I’d like a small, elegant, titanium light. BLF style.
Seeing how Astrolux sells their TI3A for $16 I can’t help but think that a much better BLF light has to be doable for $25 (preorder price). And I want one.
So:
10440 powered
e-switch, BLF UI
FET driver (FET+1 would be better, but if it complicates the build it’s not worth it)
CRI90 219c
clip
locator light
I think that LED locator would be cheaper than tritium. And if connected to the driver it could act as an indicator as well. Or with RGB led the colour could be configurable to best suit the garment.
I’d like it the most with the switch in the tail, but I’m not sure if doing the FW3A thing is feasible in a titanium light (I guess with Al internal tubing - yes). It would make the light thicker though.
A double-tube 10440 light doesn’t make much sense because it would lose the advantage of being thin. It’s also difficult to fit a complicated driver into something that size. But perhaps a 16340 light could work? It seems like it’d be a lot easier, at least.
I still want a BLF version of the Olight S-Mini.
I also still want a small BLF 14500 light. Could be like a smaller FW3A, could be like the brass AA clicky.
I have been looking for a good quality mid-size thrower for a while now and I just thought of bringing it up here. What I have in mind is a 3 or 4 cell Q8 style battery tube with a 2.8 to 3” head. Throw in good heat management, an efficient driver and Narsil or other great UI and BLF would have a nice light that would fill a hole in my line-up.
I have a MK35 that I might upgrade with a GT/Narsil driver and a 4000K or 4500K led swap. Wish me luck, I’m goin in! The 4000K in the GT has gotten me hooked. I just bought a MX30L4Cvn with XPL Hi 4000K which is now my favorite balanced light.
Texas Commander / LD4 style driver with FET on MCPCB, regulating the light all the way to peak output. Might place other components on MCPCB too it that’s needed to save space.
Ramping UI
Initial, somewhat incorrect sketch:
I drew it without glass protecting the lens. I’m not sure it that’s a great choice especially that bezel blocks some light, just like it is with S2+ triples.
And there is no place to put threads between head and body tube, so this is a unibody light with press-fit driver. Not sure if that’s feasible with USB and maybe a button on the other side. You can remove the driver by poking it from the optic side.
Why did I say “maybe a button on the other side”? Because I’m wondering if a button assembly plugged into USB slot wouldn’t be a good idea.
It seems that “extremely compact for its battery type” is a very common desire. In general, I’d like to see more lights which are barely bigger than the fuel tank.
Unusually, I’d like to suggest not a from-scratch project but a special edition of existing light.
DQG Spy Ti which has low-bin XP-G2 replaced with Samsung LH351D. Warm CRI90. That’s it.
Well, extra points for shortening it to 10150 or 10160.
ADDED:
Or AR coated lens.
Or glow o-ring.
OK. There are a few things that could be done better.
But nevertheless this is a good light that’s extremely close to being a great light.
I’ve had the concept in my head for a long time…I made some drawings before…but just couldn’t make it right.
Now I managed to put all the pieces together.
Welcome A7, a pocket hotrod.
Features:
7 LEDs, XP sized. Dedomed Samsung LH351D would be my pick.
Though XP-L2 would turn it to a 5-second light
21700
Texas-Commander / LD4 style driver integrated with the LED MCPCB regulating the light to 10+ amps. With Turbo above that.
Unibody
E-switch
DQG style tail cap
Here’s the drawing, next to a rough outline of Emisar D4.
No, I don’t.
I draw stuff pixel by pixel in gimp. This technique limits me heavily, but that’s what I’m capable of.
If you need larger, simply zoom it.
You could use Blender. Or FreeCAD. Or LibreCAD. Or OnShape. Or several others. If you don’t want to do a full 3D model, I find Inkscape is good for quick 2D stuff. Its grid options make it easy to build accurate scale models.