I have this wild idea to have a shoulder mounted headlight that is battery powered and switch operated, like from a small button located on your belt or wrist, somewhere more convenient than the light itself.

from a few quick google searches I can't find a power source small enough to power such a powerful light, which according to wikipedia averages about 40 amps. however, I'm sure there are other, more powerful bulbs that need less power.

basically I want this so when I come up on a criminal or possible situation I can flash the light at them while still leaving my hands free for other things.

any takers?

Your best bet would probably be to look into modifying one of those big spotlight-style flashlights. They are super bright, and generally run off an internal, rechargable battery so you could just plug it back in when you get home to recharge.

They can be a bit heavy, but I assume a lot of that comes from the housing, which you wouldn't really need anymore if you're building it for shoulder-mounting.

zimmer uses something similar he calls the north star.

his is chest mounted. but for the same purpose i believe.

As a matter of practicality, I think a chest mount would be better... especially since my other suggestion is to use a bunch of LEDs you mount into one big light...



Weight on your head gets to you after a while and any light that doesn't weigh much isn't going to blind much, either.

By much I don't mean a gazillion pounds... but seriously, weight on your head is a drag. Light weight off-the-shelf headlamps aren't very blinding, either.

I dont think the weight was on his head there MG... He said he wanted the light shoulder-mounted... which I think is a super idea... but Ive seen those chest mds too.

I was also considering a chest mount for a more iron man look, but I thought the shoulder one would have been more practical. honestly I'd rather have the chest mounted one.

Depending on bulk, the chest might indeed be a better option. it would definitely be easier to design a harness to hold it steady that way.

More than likely, to balance the weight of it, you'd want to mount the battery on a belt at your hips and run the leads up to the rest of the apparatus on your chest/shoulder. After losing the casing, the batteries are definitely going to be your biggest weight and size problem. Putting them as a separate component on a belt mount would free up so much of the bulk.

a small motorcycle battery will give you the juice to run a headlight. And the blue beam lights are quite annoying if not completely blinding. However you may want to swap out the motrocycle (heavey lead) battery with a more lightweight laptop style battery. If there is a Batteries + store in your area they should be able to point you in the right direction for a power supply.

Maybe talk to Victim? He might have details on the North Star. Or just ask Zimmer.

If you want to go a bit further, consider a random flash red/green/blue light. This is basically what the military uses as a "less-than-lethal" deterant. The idea is that in addition to visual disorientation, the alternating intense colors can also cause nausea. Even if you don't do various colors, consider a flashing light instead as it is much more effective in disorienting a target than a steady beam.

Gadgetastic!

I don't know the details, but I would guess the NorthStar is a 3W Luxeon LED with a 5 to 7 degree lens on it. Seriously blinding even in daylight.

I suspect the nausea effect of some strobing lights is "flicker vertigo." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flicker_vertigo

(Probably the same thing some parents groups complained about Pokemon cartoons)

can any of you gadget guys build such a thing? if not I'm sure I can figure out something...but it might not be as good. I'll try and get into contact with zimmer on myspace.

http://hackaday.com/2010/07/18/arm-mounted-light-cannon-villains-beware/

Your welcome.


DarkShadow out

I would suggest getting a high end flashlight and modifying it to fit the configuartion you want. The flashlight will have all the parts you need except the mount. Why re-invent the wheel when most of it is already availble.

http://www.therlsh.net/gadget-lab-f12/some-great-high-powered-flashlights-t4491.htm

Dark Shadows video looks good but the specs for the build seem pretty complex. You should start with something simpler.

yeah I had in mind basically something with a light or two,some wires, a battery, and a switch.

but that repulsor thing is bad ass.

check out rescue equipment for chest lights and chest packs.

Isn't most of the weight in a high-powered flashlight in the battery? In that case, you don't need really need the battery and the light in the same housing, so maybe it would be better to have the battery in a more sturdy location, like on your belt or on your back, and then wire it to the light. This could also be used to power other gadgets you might want

I know how you could make one, but it would be expensive, but lightweight. You can buy upgradable bulb assemblies for Surefire lights. If you buy five of them, make a small housing out of replacement lenses and steel plumbling pipe and get a larger piece of pipe to house the five bulb housings.

Use wire and solder to fuse the five connections you would need to power the five bulbs into a single connection that you would need to connect to the batteries.

Make a housing out of steel plumbing pipe and springs to house the batteries (which can be placed in a pouch on your belt.)

Run wiring from the housing to a toggle switch then from the toggle switch to your light housing.

Rig everything to your uniform... and flip the toggle switch... and OWWWW MY EYES!!!