Prometheus Writes: Alpha Pen now LIVE on Kickstarter!

Hi everyone! I'm super excited to let you know my Kickstarter project is live as of about 15 minutes ago!

Enough talk right? Here is the link:

• This is actually a "soft" launch so you are getting this announcement before a big media push on Monday. 
• That means you'll have a chance to get in on the first batch of discounted pens. 
• The longer you wait the more expensive they get.

If you feel like lending a hand...

I'd love it if you'd back my project and sign up to receive a pen!

Whether you choose become a backer or not, it would be hugely amazingly wonderfully helpful if you'd help get the word out.

Forward this post, blog it, share on Facebook, tweet, Reddit, submit a link to your favorite gadget blog...feel free to get creative. I guarantee someone you know will go crazy for one of these!

I'm looking forward to hearing what you think. Send me a note back with your thoughts and, if you become a supporter or share this with other folks, be sure to let me know so I can thank you!

Cheers,
Jason

Prometheus Lights will appear in Season 2 of VGHS!

For those of you that don't know FreddieW, he has the #7 YouTube channel on the internet. Last year they launched a crowd-funded YouTube TV show called Video Game High School which was an offshoot of previous work. Freddie's channel has 4.6M subscribers. I know, crazy right? Lucky for me I'm excited to announce that my lights will appear on at least two episodes of the upcoming season! Don't forget to subscribe :) You still have about 60 hours to support their Kickstarter campaign if you want to grab a piece of the glory.

NEW PRODUCT: Klhip Ultimate Clipper

Huh? Yes, I've decided to carry a nail clipper. You can imagine how awesome it is, because I'm sure you know that I wouldn't sell anything that wasn't the pinnacle of awesome. This link will take you to the new product page on my website. I spend plenty of characters relating just how awesome it is on that page so I won't rehash everything here. Suffice to say, you should check it out.

I've also reorganized navigation for "the store" so please provide any feedback you might have! 

In this case, you can actually believe the marketing stuff written on the box

In short, I love this thing for two reasons. First, it works so well you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. Second, it's actually the pet-project of a fellow I know from my days in the fly fishing industry. He's a designer/maker like myself and just got inspired one day and came up with, oh you know, something revolutionary. Not a bad day eh? Now if I could only sell as many flashlights as they sell clippers...

My Ti Pocket Clip Wins an Award!

Hi all, I was pretty excited to hear my Titanium Surefire Pocket Clip won "Best Accessory" for 2012 over at Everyday Commentary. Cool right?

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Best Accessory: Prometheus Pocket Clip

"The best accessories make the main product better than it was before, but the truly elite gear is something that seems like it should have been included in the first place.  The Prometheus Pocket Clip is the best flashlight clip on the planet, bar none.

It is better than my old favorite, the McGizmo clip, because it is just as secure and can be added and removed from a light without tools.  It is simply, unquestionably the best design out there.  Its so good that absent a few tritium inserts I can't think of a way to make it better.  The titantium is very flexible and smooth cut with a perfect amount of tension.  Let me put it bluntly: if you own a light compatible with this clip buy it.  " -- Everyday Commentary

NEW FEATURE: Alpha Primary Seal Ring (PSR)

As you know by now, I can't leave well enough alone. I pressure tested my lights to 300 feet for 5 hours...but that's just not good enough is it? What can make the Alpha even more bullet proof (water bullets)? Enter the Alpha Primary Seal Ring (PSR). It doesn't increase the depth rating, but it should extend the exposure time and improve the sealing performance under extreme physical conditions, like impact, vibration, temperature, altitude, and submersion.

Actually, it would be cool to carry an Alpha up to the snowy summit of a mountain and then down to the ocean and into a 300ft scuba dive. Anyone want to meet me in New Zealand?

The PSR makes the front seal 110% effective (that's a guesstimate)

As far as I know, this is also a completely novel method for sealing a flashlight. Patent worthy even, but now I've done it, since I posted this picture it can't be patented...by anyone...and I think that's fair :) I digress.

This ring is custom made from 302 stainless steel, just for me, by Smalley Steel Ring Co. out of Lake Zurich, Illinois. It is now a standard feature on all Alpha lights. It does make it a little harder to remove the o-ring and get to the lens, but you should really never need to do this unless the glass get broken or severely scratched over time.

Just in case you feel the urge, you'll need four things: o-ring pick, bent nose pliers, a replacement o-ring, and the link to this video. The pick and pliers are included with the Journeyman Package. They can also be purchased separately.

I do want to note, this seal is not absolutely necessary. I tested my light to 300 feet for 5 hours without the PSR in place. Unless your light is routinely in wet environments, I wouldn't worry about it. However, I want to send out a light that is as close to 100% reliable as possible, and this checks off one of the boxes that has been bothering me.

The PSR will be available as an optional upgrade for all existing Alphas, but not until the new year when things quiet down a bit. Please don't email me until then or I will just forget :) Alpha-Blue label owners, this is a free upgrade!

When in doubt, MacGyver it

So yes, I did look up the spelling of MacGyver and it's corret. Weird right? Anyway, I don't mean to give myself too much credit with that title but I couldn't come up with anything else. Recently I had to install a phillips screw inside the control panel of my CNC machine. The trick was it was between two circuit boards that are mounted on end. Think of sliced bread with a 1/2" gap in between and about 6 inches deep and who knows what kind of sensitive electrical components on each side. Remember that game "Operation?" Zap!

Yeeep, right in between those drive cards.
Oh and don't touch the capacitors. 

What to do? I rolled some painter's tape into a tube so it would be sticky on both sides and jammed it all together. Enough grip to keep the screw on the driver but can be removed easily enough. Pretty good eh? It worked beautifully.

It ain't purdy but it worked

NEW VIDEO: Tools of the Trade - "Spaghetti" Tubing Cutter

Hey folks, I bought this broken tool on eBay and managed to get it working again! Thought I'd share some of the "behind the scenes" stuff that I do to make the Alpha (and running a flashlight business) possible.

Portable Illumination: 100% off the grid (Brunton Solaris USB)

Hi folks,

I've been using a Brunton solar panel to keep my lights charged up when I'm away from the wall. It really makes a rechargeable light into the ultimate illumination tool and travel companion. As long as the sun shines during the day, you can run your light at night. Backup batteries? Bah! The sun is my backup battery. Okay, I carry one or two spares, but I don't need a bag full.

Get rid of: the expense of tons of disposable batteries, the waste of throwing them away, the weight of carrying them, the hassle of finding batteries in foreign countries, worrying about rationing your battery power, the need to rely on the wall or a store being open to make sure you can see when it gets dark...and I promise it will :)

The Solaris kept me and two Alpha's going for 10 days in the Utah back-country

If you haven't seen my blog post about my Utah trip, you can check it out here.

The cool thing about the Solaris is that it's got a USB port...so you can charge any USB device you have, like your phone, tablet, camera, whateva.

Prometheus Lights is now an authorized Brunton dealer so stop by my site and check out my newest product! http://darksucks.com/ByB.html

NEW PRODUCT FOR SALE: Titanium Zipper Pulls !!!

Hey Folks,

Looking for an awesome gift? Want to personalize a mass produced jacket or bag? Want to win friends and influence people? Try some of my pure titanium zipper pulls!

It's been a long time coming but I pulled the trigger on a batch of these! They are machined at Hirsch Machine in Santa Clara, the same place that makes my Ready Made lights. Check out this link to purchase them directly from my site. There are lots of photos of pulls on things like jackets, sweaters, bags, and flashlights so check out the link. If you buy some pulls, please send me a photo of the item you personalized and I'll post it on my site!

I had to take a hefty bite out of my checking account to make this happen so please help me spread the word! Blog, tweet, share to Facebook, email the gear-head in your life, anything you can think of! Your help is greatly appreciated.

These are also available for wholesale, so if you are a retailer, please contact me!

True North Knives now selling the Alpha Ready-Made

I'm excited to announce my first retail partner for the Alpha Ready-Made , True North Knives !

LIMITED EDITION: Splash Anodized Pocket Clips

One of the CandlePower Forums members has taken anodizing titanium to a new level. I use heat to build the refractive oxide layer, but he uses electricity. This means a lot more control over the colors and where those colors get applied. You can see the work he's been doing here. This stuff is so amazing I sent him 20 pocket clips to be anodized. There are 10 with a "Prometheus Blue" splash anodize and another 10 that I left up to his creative initiative...and they are stunning. See below:

Only 10 of each are available and will be sold first come first serve. If you are interested please email me directly: jason@darksucks.com Clips are $50 each or you can trade in your old clip for $35 if you mail yours back to me.

Please keep in mind that these clips also fit Surefire 6 series lights and clones! Click here to see the current fitment list.

Cheers! Jason

NEW: Titanium Key Fobs For Sale !

I thought this would be a fun little widget so I had my waterjet shop cut some key fobs out of the same material my Ti clips are made from. For sale now and only $15 through the end of August. Free shipping! After that they are going up to $20 each so get em while they are hot. Check these out on my site! 

Titanium! Nuf said. 

For Sale: EL USB charging cables

This is my latest installment in my mission to bring you more awesome. This USB cable has moving Electroluminescent lights that slow down as your charge nears completion and turns off when your device is full. You can tell when your charge is done from across the room! Who really cares though, when you can just sit in the dark and stare at the thing. You can buy them from my website through this link. There are three versions available. All have Standard USB on one end. The others have Mini USB, Micro USB, and iPhone/iPad. The Apple version is white. I only have 20 of each so don't dilly dally. Price is $25 and includes free shipping via USPS first class mail. Enjoy!

Why Zipper Pulls?

So someone asked me why the heck they should buy a zipper pull when zippers already have them. I thought of a bunch of snarky responses, but my professional response: I don't know. What I do know is that I (and other people) like to take mass-produced things and give them a little personality, and perhaps some added functionality, by customizing them.

Here is your mission: open this bag...quick!
Ohhh, can't find the black on black zipper pulls on a black bag? Sorrrrrry.

I took the clunky (and black) zipper pulls off of my camera bag and replaced them with some awesome ones! First, they look cool. Second, the high-vis orange means that I can actually find the zippers when I need to open the bag. The black ones blend in and I spend precious seconds searching for the opening instead of getting my gear out and shooting. I mean really camera bag people...do you even use the stuff that you make? Fortunately (for me) they don't seem to. Zipper pulls: WIN!

Prototype Titanium Tailcap Button

Hey all, this is one of those accessories I've been planning to do from the beginning but never have the time to work on. It looks pretty simple but this is my 4th prototype. The button is designed to be a direct replacement in all Alpha's manufactured to date.

Stay classy my friend

Right now I'm still trying to find a return spring with the right force. The button has an o-ring around it which needs to fit tight enough to keep out water, but a spring is needed to push the button back into the "out" position. The tighter the seal the firmer the spring needs to be and the harder the button gets to push. It's been a little tricky to balance...BUT IT LOOKS AWESOME!

Blue tailcap boots have landed!

Yes indeed. One of my customers was trolling the internet and discovered some blue tailcap boots! Now if I can just remember who that was I'll send them a free one...email me? 


Not GITD but a pretty darn close match to the fluorosilicone. Bad news is they are expensive...for tailcap boots. The good news is that I bought out every one they had...so I'm not sure any more will ever be available. 

It's new! It's blue! It's a boot! 

These will now be an option during checkout and, for any existing Alpha owner, I'll send you a boot at my cost + shipping in a first class envelope = $2.50 


Just send paypal to jason@darksucks.com and note something like "blue boot!" in the comments during checkout. 

WIN: I modded the world's best flashlight switch

I should say right up front this is going to get pretty geeky. Like comparing two different types of springs geeky. Better buckle up. I was at a manufacturing trade show (better latch that tray table as well) and found a company called Smalley Steel Ring Co. They make some really interesting stuff...enter the wave spring. It's time to loose the conical battery contact spring and get with the wave spring. I'll be integrating these into my lights as soon as possible.

No flashlight should use anything else. So, when everyone starts doing this, you heard it here first :) This is henceforth known as the "Prometheus Spring!" Cue the music...or you can just check out my first prototype integration after the jump.

They even look cool right? Besides that, there are even more advantages over a standard conical spring. Here are the highlights:

1. No sharp edges. A typical conical spring is really sharp where the last coil is cut off and that cuts into the thin metal on each end of the battery. Long term...not good. It also makes the light feel awful and "scratchy" when opening and closing. Right now I have to put a blob of solder on the PCB spring and the McClicky switch spring to prevent them from destroying the batteries.  
2. Distributed contact area: Each wave spring will contact the battery at the crest of each wave...typically 4 different places. A conical (or coil) spring only has one point of contact. Multiple contact points distribute the load generated when the light suffers shock...for example, when dropped. Every effort should be made to protect li-ion batteries from physical damage. 
3. Shorter current path. In a typical spring the current must pass along the entire length of the spring, as if it were a straight wire. More distance equals more resistance, and resistance is bad. As you can see in the photo above, each crest touches a trough, making the current path incredibly short.

If you made it this far you might as well read on after the jump. More photos! You like photos right?

Can't leave well enough alone

So I bought a new toy...er...tool today: a combination belt/disc sander. Woohoo right? I'm not normally a fan of combo tools. It's like a Swiss army knife: good for some, great for none. In this case, that's just what I was looking for. Nothing hard core, just a little something to help take the edge off. I don't know if you were paying attention but that was a tool pun.

Anyway, those of you that know me, know that I have an obsessive compulsion to modify and customize things. As I was assembling my new sander I spotted a 3L sized V belt on the machine. A deformed and pathetic one at that. Fortunately I remembered I had some high performance 3L Fenner link belt just lying around. No really. That's one of the advantages of being a hoarder. You just have stuff lying around.

If you are wondering, I'm blabbering on about the bright red pulley belt in the photo. Enjoy!

For those that care: a Rikon 1x42 belt + 8" disc sander from Woodcraft. 

WIN: Prometheus Lights featured in FORTUNE?!

Yeah I know! Crazy right? Happy Thanksgiving to me! It sort of seems fake but here is the link and here is the screen shot (below). I keep checking the website just to make sure it's still here. The Alpha is also supposed to be featured in the iPad version of the actual magazine (but not the print version). I'd love it if any iPad subscribers could submit a screen shot or even just write in if you see it.

The Alpha is "techie" gadget #2 (of 6!)

I'd also love to capitalize on the momentum of this press and the best way to do that is through you, yes you dear reader, sharing the news through email, Facebook, Twitter, or anything else you can think of! Since I don't have an advertising budget, basically your good will is the only thing that will help me get the word out.

One last thing, if you are a Facebook user and haven't "liked" my home page yet, would you take 12 seconds and do it? Every little bit helps in this internet economy! This is me giving thanks to you: *thanks!*

VIDEO: Drop testing the Alpha

I guess I forgot to post the YouTube video from a while ago...so here it is! I hosted a Candlepower Forums gathering at my shop a few months ago. Just to spice things up I asked everyone in attendance to help me drop test one of my lights. I'd never actually done this before so it was pretty frightening to do in front of a crowd. Makes for good TV though right?

So as you can see, after 37 drops and some pretty massive hits, the tailcap switch broke. Does that mean the light failed? I don't really know. It would still turn on in momentary mode...but the switch would not latch. So, you decide. I think the bottom line is that if your own flashlight ever sees that much abuse...you probably have some other broken stuff that is higher on the priority list.

One other thing to keep in mind is that the McClicky switch is literally the best aftermarket clicky switch that exists. Since my light is designed for easy repair, putting in a new switch is really easy and (if you have strong fingers) can be done completely without tools.

Disclaimer: 

This disclaimer is present in order to manage your expectations. Impact is a funny thing and people often have unrealistic expectations with respect to dropping flashlights. For example, in the video above, we dropped the Alpha 37 times and the UCL glass window did not break. I put the light on my bench. When a friend visited the next day I dropped the light from waist high...and the window shattered. Why? Impact is a funny thing.

Flashlights are not meant to be dropped. They are meant to produce light. A good light is engineered in a way that will minimize the statistical probability that something (anything) will break. Engineering is largely balanced by practical considerations like cost and physical size. They key (and the point of my previous anecdote) is that pesky statistical probability. When you drop a light, even from waist high, about a bazillion dice get together to determine the final outcome. Could I make a light that is guaranteed not to break, ever, when dropped from an airplane? Sure, you show me $10,000 and I'll show you an indestructible light. In fact, I'd welcome the challenge :)

I have seen tons of messages on Candlepower Forums where people are irate that they dropped their light, it started working funny, and now they think the light and the entire company are terrible. Do you drop your laptop (or your phone) and then complain to the manufacturer that it broke? No, BECAUSE YOU DROPPED IT. If you drop your light, you should expect it to break. If it doesn't, send the manufacturer a nice letter.

Of course I talked to someone the other day that was really mad at Apple because their iPhone had broken. I said, "What happened to it?" They said, "I dropped it." I had a hard time not saying something really rude in response.