I like the light much better now.
Now, if I can get the horrible clip reshaped so that the top of my jeans back pocket doesn’t get stuck on that stupid bump on the tube clip. Then all will be well with the light - for now.
I really don’t understand the design (or maybe it’s poor execution by the manufacturers) of these clips. I had to do a lot of modification of the clip on my Utorch UT01, which has a similar clip, before it could be used deep carry. This design comes stock with many models from many manufacturers and it just makes no sense to me.
Why is that big bump left there to catch on the top of the pocket and prevent deep carry?
I know what you mean i’ve never understood that silly bump bit that catches on pockets either! Only way to fix it for me was to use a dremel to destroy the bump.
Its one of the very few things i can complain about the light though. For the money I LOVE this light.
I find the UI to be reasonably intuitive - the same as my rarely-used Astrolux S41 . Cool White, but that’s fine for my purposes - it’s not so blue as I used to routinely suffer.
Yeah, it can get hot. But not so hot as the S41, my 2014-vintage Fenix PD35, nor the Emisar D4/D4S. Or maybe I’m just not smashing Turbo long enough, often enough.
It’s a neat little bit of history that I’m experiencing after the fact that’s also a near-daily user.
I only pop on here rarely because as amusing as it would be to have a shelf filled with lights, my wallet can’t afford to be bled a little more each time I read a flashlight review and find myself wanting the new shiny toy.
It’s harder being only an occasional member because as with all things tech, the world of LED flashlights moves pretty fast. The new hotness that I was drooling over only a couple of years ago has been relegated to has-been status (if not all the way to old-and-busted), manufacturers have come and gone, and apparently Samsung is now making LEDs better than Cree? Huh. And we don’t just care about output and tints these days, but actual colour rendition values? Wow.
The BLF A6 was finishing development one of the previous times I was around, and I put myself down for two, with differing tints.
One of them replaced an SK-68 (well, probably a clone) as my EDC, and I was very unconvinced about carrying a fixed lens light when the SK could flood or throw as needed. Turns out that I mostly needed a close in light, and throwing a wall of photons at distant objects in turbo mode sufficed for my purposes. I’m still half-convinced a zoomie makes for a better general purpose, jack-of-all-trades tool for when what I’ve got is whatever I’m carrying (i.e. EDC) and I can’t reach for a specialized tool, but I suppose I’d need to get a compact 18650 zoomie like a Sofirn SF30A or something and carry it around for a while and see.
I did try replacing the SK with a more pocketable zoomie (the SK really isn’t very pocket friendly) but the cheap lights I got were just bad.
Prior to the SK-68, I had a 2xAA tube light. This was… what, a decade ago, now? But it was LED! It would run all night on AAs! The light’s tint was positively frigid! I ran it with 1xAA (it could run on a single AA!) for EDC, and screwed on the extension tube with a second AA if I went for a walk or whatever and actually planned on using the light. It had a #(&@ annoying driver that would cycle with half or full clicks, so it always came on at the next setting, and it had the archaic 5-mode L-M-H-blink-SOS pattern. If I had it on high and turned it off, the next time it came on — be it a second or an hour — it would blink. Great if I just left it on, very bad for intermittent use.
I say “had”, but the reality is that it’s now in a kitchen drawer, loaded with Eneloops. It’s kinda last ditch, but it still works. Ditto the SK. And the garbage zoomies as well, though I gave those away to family (and they’re quite happy with them, oddly enough).
Regardless, I’ve had the A6 in my pocket since it came out and it’s served well. It will continue to do so until the FW3As I put myself down for ages ago are finally built and shipped. A BLF light that’s smaller than the A6 but takes the same cell and still can put out three times the lumens in turbo? Yes, please. It even has to throw better, if only from the sheer number of photons emitted. And it’ll probably have better a CRI, too. Yay. (Which will probably become “Yay!” once I test it and compare the beam versus the A6, because it’s not like a high-CRI light is going to be worse, right?)
Oh — if I’m in a suit, then there’s an Astrolux A1 with an Eneloop AAA in my pocket instead. I’ve resisted putting it on my keychain, however. (An old Photon is still hanging there, gamely bathing the area ahead of me in orange light when I turn it on. Can’t believe it still doesn’t need its 2032 changed…)
I’ve gotten off track…. The point I’m trying to make is that the lights I had before the A6 had problems, but the A6 has been completely satisfactory. As such, I wouldn’t say the A6 has ‘ruined me’, but it’s been more than good enough for me to use until tech eventually comes up with something noticeably better — like the FW3A. And if the FW3A doesn’t work out for some odd reason, I’ll happily just continue using the A6. It set a baseline of cost and functionality that acts as an effective filter for all other lights — they need to do better than the A6 in some way or I’m just not going to bother with them.
Cheers to the BLF A6’s developers. My hat’s off to you. 
.
BTW, what’s this ‘bump’ on the pocket clip you’re talking about?
Here’s the bump on the pocketclip, side view — so the fabric slides up along the side of the flashlight, hits the bump, hangs up there instead of sliding all the way up into the bend of the clip. Usually the metal clip makes a right angle to the side of the flashlight, tho’ some manufacturers put a curve at that point.
Here’s a clip without the bump:
Yeah, but the lowest mode on an S2+ is way brighter and less versatile than the lowest mode on the A6 and it **ing blinks as you use it. :confounded: Also, Convoy tail switches kind of suck. Sometimes I half press and it doesn’t cycle, sometimes it cycles backwards for one half press, then it goes forward again. The A6 is way better than an S2+ for me because 1) the brightness steps are much more usable than the 3-sizes-fit-most approach that something like the S2+ uses. You say that the A6 generates too much heat, but the S2+ doesn’t even put out as much brightness on the highest setting. Dial the A6 back a step and it’s more comparable in heat management. 2) There is NO mode memory, so I can always predict the kind of light I will get, even if I don’t remember the mode it was in last time I turned it off — no more blinding everybody in the restaurant due to 1000 lumens reflecting off the menu accidentally. And 3) the pocket clip on the A6 is actually good, unlike the Convoy pocket clip, which slips off the flashlight body when I go to put it into my pocket.
I haven’t noticed that the length of the press to reverse modes on the A6 changes as the driver warms up, since I don’t usually use the light that way. I switch to the mode I need when I turn it on and when I’m done with the task, I’m done with the light. I have noticed that even when the light is cold, the length of press required to cycle backwards is way longer than the claimed 0.5-1.5 seconds — more like 2 seconds on mine. And that’s the medium press. The long press is a 4 second hold on half press. Both are a bit long, but I can deal with the 2 second delay to access turbo as a sacrifice for the mode memoryless design. At least it’s only two motions and not seven.
I hadn’t noticed before, regarding the change in duration for the “medium/long-press” to go dimmer brightness level, until I got the Mateminco X6S, which runs a similar UI (Bistro). I had configured my X6S to have a high thermal threshold, and when I placed it on Turbo, it got really hot, then when I tried to do the “medium/long-press” to go dimmer brightness, I notice it doesn’t go dimmer but goes to next higher level instead. The duration for “medium/long-press” has changed…
On the Astrolux S1 (BLF A6), I usually haven’t tried it on Turbo that long, so I hadn’t exactly noticed that change in duration for the “medum/long-press”.
However, since I got one of each tint of the Astrolux S1 (1A/3D/5A), I notice that different samples have different duration (even with the flashlights from cold/unused state). One requires a longer medium-press duration to go to lower brightness level than the others. So if one is used to the duration for “medum-press” on one sample, but it’s different duration on another sample of the BLF A6 driver…
Guys help me choose between BLF A6 and Sofirn SP32a v2?Which one is better light?
I really like the shampagne color of Sp32a v2,i like that it has battery level indicator,and I like the ramping feature it has.BLF A6 claims 1600lumens,are those for real or its similar to SP32a v2 specs?
I did some beamshot comparison between the Sofirn SP32A v2.0, Sofirn SP32A (v1) and the Astrolux S1 (3D tint); same camera settings were used, white balance set to “daylight” on my entry-level digicam, so the beam and brightness should be comparable:
indicated “lumens” rating are from the manufacturer, not my measurement (I don’t have a way to measure for now)
Thank you very much for those photos!The Sp32a v1 seems brighter than both S1 and v2.
I orderer Sp32a v1 from a local show near me.I think I will like it!I am a fan of side switches
You know, comparison photos can be misleading. Just because some light is less bright by comparison at the same photographic exposure doesn’t mean it will look like that to the human eye. If brightness was everything, there are much brighter flashlights out there too.
I am forced to ask what the heck are you doing using the old and decrepit 3/5 firmware in 2019 instead of Biscotti or something even more advanced and versatile :-U
Fair question!
I prefer the BLF A6 to either the Sofirn or the Convoy. But the BLF has its user-interface quirks, and it’s not as impressive by today’s standards as it was a couple of years ago. But overall, it’s still one of the best budget 18650 lights available.
The BLF is the brightest, but it will eat batteries pretty fast on max. The thing steps down after only 45 seconds, so unless you keep boosting it up (it will get hot!) it’s not too bad with batteries. It’s really only impressive with a fresh battery, since it’s not regulated and output will drop as the battery depletes.
BLF A6 is my other Lego light. 18350/18650 option, single or in quad S41. Lowest mode it’s a night light that runs for days off a charge. My hotel room at SHOT show week before last was pitch black. 4 nights running on an 1100 mah 18350 and four days as an EDC. Great little light for running around with.
Of course there are brighter flashlight out there but Sofirn has:
-both ramping and stepping mode in 1 flashlight
-Side switch which I like
-Compact
-takes 18650(I prefer this)
–1550lumens or near that is great for a single emitter flashlight
-Has electronic locking mode.
-I am getting mine for like 10$
Its a winner for me
Since this thread is comparing the three lights I’m looking at (BLF A6, Sofirn SP32A and SP32A V2.0) this is the best place to ask about the light.
I’m looking for an EDC light that can also be used as a mountain bike light that stays in high mode while riding.
My current light TIPEYE 700LM https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CHDFJWD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_gvkwCbHK7AFS9
My current light has decent floody beam and maintains high mode on rides. I need my next light to be more of a thrower and the BLF and Sofirn lights are the best bang for the buck. I doubt the Sofirn SP32A V1.0 high mode of 900 lums will maintain brightness. The Sofirn SP32A V2.0 seems like the safest choice of a high mode of 500 lums and the longer runtime. BLF A6 is the most customisable for handlebar mounts/lens/etc.
Sorry to hijack this thread but it’s probably the most appropriate place to ask. Does anyone know where I can buy a new reflector for my A6? I accidently damaged it a while back 
Go for Sofirn sp32v2 but I also don’t think you will have problem with v1 too, I don’t think someone will want to ride with over 500 lumens of output