Zodiac Preon 1 Mod
A friend of the site's Rob Robideau, whose site can be found here, gave me the heads up on his book and a mod for one of the more popular lights out there, the 4sevens Preon (officially the Preon 1 and 2 now). In the long term a post on the book is coming, as it is a hefty tome and definitely worth an in-depth look, but I wanted to get word out about the Preon mod in the short term. Here is a picture, post mod of my Preon 1:
The mod literally fixes all of the problems I had with the Preon light. The light got a 17/20 losing three points, one each, for fit and finish, carry, and hands free use. The head of the light did not fit tightly enough to prevent water from getting in. Additionally, the clicky tailcap would regularly activate in pocket (aka "Hot Pocket" a dangerous flashlight related affliction). Finally, because of the wobbly clicky, the light could not tailstand all that well, unless you had the twist tailcap on.
The Zodiac Engineering (an entirely made in the USA operation, run by a small business man) tailcap solves all three problems. First, it now tailstands like a champ. Second, the clicky is at the bottom of an indent in the tailcap, see here:
This makes Hot Pocket a thing of the past. The boot is a bit of a lint magnet, but other than there is no complaint. Finally, because of new tailcap, but head cinches down tighter and makes the light more waterproof (it was fine, in clicky mode before, but the clicky caused Hot Pocket, in twisty mode, the head is looser). The entire cap is made using titanium and the titanium tailcap from foursevens.
Here is the best part--the whole process costs $16, if you provide the tailcap (warning older models have tailcaps that can't be modded, so contact Zodiac before sending one). If not, it is the cost of a tailcap, $15 from foursevens, plus the $16. Zodiac's service was excellent and the machining is top notch--like McGizmo nice. Ken has some other plans too--including a scalloped bezel and a scalloped tailcap. Here is a sneak peek of the scalloped version:
Great work for a great light. Really, with the mod, the Preon becomes one of the best EDC lights out there--tiny enough to slip in any pocket, plenty bright for most tasks, easy to use, and using a universal and cheap battery. This is very nice aftermarket mod, and it is cheap.
The mod literally fixes all of the problems I had with the Preon light. The light got a 17/20 losing three points, one each, for fit and finish, carry, and hands free use. The head of the light did not fit tightly enough to prevent water from getting in. Additionally, the clicky tailcap would regularly activate in pocket (aka "Hot Pocket" a dangerous flashlight related affliction). Finally, because of the wobbly clicky, the light could not tailstand all that well, unless you had the twist tailcap on.
The Zodiac Engineering (an entirely made in the USA operation, run by a small business man) tailcap solves all three problems. First, it now tailstands like a champ. Second, the clicky is at the bottom of an indent in the tailcap, see here:
This makes Hot Pocket a thing of the past. The boot is a bit of a lint magnet, but other than there is no complaint. Finally, because of new tailcap, but head cinches down tighter and makes the light more waterproof (it was fine, in clicky mode before, but the clicky caused Hot Pocket, in twisty mode, the head is looser). The entire cap is made using titanium and the titanium tailcap from foursevens.
Here is the best part--the whole process costs $16, if you provide the tailcap (warning older models have tailcaps that can't be modded, so contact Zodiac before sending one). If not, it is the cost of a tailcap, $15 from foursevens, plus the $16. Zodiac's service was excellent and the machining is top notch--like McGizmo nice. Ken has some other plans too--including a scalloped bezel and a scalloped tailcap. Here is a sneak peek of the scalloped version:
Great work for a great light. Really, with the mod, the Preon becomes one of the best EDC lights out there--tiny enough to slip in any pocket, plenty bright for most tasks, easy to use, and using a universal and cheap battery. This is very nice aftermarket mod, and it is cheap.