[PART 1] Official BLF GT Group Buy thread. Group buy officially closed! Lights shipping.

I’m a CW (6000k or +) fan myself and I purchased the GT fully knowing it will come with a 4000k emitter. I figured if I didn’t like it, I can learn to swap it out or send it to someone who can (for a fee of course).

To be honest, I am happy with what I see on the stock GT. Its freaking awesome! To everyone who is waiting for their GT and is suddenly shocked to know it ships with a 4000k orange/yellow/urine/warm/neutral color LED, I say don’t judge it before you try it.

As teacher said, to me VoB’s video (and nodoubts screenshots of said vids) shows a chilly shade of CW for his prototype GT and a sinister shade of NW for the production GT. More specifically, this is what I see with my eyes on my S7 with a cracked screen. This may not be what anyone else sees with their eyes and their equipment and this video may very well not even be the most accurate color representation of what VoB actually recorded due to a number of different factors including the possibility that he wasn’t expecting his video to be the topic of color comparisons.

Seriously, we are already winners for getting this light at such a good price. Get it, try it, and then see if it is or isn’t for you.

BTW, VoB I’m not taking a shot at you nor your video(s). You and mhanlen crank out some really interesting content!

I guess the most important thing to point out here is that the large diameter head unscrews from the “pill” section of the GT making it easy to gain access to the emitter. The emitter is easily and readily swapped out with whatever tint and power bin is available. That really should solve all of the issue. A new $6 emitter of the owner’s choice and a little bit of time (and heat). About the cost of a single 18650 cell, far less than a neoprene lens cover that won’t actually protect the lens…

What I want to point out though is this. The human eye has rods and cones designed to see blue sky and green grass in the 6000K temperature of our sun. What is the best offering of mankind’s science? Blue-white penetrating piercing light. Mercedes Benz, Volvo, Lexus, Infiniti, isn’t the push towards a more brilliant light for the road? Aren’t some of the worlds best vehicles designed and made for European roads well known to be foggy, icy, snowy, and rain drenched? Orange output from our car’s headlights is a thing of the past. When I started driving a car I drove a 1951 Chevrolet Custom DeLuxe with a 6V electrical system, I know about orange headlights. They suck. And perhaps we should ask what color all those bolt on off-road lights are on the brush guard of vehicles like Toyota Highlanders and such? Hmmmmm…… interesting… not 4000K.

When the sun goes down (or comes up) and it’s 6000K temperature is reduced to “the ideal” of 3000K, how far can we see? Dang near dark, isn’t it?

Still though, for around $6 you too can have whatever color your heart desires radiating out of the front of your GT… I am still perplexed at all the trouble the engineering departments went to in making this well done magnificent light only to stick whatever tint was available in it in the end. Pretty sure a year passed by, for a large company to acquire the best color tint in a popular emitter choice and given 365 days to do so… seems odd the warm orange tint is the best they could do. Well done in so many ways, gotta love the actual flashlight, and to me it matters not, everyone knows I mod everything that comes through my door anyway…

turning blue chips, I’m interested in a handle for the GT. Maybe 2.

For what it’s worth I’d think the mount could be to the rear, leaving the front open making it easier to access the switch button. A simple clamp style like NiteCore’s Tiny Monster series handle would be ideal. My 2 cents…

First off, I only scanned the last 5 pages, I am sure I missed something, let me know if there is anything important I need to address. I am going back to work tomorrow, so I will be back to a morning check in and thats about it after that.

Wow, come on people, lets not start a 5 page fight over something so silly as the tint.

Here are the facts, that were clearly stated way back in November when production started to hopefully put this to rest.

1: We had planned on and wanted 5000k 3D LED’s in the GT from the start.

2: There were no 5000k high bin LED’s available worldwide when it came time for production.

3: one of the team member even offered to buy some LED’s from another supplier with his own money and company contacts but the best we could find was 4500k and D2 bin IIRC and it would have taken over a month and a lot of time and effort to get them to lumintop + it would have caused an increase in cost of the lights.

4: Neal found these 4000k D4 bin LED’s that were ready to go right then, so he got a sample and I tested it. It tested very well.

This left us with 3 options:

1: Wait an unknown number of months to even start production waiting for the 3D LED we wanted while people were already complaining about how long things were taking.

2: Delay things by over a month and increase the cost of the lights to get a lower bin D2 4500k LED

3: Start production immediately, keep the price unchanged and use the D4 bin 4000k LED Neal found.

Needless to say, there was not much of a choice, particularly after the 4000k tested so well on the sphere.

The fact that the 4000k works better in the real world was a bonus.

Now anyone that doesn’t like the stock LED is more then welcome to switch it out or even sell your light, there are plenty of people that will gladly buy it from you.

Lets knock off the entire argument, there is no changing things at this point and we don’t want SB to lock the thread again.

When Lumintop starts making these after the GB they might be able to get the 3D tint LED’s at that point, but last I checked they could still not get them for the 3rd batch for the GB.

All the OEM HID headlights on all the high end cars are between 4000-4500k. You can bet there is a whole lot of science involved in figuring out that is the best color temperature for the most important lights that most people will ever use.

After market could be anything, they are usually CW for the same reason cheap flashlights are, they are cheaper and use knock off LED’s. Not because they work better.

I agree, debate the argument, don’t make it personal.

As was said, it is 5 clicks to turn on the momentary mode, you have to unscrew the tailcap to exit this mode. I have actually had my lights in this mode for the last week, it is fun to just be able to hit them at full power instantly.

I posted the Giggles engraving file I used in my review thread in several formats for anyone interested.

Swapping the emitter has a very low chance of damaging the mcpcb unless you apply WAY too much heat.

That said, I will ask about getting extra mcpcb’s made but it would be a long time before they were available if they ever were.

It’s going to mount using the tripod mounting hole and will likely be slightly offset to allow the user to reach the button with their thumb. The design is just in my head until I get to programming the waterjet, we will see how it goes from there.

Edit: I’m sure a left handed version would be possible if requested. It would be as simple as putting the counterbore for attaching the handle rod to the bracket on the other side of the part.

After a quick thought by using flat head socket screws instead of socket head cap screws it could be ambidextrous or allow a right handed user to acces the button via index finger instead of the thumb.

I must have missed that. I like to dabble anyway. LOL

I’m going to chime in here and say at least on mine it is nowhere near as yellow in real life as it is on vob’s video.

Just because you say it, doesn’t make it so my friend. Audi 2018….” Full LED headlights produce light at 5,500 Kelvin, that’s roughly the same as daylight. This could help your eyes perceive more contrast. They experience less strain. And those dark stretches of road become a little less daunting.”

And for racing in the LeMans… “Audi’s new Matrix Laser headlights have wowed LeMans racers and may soon do the same for European drivers. But archaic regulations will keep Americans in the dark for now.

Lasers are the brightest, whitest lighting yet, better than the light-emitting diodes that only recently took over in cars, and because they can be directed just where you want them to go, they are in principle more efficient, too. That fine-pointed precision also opens up all kinds of possibilities for intelligent automated functions, notably projecting images onto roads.

Audi and BMW have publicly vied to be first in showrooms with laser headlights. After years of prototype development, BMW rushed to claim victory by delivering eight laser-equipped, i8 plug-in hybrid cars to customers in a Munich ceremony last June. Audi followed with a limited, 99-unit run of its 2015 R8 LMX supercar, their high beams supplemented by phosphor-pumping blue laser diodes that illuminate the road at twice the distance of that LED’s can manage—and at a daylight-mimicking color temperature of 5,500 Kelvin.

Now Audi is bringing out its Matrix Laser headlights, which incorporate a digital micromirror—an array of hundreds of thousands of tiny mirrors that reflect light from multiple laser diodes. (As in many white-light laser systems, the diodes flash blue light through a phosphor, which converts some of it to lower frequencies, producing a mix of colors that blends to white.)”

The independent testing company that looks at vehicle lighting for Insurance companies gives many cars a low rating on the lighting system they use. Among the top performers, Audi. The lowest ratings according to the Institute? Cars from Cadillac and Buick and many other’s exhibiting low Kelvin temperature and short beam distances not aiding the driver in todays high speed Interstate driving.

Well said Texas Ace! :+1: I get tired of reading all of the nit-picking BS and arguing! :person_facepalming: BFL is turning into SOF=Soap Opera Forum :stuck_out_tongue:

Notice that I said OEM HID headlights, all your examples are LED and Laser headlights. Very different technologies.

BTW, Does HID tints match up the same to LED tints, like is 5000K the same color temp to the human eyes? I’m sure that both have variances due to manufacturers!

I can remember the earlier discussion about the colortemp of the led for the GT. Neutral/warmer white is better for seeing depth and has preference by carmakers, fire departments and other specialists. So the choice for this color led is very defendable, I am content with it.

Spartan16 has an emotional message, he hates yellow light. He based his order for the GT on a YouTube video of a pre production sample. So I understand his disappointment when he discovered the change to 4000k. That he missed all the posts about this on the BLF GT thread is sad for him, but that is the reason he is surprised and disappointed at this moment. If you participate in a group buy of a totally new flashlight, created by the community, you are part of the community and you have the responsibility to stay on track and follow this process. By the video on YouTube lots of non members of BLF have been attracted to the GT. And all want a piece of the cake. Great, but don’t complain as if this is a professional company that has to mail everyone that the product has changed. Maybe it’s a suggestion for the next time. But if you can participate in such a great group buy for less than half of the normal price, stay happy and cool, even though the lighttemp isn’t as cool as you preferred.

Is there a list maintained of payments received?

Also I’m planning to order protected batteries, since I think they are modded proteced batteries, will they fit Giggiles (Since these might be a bit bigger):

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2-unids-protected-for-samsung-18650-battery-100-icr18650-26fm-originally-3-7V-2600-mah-rechargeable/32801883037.html

and

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/5PCS-2015-New-Original-18650-3400mAh-battery-3-7V-Li-ion-Rechargebale-battery-PCB-Protected-For/32585730747.html

Very well said!

New subject to hopefully move past all this bickering.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a NASA sub-contractor about wanting a GT for research and testing.

They were not very forthcoming about the details but it seems that they are wanting to test it out for use on Drones that are used for mapping the earth / disaster areas.

So in a few weeks when they get their light, you can officially say that the GT is being used in research for NASA! How cool is that!

They have had a bunch of questions about different options for the light as well.