SWIPER wrote:I am looking forward to one too.
From what I can see they run off special AA size batteries. Could a regulated bank of batteries provide longer use? Obviousley they would be larger but if you look closely at the cells powering electric remote contol cars, they appear to be several batteries taped together. I imagine some circuit to regulate the current would be required.
I am electrictronically handicapped so I might be totally off the mark.
Trishbob, whats a spare battery worth?
Swiper, you must have got the cheque I sent you, you are asking all the right questions so I can mention the benefits of the Wolf Eyes setup!
First of all the torch is regulated. Unlike many popular LED torches (LL springs to mind) the Wolf Eyes products are regulated, this means two things to the user, one that the torch doesn't dim (of the 2 hours 20 minutes runtime, the first 1 hour 50 minutes are at maximum intensity, with the last 20% of runtime finishing about 20% less bright) and second that the torch can't be overdriven, for instance you could connect two 6V car batteries and you would still only get 260 lumens. LEDs are easily damaged by heat and once damaged permanently have reduced brightness. This is the reason why some popular LEDs say 'no accumulators or rechargeables' on their instructions, because the new powerful rechargeables will over rev the LED and permanently damage it. Coincidentally, that is one the reasons WE are built like a brick outhouse, all that alloy and brass liner acts as a heatsink for the LED.
Second, the battery has another computer chip in it. The batteries we use are notebook batteries, at the moment the best batteries in the world power for weight. So much so that if you watch Top Gear you will have seen the Tesla Roadster electric car, does 0-100 in 3.9 seconds, it uses the exact same battery (18650) as these torches! It does use 6,800 of them.
You can see the size of the unit in the pic below, the wire coming off isn't to a battery pack but to a on/off tape switch. The battery is about the size of a lipstick and is inside the torch, it lasts 2 hrs 20 min. Stick another one in your pocket and you have almost 5 hours of light, which seems like a good night to me. Stick 3 in your pocket (basically the size of your 3 fingers) and you have enough light to do you till dawn anywhere in Aus! I wouldn't spoil the weight and usability of the light with an extra battery pack.
Click for larger
.Swiper see or talk to Glen Che has a wealth of knowledge and will not see you wrong.
