project-image

Foursevens Quark MKIII LED Flashlight: The Legacy Continues

Created by Foursevens

All items titled with "Pre-Order" will ship in December from our next production run. All other items will begin shipping as soon as Kickstarter fulfillment is complete!

Latest Updates from Our Project:

BackerKit Surveys Going Out This Week!
over 4 years ago – Tue, Sep 03, 2019 at 07:43:28 PM

Hey Backers! Hope everyone is well. 

Surveys will go out some time this week! 

Today is the last day of the "quiet period" required by Kickstarter. We are ready to send out surveys pending the funds transfer. The quiet period ensures all of the pledges are processed and gives people time to resolve any credit card issues. If there was a CC problem, Kickstarter will have contacted you over the last two weeks. 

Next Steps: 

Once we verify the funds, surveys will go out to a small subset of backers. This is to ensure we didn't forget anything in the setup process and to make sure everything is clear. Once we get a certain amount of feedback (and verify our setup) we'll send out 100% of the surveys. The lag time shouldn't be more than a day or two. 

I'm clarifying this point because people will start commenting that they got their survey and others will comment they have not. This is part of the process to ensure you are just as happy with your backer experience as the final product ;) 

The Survey: 

We use BackerKit to collect your shipping info an to confirm your Kickstarter pledge. You'll also be able to view and pledge for "add on" items via the survey. We are friends with the folks over at BackerKit and we've used them to fulfill/manage all of our 6 previous campaigns. You will not receive a Kickstarter survey. I only point this out for folks who have backed other projects that did not use BackerKit to manage their fulfillment. 

Using BackerKit is not a requirement, but it makes our life (and yours) a lot easier. Please consider that if we need to collect your pledge confirmation manually, we are spending time doing email and not getting shipments out the door :) I and your fellow backers thank you for your cooperation! 

Cheers,

Jason and the Prometheus Team

Thank you + Next Steps
over 4 years ago – Sun, Aug 25, 2019 at 09:58:32 PM

Thank you for making our project a reality! 

A few things need to happen before we can kick off fulfillment.

Here's a quick rundown:

  • First: Kickstarter needs two weeks (from the campaign close) to collect and transfer the campaign funds, and follow up with any Backers with credit card issues. Kickstarter calls this the "quiet period" but we'll be full speed ahead.
  • Second: we have to find out and where we need to ship your rewards and if you want to add any extra items. We’ll send out a BackerKit survey to collect this information when the quiet period ends.
  • Third: We've used BackerKit to manage all our previous Kickstarter projects. It's easy, secure, and makes sure we get you the right rewards as fast as possible. We love it and you will too. 

Survey = Pledge Confirmation + Add on Items

*** Right now we are planning to send surveys on September 3rd,*** but we’ll give you a heads-up 24 hours before so that you can watch for it. You don’t need to create a BackerKit account to answer your survey. The invitation email contains a link to your personal survey. It is important to submit your responses as quickly as you can since we need this information to process your rewards. We can't ship your rewards if we don't know where to send them ;) 

You'll also be able to pledge for additional "add-on" items like additional Quark lights, Quark accessories, batteries/chargers, and other Foursevens lights! 

Making Changes to Your Pledge

If you need to change your survey responses, modify add-on items, or update your shipping information, you can click the link in your survey email again or request your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page. (This page will only start working after we send the surveys out.)

If you prefer, you can contact me directly and give me your information, but answering your survey help us get your rewards out to you faster. BackerKit helps us save lots of time by streamlining the survey process, automating data organization, and providing us with pledge management software to make it easy to process your pledge reward shipments.

Basically if you ask us to take your shipping info over email, we are working on email instead of shipping rewards. You will not be able to add any extra items if you opt out of BackerKit.

We will email the survey based on the information below:

  • We will send the confirmation email to the address you have registered on your Kickstarter account.
  • If you used your Facebook credentials to log in to your Kickstarter account, the BackerKit survey link is sent to the email address you use for your Facebook account.

Again, thanks for all your support. We can’t wait to send your rewards!

Cheers,

Jason & the Prometheus Team

Check out my friend's Kickstarter (live now): Pale Blue -- AA and AAA Li-Po (1.5V) Rechargeable Batteries!
over 4 years ago – Mon, Aug 19, 2019 at 12:53:23 AM

I'm excited about Pale Blue, and I know you will be too: 

Hey Backers! 

Thanks so much for your amazing support thus far! You guys make all of this possible. I also know you like awesome so, I wanted you to see another live Kickstarter called “Pale Blue” that you absolutely MUST check out if you are a person who uses AA and AAA batteries…and I know you are...because you have access to electricity.  These will be my "go to" travel batteries from now on.  

Pale Blue: 1.5V Li-Po rechargeable batteries that are direct replacements for standard AA and AAA alkaline batteries.

This project is run by a friend of mine from college, so I can vouch for him both personally and professionally. He’s on a mission to get rid of disposables just like I am, and he’s been in the manufacturing business for two decades. 

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know two things about me: 

1) I’m not the type to cross promote projects. I hate spam just as much as you do, and I’ve only ever cross promoted…maybe two other times in six Kickstarter campaigns? But this one is both relevant to our project and worth your time. You can use these in your Quark QK2A flashlight and every other device in your house. I personally backed this campaign, and I've been testing samples for the last few weeks. I have two of them in my Quark QK2A that's in my pocket at this very moment. 

2) I’m on a mission to stamp out disposable batteries…because they are awful. They are a waste of money: cheap to buy at the time, but incredibly expensive over a lifetime. They don’t even work well, especially in higher drain products like flashlights. They leak and ruin your expensive devices. And alkaline batteries (just alkaline) are responsible for 86,000 TONS of waste each year in the US alone! 

Personally, I haven’t used a single disposable battery in years *(with two notable exceptions: see below). My entire household (and our shop) runs on rechargeable. This is also why we include rechargeable batteries with every light we sell. I’m just trying to do you a solid. 

So what’s different about Pale Blue? 

Pale Blue is an amazing solution for travel because the charging cable is compact (you don’t have to carry a bulky charging dock) and USB is readily available the world over. No more “alkaline is better for travel” excuses. You can be self-sufficient and not even have to take the time out of your trip to look for batteries when you are abroad. Unless you like doing pointless tasks when you are on holiday. I’d rather be on the beach thanks. If you are camping, have a cabin in the woods, or just running from a corrupt CIA agent bent on taking you down, pair these with a USB solar panel and you’ll be off the grid for years. 

· Li-Po (Lithium-Polymer) chemistry built into both 1.5V AA and AAA format. The same type of battery that powers your smart phone. This means they both charge very quickly and can handle high-discharge applications like the Quark QK2A flashlight...but they are 1.5V so you can put them into any device that takes alkaline batteries.  

· Each battery has a micro-USB charging port (built into the cell) and they come with a USB adapter that has 4 micro-USB leads so you can charge 4 batteries at a time: just like a standard charger, but without the bulk. You can even charge any mix of AA and AAA at the same time! 

· AA battery capacity is nearly identical to our standard NiMH rechargeable batteries. I personally tested these in the Quark QK2A and achieved 90 minutes of run time on high, vs 100 minutes from our NiMH batteries. That’s only a 10% difference in case you aren’t a math wizard. It doesn’t matter though, because best practice is to recharge batteries before they are dead anyway, and you'll never notice the difference in actual use. 

· Works with devices that don’t like NiMH. Li-Po chemistry (3.7V) also allows these to maintain a solid 1.5V for most of their discharge cycle. Alkalines (1.5V) continually lose voltage (the ability to deliver power) over the life of the battery. NiMH batteries maintain a flat output that holds power, but their voltage is 1.2V. Normally this doesn’t matter in a "smart" device like the Quark lights, but there are a lot of "dumb" devices that will think your NiMH battery is nearly dead when it’s still got plenty of capacity left. Pale Blue works in those finicky devices without a problem. 

· *Here are my exceptions: Full disclosure, I only have two devices that won’t run well on NiMH: an Ikea clock and a Snap On torque wrench. Now even these can run on rechargeable with Pale Blue! #winning 

Click here to check out Pale Blue! 

Less than a week left!
over 4 years ago – Thu, Aug 15, 2019 at 03:59:53 PM

Nearing the finish line on this campaign. Help us hit our 1000-backer goal by sharing this project with friends and family!

Thanks Backers!
over 4 years ago – Thu, Aug 01, 2019 at 09:09:14 PM

Hey folks,

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone has backed so far! We are off to a great start with almost 600 backers after 48 hours and meeting our funding goal in less than an hour. I'm also super excited to get these into your hands. This has been a 1.5 year odyssey for me and I'm very grateful for your amazing support. 

I shot an impromptu video the other day and thought I might as well share it :) This is mostly for amusement, but it also dispels the myth that rechargeable batteries don't work in the cold. A cold battery (below 32*F or 0*C) does have less overall capacity, but they do in fact work when cold, especially in flashlights. A flashlight is small enough that operating the light (and holding it your hand) will quickly warm the batteries up to operating temperature. The loss of capacity due to cold is temporary and only applies while the battery itself is actually below freezing. 

Why bring this up? People will also tell you that "cold" performance is another reason that disposables are better, and that's just not accurate. Both our GP NiMh batteries (used in the QK2A) and Foursevens Lithium Ion batteries (used in the QK16L) are rated for -20*C to 50*C operating temperature. Batteries should always be charged at room temperature. 

Thanks again for getting on board. The campaign is doing great, but you can help it do even better! Please don't forget to share the project with friends, family, social media, via carrier pigeon, whatever you are into! 

Cheers, 

Jason