[Sorry for the long windedness!]
OK, I just had an idea for a mod that I'd love to have, but I don't have the skills to do it. So... I thought I'd throw out the idea and maybe someone will think it's worthy of attempting (even if it's not for me )
We've all seen the Magnum Power and similar cheapo flashlight mods. Well I was thinking about tweaking that to be more pocket friendly and stealthy. So I'll try to explain what I'm thinking and you gurus can critique the idea as I'm not totally sure how one would go about building it!
Picture a standard cheapo flashlight, bottom switch modified to momentary (I can do this part but then it quickly go out of my league...). These flashlight (3 AAA) are about the right length for an 18500 BUT say it's modified to use an 18350, thus the extra space could hold the connector, recessed in as far as the short battery would allow (the shorter battery also makes up for the extra length that will be added on, without the thing looking like a damn lightsaber! Not that there's anything wrong with that, just that lightsabers aren't safely pocketable! Trust me, but don't ask me HOW I know!).
THEN, and here comes the trickest part, over that is a working AND removable 9LED flashlight cap (where the center LED is removed to allow a standard carto to poke through. I'm thinking the end of the carto would roughly be flush with the end of the LEDs. So with the "flashlight cap" on, the carto mouthpiece is covered/protected by the lens, and when the button is pressed it operates as an 8 LED flashlight (using the momentary switch). However, when the "cap" is removed, it then operates as a PV!
How's the power diverted from the connector to the LEDS? I'm not really sure (I haven't noodled the whole idea enough yet!) but maybe some sort of spring contact to the connector that the cap would disengage when the cap is on? Maybe if the cap is pushed on (or screwed on?) it would break the connection to the connector and instead would contact the LEDs.
Does this make ANY sense? I'm picturing what looks like a flashlight, but slightly (say 1/2"-3/4"?) longer, that operates AS a flashlight but when the led cap is removed it operates as a PV. Not only would it be pocketable (since if it fired in your pocket it'd just be turning on the LEDs and NOT the carto) but it's also prevent dust/dirt from getting to the carto (since it'd be enclosed behind the LED lense when in your pocket).
So, if you've read all of this, and can picture what I'm thinking, you probably could have already built me one! Get to work!
OK, I just had an idea for a mod that I'd love to have, but I don't have the skills to do it. So... I thought I'd throw out the idea and maybe someone will think it's worthy of attempting (even if it's not for me )
We've all seen the Magnum Power and similar cheapo flashlight mods. Well I was thinking about tweaking that to be more pocket friendly and stealthy. So I'll try to explain what I'm thinking and you gurus can critique the idea as I'm not totally sure how one would go about building it!
Picture a standard cheapo flashlight, bottom switch modified to momentary (I can do this part but then it quickly go out of my league...). These flashlight (3 AAA) are about the right length for an 18500 BUT say it's modified to use an 18350, thus the extra space could hold the connector, recessed in as far as the short battery would allow (the shorter battery also makes up for the extra length that will be added on, without the thing looking like a damn lightsaber! Not that there's anything wrong with that, just that lightsabers aren't safely pocketable! Trust me, but don't ask me HOW I know!).
THEN, and here comes the trickest part, over that is a working AND removable 9LED flashlight cap (where the center LED is removed to allow a standard carto to poke through. I'm thinking the end of the carto would roughly be flush with the end of the LEDs. So with the "flashlight cap" on, the carto mouthpiece is covered/protected by the lens, and when the button is pressed it operates as an 8 LED flashlight (using the momentary switch). However, when the "cap" is removed, it then operates as a PV!
How's the power diverted from the connector to the LEDS? I'm not really sure (I haven't noodled the whole idea enough yet!) but maybe some sort of spring contact to the connector that the cap would disengage when the cap is on? Maybe if the cap is pushed on (or screwed on?) it would break the connection to the connector and instead would contact the LEDs.
Does this make ANY sense? I'm picturing what looks like a flashlight, but slightly (say 1/2"-3/4"?) longer, that operates AS a flashlight but when the led cap is removed it operates as a PV. Not only would it be pocketable (since if it fired in your pocket it'd just be turning on the LEDs and NOT the carto) but it's also prevent dust/dirt from getting to the carto (since it'd be enclosed behind the LED lense when in your pocket).
So, if you've read all of this, and can picture what I'm thinking, you probably could have already built me one! Get to work!