The makers of a tiny (but badass!) new LED flashlight say they took inspiration from the 9mm bullet, but Apple’s incessant drive toward miniaturization seems at least as much of an influence.
You can almost hear the dulcet tones of Jony Ive’s voice in the description of the Bullet, which its maker calls “the tiniest flashlight on Kickstarter.”
“We took the smallest, sleekest possible design, and combined it with aircraft-grade aluminum and an anodized finish to bring you a powerful tiny LED light, perfect for everyday use,” says the Bullet’s Kickstarter page. “We believe that the shape and size kept the design minimal, functional and easy to carry, completely hassle-free in any situation.”
Measuring just 1 centimeter wide and 3 centimeters long, the Bullet looks like a … bullet. It comes in matte black and gun-metal finishes (you had to see that one coming). There are no unnecessary buttons: You just twist the Bullet a quarter turn to light it up (and reverse that to turn it off).
It might be the perfect LED flashlight for studying the Second Amendment late at night under the covers.
Photo: Slughaus
The Bullet, which went live on Kickstarter over the weekend, has already blown away its $10,000 goal. Slughaus, the San Francisco company that designed the Bullet, is offering one of the flashlights for just $8, with the usual deep discounts if you buy multiple units.
It looks like a lot of thought went into the design, and apparently the Bullet is pretty much a bull’s-eye: Slughaus already raked in $57,000 in pledges from more than 2,000 backers.
The stop-motion promo video for the Bullet, which you can see below, borrows another trick from the Apple marketing playbook: It compares the flashlight to almost impossibly small objects like a paper clip.
Lewis Wallace is the managing editor of Cult of Mac and author of our weekly newsletter, The Weekender.
He’s a San Francisco-based writer and editor specializing in technology and culture. He loves his iPhone, hates Siri, and appreciates any hardware that combines form and function.
Prior to Cult of Mac, he juggled words and ideas as culture editor at Wired.com, homepage editor at TechTV, news product manager at NBCi, copy editor at PC World, reporter at The (Hayward) Daily Review and editor in chief of EveryBody’s News in Cincinnati.
He earned a bachelor of general studies degree with a journalism certificate from the University of Cincinnati. While in school, he worked as the entertainment editor of The News Record and as editor in chief of Clifton Magazine.
He’s also a bass player, who’s recorded and performed around the United States with Those Darn Accordions, The Electric Boogie Dawgz and The Mad Maggies. When not writing, editing or laying down bass lines, he plays darts and serves on the board of the San Francisco Darts League.
3 responses to “Bullet, the ‘tiniest flashlight on Kickstarter,’ blows away its target”
“Bullet, the ‘tiniest flashlight on Kickstarter,’ blows away its target”
Really? Shaped like a bullet? In today’s racially-charged, gun-infected society, we •really• need a flashlight shaped like a bullet? And one that’s touted on Cult of Mac, no less? Sorry, but this seems totally specious to me.
As for “You can almost hear the dulcet tones of Jony Ive’s voice in the description of the Bullet…”, nah, I don’t think that would •ever• happen. Cook, Ive and company are far too responsible to ever dream up such a silly device. Just one man’s opinion, of course, but the only thing that got “blown away” here is good taste.
Are you trolling? It’s a simple design, tiny, useful. I’ll buy one.
Then… buy one. You’ll be the coolest kid in class. As far as your accusation of “trolling,” I’m here all the time. Dont recall seeing you.