Icarus is a "fully regulated" driver, meaning that it delivers a maximum of 3.4A. The trend today is to use FET, or "direct drive" LED drivers. They allow "unlimited" current to flow on the highest output setting by effectively connecting the battery directly to the LED. This is bad for the LED and potentially dangerous. There are numerous accounts of people burning holes in things with FET drivers like pockets, dashboards, coutnertops, etc.

I wholeheartedly disagree with this approach because it's bad design. A flashlight shouldn't be dangerous. Sure, it will impress your friends, but I make lights that are meant to be used and I don't think a flashlight should pose a hazard to your person or property.

In the beginning, I used an off the shelf driver. At the time it was one of the most common drivers used by custom flashlight makers around the world. Until we could afford to invest the time and money in our own driver, I was limited by "what was available." Icarus is the realization of a long standing goal. No expense is spared, no shortcuts taken, no compromise accepted. I'm proud to put the Prometheus stamp on this driver and it's the crowning jewel of all Alpha flashlights.

My original intent when designing the Alpha was to deliver longevity. When I began making flashlights, I knew that eventually I wanted to make my own driver...but I had no idea how long that would take. The very first Alpha was designed to accomodate a driver that wouldn't exist for another 4 years. This means every Alpha ever made is upgradable to the Icarus driver.

In the past, I was forced to hand-file the outside of every driver so that it made a perfect press-fit into the mounting sleeve. I spent a year engineering a better driver mounting solution, and one that has never been seen before in the flashlight industry...and that's hard to do :)

The new mount improves the ease of assembly/disassembly should the light ever need repair or if you want to mod it yourself. It also features a clear polycarbonate window (like a see-through case back on a watch) that keeps out dust and shows off the electronics.

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Arrow Certified Technology: We have partnered with Arrow to ensure the maximum quality in our Icarus drivers. The badge is awarded to designs that have passed Arrow's internal engineering review, and we also use Arrow as our vendor for the PCB components to ensure they are genuine top-of-the-line parts, not grey market or factory seconds. This is one of the many reasons our driver costs more to manufacture than some people are selling drivers for...but we don't compromise on quality, ever.

This is a little bit brazen, but I'm going to warranty the Icarus driver for life....for life ya year that? Modern solid state electronics are exceedingly reliable (especially if you don't cut corners) but if something goes wrong I've got you covered.

The production PCBs are manufactured and assembled by one of Silicon Valleys top board houses. Their typical customers are medical, aerospace, and defense. My volumes are small, and that costs a lot of money, but I the end result is worth it. The solid copper battery terminal is machined in our own shop. If you want it done right, sometimes you have to do it yourself.

You can't get Icarus anywhere else on earth. I co-developed Icarus with the (flashlight) famous Dr. Jones. He did the hardware/software engineering, we collaborated on the UI (user interface), and I did all of the debugging and field testing. The result was Icarus for me and the H17F (FET) driver for him.

As with everything I do, I use only the highest quality (brand name) components when much cheaper options exist. Even the underlying copper circuit layer is twice as thick as normal to provide the ultimate in reliability, consistency, and performance.

I can't even begin to explain how exciting that is! It comes loaded with two default programs (mode groups) that you can switch between (and modify) at any time. Each group can hold 1-7 different modes of your choosing.

Delivering 3.4 Amps of current to the LED means the light can become incredibly hot if used carelessly. The old Alpha driver was 2.8 Amps. Remember Spider Man? "With great power comes great responsibility." Icarus employs digital thermal control to limit the maximum temperature of the light to a reasonable level for the average user. Power users can set the thermal threshold to 5 different levels. Don't like having a baby sitter? Icarus allows you to completely disable the thermal protection, but this is NOT recommended. It's possible the light could get hot enough to melt the battery wrapper, leading to a short circuit, and catastrophic failure...like catch on fire.

Flashlight geeks call ultra-low modes "moonlight" or "firefly." I use this mode much more often than full power. It's perfect for navigating around the house in the dark without bothering anyone else, or for preserving your night-adapted vision when outdoors. The default "moonlight" mode is actually the second lowest brightness level. How low do you want to go?

We are getting pretty technical here, but most LED drivers employ "on-time" memory that locks in the current mode when the light has been "on" for a set amount of time. Off-time memory is the opposite. Manufacturers normally choose one or the other, which results in a very unnatural way to use a flashlight. Icarus does both; it locks in the current mode when the light has been "off" for more than 1 second...or "on" for 1 second.

Normally a drop or sharp impact can cause a split-second disconnect between the battery and the battery terminal. In most flashlights, this power interruption signals a mode change. However, there are many circumstances where an "accidental" mode change would be detrimental. Icarus can tell the difference and will maintain the current mode if it senses and accidental interrupt. This feature is now found on other drivers, but Icarus was first!

The brainchild of Dr. Jones (credit where it's due), DA Mode is another feature unique to the Icarus driver. A rapid double-press of the power button allows access to a stand-alone (independent) mode. The default setting is 100% output; however, DA Mode can be programmed with any function or output level. This mode has no memory. Please note, 100% power should be used sparingly in order to conserve battery life and prevent over heating the light.

Click the link to download a PDF of the Icarus instructions and driver programming.