Originally Posted by
turbo1889
........... That Kong-12 is a serious monster but I bet it is in the same price range as these crazy expensive Prometheus flashlights, seriously man the price is way out on these things especially since it only takes a year or two for this kind of LED technology to advance far enough that the old stuff becomes way out of date.
Out of date how? The theoretical limit for LEDs is currently estimated at 1,500 lumens / watt so maybe 40% more effecient than the best of whats on the market now. Thats more effecient - which doesn't necessarily mean every light produced by every manufacturer will be brighter, or that everyone evens NEEDS that. I still have a Pelican flashlight that runs off AAs and uses non LED bulbs thats just fine for some jobs around the house after 25 years and still counting.
Custom lights like what we're discussing are hand built items that are partly handy personal possessions rather than tools, partly status symbols, and partly functional. Some people drive Porsches, have monogrammed towels and marble bathrooms. In 10 years these flashlights might be 10 years older, but I doubt very much I'll be owning anything remotely close to a 12,000 lumen light. Or a 500 hp car for that matter.
On another note altogether - I've been working myself on a project similar to what you described and maybe at some point we could trade notes. I'll likely have the latest updates posted later this month.