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

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I have less interest in Lumintop than they have in their customers

I see you really dislike Lumintop, but couldn’t find the reason in your recent posts. What gives?

Guess it’s related to how Lumintop handled GT issues. He wrote exactly the same on that thread.

9 threads, actually.

Add 1 more & make it 10. :person_facepalming: He even put one in the BLF Ultimate Lantern Project thread. :smiley:

I’m in for one.

Bye-bye…… :wink:

This is going to be an amazing BLF/TLF flashlight

#510 on the list ...

Looking forward to the Proto3 feedback!

Cheers

Now I know this has been briefly discussed already, but I really would like to ask for an optional deep carry clip.

I agree that it would look pretty out of place and weird, maybe even destroy the minimalist aesthetic, but for me it adds a lot to usability as an EDC light, and it’s still optional. The aesthetics of this light in regard to taper and finish seem to be fairly contested anyways. (BTW, has a final decision about finish been made already?)
Even if it costs far more than it’s production costs, I’d get one and I think most people appreciating deep carry would be willing to lay down 5 bucks or so for a decent clip. It also isn’t too hard to design, manufacture and doesn’t have to be fitted to the light for shipping.
(Also, as this would be an option that some really value and some don’t care about at all, maybe make it titanium and more expensive?)
Any arguments against this that I’ve missed? Would love to hear what you think about this.

Also, has Lumintop said anything about 2 emitter choices already?

One more suggestion @ToyKeeper: The beacon mode is pretty nice for having you remind you of tasks that you have to do periodically. However when N clicks corresponds to seconds, the maximum I’d bother to set is 30 seconds or so. How about a kind of timer, where you can set minutes as well?
Anyways, really appreciate all the work everyone is putting into this, thank you all so much :+1:

Looking at the code, it occurs to me that the maximum delay it’ll allow is 65 seconds. It uses a 16-bit integer for the number of milliseconds to wait, and that maxes out at 65.535 seconds.

The timer is not very accurate though. In reality, it could be anywhere from 60 to 70 seconds. And it doesn’t actually sleep between pulses, so it still uses a milliamp or so while waiting. It’s not really designed well for use as a timer with long intervals.

There is a compile-time option to allow it to ‘tick’ every half-second while asleep, which is a far more efficient way to measure time while off, but it’s even less accurate… and it’s not quite half a second. More like every 0.512 seconds, plus or minus 15%. It allows aux LEDs to blink while the light is asleep, on lights which have that, but it’s still not great for long-interval beacons.

OTOH, candle mode is okay for timing things in very rough half-hour increments. It may take anywhere from 27 to 33 minutes per cycle, but if that’s acceptable, and if half-hour time slices are acceptable, it can be used as a timer. I find it’s nice in the bath, for example. When the candle goes out, it’s time to get out of the tub.

I am a very late comer, but nevertheless, interested in 1-3 depending on price and final specifications.

+100

As long as the head mates to the 18650 body tube as well, though! This is exactly what I’m wanting next too. Previously, I’ve been considering machining a new, longer bezel ring for the 3A to accommodate a KD reflector (might try polishing one too). I was planning on desoldering ~2-3 of the 7135s to better suit the single emitter current ranges as well. Lastly, add an off center hole for the wires and voila!

The S-Mini doesn’t have swappable body tubes. It would be significantly bigger if it did, and then it would no longer be “mini”.

Maybe a bit off-topic, but as long as the tangent isn’t disrupting news about the FW3A…

That got me looking into SMini modding info, which led to the following thread, especially this post that I think would be awesome.

I don’t know what kind of driver the SMini has, but even if Anduril couldn’t be reasonably made compatible with it, a good linear + FET driver in that size light would still be very, very interesting to me.

Personally, my preferred form factor prioritizes slim vs. short, so I’d go for 14500 over 16340 even if it doesn’t have AA support, but either would disappear a lot more easily in my pocket than my D4, or even than the FW3a will.

Yeah, I generally like the shape of 14500 more than 18350. But it’s harder to fit a driver in a narrower host, and 18350 offers quite a bit more battery capacity. Some AA/14500 lights end up larger than the S-Mini in all dimensions, even diameter, like the Zebralight SC52. Some are still narrower though, like the L3 L10.

I’m not sure what would be ideal. I find the FW3A is small enough to carry, especially compared to other 18650 lights, but I’d still prefer something smaller and lighter.

Interested depending on final specs; hopefully XPLHI 4000k.

Sorry for the absence,
I have to update list.
Thanks ToyKeeper for your work.

Yeah, like a D4 with 2 xpl-hi V2 3A and 2 xpl-hi V2 5D in the 18350 tube running Anduril . . .

I carried a D4-18350 for a while, but it didn’t really hit the spot. I want something I can clip to me and forget about until I need it, but the D4 shorty is too wide and lacks a good clip. The FW3A does this better than any other 18650 light I’ve tried, but even with such a compact host sometimes 18650 is a bit heavy for that purpose.

In a purse or a pocket is a different matter though. I carry much bigger stuff in there.

DQG Tiny 18650 should still weigh slightly less. <10g more than D4 18350.