Essential Gear Introduced the production PICO Lite at Outdoor Retailer this week. I have reproduced their press release below and included some images of the new colors and the new battery carrier. The production PICO Lite should be available next week from select retailers and will post a list as soon as I have it, hopefully Monday or Tuesday.

Once I shoot good images, I'll update the PICO Lite web page images and info. Note that the reverse side still has the Doug Ritter logo.

eGear. PICO™Lite – 5 New Colors

Greenfield, MA, July 1, 2009 — The eGear. PICO™Lite projects a powerful 10 lumen beam up to 30 feet from an ultra-compact and tough cylindrical aluminum body weighing just two-tenths of an ounce. The PICO™Lite is the ultimate reliable personal flashlight that’s so small you can always have a light with you.

Designed in collaboration with survival equipment authority Doug Ritter, the PICO™Lite is constructed of rugged 6061 aluminum, sand blasted then anodized for added protection. It’s water resistant to IPX 4 international standard and has an unbreakable LED light source. The rotary bezel switch ensures it is all but impossible to turn on inadvertently, which means the batteries will still have juice when you need light.

Just twist the bezel end to turn on/off. Aggressive knurling provides a good grip in the wet or cold. The bezel end is anodized in a contrasting titantium color to indicate the switch location.

PICO™Lite has a matte finish and is available in 5 new colors: black, blue, green, red and titanium. PICO™Lite comes with a miniature carabineer clip and split ring, making it a snap to attach just about anywhere you need extra light. Clip it onto your key ring, zipper or pack pocket for instant light. There’s no need to search through your pack, purse or vehicle glove compartment to find a light.

PICO™Lite’s solid-state LED is powered by four replaceable button cell LR 41 batteries that provide 15 hours of light. Internal battery holder makes changing batteries a breeze. PICO™ Lite measures 1.47 x 0.5 (diameter) inches (37.3 x 12.7 mm). MSRP is $12.00 in retail clamshell packaging.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the PICO™Lite supports the non-profit Equipped To Survive Foundation.







See next post for additional images

More images:







See next post for battery carrier images

Battery carrier images:

Hey Doug what's the info no that clip? I'd love to get one for some other gadgets.

Terrific product, Doug.

I already have four: two blues, a green and a red.

One is on a lanyard with a house key for walking my pup. The other is with my car keys, the other is in a day pack and the other is looking for the most strategic resting place.

The blue ones have been for sale for awhile from Essential Gear.

Great value! It puts out a surprising amount of light and, as advertised, you won't inadvertently turn it on and drain the batteries (the inconvenient fate of so many other little LED lights that I've had).

Kudos also to Essential Gear for fast delivery. Have placed two orders with them and both times the lights arrived lickety-split.

:-)

Thanks. Just to be clear. The ORIGINAL BLUE ones with the shiny finish were from an initial pre-production run and DO NOT have the battery carrier or the new, smaller clip. Who knows, perhaps someday those will be collectors items.

Sorry, cannot help with the clip by itself.

Pictures need a size reference with something familiar, like a car key.

Those turned out great!

The light is 1.25" long. The one in this photo is the non-production model Doug mentioned. The paint is shiny and the clasp is larger.

Love the green!!

For reference on the size comparison...A U.S. Quarter is 24mm; basically 15/16 of an inch.

The clips can probably be sourced from a craft/hobby store or online retailer.

The battery carrier is slick!

I'm glad I waited for the production models. Let us know when they are ready to ship. I will have to get at least one to compare to my little Fenix, do a shine-off between them.

The Pico bears a striking resemblance to the Streamlight Nanolight, the bezel of which regularly unscrews on its own. I've had to tape it in place to keep the batteries from falling out accidentally. IMHO, those 4 teeny batteries are too "fiddly". And if the Pico's little battery holder cracks or is misplaced, the light might be DOA (unacceptable in an emergency). I much prefer a less fiddly single battery light, preferably using a lithium cell.