UKC

I'm a third year design student doing a brief to design lighting for outdoor activities that 'blurs the line between kit and companion'.
I do a lot of walking, skiing, snowboarding and climbing myself but rarely in the conditions where I would need a light. And so my question is...
Is there any situations which you have found yourself in where the light that you had (or didn't have) wasn't quite up to the task or could've been improved in some way? or is there something that you do frequently that could be easier with a light?

Thanks for any help!
Erin

In reply to erin_kish:

yep - tech specific to the outdoor industry is generally pretty poor quality. despite marketing to the contrary. personally, id appreciate a unit that brought together heat, light, and power in a single unit. something sufficient to light a small enclosed space, ergonomic enough to serve as a hand warmer, and with a punchy enough battery to charge an iPhone a few times. solar powered would be a nice touch. the technology just about exists to make this a usable product but the next few years will see things mature a lot.

id go with a spherical, transparent design and call it 'sunshine in my bag'.

this is nothing new... I'm aware this sort of product is in design stage in some big players skunk works but is widely assumed to be commercially unviable at the moment. it would be very expensive to do well.

I reckon the ultimate solution will be to create a mesh technology that uses all our outdoor equipment to provide power where and when it is required. eg. solar charging from clothing, micro chips and silicon in our ice axes. ultimately I expect drones to play a part in harvesting power from where it exists to where we are. but thats a way off.

In reply to erin_kish:

So, you posted this in four forums on ukc?

In reply to erin_kish:

I do a bit of stuff in the dark and would make these observations, take from them what you will,

I dont often find I dont have enough lumens or light output.

I do find changing batteries a faff, but my latest torch uses a cartridge type battery, some scope here for improved design possibly.

Head torch elastic perishes with age and it is annoying to replace a torch that still works but now flops on your head.

Kit is kit, companions are companions. They both need to be robust, resiliant, reliable and enhance the experience, but I dont want the lines blurred between the two. Conflating the two sounds like the guff that comes from someone who thinks a whiteout is a brand new flipchart.