# Copper and Current Designs - Hinton AA/14500 pocket light



## calipsoii (Apr 4, 2021)

Hey CPF!

I've been working hard over the last few years building my "perfect" pocket light. The prototype has been clipped to my pocket for months now and I just love it. I'm putting together a small run of Hinton pocket lights and wanted to post here in case anyone else is interested. 

Some photos of the prototype in 303 stainless steel (click for larger images):




























*Manufacturer:* Copper and Current Designs (that's me!)
*Model:* Hinton


15VP v5.2 user-programmable 1xAA/1x14500 driver hand-built by myself
Two UI's: ramping and discrete levels
Constant-current regulation
Low-voltage protection on both AA/14500
1 to ~200(AA)/400(Li) lumen output /w Cree XP-L2 HD
Reverse-clicky with tail-stand capability and metal switch boot
Deep-carry stainless spring steel pocket clip
Double-coated AR UCL lens
Solid brass heatsink with copper Sinkpad MCPCB
Run #1 will be 30 pieces in solid Titanium, machined by Jordy Wallace of FocusWorks EDC
Emitter will be buyers choice: if we can source it, I can install it
Price will be $325USD

If this light is something you'd be interested in, I'm opening the interest list on Tuesday April 6th @ 1800 UTC here:

https://interest.copperandcurrent.com​
Any questions, please feel free to post here, send me a PM, or email me at [email protected]!

Best regards,

- calipsoii


----------



## archimedes (Apr 4, 2021)

I'm guessing you mean April 6 (not March 6) ? I'd like to be added to your list, if possible, in any case ....

Will these be serialized ?


----------



## calipsoii (Apr 4, 2021)

archimedes said:


> I'm guessing you mean April 6 (not March 6) ? I'd like to be added to your list, if possible, in any case ....
> 
> Will these be serialized ?



Ah, good catch sorry about that! The list will indeed be opening April 6th. I wasn't planning on serializing these, no. If I try to stamp them by hand it'll look like a kid wrote it with crayons, and engraving/milling adds a bit more cost than I can afford (I'm financing this entire first run out of pocket).

Once things open up on Tuesday I can put an entry on there for ya Arch, though do let me know if you register yourself and beat me to it.


----------



## archimedes (Apr 4, 2021)

Cool, will be in touch soon then, regarding emitter options and such[emoji106]


----------



## nbp (Apr 4, 2021)

Beautiful light! Great to see the fruits of all your tests and protos and experimenting paying off in such an elegant package.


----------



## calipsoii (Apr 5, 2021)

Thanks nbp! As I mentioned, I've been carrying the prototype for many months now, using it daily, and it performs just as I expect it to through many battery changes and lots of daily wear. I'm hopeful others will feel the same! This run is somewhat unique in that I don't turn titanium on my lathe so to get a batch made in Ti is a special treat for me.


----------



## daffy (Apr 5, 2021)

Jordy has made the Cylon recently too bad i was out of $$ very nice and unique light.


----------



## calipsoii (Apr 5, 2021)

daffy said:


> Jordy has made the Cylon recently too bad i was out of $$ very nice and unique light.



His machine work is phenomenal and I’m super excited he agreed to take on the project! Plus I take a small bit of pride being able to work with a fellow Canadian on it.


----------



## gravelrash (Apr 5, 2021)

These look great Mike! I'm interested in some flavor of lowK/high-CRI - the 219b sw35 would be great.


----------



## calipsoii (Apr 5, 2021)

gravelrash said:


> These look great Mike! I'm interested in some flavor of lowK/high-CRI - the 219b sw35 would be great.



That's the exact emitter I've been using in my prototype for ages now. It's a delight at night time - nice and warm with very good color rendering.


----------



## greatscoot (Apr 6, 2021)

SIGN UP NOW!!!


----------



## calipsoii (Apr 6, 2021)

1800 UTC bump! 

If anyone was thinking of registering their interest for the Hinton, the list is now open.


----------



## calipsoii (Apr 9, 2021)

We have 24 (amazing!) people who've expressed interest so far - I'm hoping to find 6 more so we can hit 30 and I can call up Jordy and get this project rolling. If this light sounds up your alley feel free to pop your name on the interest list, or send me a PM/email with any questions!


----------



## badtziscool (Apr 9, 2021)

Let's go CPF! I haven't been this excited about a custom light in a looooong time.

Wasn't there a video of the driver in operation? Demonstrating the ramping and other features?


----------



## calipsoii (Apr 9, 2021)

badtziscool said:


> Let's go CPF! I haven't been this excited about a custom light in a looooong time.
> 
> Wasn't there a video of the driver in operation? Demonstrating the ramping and other features?



You bet! I don't know how many people do Instagram but I try to post updates there weekly as I tinker on my projects. Here's a short clip showing off the discrete vs. ramping UI:


I don't have a Hinton-specific video yet, but the Leash Lantern uses an abridged version of the same programming menu, so this video talks about programming the circuit. Might give a general idea of how it's done.


----------



## greatscoot (Aug 10, 2021)

Any updates?


----------



## calipsoii (Aug 11, 2021)

Hi @greatscoot, thanks for checking in!

Time's super hard to come by these days, so about once a week I try to get some updates up on my social media:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/CopperAndCurrent
https://instagram.com/copperandcurrent
Should you do the whole social media thing, please do stop by and check out the updates and say hi!

Progress is slow and steady on Hinton Run #1. Here are a few updates from the project so far.

Some people asked what the beam looks like in the reflector so I shot a quick comparison:





Building all the drivers took about 2.5 months of evenings. Boy they take a while to make!





Also took a while to cut all the wire leads and get them all soldered on:





Each driver gets a manually-machined brass battery contact (click for video):




The switches have all been assembled:









Each Hinton gets a brass driver pill (click for videos):







External machining of the titanium hosts is being done by Jordy over in BC. He did a STELLAR job on the knurling and the hosts look fantastic. The prototypes are in the mail and should arrive at my door any day now:





























I have some internals that I still need to machine, a few springs to cut and shape, some clips to bend, and then I'll be asking Jordy to run the entire batch.


----------



## Flynn's Arcade (Nov 28, 2021)

If another run is ever in the works, count me in.


----------



## greatscoot (Feb 7, 2022)

Mine arrived today and it still gets dark early.


----------



## KaIIe (Feb 10, 2022)

Flynn's Arcade said:


> If another run is ever in the works, count me in.


 Me too


----------

