Review: Iain Sinclair Flashcard3 Classic Floodlight

I've made no secret of my bumpy road with Iain Sinclair LTD. They're a clever company that offers some truly brilliant products but is cursed with some of the worst production issues I've ever seen in a modern company.

I'm astounded they're still around, given the fact that 3/4ths of the products advertised on their site (all the electronic gear) isn't actually available. Oh, the EON Extreme shows as available, but try to order it and you'll quickly find out it's on indefinite delay.

Sorry, this is turning into a rant and that's not what I want. I actually have something positive to say about Iain Sinclair LTD this time.

So I remain on mailing lists with them. Masochism on my part, I suppose. Or just a hope that they'll get their production issues resolved ('cause I really liked the EON Extreme and am fascinated with the camera concepts).

Somewhere along the way, I got an advert for one of their "classic" flashlights.

You can get their main "classic" flashlight from a link buried on their site (essentially a dumbed-down EON Extreme without the powerful LED output and recharging gear). I've seen them available on ThinkGeek along with the knives (which remain freakin' brilliant).

Then they came out with a new thin flashlight: the Flashcard3.

First off, it's a really reasonably-priced light! Cheap, even! Second, this puppy is bright! It's brighter and has a broader, softer, light than the main "classic" light while also being thinner in frame. It's made out of some kind of... I don't know what... material. Feels like cardboard but I think it's some kind of plastic. Damn but it's bright! It's wider than the classic but insanely-thin. This really fits perfectly in a wallet.

For the price, I'd recommend buying a few and having them handy.

Hopefully this is the dawn of an era of more clever products from Iain Sinclair LTD that don't experience nightmarish production issues.