4Sevens announces closure

[warpdrive]

The way he talks about "this guy" makes me think it could be someone else since I wouldn´t talk like that "I think you will all like the guy, he is pretty awsome, there couldn´t be anyone else who could take on the baton as good as this guy" about olight as a company. Maybe PK? But we´ll know in a few weeks.

Eric

yes It might be reading way too much into his wording but "taking on the baton" almost reads "this guy will continue the fight against Olight" Usually you just pass the baton or take the baton

Anyway, it would seem olight is the most probable suitor but let's hope there is a nice surprise in store.

I bought a Fenix P1 special edition way back when, and actually bought nothing since then. Foursevens actually had a run of flashlights that sold in our Canadian MEC (it's like REI) stores and it was nice to see his lights in B&M stores.

Then when he was clearing out the special edition Ti, and Cu flashlights, I bought two Mini IIs.

 

[bykfixer]

Very doubtful PK is the "this guy".

PK owns a consulting company that designs lighting products for a large supplier, so it may be the owner of PK's client perhaps. But I have it on good authority that between his consultant business and PK Design Lab he has a lot on his plate already.

Now if it is his client there will likely be PK influence on future products from foursevens.

 

[flatline]

My first quality light was a neutral Quark AA. It's still my most used nightstand light.

--flatline

 

[reppans]

Very sorry to hear this news, although the writing was on the wall. A Quark was my first good flashlight and they have always been my favorites with an ideal-for-me combination of mode spacing, regulation, efficiency, voltage versatility, Lego-ability, and reliability - not to mention David/FourSevens being honest, stand-up folks with great CS. Bought dozens of lights trying to match/beat my Quarks for my unique needs, but have been mostly unsuccessful/disappointed, although the HDS comes close. After figuring out how to program them, the 1st gen Quark Clicks have become my favorite iteration of the line and I have programmed my HDS and QC to the same modes and very similar UIs - haven't bothered with trying anything new since then (past year or two?), just stocked up on old Quarks.

Thank you David for 'showing me the light' and best wishes on your new endeavors. Hope your successor can fill your large shoes and continue the FourSevens legacy.

 

[fordcappy]

I was a dealer for a time and a long time fan finding you through nutnfancy. All the best to David, he showed what can be done with heart and passion.

 

[saypat]

fortunate to pick up a couple of Preon P1s on sale for $12/ea a while back. At a good price of $20 now. Hoping the P2s go on sale as well.

 

[Crazyeddiethefirst]

I have an amazing collection of FourSeven's lights(I think if Chance & I had a face off it would be very close). I love their lights-in my humble opinion their Quark Tactical UI is one of the most versatile without needing to program it specifically. I recently picked up a few more CR2 Quarks as well(still crying I sold my Ti CR2). I also have the coveted 4 Seven's 18650 body tube as well. In addition to their excellent products, I believe David defined the standard for customer service. Most of my customer service calls were not related to any kind of failure, more often I was making changes and screwed something up(hey TJ, I fingerprinted the reflector on my S-12 Maelstrom, got another one? He would actually personally go look to find one if they were no longer carried).
To David Chow and all the family at Four Sevens: I wish you the best of successes in whatever your new ventures are. May you find peace, success and joy in all you do. Thanks for brightening my night, both in actuality and metaphorically. You will be missed, but I know my lights will still be shining for decades to come...

 

[photo2000a]

Bought a few of there lights, always super great cust service. Will miss them, us there lights a lot.

 

[amanichen]

My own impression of the 4Sevens brand is that the build was a little too on the budget side. They're the only lights I've had outright fail during usage (three separate models) aside from a couple of Fenix E05s from 5-6 years ago.

I always scratched my head at the 4Sevens "rebranding" a few years ago where the prices went up 20%-30%, for what I understand was basically a new logo. I'm not sure if this was a move the brand upmarket, or avoid overlap with Olight, since I believe Olight was the OEM for the quark line.

Within a couple of years, it was clear the Quark line didn't receive much R&D attention, and fell behind offer brands.

If I remember correctly, around the time 4Sevens entered into a technology sharing agreement with Olight, David joined Olight's board of directors. Not sure if he is still there, but he seems very entrepreneurial so I don't think he'll have any issues in future endeavors.

And, I always received very good customer service from the people at 4Sevens (and before at Fenix Store) so I'm sure the new owner will be getting a good crew.

 

[TIP AND RING]

Hopefully, QC will be at the forefront of new leadership. At the time of purchases I really liked the tactical UI and features, but none of the lights endured light carry. Every one failed after several weeks.
Customer service was superb, but I couldn't trust the brand.

 

[Swordforthelord]

Hopefully, QC will be at the forefront of new leadership. At the time of purchases I really liked the tactical UI and features, but none of the lights endured light carry. Every one failed after several weeks.
Customer service was superb, but I couldn't trust the brand.

An original Quark AA was in my pocket every day for several years and it never failed me, other than some flickering a couple years in that was resolved by cleaning the threads. However, I will admit that my Atom A0 Red was a lemon but that has been the exception of the 14 4Seven's lights I've owned.

 

[insanefred]

I stopped buying their lights some time ago when they went another direction with their lights that I disagreed with. Too bad, I still have their Quark tactical AA warm white (2700k) on my computer desk.

 

[Kid9P]

I stopped buying their lights some time ago when they went another direction with their lights that I disagreed with. Too bad, I still have their Quark tactical AA warm white (2700k) on my computer desk.

I was pretty much in the same boat. Quarks were my favorite.
Never really got into their newer stuff.
Sad to see them go though.

 

[InvisibleFrodo]

Hopefully, QC will be at the forefront of new leadership. At the time of purchases I really liked the tactical UI and features, but none of the lights endured light carry. Every one failed after several weeks.
Customer service was superb, but I couldn't trust the brand.

Back when they called it the Preon P0, I had one made of stainless that worked well until one day it just stopped working. In retrospect I think it was the driver somehow unscrewing itself out of the head. One of my two CPF 15th anniversary Atom A0's made of titanium works perfectly, and the other one came out of the box with major problems. I sent it back to 47's for repair along with a very very detailed report of exactly what the problem was. They contacted me back saying they couldn't see anything wrong. My response was a very frustrated E-mail telling them to simply try to make the light switch back and forth between the two brightness settings. Half the time it just skips the next mode and goes right back to the brightness it was just on. And for some reason you need to unscrew the head until the O-ring is hanging out in order for the light to not go on when a little pressure is applied to the front of the light. After some back and forth they offered to replace the light. I said no. Send me back the one that you said you didn't see a problem with. Now I still have the light as my example of QC.

The fact that only one of my three Preon P0/Atom A0s still works makes me wonder if the third one is doomed to failure. When they work right, they are great little lights.

 

[Tixx]

This doesn't surprise me really. Guesses on who is buying them out? Olight?

David confirmed it was not Olight surprisingly. Guessing the PK Designs guy who helped with the Paladine light?

 

[WDR65]

I'm disappointed to see this thread. I realize that the flashlight industry is quite cutthroat with designs being imitated almost as soon as they are released and true innovation often pushed by the wayside for more output. I think David did a great job with being innovative and unique in a lot of his offerings and truly listening to the people of this forum and caring about what they thought.
I'll admit I haven't bought as many of the lights since the original Quarks were discontinued but I still have at least 11 and I've given many more away as gifts. I've always had good service and have been impressed with the quality of the product. I wish David the best in his future endeavors and hope he does continue to hang around and offer some input to the forum.

 

[Bruno28]

fortunate to pick up a couple of Preon P1s on sale for $12/ea a while back. At a good price of $20 now. Hoping the P2s go on sale as well.

The P1 is for $12 and P2 for $15 at the moment.

 

[recDNA]

I stopped buying their lights some time ago when they went another direction with their lights that I disagreed with. Too bad, I still have their Quark tactical AA warm white (2700k) on my computer desk.

David once catered to CPF members almost building exactly what we asked for. One of the first with neutral and HCRI lights. Then he changed course. Said no more neutral and try to grab the tactical market. Ironically soon after he stopped producing neutral lights others started and so I switched. Loved my Quark ti though. They were spectacular.

 

[UnderPar]

Thanks for bringing in the Quark series lights. It has always been my favorite especially the Pro. Wishing you all the best David!

 

[cp2315]

Very sad to hear this. Fortunately I stocked up with a couple of the older quark tactical QTL from 47s on eBay not long ago. Great UI with two modes tighten or Untightened and both modes can be programmed to one of the eight modes.

just heads up, 47s is still selling some models on eBay for very reasonable prices.