Along with some fine partners who were absolutely wonderful to work with, I have been toiling long and hard over the past couple of months on an all-new light. For me it will be the first custom-machined body ever, and features several key elements that just might make this the last light anyone will ever need – but note the word need, not want, since we all know how we get when the next new cool light comes along…

But I digress – I hereby proudly present the Var-I-Pin, or VIP for short. The name comes from the fact that this light has three different brightness levels:

Low – approximating the output of the better keychain lights

Medium – driven at the exact factory spec of 350mA for maximum life (50,000 hours?) of the Luxeon III emitter, and

High – with all the brightness of the Super Baby Pin that some of you are already experiencing.

Although this is just one of several prototypes and thus with only a bare aluminum finish, it gives you an idea of what the VIP will look like:

Note the tri-scalloped King’s Crown™ (KC) shaped guard around the Kroll switch. The KC™ guard allows easy switch actuation with the pad of the finger or thumb, no more poking down into a tube while holding the light in an awkward position. Yet the VIP still stands easily upright on its three “legs” for candle mode function.

Here’s a picture of another KC™ guard, freshly milled and not yet finished:

Depending on cost and complexity, the KC guard may be milled from titanium but we’ll see. I don’t want to put the cart before the horse; although there may eventually be a TID version coming later.

The finish will of course be anodized, and the cooling fins that run the entire midsection of the light will also be knurled for ultimate grip:

Before I show the rest of the pictures, here are some numbers for the more performance-minded Flashoholic:

LOW output – 109,000 mcd. Even at this level it still completely overwhelms the other little lights such as the 1AA and 1AAA keychains, so we may adjust that circuit a little lower still. I want a brightness level that is appropriate for going to the restroom or checking on your sleeping kids at 3 a.m. Tested runtime here is approximately 30 hours, more if we bring the brightness down a little further.

MEDIUM output – 576,000 mcd. A this brightness the VIP competes with some already very bright Luxeon lights such as my own LGI as well as many other lights that are running at their full power. For more info you can look up various other mcd readings at Craig Johnson’s LED Museum site. Tested runtime was approximately two hours before falling out of regulation and gradually dimming down. The VIP will not suddenly drop you into a dim moon mode, something you will indeed appreciate when hiking out in the woods at night.

HIGH output – 1,062,000 mcd. This makes the VIP significantly brighter than anything of its size, although runtime will only be about 35 minutes after which it will give you a CLEAR signal that it is out of regulation by strobing on and off about once per second. When this occurs simply switching the selector knob back to Medium or Low will provide many more minutes (Medium) or hours (Low) of light, depending on the brightness level selected.

Here come more pics to provide some insight into the development of the VIP. These are photos of the PROTOTYPE TEST MULE, wherein the electronic guts of the VIP were first mounted in a Fox body host (same as that used in the Baby Pin and Super Baby Pin mods) to evaluate function.

This was the first three-position dimming control used, shown here hooked up to the VIP circuit:

Here it is in the Fox body (note offset mounted Luxeon III):

The Fraen Low Profile optic that will come with the VIP was glued onto the offset emitter for brightness tests:

Pretty classy, eh? Talk about a Frankenstein light!

Now here on the left is what the selector knob, along with the final configuration of switch that was decided upon, looks like (the knob itself is in the foreground):

Here’s an enhanced shot of the switch knob, note the raised blade:

The blade will enable the user to both see, as well as feel when in the dark, exactly which of the three brightness levels the knob is at before hitting the Kroll switch on the end. No nasty surprises, and especially no learning curve or carrying around a little cue card to remind you of how to work everything.

And finally, here is an accessory that enables the VIP to simulate the power and throw of much bigger Luxeon lights such as my own Space Needle II by simply unscrewing the stock head and replacing it with what I have none-too-bashfully christened -- The BulkHead™ (Thanks for the suggestion, Steve!):

This is actually a 2-inch Carley aluminum reflector, transformed into the BulkHead™ by threading the neck and adding a nearly invisibly-mounted bezel to retain the lens.

So there you have it, a brand new light that slips easily into pocket or purse, features three intelligently selected brightness levels for virtually any illumination need, all intuitively accessible by simply twisting a bladed knob within a brief 90° arc. The knob will be recessed into a chamfered depression in side of the body near the head for easy access. The VIP also stands on end with its stable three-legged KC™ tailguard, the cutouts of which allow easy access to the Kroll switch.

For general use the Medium setting provides more than enough brightness, the Low setting for when less light is needed, and a super bright High setting for checking out that shadowy figure lurking across the parking lot. And for reaching clear across valleys and canyons, the spin-on BulkHead™ accessory will be available.

Proudly presenting - the VIP.

What else do you need?