a couple of the Beta QR on Kickstarter and I had it for a few weeks and was impressed with the quality and the color reproduction. Not long after though, I dropped it out of my jacket pocket one day (around January, 18th) when I pulled out my gloves.  

 We just had a fresh dumping of snow that morning and I saw this indentation on the ground thought nothing more of it other than "that's weird, how did that get there?" It didn't hit me till later that evening when I needed the flashlight that the indentation from this morning was where my Beta QR fell. I immediately grabbed my snow shovel and started clearing the snow and sifting thru it as best I could. After 45 mins I had no luck.  Defeated, I dumped the snow carefully between my house and my neighbor's with the hope that when the snow bank melts, my Beta QR will be there.   

We had the most snow storms this year than any other year here in Ontario. It was only today (April 8th) that our snow bank finally melted down to about a foot high. As I was throwing out the garbage this morning, I did my usual routine of check of the snow bank for signs of the Beta QR and the first image I attached to this Email was what I saw. I was so happy! I picked it up and turned it on to see if it still worked. It totally did!!! Under the snow from Jan 19th - April 8th...That has to be some sort of record. 

There were some white chalky buildup on the brass quick release and the part it connects to the Beta QR which I was able to clean off. There were some parts where the electroless plating have chipped off but I'm not sure if that's from me pushing it with my shovel when I was sifting thru the snow...At the base, there was a little bit of corrosion, I assume from the salt. The key ring was totally rusted but that was easily replaced. Other than that the light was perfectly fine. The O-ring protected the internals from any moisture. The front glass was also clear. 


So happy to have found my Beta QR again! Just wanted to share that story with you. I wanted to know how much a new body would cost but then I started to think this one may have some scratches here and there but it has character now and a story behind it. It is a true testament to how good your flashlights are. I have the Prometheus pen too and it is still looking sharp as ever. I can't wait to see what you come up next on Kickstarter or on your website.

Thanks Jason

If you want to use this article on your page feel free to do so, I give you authorization.

Regards,
Ben
Posted by Jason at 10:21 PM

1 comment:

  1. JeffMay 13, 2014 at 4:53 AM

    Very cool (no pun intended) and a testament to the quality of the Beta QR.
    Jason, Your work is unsurpassed and such high craftsmanship.
    Best,
    Jeff

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