Hi. I am a flashlight designer in China.
Joined here to seek your advices about military lighting.
I have designed a few flashlights from 0.06 Lumen to 740 Lumens.
And might work on special lighting devices such as IR/UV headlamps for anti-bomb units.
After all, I feel quite great to find this forum.
Yours, Neoseikan

Welcome Neoseikan.

A very interesting subject, especially with all of the new bright LEDs that are now available. My son recently purchased one of these torches and it amazed me with it's output and long battery life.

Thank you!
Designing LED flashlight is quite challenging.
Because LED tech grows quite fast. We should keep the design upgradeable.
In 2004, most light use 5mm LEDs, and some of them use LUXEON 1W or 3W ones. It can produce 30~80 Lumens from the LED, and less than 60Lumens from the light.
After that, the output ability is 100Luemsn, 130 Lumens, 150 Lumens, 180 Lumens, and 200Lumens.
Last year, CREE released MC-E LED, most hi-end LED flashlights used it.
Designers have been working on it for more than a year.
In my poor experience, most police officers use bulb lights such as MAG 2D/3D or Pelican LED lights, such as 7060 or 8060. And military people use Surefire lights.
What's the model your son get?

BTW, I noticed your avatar, there is a headlamp. Is it a bulb one?

Originally Posted by senojekips

Welcome Neoseikan.

A very interesting subject, especially with all of the new bright LEDs that are now available. My son recently purchased one of these torches and it amazed me with it's output and long battery life.

Originally Posted by neoseikan

Thank you!
Designing LED flashlight is quite challenging.
Because LED tech grows quite fast. We should keep the design upgradeable.
In 2004, most light use 5mm LEDs, and some of them use LUXEON 1W or 3W ones. It can produce 30~80 Lumens from the LED, and less than 60Lumens from the light.
After that, the output ability is 100Luemsn, 130 Lumens, 150 Lumens, 180 Lumens, and 200Lumens.
Last year, CREE released MC-E LED, most hi-end LED flashlights used it.
Designers have been working on it for more than a year.
In my poor experience, most police officers use bulb lights such as MAG 2D/3D or Pelican LED lights, such as 7060 or 8060. And military people use Surefire lights.
What's the model your son get?

BTW, I noticed your avatar, there is a headlamp. Is it a bulb one?

I am not sure of the brand and model that my son bought and I cannot easily find out as he lives nearly 1000 kilometeres from me now, but i will see if i can find it on the internet, as I have seen it and had a play with it.

The caplamp I was using in my avatar is a Quartz halogen bulb, this photo is now about ten years old, higher powered LED technology was not available at that time. It would be very interesting to see if the lamp could be converted, it runs off of a 4.4V sealed lead acid battery, and a LED lamp would be far more reliable and give longer battery life. I still have it charged and stored in my shed as it is sometimes very handy.

Maybe you could start a thread on LED lighting on the forum, as I'm sure that many serving members would have some interest. A good reliable tactical torch is a very desireable thing to have.

Originally Posted by senojekips

I am not sure of the brand and model that my son bought and I cannot easily find out as he lives nearly 1000 kilometeres from me now, but i will see if i can find it on the internet, as I have seen it and had a play with it.

The caplamp I was using in my avatar is a Quartz halogen bulb, this photo is now about ten years old, higher powered LED technology was not available at that time. It would be very interesting to see if the lamp could be converted, it runs off of a 4.4V sealed lead acid battery, and a LED lamp would be far more reliable and give longer battery life. I still have it charged and stored in my shed as it is sometimes very handy.

Maybe you could start a thread on LED lighting on the forum, as I'm sure that many serving members would have some interest. A good reliable tactical torch is a very desireable thing to have.

Quite good advice. Thank you.
About your Quartz light. What's the voltage rage of the battery? The typical full voltage is 4.4V, and what's the lowest voltage when it's almost out of energy? By knowing this, I can give an advice for choosing the right LED driver. A LED driver is for regulating the voltage and current to the LED, and keep it in the right working condition.

As far as I know, Lead acid cells are considered flat when they drop to 2V per cell, without load. My battery is 2 cell and I believe that the battery has a capacity of 16Ah when new so it would be flat at 4v.

When I last used my lamp seriously, it still had at least 8Ah capacity but I do not know how much longer it would last (The main quartz halogen globe draws very close to 1A when in use)

as I said earlier, I always like to keep it charged up and I check the electrolyte level every 3 -6 months. Although it is a "maintenance free" battery, you can still add electrolyte to it if needed, so long as you have some special tools.

hello and welcome
How exactly do you get into that line of work?
its not exactly your every day job

@captiva303.
Aha, It's by chance. When I was a graduated-student, I hope to earn some money.
Then I contacted some manufacturers of flashlight, and sell them.
When I found latest LED, and the manufacturers can not respond for it quickly, then I ordered my own model.
After that, Some friends and I start designing brand new products. It's 2 years ago.

you sound quite the entrepreneur
good luck with them flashlights

The only ones I could afford were some rubbish 4th rate LEDs for work on facilities in the dark.
The real wish I could live longer... there's so much to learn.