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

Crazy, huh? Crickets.

Add me to the list for 1, please.

I am interested in 1. Please add me to the list :smiley:

i hope we get some answer if sourcing the LH351D will be possible or what other options they will decide to go for instead.

Hi, sorry for the lack of updates. I’ve been debating whether to dispute some recent accusations, or whether it’s not worth the trouble. And I think I’m leaning toward not. Bait is usually best left on the hook.


About the FW3A though…

I don’t have concrete answers, but if I understand correctly, orders go through Neal’s shop. I don’t think his shop has a function for individual purchase codes, so those probably won’t be a thing. And since it doesn’t look like every emitter option will be available right away, that makes things complicated. The list doesn’t track emitter preference.

There’s also the complication of having two lists — one on BLF and one on TLF.

I’m just guessing, but it’ll probably end up going public all at once, without regard for the order of names on the list. I’ve kept the list in strict chronological order regardless, to make sure it’s an option… but the rest of the infrastructure for that doesn’t seem to be in place. So it’ll probably end up being a race at first, unless Neal comes up with a way to avoid that.

I hope so too!

All I’ve heard lately is that Lumintop is waiting for optics to arrive. The ETA on that is the end of the month.

interested in LH351D one

Do you have any predictions when fw3a will be ready? thank you

The above-mentioned optics are thought to be the pacing item for the XP-L HI version. Nothing has been said about timeline after that, but I assume it will be a month or two after optics arrive before lights could be ready to ship, and that assumes everything else is actually ready to start making parts.

All of this is a guess. The manufacturer is not committing to any clear schedule on this project, so we have to be patient.

Please put me down for two. XP-L HI version is my preference. Thank you.

Thank you friend!

Logged in for once to say I’m in!

Created an account to finally go down this rabbit hole with everyone and to say I’m in for the FW3A!

Why no XPL-HI 5D for the 4000K option? It has a great tint and offers some significant advantages over the SST-20.

There’s no 90+ CRI XP-L HI cooler than 3000K.

Even the highest CRI and R9 is useless without a good tint, and Maukka’s measurements of the SST-20 aren’t really optimistic.

I wasn’t aware that sunlight being above the BBL made it “useless” as a light source. Aesthetically preferring one tint over another doesn’t diminish the color accuracy of a particular LED.

The high CRI and R9 will make it absolutely crush in real life scenarios.

Comparing tints on a white wall is useless. The tint is the SST-20 is good. It’s better than the LH351D, and especially the 219C.

While it may not look as good on a white wall compared to the XP-L HI 5D and even 219b, the SST-20 is plain way better than the XP-L HI in non white wall hunters uses.

Having actually used an XP-L HI 5D next to an SST-20 FB4, I’m not just going on specs here.

The The XP-L HI looks nicer on a white wall. It’s slightly rosy, while the SST-20 is a bit yellow-green, especially at lower levels. Outdoors, putting the two next to each other, I found things looked washed out with the XP-L HI, and more vivid with the SST-20. Both points also apply to the 4000K LH351D I compared.

Tint can be bad enough that CRI becomes meaningless, but that’s not the case with the 90 CRI bins of the SST-20 and LH351D we’re actually seeing in the wild.

Sunlight and led light from a torch are incomparable even if the have similar parameters simply due to the angle and the sheer difference in the amount of light.

I’ve let some people, “aware flashlight users”, not enthusiast, compare a R9898 duv +0.001 flashlight to the CRI80 XPL-HI 5D duv –0.002 (or less) from the D4 and almost all of them preferred the 5D so I’m pretty sure of my point.

And of course in woodland positive duv doesn’t really matter and a 219C will look better than a 5D, but I can’t afford buying a flashlight that works only good in one scenario.

Nevertheless it would be good a 4000K option,5D, SST-20 or LH351D will become available fast for the neutral-warm folks.

I would clarify that tint can be an element of color accuracy - exaggerating green (or pink for that matter) reduces how accurately the viewer perceives a scene. If you’re checking a sleeping child for a healthy complexion, for example, excess green is unwelcome.

But lacking in red can be an even more significant accuracy issue. I’d say whether it’s more important than excess green can be use dependent, but for me personally, good red rendering is usually a higher priority.

Skin and wood tones are classic examples. As a more extreme case, I remember when I got my first high CRI light, and shining it and a low CRI light of a similar color temperature around a dark room to compare.

The low CRI light happened across an orange mug with a mottled finish - It caught my attention because I didn’t recall us owning any mug so ugly. I switched lights and a familiar red mug appeared. The color of that particular piece of ceramic was so red-dominant that even a familiar object was difficult to recognize under a low CRI light.

All things considered, if Lumintop is willing to do two versions, I think the plans for a higher CCT, lower CRI option with a known good tint bin, and a lower CCT, higher CRI option are the right compromise for the widest range of users possible, even though we will probably get a compromise on the tint of the latter.

DUV +0.002 to +0.004 seems common with the LH351D. I recently put an LH351D that AED measured at around +0.004 in a Convoy, and that confirms for me I’m willing to accept that level above the BBL as a trade for high CRI.