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

[quote=BurningPlayd0h]

[quote=funkychateau]

No need to consider protected cells, just unprotected button- and flat-tops. It seems that this model has limited its ability to accommodate a range of cells by using a short set of springs. Resistance shouldn’t be the reason - this light should draw substantially less current than the Emisar D4, which accommodates both flat- and button-top cells pretty well.

It seems like a lot of people on this thread have said they want the SST-20.

My preference would be the SST-20 as well as long as it’s high cri and as close to the BBL as possible. Especially if picking this led over the LH315D would speed things along.

I’ll take it with sst20’s.

Had to laugh, I said something similar long ago: I'm no Modder, but I can Solder. NovaTac 120 Upgrade! | Candle Power Flashlight Forum! (warning: off-site link)
That single mod really led to a big lifestyle change. Here I am nearly 10 years later waiting for yet another rear-mounted e-switch light that will inevitably get modded at some point.

Been a while since I logged in, saw 40 posts in this thread and thought “maybe?….”. Nope. That’s OK, I’m patient. I put an arbitrary annual flashlight limit on myself and the FW3A will be IT for the year. If it isn’t ready to ship by December I’m sure there will be some other light waiting to fill the 2019 quota.

SST 20 for a bit more throw is fine and welcome for me.

hm i dont get it, suddenly there is a problem getting the LH351D emitters when they were confirmed long ago, so they will change to sst20 now then or ?

Actually, I modded lights with mixed emitters and the Carclo 10507 years ago. Before quads were common, the big thing everyone modded were triples and I converted numerous lights to them including the Sunwayman C20C, DQG Tiny III, and Convoy S2+.

When you mix emitter tints in these small triples the hotspot and most of the spill is a completely uniform mix with no artifacts that perfectly blends the emitters into a uniform new tint. You don’t even notice that different emitter tints were used unless you turn the light on in moonlight and look into the bezel, or shine it on a white wall from an inch away. Even from a foot away the beams blend almost perfectly. Not suprising since the hotspots are probably a foot wide and the emitters are maybe 1 cm separated.

The only artifacts the 10507 produces are a ring of flower petal like shapes at the edges outside the beam. These petals come from individual emitters so will be different colors and won’t blend. But the reality is they aren’t really noticeable except when looking at a white wall and spinning the light like a pinwheel in your hand. They also don’t look at all ugly.

Toykeeper just said that she thought they put the order in a long time ago, but it turns out they didn’t. Now they are trying to order them and are having problems getting the exact tint, etc… So it seems Lumintop made a mistake by not ordering soon enough.

Now we are in a position where they can put their order in now and it will be a long time before they can get them or maybe they will just order the sst-20 and maybe get it sooner. Make sense?

I must say i am bit dissapointed in hearing this, considering how long this light is in making, emitters should be the last problem really i just dont understand the thing with forget to order them or something… so for now it will take a while until that light with either that emitter or if it will change to sst20 will come out :frowning: Lumintop knows long ago how many have shown interest so far must be many that want the samsung emitters.

There is no way you can fathom the ways of chinese flashlight manufacturers. But you can talk about it for sure…

Personally I like the SST-20 in a Carclo optic, gives a nicer beam than the huge spot of the LH351D in my opinion. The only drawback for me is that in a low resitance direct drive flashlight that the FW3A is, at turbo they are driven too hard (same as the SST-20 and 219C in the D4). It helps that the FW3A has the extra bank of 7135’s that the D4 does not have so you are good up to the most useful middle modes.

It may not necessarily be an issue of forgetfulness. Sometimes you have a situation where the financial department will tell you to not order things too early either because they don’t have the funds or they’re not 100% sure it’s the right product and instead to wait a little later to make the order. Of course by then there could be a situation where your particular emitter tint is not available.

It could also be due to a miscommunication or even a mistake in inventory.

There’s a lot of possible explanations and we really don’t know what the situation was.

All we know right now is that an emitter needs to be ordered.

but how will it decide, will they switch to sst20 for those that want and make the other emitter later for those that want the samsung, or will it only be 2 emitters produced ? seems a bit confusing right now hopefully someone can clear things up. If the wait is gonna be long then i can go for the sst20.

Only 2 led options, the xpl-hi and something else.

okok, so what should happen now, maybe make a poll keep the samsung or switch to the sst20 ?

That would be more noise in this already confuse process.
I guess it should be better to wait for LT decision on this!
Making new polls with dozens or hundreds of opinions that may end up in nothing if LT decides to go other way, would be very exhausting.

TK, tatasal and Neal seem to be in contact more or less. Maybe it is better to let them bring us the news and say what will be needed or not about this process!

okok u are right, makes sense.

Hi, just found about this light after a seeing a few mentions on r/flashlight - very interested and would like to order two.

For comparison:
Firelight2 played around with SST20 4000K 95 CRI and compared it to XPL HI D4. Both are Emisar D4 lights.

Thanks for that link, I hadn’t seen that post before.

Secondly, I’d like to invite all those who continue to ‘muddy the waters’ with requests to make changes to read the first page of this thread. It is what it is; you’ve paid no money and have nothing to complain about.

People other than yourself are offering voluntary time and services in an interesting creative endeavour. If you’re not satisfied, design and create something superior yourself. Maybe the rest of us will buy it and maybe not…but for this one it is what it is and all this criticism and back seat driving is getting on my nerves. Imagine how it feels for those actually putting in the effort.

I’m most excited for XPL HI.

If I get a second one, I’d like it to be quite different from the HI version. I understand that with the triple optic they will be in the same ballpark, but I’d like them to be at opposite ends of the spectrum, if that makes sense.