Hands-free Light | See & Be Seen | Weatherproof | Suitable for Every Lifestyle | Built to Last
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Tooling Underway + Final Sampling
over 1 year ago
– Sat, Nov 05, 2022 at 12:24:20 AM
Hello everyone, another delayed update here.
Why are we behind?
Speaking openly and candidly. Everything with this project is a bit of an uphill battle, truth be told the funds raised were not enough to make it an easy journey. A combination of far higher than forecast advertising costs, exchange rates being all over the place, raw material costs being up and everything else going on in the world... it has been a real challenge to keep this project alive. Slowing things down and triple checking every supplier has been the only way to meet our quality expectations while also delivering the project on budget.
Tooling
With the torch samples finally locked in and approved, a bit of time was spent tweaking and changing the strap design to make sure the new torches fit perfectly. We'd previously added the extra hole in the strap that people had requested in the campaign so it fits smaller wrists and have now used the BackerKit quantities to nail down the production quantities for each colour.
Final-finals of all silicone parts!
The tooling has now been paid for and as soon as we have samples in hand an update will be posted showing them! That'll be in December.
All being well we will approve main production shortly after. CNY in January may get in the way, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Apologies that this is not the news you wanted to hear, and the lack of updates are frustrating. I want nothing more than to get ALVA out in the world as I love the product and know all of you are patiently waiting.
Now... to quote a comment we received from Ann Lazar the other week - time to give oneof my buddies projects a push:
UN&I's two-part Docket system ends in the next few days. Made up of a floating glass whiteboard and a hardwood to-do card stands, they're designed to help you focus on that days tasks. They've launched plenty of times before and the window for getting in on these is ending fast.
If you're looking to be more productive, their tools are well worth looking at.
Watches, bracelets... ALVA's? Probably a bit excessive for ALVA. But a great place to store your watch! These stands from Marked By Time are great. It's a small campaign from UK-based creators. Just what Kickstarter is all about!
Red Module Sample Arrived FINALLY
over 1 year ago
– Wed, Sep 28, 2022 at 07:28:19 AM
The team at UN&i has reached out, they (like many of you) would like more frequent updates and they have suggested their new product is something I need to buy to keep focused on important tasks like letting you all know whats happening... More on their project later.
Red Modules
In the last update I explained that we have now moved over to a different LED torch supplier which has resulted in a better quality product. The downside was they (at the time) only made white-LED versions and we needed to order the red-LED unit specifically for testing. This is not as simple as just placing a red piece of plastic in, it is a change to the LED-chip itself from white to red.
That took far longer than expected and the first one was actually lost in transit. UPS then had a delay on the 2nd one due to a late cargo plane departure - but now finally it has arrived, we've tested it, and are satisfied!
Red.
Charging
Another thing we wanted to test before proceeding with the order was the charging. The new all-metal torch module unscrews from the middle and is much more waterproof than our previous design. The Micro-USB cables will come with every unit.
GBP, RMB, USD
Now is not a brilliant time to be in overseas manufacturing as a British company. This project was already financially challenged but now those pressures are even higher. Thankfully our silicone factory has been very understanding. The project was already delayed and we do not want to continue postponing things now the red sample has arrived.
We need to action production. And get a lot better at posting updates. This project is far from dead, the end product will be worth the wait but we are very delayed. For that I can only apologise.
UN&I is launching their two-part Docket system in the next couple of weeks. Made up of a floating glass whiteboard and a hardwood to-do card stands, they're designed to help you focus on that days tasks. They've launched numerous projects and by the sounds of things are extremely excited to get this one out there.
If you're looking to be more productive, their tools are well worth looking at.
Finally, I wanted to share the first project from a good friend of mine. He spent 2020 honing is leather-crafting skills. He's made some beautiful pieces on commission but this bi-fold wallet campaign is the first limited-run release he is doing.
Always have a Plan B...
over 1 year ago
– Fri, Jul 29, 2022 at 01:41:14 AM
Hi All,
Firstly, let me apologise for the near 2-month delay since the last update. I really do not know where the time has gone. It’s flown by and up until now I didn’t really have anything to share with you.
To cut a long story short, the original factory for our torch module did not work out. When it came time to get production cracking, the components kept changing, quality suffered and pricing was up… way up.
If you look at the total raised on this campaign, it'll come as no surprise to learn that there isn’t exactly a surplus of profit to swallow up an increase in unit price. We’ve had to work damn hard to keep this product viable.
Quite amazingly - and I have to thank those in my supply chain for outstanding work on this - we have not only managed to keep the production costs on target, but also landed on a better finished product.
Let me explain…
We have moved from a custom-moulded plastic torch to a metal version. This means ALVA is now a lot more rugged and tough than it was previously, but also we’ve got a bigger battery and more powerful LED in there - so now battery life and the all-important torch brightness is better too!
We’ve also moved away from a push-button to twist-action to turn the torch on and off. This is much less fiddly than before - so now if you’re wearing gloves, have cold/wet hands or are starting out in total darkness, you can twist the front housing (in black as before) to turn the torch on, rather than feel around for the small button location.
The front housing rotates to activate or deactivate the torch. Easy when wearing gloves and much more tactile than before!
Finally I can confirm that we’ve added the extra sizing hole in the wrist strap so it’ll fit better on kids.
More hole sizes!
Below is a photo showing the update - not that there is much to see, it looks exactly the same as before!!
Same 4 colours too. Picked the orange one for the update.
We’re currently waiting for the final torch samples to be sent over for thorough testing, and then we’ll have new prototype silicone straps made to showcase everything together. This process will be within 3-4 weeks which I know is not want you want to hear, but we are saving ~50 days of plastic injection mould tooling so the overall project delay is actually less than it would have been.
Silicone tooling is very fast to make by comparison so we’re hoping to get production started and finished in September.
HNGR (Pronounced Hanger) is the worlds first wall-mounted, quick-access storage solution for your photo and video equipment.
Born from the need to store gear more securely and space-efficiently, it's designed for all photographers & videographers, from hobbyists to professional.
Delays, Updates & Lamp Brightness
almost 2 years ago
– Thu, Jun 09, 2022 at 02:54:40 AM
Hi Everyone,
Firstly, apologies that this update is delayed. It has been a rocky few weeks with ALVA waiting to get some concrete news to share with you. The start of the tooling for the torch module has sadly been delayed while we look into the LED bulb options as the original supplier's most recent samples have been much less bright than we need and want them to be, and we need to ensure nothing changes in terms of size/battery requirement before the tooling is started.
The tooling for the silicone straps and accessories is not an issue, but we don't want to rush a decision to make the plastic housings without having the internal components absolutely how we want them. As it stands, we're shortly going to be proceeding with an updated test batch that promise significantly better performance over the last samples that will realign the project with our expectations so we can go full steam ahead into tooling & production.
Watch this space, updates will be more frequent as soon as those samples are ordered and in hand. This is far from an ideal situation, but not one we are too concerned about either - there are literally thousands of component options and we're changing a single part only with the aim of improving performance. The delay will be worth it!
The sleek and sustainable solution for carrying and using sanitiser, moisturiser and toiletries when on the go. Use it with a single hand and dispense in seconds! See the campaign HERE
As the campaign comes to a close they wanted to share a little gif they've made showing the different colour combos available to backers that have ordered multiple Soapstones, or are planning to add extras during the post-campaign survey.
Each Soapstone is made of an Outer Body and a Bottle - these parts regardless of metal or plastic are interchangeable, so by interchanging parts at home you're able to mix and match your Soapstones!
Surveys are OUT! (+ slight shipping increase!)
about 2 years ago
– Tue, Mar 22, 2022 at 07:25:40 AM
Hello everyone!
Big news today - the address + add-on surveys are out!
We swapped from Pledgebox to Backerkit for a few reasons, mostly due to setup complexity and Backerkit giving us the tools we needed. Unfortunately the cost of postage has increased by £2 ($2.60) to reflect volatility on pricing around items with batteries. We kept this increase as small as possible!
Below you’ll see screenshots of what to expect - confirm for each part of your order whether you want a Wrist (white) LED torch or Ankle (red) LED torch. Pick your strap and accessory colours too.
You’ll then see the add-on store - here you can pick up any extras at a special rate for existing backers.
For your addresses - it is critical that these are double checked. Any mistakes in your address will likely result in a lost package. Please write your address in full as these are being sent internationally.
For backers in Taiwan - please write your address in Chinese and include your gov. ID number.
