Our Designs
Our Designs
For the curious, here we elaborate a little on the philosophy behind our products.
The LoX, a record breaking thrower, illuminating a mountainside 4.32 miles away, not with a direct beam, but with the reflection of the beam off the water surface.
Why Throw?
Seriously, in an industry obsessed with lumens and flood, why throw? The simple answer is because that is what we like and that is what we use. We're all from an area where our pocket rockets are needed to illuminate out 150 meters at minimum, and that isn't ANSI rating, that is real eyes-on-target distance. Shooting sports require easily 1000 meters, spotting considerably more, and occasionally we use infrared for this as well. Boating's only practical limitation on distance is the curvature of the earth and heights of source/target, which is typically about 10 miles. We spend lots of time outdoors, and engage in all these activities so building lights in this philosophy is both practical and an interesting challenge. This isn't to say we hate flooders or lumen monsters, we love and have built them too.
Why aspherics though? Reflector lights are popular for their beam-smoothing properties and gentle wash. The reason we use them less frequently on our powerful throwers is because that wash off creates a lot of unnecessary diffraction which obscures the target, and the bright light off the ground/rifle/tripod/etc impairs your night vision. We just don't see the argument of that wash being useful either, our lights at the extreme end of the size/power class are large and, while we strive to keep them relatively light, are much less convenient than an inexpensive tube light..... which makes the ideal close range illumination/navigation/map-reading/dope sheet/instrumentation light. Think about it, you're navigating through brush carrying 20+ pounds of precision rifle gear and equipment, are you going to be trying to fumble your big spotting light and your GPS or is a 5$ headlamp the tool for the job? Smaller lights which are practical for dual use, like the Strike of Hyperion, offer what in our opinion is the best of both worlds: low even flood when you want it, piercing throw when you need it.
Performance
We, the team who came together to found STO, are obsessed with performance optimization. We've always accomplished this with a blend of inside and outside of the box thinking, often combining disparate technologies to achieve our goals. This might be thought of as the core STO philosophy.
Our track record in this speaks for itself: the longest production LED thrower over two and a half times the previous record holder, the highest throw@lumens, and the longest throw for thickness/length. These were our first three signature and totally unique builds, and their exceptional performance is no coincidence, but rather the logical out-growth of this philosophy. It isn't limited to our lights though, the scalpeldashi for example was a much smaller scale recombination of two disparate technologies to put the sharpest commercial disposable blades into your pocket for every day carry. Or take our Starduster slingshot. Do the forks need to hold 260 kilograms-force? Obviously not, no human can pull those sorts of bands, but it is good to know if you put 45 kilogram (100 pound) bands on it'll be just fine. Clearly not everything can be record breaking, some things must simply blend functional and aesthetically pleasing, but performance will remain a core pillar of STO philosphy.
The Storm of Ra, maxing out lumens and throw at the same time, with an impressive 6000 lumens IN THE BEAM! Seen here, the storm illuminates a target over a quarter mile away.
The Nit, shown here lightning struck in walnut.
Style
Tastes are unique as the people who have them. We strive to walk that knife edge of exotic, novel, and modern, yet functional. This runs the gamut from little details, like our intricate engraving or our chameleon finish, to the steampunk style of the EoS. Our slingshots in particular offer a real opportunity to experiment with designs, materials, and finishes as there are so few constraints. This really allows designs to drift, flow, and play with comparative ease. Contrast that against the flashlight, intended to be a small aluminum tube, which fights valiantly against reconfiguration to another form factor or material. It didn't stop us, clearly, but the additional constraints add an underlying tension to the model. We look forward to seeing what future designs and collaborations hold, exciting new developments are always on the horizon.
Utility
We design our products to be used. Take the Storm for example. Typically, in the 8000+ lumen class, you get a whole heck of a lot of flood...... extremely briefly. How can we subvert that? Simple, in theory: collimate all that light into a usable beam, and actively cool the system so it can run continuously despite the truly enormous power requirements. Or take the Eye of Sekhmet, which answers the question how do you pack exceptional throw (over a kilometer) AND even wide-angle wash (150 degree) into something with the footprint of a smartphone and thinner than a Convoy S2+? Little things too, like the Weaver's compact and lightweight design, making it perfect for EDC and the Scalpeldashi putting the exquisite sharpness of a surgeon’s scalpel in your pocket for every day convenience.