Jacket Light, ACTIVATE! *Mad Scientist Laugh* (I Put a Light On My Jacket)
Necessity is the mother of invention, and most of the gadgets I have cobbled together so far began as "I could really use X right now". X later became some sort of DIY device that solved a particular problem for me, often a very niche one.
Enter...THE JACKET LIGHT! :0 Basically when I've been working on something in the dark, whether fiddling with the lock on my Volt charging cable, trying to get the plug into the socket, getting mail after dark or even climbing over rubble in a subterranean lava tube, I have often needed hands-free light.
There are head lamps for that, but who carries one of those on their person all the time? I don't. I also don't want to put it on my head just for one task, then take it off and pocket it again. I need something quicker, more convenient, and which I have to take everywhere with me.
Jacket Light is the smallest headlamp I could find. It runs on a pair of CR2032 zinc-air button cell batteries. I'd have liked it to be something rechargeable except I don't plan to use this all that often, and have a rechargeable lighting solution for caving under development already (more on that in future articles)
It has a couple different lighting modes you cycle between by pressing the power button a bunch of times. Standard light, dimmer light, brighter light, red LEDS (as shown in the cover pic) for situations where you want to preserve your night vision (such as caving) and blinking variants on all of the above.
It's also adjustable! So I can pivot it at any desired angle, whether pointing straight ahead or down at my feet. Nothing too fancy in the end, but a useful little addition to my main winter jacket that I expect to get a good deal of use out of in the future.
That's all for this time! I'm working on another outdoorsy, lighting related DIY project you can look forward to hearing more about very soon. Until then...
Stay Cozy!
How do you even think of such amazing ideas ? I know you have some of the best ideas ever if I need you for anything
This little light seems very practical, especially if you have to use both hands to do something.
Yet another reason showing just why we NEED cyborg parts to become a thing. Damn it, I want to have a flashlight eye installed in my head. Is that too much to ask?
On a serious note, nice little DIY project, man. Hope the light serves you well. How many lumens are you getting out of that little guy?
No idea. It's enough though.
I was just genuinely curious since I'm a flashlight guy. Been more and more into them since I got in the Everyday Carry Community. The amount of light you can put out with tiny lights these days is crazy.
@alexbeyman,
Wow it's looks like a great idea! Specially while we are at dark this is very worthy item! You got great ideas about some small tech stuffs which makes things easy and safe! Keep it up friend!
Cheers~
Perhaps you could make it detachable (attaches to the anchored base on your chest), and you can have other anchor locations (say on your write or helmet) to customize the light angle. Just lock it in each port as needed.
Or just buy multiple. It was pretty cheap. I'd rather it not be in the wrong place when I need it.
Wow, such a great idea alex. How do you can even think about it! You are really genious.
Nice, doesn't look obtrusive. Would be nice if you could have a magnatised back so that it doesn't pinch your jacket. Similar to this.
Hey, not a bad idea. It's not as bad as the photo makes it look though, and I'm unbothered by it.
Cool can they be fit on the side of glasses ?
It comes in very handy when you need both hands what's alot of the case when working at night. I did some nights in the past but we had indeed something to put on our head. Never liked having that stuff on my head. This is way better!
This makes me think of how the crew of the Next Generation Enterprise would use bulky handheld flashlights whenever the story required it. Even back then, I kept thinking there's got to be a better hands-free solution.
And there you go, someone ~300 years before the time of the fictional Enterprise goes and makes a workable solution. For science!
Wait...why didn't their communicator badges include lights?
Exactly! No good reason. Or why not have a few rows of emitters woven into the uniform that only deploy as needed? One of the few times Trek consistently fails to anticipate a solution to a common need.