Ever want to make your own flashlight? How about just use technology that is available to all and roll your own? HexBright is a company that is doing just that. No patents, no proprietary electronics – just plain old open source ingenuity and know-how.
Christian Carlberg and his partner, Terry Cooke, got together and developed what is the world’s first “open source” flashlight. Both the mechanical and electrical designs are open source. This flashlight is yours to make, modify, or otherwise improve on at your own whim. In a world of patents and proprietary information, that is actually pretty cool.
So they name it the HexBright flashlight. The body of the flashlight is made from a “billet” piece of aircraft grade aluminum and the light source is the popular (and wildly efficient) CREE XM-L “super bright” LED. HexBright flashlights are set up to be pre-ordered by enthusiasts who like the idea of open-source, and contributing to the project in this way lands you an early production run sample. It will initially be available in Black, Red, Green, and Blue and you can order it as the HexBright Prime, or the HexBright Flex. Here are the differences:
HexBright Prime
- Length: 4.75″
- Lumens: 350
- Battery: 2 x CR123A
- Power: 1A (max)
- Modes: High (350 lumens), Low (200 lumens), Flash
- Weight: 4.5 ounces
- Price: $35 (pre-order price)
HexBright Flex
- Length: 5.25″
- Lumens: 500
- Battery: 18650 Lithium-ion (replaceable)
- Power: 1.6A (max)
- microUSB port recharging
- Programmable
- Modes: High, Medium, Low, Flash
- Weight: 4.75 ounces
- Price: $60 (pre-order price)
The best thing is that since HexBright has far exceeded its pledge amounts (by more than $100,000 last time I checked), the inventors are going to get the flashlight certified as a tactical flashlight. Considering most tactical flashlights run upwards of $150-$200, nabbing one for $35 seems like quite the bargain!
To get on the pre-order list, visit www.hexbright.com.
