Q8, PMS SEND TO THOSE WITH ISSUES BLF soda can light

Better to get them to just use ours, we know it works and we know why and how it works. We don’t want to even give them the option of changing it IMO. We already see what happens when they try that.

They should be able to get the tiny85 in China without much trouble. So possibly the FET was the issue, in which case we could always swap that out with something easier for them to get. Much better to do that then have them change the driver IMHO.

Thanks for all the work, Tom!

*The BLF-A6 has a different FET than was proposed too, and the performance, though slightly worse, is plenty good enough.
I’m more worried about the MCU, there may be a reason that the final BLF lights had genuine Attiny chips.
*About the hole in the shelf: I agree with the others that it does not matter much.
*About putting more copper in the tailboard: the current tracing is overkill already, more is not needed and will increase costs somewhat.
*I would like to see an extra machining step to remove the anodising on the led shelf, it could even make the shelf extra flat.
*I’d rather have a 5500lm Q8 than 6000lm, looking at the current/output graph of the XP-L, that last 500 lumen is expensive: it comes with lots of waste current/heat and reduced runtime
*Further: well made and fitting led centering rings are a must, can we have AR-coating, just for show?, the more colourful indicator leds the better, I don’t mind single or double springs as long as they are not bypassed in the stock light (safety!), this light will be a killer!

OK sign me up for one!!!

Thanx! Posted this intro info in my MT07 review thread. Took pics of both groups of lights - throwers and SRK's.

Took some outdoor shots last night at a local park - Edgewood Preserve, site of an old hospital long since demolished, and rumored to still have some spirits haunting the trails (info). The park closes at dusk but can still access it, just dunno if I'd get kicked out, but last night was all quiet. Here's the old hospital from the 40's:

This is the BLF Q8 proto compared with a modified SupFire M6 (3X LED's, ~5,000 lumens), the 4X SRK clone (Securitylng), and the BLF Q8, and distance is about 100 meters to the tree:

Second set was closer, about 25 meters:

I much prefer the SRK myself.

I like the Q8 best,the small hotspot of the SRK is less to my liking, the M6 has a nice beam too!

Hello,

I've just found this thread, and the light sounds great! Please put me down for 1 light. Thanks!

-Ben

Me like that Q8 beam!
So much thanks Tom, what a lot of work you are putting into this besides all that Narsil programming.
And speaking of Narsil, a quote from the Gt topic:

Tom, what is the strobe frequency? (sorry if i have forgotten it)

I also prefer the Q8 beam.
Great job guys.
Make the final adjustments and it will be superb

The Q8 beam looks the best in those photos for a flooder!

Pricerange of this flashlight??

40$ including shipping

In the manual, first page, says 16 Hz . I've read that post a few times over the years. Dunno why I backed off from 18, but the 16 is really intense as-is. Bistro uses 10 Hz.

I have a custom 16hz strobe in the TA version of bistro, it is far more intense then the 10hz for sure.

Looking at the beam shots, I prefer the old Kung beam profile. Broader spill which is very important for a general purpose light. The hot spot is more defined and intense which is a plus or minus depending on the situation.

EDIT: Changed tone and clarified.

Hmm.. I was not aiming to demonstrate that it's fine and we can hack it if we want. I was trying to demonstrate that this makes a difference, and so should be improved, but it's also possible that it doesn't.

Oh yeah, still liking the SRK with that wider spill and tighter spot.

Or possibly $44, give or take. Either way, to say this is going to be a lot of light for the money is a tremendous understatement. I didn’t want to get on the list, I really didn’t. I resisted, but it was inevitable. Even if you really don’t want to buy another light, there is really no choice. What we will be getting for our money here is silly good. Thanks all.

Here's the 3 lights from the beamshots:

This shows the BLF Q8 (left) compared to the 4X SRK clone (right). The Q8 reflectors are clearly smaller, maybe deeper as well, but the XPL vs. XM-L2 can confuse that perspective. The clone has deeper cut done portions at the overlap positions, and the center point of the reflector is lower than the Q8:

I have to say I really like the beam profile myself. IMHO too many lights these days are designed with throw in mind which is great if you use your lights in places where the closest object is 300 yards away but that’s not my case. 95% of the time my light usage is within 5 foot of me, 2.5% is up to 25 yards, and the last 2.5% is greater than 25 yards. Based on this I have need for a super tight spotlight, a nice smooth broad beam is ideal for me.

Tac Gunner, remove the glass lens from your light and take it to a machine shop or gunsmith, have them bead blast the outside surface of the glass lightly to frost it. You’ll have uniform floody output with virtually no hotspot. :wink: