FW3A, a TLF/BLF EDC flashlight - SST-20 available, coupon codes public

I liked the original design, but the updated one is certainly growing on me.

Lumintop send out the samples today

The ledge at the back end is a functional part of the design, and shouldn’t be a smooth slope. That’s where the fingers catch to provide something to push against when pushing the tail button — cigar-style grip. It’s a bit like a tactical grip ring.

I agree. The tail end doesn’t need to have a long sloped curve like the front, just radius whats there. I personally think the curves makes it look much nicer, and less like a cheap budget light.

Woot!

Oh, wait. This means I’ll have a lot of work to do soon. D’oh. Particularly for thermal regulation, to see if I can get it to behave better. I’m hoping to get it to about the same level as Zebralight, but I’ve been procrastinating because the thermal development and testing is a pain.

Zebralight: (flat, no oscillation, no over-shooting, but a little noisy)

Anduril on an Emisar D4: (when it’s behaving, which it doesn’t always)

If I recall correctly, ZL has 288 levels it can regulate to. Anduril has about 100 (maybe up to 120), but it uses in-between steps during adjustment so there are actually about 640 levels (though it can only stop at about 100 of those). The changes look smooth in both cases. I mostly just need to get Anduril to never oscillate, and make it adjust slower (or not at all) when things are balanced (or very close to balanced).

Cigar style grip? No one uses that, do they? Maybe 1% of buyers?

What about a 45° bevel on each end?

It applies to multiple grip styles. With a smooth body, it needs some way to stop grip from sliding when the button is pressed. Maybe it doesn’t need to be 90 degrees, maybe 60 would be enough… but it needs something there.

Uh, does that mean the FW3A gets the reforged sword?

I don’t understand.

Anduril is the sword that was created when the shards of Narsil were reforged.

That sounds very corny. Are you guys playing Dungeons and Dragons or something?

LOTR

I’m just “hip” enough to know thats Lord of the Rings. Lol

JasonWW
And I had to look up corny.

I think the verry first rows of NarsilM source code have a Lord of the Rings reference.

That’s it, turn in your nerd card on the way out! :smiley:

You did read about this in the development threads didn’t you?

I don’t know if I have a nerd card.

If I did read the development threads, I’ve definitely forgot that bit of information. I forget a lot of stuff. My brain is weird like that.

Toykeeper about the differences of the two swords / firmwares:

They are correct in that there needs to be a change to the tailcap end. Bevel it for grip

Could you put me on the interest list?

That covers differences in basic usage, but there are changes beyond that too. Here’s a more complete summary of its modes (from an “off” state):

  • Basics:
    • 1 click: On (at memorized level).
    • Hold: On (at moon), then ramp up.
    • 2 clicks: On (at ceiling level).
    • 2 clicks, but hold the last click: On (at ceiling level), then ramp down.
  • Extras:
    • 3 clicks: First blinky group (battcheck, sunset, adjustable beacon at last-ramped level, tempcheck).
    • 3 clicks, but hold the last click: Second blinky group (adjustable bike flasher, adjustable party strobe, adjustable tactical strobe, lightning storm, adjustable candle flicker). Remembers which was used last.
    • 4 clicks: Soft lockout mode. Doubles as a momentary moon mode. 4 clicks to exit.
    • 5 clicks: Momentary / signalling mode at last-ramped brightness. Disconnect power to exit.
    • 6 clicks: Muggle mode. Disconnect power to exit.

People may notice other little differences too… like when turning on the response is faster, but when shutting off the response is slower (it waits to see if you’re doing one click or more than one).

More information is in the FSM thread: E-switch UI Development / FSM

If it seems complicated, just remember that basic usage can be described in only eight words: Click for on/off, hold to change brightness.