SavageLlama
05-26-2005, 09:02
Anyone ever used the Pak-Lite, which looks like a cap for a 9-volt? The NYT has an article about the inventor today..
http://www.9voltlight.com/
A Teenager, a Phone Battery And a Back-to-Basics Flashlight
By Ian Austen
The New York Times
May 26, 2005
Like many teenagers, Benjamin Henry tinkered with electronics. But an ultraminimal flashlight he created five years ago, when he was 15, has become a business.
The original Pak-Lite combined a single light-emitting diode with a battery salvaged from a cordless telephone and a plastic holder for 35-millimeter film. It successfully served Mr. Henry's brother as he hiked the 2,600-mile length of the Pacific Crest Trail.
The Henry family now offers a much smaller yet brighter version of that flashlight through www.9voltlight.com (http://www.9voltlight.com/). The Pak-Lite has evolved into a small plastic cap, with a switch and two L.E.D.'s, that snaps onto a standard 9-volt battery. Victor Henry, Benjamin's father and the chief executive of the Pak-Lite Company, said that a single battery would power the flashlight for about 1,200 hours.
The Pak-Lite Basic sells for $13, but the company says it has a low-quality switch and is mostly intended for emergency use. The standard model with a better switch sells for $25.
The standard Pak-Lite comes in an array of diode and plastic colors. The choices are not just a matter of style. Mr. Henry said that the military, a major customer, often buys Pak-Lites with green L.E.D.'s because the human eye is most sensitive to that color.
http://www.9voltlight.com/
A Teenager, a Phone Battery And a Back-to-Basics Flashlight
By Ian Austen
The New York Times
May 26, 2005
Like many teenagers, Benjamin Henry tinkered with electronics. But an ultraminimal flashlight he created five years ago, when he was 15, has become a business.
The original Pak-Lite combined a single light-emitting diode with a battery salvaged from a cordless telephone and a plastic holder for 35-millimeter film. It successfully served Mr. Henry's brother as he hiked the 2,600-mile length of the Pacific Crest Trail.
The Henry family now offers a much smaller yet brighter version of that flashlight through www.9voltlight.com (http://www.9voltlight.com/). The Pak-Lite has evolved into a small plastic cap, with a switch and two L.E.D.'s, that snaps onto a standard 9-volt battery. Victor Henry, Benjamin's father and the chief executive of the Pak-Lite Company, said that a single battery would power the flashlight for about 1,200 hours.
The Pak-Lite Basic sells for $13, but the company says it has a low-quality switch and is mostly intended for emergency use. The standard model with a better switch sells for $25.
The standard Pak-Lite comes in an array of diode and plastic colors. The choices are not just a matter of style. Mr. Henry said that the military, a major customer, often buys Pak-Lites with green L.E.D.'s because the human eye is most sensitive to that color.