Questions, answered.

Yes. A focused 5W blue laser at 450 nm delivers about 15 J of energy in 8 seconds — more than enough to ignite dry tinder (cotton, char cloth, fine pine duff, dry leaf litter). 10W cuts that to 4 seconds. 20W ignites in 2–3 seconds and can engrave or cut light wood.

It's not magic — physics. Concentrated 450 nm light is well-absorbed by dark, dry organic material. The same concept industrial laser cutters use, miniaturized into a hand-held tool with safety interlocks.

Wet tinder: Works, but takes longer — wet tinder absorbs the photonic energy as latent heat to evaporate water before reaching ignition temperature. Watchman might take 20+ seconds in light-rain conditions; Keeper handles it in 5–8.

Wind: The laser doesn't care about wind. The fire it lights does — same as any fire-starting method. Build your tinder bundle in a wind-shielded location.

Cold: Diode performance is mostly unaffected to -20 °C. Battery capacity drops at cold (you'll get fewer ignitions per charge), but the laser fires the same.

High altitude: No effect — atmospheric pressure doesn't change blue-light propagation.

Plasma lighters work via electric arc between two electrodes. They require direct contact with tinder, work for 10–30 ignitions per charge, and have a maximum effective range of about 1 cm. Wind-resistant, but not weather-immune (water in the arc gap kills them).

FireKeep works at arm's length (or further — Keeper has effective ignition range to about 6 m for prepared tinder bundles), gives you 163–330 ignitions per charge, and the optical path doesn't care about water on the housing.

Different tools for different scenarios. We'd carry a Bic plus a FireKeep, not pick one over the other.

Yes — at 450 nm and 5–20 W, FireKeep is visible at 3–12 km in twilight conditions, useful as a long-range visual signal. Aim it skyward (away from any aircraft path) or at terrain features. The MCU has a "signal mode" that pulses the beam at SOS rhythm.

Important: Federal law in the US (18 U.S.C. § 39A) and Canada (Aeronautics Act) prohibits aiming a laser at any aircraft. Signal mode is for ground-to-ground or sky-without-aircraft only.

Yes, slowly and only for green branches up to about 1 inch (25 mm) diameter. Expect 30–90 seconds per cut depending on wood density and moisture. It's not a chainsaw — it's a precision tool that happens to be capable of through-cuts in small wood.

More practical applications: light wood engraving (decorating walking sticks, marking property), char-stake creation, removing invasive plant stems, defining a fire-pit perimeter.

Continuous-fire runtime: Watchman 81 min · Warden 117 min · Keeper 222 min. But that's worst-case. Realistic per-ignition fire counts: 163 · 250 · 330 ignitions per full charge, since each fire uses the laser for only 4–12 seconds.

Charge time: 1h 42m for Watchman via USB-C PD. Slower with USB-A. About 2.5h with the 20W Solis solar panel in direct sun.

Yes. Watchman uses one standard 21700 cell (we ship a Samsung 50E). Warden uses a 3-cell pack. Keeper uses a 6-cell pack. All are user-replaceable — open the tail cap, swap, close.

Replacement cells are sold via firekeep.ca/shop at our cost (about $14 single, $42 3-pack, $84 6-pack). You can also use any UL-listed Samsung 50E or Molicel P42A. Don't use grey-market cells — counterfeits are common in 21700 and they fail at 4× the rate.

No — lasers are silent. The only sound is the activation click of the tactile switch and a soft fan during long continuous-fire (Keeper only). Most fire-starting use cases involve 8-second fires, so the fan never spins up.

Class IV is the highest hazard class for lasers — they can cause permanent eye damage from direct or specular reflection, and can ignite materials at close range. Always wear the OD4+ safety glasses included with every unit when the laser is on.

Treat FireKeep with the same respect you'd give a chainsaw: respect the tool, use the safety equipment, never point it at people or animals or anything reflective. Used responsibly, it's safe. Used carelessly, it's not.

Direct exposure to the unattenuated 5–20 W beam at close range can cause permanent retinal damage in milliseconds — well before the blink reflex protects you. Specular reflections (off mirrors, polished metal, water surfaces, vehicle paint) can also be hazardous at modest distances.

Why we ship OD4+ glasses with every unit, why there's a 2-second emission-delay warning, why the interlock keys exist, why the orange Mark on the muzzle is permanent, and why our customer-onboarding email leads with "wear your glasses".

FDA 21 CFR 1040.10(f)(7) requires Class IV laser products to have a key-controlled interlock — the unit cannot fire without an authorized key inserted. Two keys means: one to wear (lanyard around your neck or in a pocket), one to keep at home / give to a household partner.

If you lose both, we can mail replacement keys for $25 (we have to verify ownership via serial number first — security feature). The keys are uniquely paired to your unit's MCU; random keys from another unit don't work.

The FireKeep Mark. Permanent safety-orange ring at the front of every unit. It signals "this is not a firearm" at a glance, keeping FireKeep clearly outside imitation-firearm regulations in the US (15 USC §5001) and Canada (Criminal Code s.84). Even Photon, our most stylized SKU, has a Mark.

The ring is anodized aluminum on Watchman/Warden's bezel and machined-integral on Keeper. It cannot be removed without destroying the unit's water seal — by design.

No. FireKeep is restricted to users 18+ by federal regulation (Class IV lasers, FDA + Health Canada) and by our terms of service. It is not a toy. We won't ship to addresses where the registered owner is under 18.

Older teens learning fire skills under adult supervision should use traditional methods (ferro rod, matches under supervision). We'd rather kids learn to make fire the old way first.

Don't. Aiming a laser at an aircraft is a federal crime in the US (18 U.S.C. § 39A — up to 5 years prison + $11,000 fine) and Canada (Aeronautics Act + Criminal Code). At Class IV power levels and FireKeep's beam quality, the cockpit-glare risk to pilots is real and enforcement is aggressive.

The MCU includes an upward-facing tilt sensor that triggers a warning beep above 70° elevation as a software reminder. But the legal and physical responsibility is yours.

Watchman + Warden: target Q3 2026. Keeper: target Q4 2026. Within each tier, units ship in pre-order date order (so ordering early = lower serial number = earlier delivery).

Manufacturing begins once we have firm pre-orders sufficient to cover the first production run. Within each tier, units ship in pre-order date order — earlier orders get earlier serial numbers and earlier ships.

Any time before your unit ships, full refund, no fee. Email [email protected] with "cancel pre-order" in the subject and your order number. Refund hits your card in 3–5 business days.

After tracking is created, the standard 30-day return policy applies — see Returns.

Three reasons. One: manufacturing batches require capital up front — we can't quote a CM "we'll pay you when units ship" and get a quote back. Two: the threshold-based model only works if pre-orders are real commitments. Otherwise it's just a wishlist. Three: low serial numbers go to early commits — that's a real benefit you can't get later.

Mitigation: we contractually commit to deliver within 12 months of your order. If we miss that, you get a refund less Stripe processing fees. Pre-orders are firm — they fund the parts and tooling that make your unit. We don't offer change-of-mind refunds because that capacity would prevent us from committing to manufacturing at all.

If we don't reach threshold within 18 months from pre-order open, or if regulatory action makes shipping impossible, or if the founder can't continue, we automatically refund every pre-order in full within 30 days. No request needed. See Pre-order terms § 7.

The reserve covers this. We've structured the company so this scenario does not require us to be solvent at the time — refund obligations are first-priority on cash.

50 founder slots @ $2,000 each — pre-order packages with extra benefits: serial #001–#050 hand-engraved Keeper, lifetime warranty on body + electronics, free diode replacement once, OD4+ safety glasses (day + night sets), spare 21700 cell, 20W solar panel, founder swag pack, hand-signed letter from the founder, and a permanent place on the FireKeep 55 Wall.

It's a pre-order package, not equity, not securities, not an investment. Same refund policy as any other pre-order until the welcome packet ships (~14 days post-purchase).

USA + Canada at launch — except California, Massachusetts, New York (state-level Class IV restrictions). EU, UK, Australia, Germany, China are excluded for regulatory reasons. Full list in Shipping.

Standard shipping is free in the US + Canada. Expedited (UPS 2-Day in US, UPS Express in Canada) is $35–45. Yukon / NT / Nunavut have a $45 surcharge for standard due to air-freight requirements.

No. We file customs paperwork ourselves, declare the actual value, and pay any duties due. CUSMA (USMCA) generally exempts under $800 personal-use Canadian-origin goods from duty into the US. If you receive a customs bill from a carrier, send it to us — we reimburse.

Any time before tracking is created — email [email protected]. After tracking, the carrier (UPS or Canada Post) handles address changes for a small fee.

2-year warranty on body + electronics, 6-month on the laser diode, free OD4+ safety-glass-lens replacements for life. Keeper tier: lifetime body warranty. Founder Edition: lifetime body + electronics + one free diode replacement.

Manufacturing defects are covered — anything that fails under normal use within those windows. Misuse, drops > 1.2 m, water immersion beyond IPX5, and modifications void coverage.

Out-of-warranty diode replacement is a flat $89 (Watchman/Warden) or $129 (Keeper). Your unit comes back factory-recalibrated. Email [email protected] with your serial number to start.

Industry-standard expected life of a 5W+ blue diode running our duty cycle is ~3,000 hours of total use, which corresponds to roughly 8–10 years of typical owner usage.

Replacing the cell, yes — open the tail cap, swap, close. That's user-serviceable.

Anything else (driver board, optics, diode) requires factory service to maintain warranty + safety calibration. Class IV laser optical alignment isn't something to DIY — even tiny misalignment can produce hazardous beam profiles.

FDA Form 3632 will be filed before first US shipment. The "FDA-registered" wording isn't quite accurate for Class IV lasers — FDA assigns an accession number per product, which appears on every unit's label. Health Canada REDR notification is similarly filed before first Canadian ship.

Engineered to 21 CFR 1040.10 + 1040.11 (US) and IEC 60825-1 (international). Every unit ships with the FDA accession number printed on the label.

In most US states and all Canadian provinces, yes. Restricted at launch: California (penal code 417.25 — limits portable laser power), Massachusetts (chap 94B § 305N), New York (state penal law). These may relax in future as courts interpret the laws further.

Outside North America: highly variable. Australia, Germany, China, UK have hard restrictions. Most of mainland Europe allows Class IV with paperwork (we're not yet shipping to EU). We update this list as regulations change.

No. Pre-orders are contracts for future delivery of a physical product. There is no equity, no debt, no profit-share, no expected financial return beyond the unit. Read more: Pre-order terms § 1.

FireKeep 55 founder slots same: a pre-order with benefits, not a security. We do not sell securities, period — we are not a registered issuer in any jurisdiction.

FireKeep's liability is limited to the purchase price of the unit (see Terms § 8). Misuse — including aiming at people, vehicles, aircraft; using as a weapon; modifications — voids warranty and may be illegal. The liability for misuse is on the user.

Where consumer-protection law (BC, your US state) imposes mandatory liability obligations, those still apply regardless of our terms. We don't try to disclaim what we can't legally disclaim.

Jonathan Ellis — engineer + designer based in Vancouver, BC. Sole founder, sole operator currently. Press kit has bio + contact + photos.

Hires planned for Q2 2027 once D2C velocity is established (head of manufacturing, customer lead, brand/content lead).

Self-funded + pre-order-funded. Open to a $400K seed round before Year 2 to compress the timeline by ~12 months. Investor inquiries: [email protected].

Designed in Canada. Components sourced globally (Nichia diodes from Japan, Samsung cells from South Korea, optics from US, PCBs from China). Final assembly at a contract manufacturer in Shenzhen, China. Quality-control + packaging in Vancouver, BC for Year 1.

"Made in" labeling on each unit follows the country-of-final-assembly convention (China). Packaging notes designed in Canada.

Anglo-Saxon villages had a literal job called "firekeeper" or "firewarden" — the person whose job was to never let the central village fire go out. Re-lighting was a half-day's labour with flint and dry tinder, and a community without fire was vulnerable. The job ran in families for generations.

We named the company after them because the work is similar. Carry the warmth. Tend the fire. Keep it from going out.