Once upon a time a young college grad answered a want ad in California. He was looking to make a few bucks for plane fare to join his surfing buddies in Brazil. His degree in mechanical engineering qualified him for a position in an unknown flashlight company. A few years went by as the owner of this tiny company was promoting his ideas to a large country's military. Meanwhile the urge to go surfing had been replaced by a full fledged disease we term here at CPF as "flashaholism" for the young engineer.
Paul Kim had become known as PK. He became like a rock star in the flashlight world. Many designs by the tiny company now called SureFire were changing how the world saw what could be done with SLR camera batteries, an alluminum tube and a light bulb. For years the name PK was synonomous with radical output from bombproof lighting tools. SureFire sold millions of lights to military, police, and consumers.
Then came the day word was that PK and SureFire had parted. The shock was real and the flashlight community was taken by surprise. The flashlight world was changing more rapid than a snow man in Florida. Both PK and SureFire were being affected by this as brighter and cheaper was taking over like the ash cloud of a volcano. PK started his own company and SureFire moved on. It was not unlike when David Roth left Van Halen. Both were doing ok, yet things would be forever changed.
SureFire drifted for a while, tending to remain a viable company in the world of top shelf lighting tools, but the appeal was nowhere near as pronounced as the days where the flamboyant PK out front.
So where is PK now? Well he started a design company that consults for some companies and colaborates with others. He did a few colaborations we know well here at CPF like the foursevens Knight/Paladin series of 1 cell wonders. He also started a small company named after him. PK Design Lab began as a hobby to complete a few ideas devised at SureFire by his flamboyant mindset, yet was held to a conservative approach by SureFire management. His new ideas were seen as avant garde or in some circles too radical. And with the ever evolving technology moving forward at "the speed of light", his "designs for cultivated expectations" were quickly over shadowed.
PK began his passion for military applications. Often times the ideas were long in blossoming due to the lack of technology being able to keep up with his ideas. So time had to pass before the ideas could be tested in the real world. The technology has moved forward and now some of those ideas are taking on a new approach.
PK was thinking years down the road when he began PK Design Lab back in 2013. SureFire has recently released new products with new abilities, yet use some features developed and proven long ago. It was like they stepped back in time to rediscover what had worked best back then and how to morph those ideas with current technology. Bravo. Meanwhile armed with super computers PK and a few bright engineers are re-inventing some tools he devised so long ago. Surpressors, hearing protection and yes, lighting tools. Yet with modern technology comes modern problems.
These days corporate theft is a huge issue. And at times PK's ideas were seen on eBay before he had finished the process. So things being like they are one has to go about the business in new ways that are largely done in secret. So PK seems to have disappeared from the flashlight scene. The once flamboyant front man for SureFire is still going about life as a flashaholic who still carries an incandecent E2 at times. But these days instead of attending promotional parties and celebrating success he keeps his days behind a desk in front of a state of the art laptop or travels to various countries where ideas are being tried out in facilities that produce modern technologies well beyond the conventional approach.
PK is a very humble person whose previous career at SureFire required him to appear an extrovert. In reality he is an introvert and these days is very appologetic for what he calls "disappearing". I have a unique appreciation for the introvert PK in that often times his thinking is well beyond the grasp of most people. Heck, it's well beyond my mortal mind too. Yet a few times a year I receive a phone call from somewhere on planet earth where we talk for hours about life in general while I have the rare opportinity to peek inside the fertile mind of Paul Kim. And after a recent conversation with him he indicated that he misses the community greatly and wishes the best for those involved. It was 9am on a Saturday morning where he was and he had just returned from a lengthy stay in a facility without internet or other forms of communications as insurance against hacking. In the background were voices of his young engineers eager to catch up with the boss and go over their findings during his abscence.
I cannot share any news of upcoming consumer products by him as he is now focused on military applications. But I can say that not so far down the road there will be items available to military and law enforcement folks that will aid in their returning home safely after placing themselves in dangerous situations that only a small portion of the population are involved in. To those dedicated to protecting the rest of us, PK has been developing items to make the job a little bit safer.
Paul Kim had become known as PK. He became like a rock star in the flashlight world. Many designs by the tiny company now called SureFire were changing how the world saw what could be done with SLR camera batteries, an alluminum tube and a light bulb. For years the name PK was synonomous with radical output from bombproof lighting tools. SureFire sold millions of lights to military, police, and consumers.
Then came the day word was that PK and SureFire had parted. The shock was real and the flashlight community was taken by surprise. The flashlight world was changing more rapid than a snow man in Florida. Both PK and SureFire were being affected by this as brighter and cheaper was taking over like the ash cloud of a volcano. PK started his own company and SureFire moved on. It was not unlike when David Roth left Van Halen. Both were doing ok, yet things would be forever changed.
SureFire drifted for a while, tending to remain a viable company in the world of top shelf lighting tools, but the appeal was nowhere near as pronounced as the days where the flamboyant PK out front.
So where is PK now? Well he started a design company that consults for some companies and colaborates with others. He did a few colaborations we know well here at CPF like the foursevens Knight/Paladin series of 1 cell wonders. He also started a small company named after him. PK Design Lab began as a hobby to complete a few ideas devised at SureFire by his flamboyant mindset, yet was held to a conservative approach by SureFire management. His new ideas were seen as avant garde or in some circles too radical. And with the ever evolving technology moving forward at "the speed of light", his "designs for cultivated expectations" were quickly over shadowed.
PK began his passion for military applications. Often times the ideas were long in blossoming due to the lack of technology being able to keep up with his ideas. So time had to pass before the ideas could be tested in the real world. The technology has moved forward and now some of those ideas are taking on a new approach.
PK was thinking years down the road when he began PK Design Lab back in 2013. SureFire has recently released new products with new abilities, yet use some features developed and proven long ago. It was like they stepped back in time to rediscover what had worked best back then and how to morph those ideas with current technology. Bravo. Meanwhile armed with super computers PK and a few bright engineers are re-inventing some tools he devised so long ago. Surpressors, hearing protection and yes, lighting tools. Yet with modern technology comes modern problems.
These days corporate theft is a huge issue. And at times PK's ideas were seen on eBay before he had finished the process. So things being like they are one has to go about the business in new ways that are largely done in secret. So PK seems to have disappeared from the flashlight scene. The once flamboyant front man for SureFire is still going about life as a flashaholic who still carries an incandecent E2 at times. But these days instead of attending promotional parties and celebrating success he keeps his days behind a desk in front of a state of the art laptop or travels to various countries where ideas are being tried out in facilities that produce modern technologies well beyond the conventional approach.
PK is a very humble person whose previous career at SureFire required him to appear an extrovert. In reality he is an introvert and these days is very appologetic for what he calls "disappearing". I have a unique appreciation for the introvert PK in that often times his thinking is well beyond the grasp of most people. Heck, it's well beyond my mortal mind too. Yet a few times a year I receive a phone call from somewhere on planet earth where we talk for hours about life in general while I have the rare opportinity to peek inside the fertile mind of Paul Kim. And after a recent conversation with him he indicated that he misses the community greatly and wishes the best for those involved. It was 9am on a Saturday morning where he was and he had just returned from a lengthy stay in a facility without internet or other forms of communications as insurance against hacking. In the background were voices of his young engineers eager to catch up with the boss and go over their findings during his abscence.
I cannot share any news of upcoming consumer products by him as he is now focused on military applications. But I can say that not so far down the road there will be items available to military and law enforcement folks that will aid in their returning home safely after placing themselves in dangerous situations that only a small portion of the population are involved in. To those dedicated to protecting the rest of us, PK has been developing items to make the job a little bit safer.
