It’s quiet over here at PTec HQ with so many of the crew out at SHOT and Outdoor Retailer. If you happen to be at one of these shows, check the last post for our booth locations. And hound those guys to send in their photos and stories from the road, and to pick me up cool swag. I sure could use a new pair of socks and an Ogre frame to replace my banged up MTB.

Do you remember the recent post about photography, wandering around the factory with a camera in macro mode etc? Here’s another shot from the factory, capturing one of the parts that helps make up one of the PTec lights. I am the type who always wants to know how things work and takes them apart even if they still function properly. Whether or not they work after I’ve had my way with them is another story. Having a factory around where I can see the parts before they’re assembled alleviates that problem, at least for lights.

What takes up your time, whether its work or something you do for your own fulfillment? It would be excellent to see some words or photos from you folks. Post ‘em on www.facebook.com/PrincetonTec or link us to your space on the web. Whoever does the coolest stuff, writes words that make it sound interesting or takes the best photo will get cool stuff. Why? To reward you for doing what you do, and doing it well. And because that’s one of the coolest things about doing this – I can get great gear in the hands of people who will put it through its paces.
-George

Hey. It’s good to see you here, in 2012! As you may have noticed, PTec was closed up for the last week in December, so we could all spend some time with family and friends.

We hope that you’ve been enjoying this holiday season. The Princeton Tec crew would like to take a moment to say thank you for your ongoing support. Following is a quick recap of what’s happened over the past several days:

Toward the end of Friday before Christmas, we were getting ready to go home for the week – jackets were on but I’m sure people we continuing to work very hard.

The weather this week has been awesome, particularly if you want to keep the snowboard or skis and all the necessary winter gear in storage and continue on with whatever else you’ve been doing. Perhaps hiking, cycling, skateboarding, photography, fly fishing, coffee, or cooking has been keeping you busy. I found this cool local spot recently, and had a to visit a couple times this week:

Spectrum orders have been coming in all week. We built a bunch of custom holiday FUEL headlamps for the big pre-holiday rush, and it seems that those who were thinking about ordering have been playing with the custom headlamp configurator over vacation. Awesome! I sent out a note to those folks who ordered letting them know that we would build their lights when we get back to the office this week. If you have been thinking about placing an order of your own, go for it. If you get your order in today or tomorrow, chances are really good that we’ll put it in the hands of our friendly UPS driver by the end of Tuesday.

We have been seriously lucky with mild weather here in NJ, but for those of you who are getting out on the slopes– I know you’re out there because I’ve exchanged emails with a few of you – I am curious what sort of terrain you’re hitting and how the conditions are in your area. For folks that are doing more backcountry / out of bounds riding / skiing, it seems like Quad and Apex are the lights that are getting the most tracks so far this season. While I personally think it’s kinds of nuts to blast through the trees in the dark, I think that it is pretty cool to see nighttime riding making an appearance in magazines. And naturally, I’m glad to see that people are at least choosing good lights to make it a little less insane.

Rider Marc Frank Montoya Photo Sean Kerrick Sullivan

In prep for the cold season, there has been some significant beard growth at PTec HQ. The holidays have been sort of like top secret training camp for those in the PTec Beard Growing League (PBGL), and we’ll see who comes back strong. After some words with the PBGL Commissioner, we may get the go ahead to post some top secret photos here on the blog.

See you on Tuesday,
George

You locked eyes from a distance. You bonded over epic camping trip stories. “You’re so bright,” I heard you say. Clearly you shouldn’t have spoken so loud. I mean really, what would your kids think?

What’s that now?

Princeton Tec’s newest and youngest member of The Family may very well have everything grownups desire in a headlamp: 15 lumens of LED brilliance, nine hours of burntime, a lightweight design and an inexpensive pricetag. But don’t be fooled. The Bot is made with kids in mind. Surely the kid-friendly colors and packaging were a dead giveaway. No?

Well then, let me elaborate.

The Bot features the same design elements of the Family—durable plastics, large push button and asymmetrical single-arm bracket. What sets this headlamp apart from the others is that it’s so in tune with children. Aesthetics aside, the Bot includes a strap with a safety release buckle. A childproof battery door sidesteps a choking situation by guaranteeing little fingers don’t make their way inside.

Bottom line: Kids will think it’s cool to have a “grownup” headlamp and mom and dad will feel safe obliging to their kid’s demand request, whether they send it with them to summer camp or stuff it in their stocking.

The Bot offers the quality of a Princeton Tec product at a lower-than-ever price point to a previously unreached younger population. MSRP won’t break the (piggy) bank at $15.99.

Don’t just take it from us. Since adults can’t be trusted on a matter like this, we interviewed some kids we know have Bot headlamps to see how they use theirs. Maybe (hopefully) one of these sounds like a kid on your list this holiday!

Age:  8

Bot Color:  Purple

Why do you like having your own headlamp:  It allows me to read at night when mommy and daddy tell me to turn the lights off. (PTec note: we won’t tell!)

What is your favorite thing to do with your headlamp?  Read a book before I go to sleep.

Where is your favorite place to take your headlamp?  Under my blankets.

What’s the best thing about being able to see in the dark?  It allows me to stay up a little bit longer, read my book and it allows me to keep an eye out for any night crawlers.

Age: 4

Bot Color: Pink

Why do you like having your own headlamp? Because it’s cool and I can see things with it.

What is your favorite thing to do with your headlamp? Looking for things.

Where is your favorite place to take your headlamp? Outside, looking for bugs and for riding my bike in the dark.

What’s the best thing about being able to see in the dark? Seeing things I couldn’t see.

What do you want to be when you grow up? A Rockette and an explorer that wears a headlamp.

Age: 4

Bot Color: Blue

Why do you like having your own headlamp? Because I don’t get angry, I get angry when I don’t have my own.

What is your favorite thing to do with your headlamp? Wear it and see when it’s dark, watch where I’m going.

Where is your favorite place to take your headlamp? Gonna go camping.

What’s the best thing about being able to see in the dark? I know where I am going.

What do you want to be when you grow up? I don’t know…Baseball player and also a football player, the wrestle-kind (tackle).

Age: 7

Bot Color: Green

Why do you like having your own headlamp? ‘Cause you can see in the dark and there are different modes like flashing

What is your favorite thing to do with your headlamp? Um, see fireworks, do sparklers

Where is your favorite place to take your headlamp? Outside in my backyard

What’s the best thing about being able to see in the dark? That you don’t have to, like, get a regular flashlight, like a hand held one

What do you want to be when you grow up? A Scientist

Age: 9

Bot Color: Blue

Why do you like having your own headlamp? Because I don’t have to go looking in drawers for a flashlight

What is your favorite thing to do with your headlamp? Maybe look for bugs when it’s dark outside

Where is your favorite place to take your headlamp? My backyard

What’s the best thing about being able to see in the dark? Well, you can.  So you don’t step on anything, like glass, if you don’t have shoes on

What do you want to be when you grow up? A snowboarder

December is upon us and while running around shopping for the perfect gifts sounds delightful, it’s nice to get a little fresh air, socializing, and exercise in the mix. OK, and beer too. Luckily these things are the key ingredients for the annual Valley Cat hosted by Freeze Thaw Cycles in State College PA. This Friday will be the 4^th annual and using the first three as an indicator I can pretty much guarantee you will have an awesome time. Show up with a bike, a helmet, appropriate clothing, a fanny pack and a light if you have one. Elk Creek will take care of the beverages, Freeze Thaw will take care of ensuring a good time, we will take care of some loaner lights and prizes, and ION modern will add some creativity and prizes to the mix as well.

See you in State College,
Justin

The first in our series (at least that’s the plan) of clever / lucky ways to make something work for fun / profit / to get out of a bind / because you can / etc. I have a few ideas in mind, but this is completely open to suggestion. More directly: if you have good stories and ideas you would like to share with the world, please send them our way. That goes doubly for any that make use of PTec lights. Thanks in advance!

Sometimes we get into “it’ and have to find a way out. Since we set the clocks back for daylight savings, I’ve needed to get serious about lights for the evening commute. A Swerve on the back is not enough, I also need a decent headlight to see where I am going and avoid becoming a road pancake. With part of the commute on a gravel path in the woods, and the balance on quiet roads, I do not really need that much light to get by. But I need some.

On Friday, I found myself in a bit of a bind: The 3 AAA batteries in my Push were just about out of juice, and had only 2 spare AAA in my backpack. Fortunately, those 2 AAA batteries were enclosed in a prototype of our forthcoming AMP1L, which brings a major power upgrade to our smallest handheld flashlight, AMP1.

As luck would have it, my backpack also contained spare Swerve parts. Following are some photos of the quick and dirty light mount that literally got me out of the woods. The best part about this setup is that it not only worked, it worked well. From now on, I will be keeping an AMP1L and Swerve o-ring in my bag for general use and backup.

Not the intended purpose, but Amp1L is bright for its size.

Swerve gets a little dirty without fenders. Definitely not a glamour shot!

Let us know what you have done to get by in a pinch, and how well it worked.
-George