The thing that really worried me was the gamut. There is nothing more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of a CRI binge… and I knew we’d get into that rotten stuff pretty soon.
The thing that really worried me was the gamut. There is nothing more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of a CRI binge… and I knew we’d get into that rotten stuff pretty soon.
I’m a newb, so my opinion may be off-base. With that preface, here it is anyway:
How long does R&D usually go into production of a EDC light?? I think there are enough who have expressed interest to go forward with production. I still observe opinions and speculation and considerations of development. I understand the betas of final design are in the works (I think?). Can we expect an order confirmation before, or at least near the second anniversary of the announcement of the product? Sure would be cool if it happened.
Patience is a virtue… That I do not possess.
Yes please, I’m in for one, thank you in advance.
When lumintop or any other manufacturer that makes these BLF lights decides on last minutes changes, I’m curious about their point of view:
Do they think we won’t notice because we are dumb, or
Do they assume we won’t care because we aren’t picky, or
Do they just decide to use parts that are cheaper and readily available, saving just cents in each components which at the end sums up to a pretty significant amount, knowing that 99% of the people will still happily send their $$$ anyways.
Because it’s not like they can’t make it right, it’s almost if they didn’t want to. “Hey boss, FW3A is ready for production and the specs are fully compliant!” -“Good, now go ahead and put a different clip to it”
Or… All of the above?
Or, and this is giving them the huge benefit of the doubt, they think they are doing something really cool, that they are proud of, and think we will like, then are surprised when we don’t.
That is a very real & distinct possibility also cabfrank.
We must be small potatoes.
We really need to start our own ‘Flashlight Factory’ with TK as president ….
Or, and this is giving them the huge benefit of the doubt, they think they are doing something really cool, that they are proud of, and think we will like, then are surprised when we don’t.
In my opinion the designer’s original idea was way “cooler” but they probably never got/understood the idea for both internal and external design, and because they never got it they are pron to screw it up (proto4’s driver) and change it (with each new sample).
They got rid of the original raw material or clear anodization. They got rid of the machining marks. They added a long bevel to the battery tube on the head side “à la” nitecore concept 1. They added a bevel on the battery tube on the tail side (why did they not put the same bevel with moderate angle on both side ?). They changed the pocket clip (first good change IMO) and reverted it to the original one, they changed its color. They added a logo on the switch.
They have no idea what they are doing, changing their mind all the time for new things delaying the production while it would have been much straight forward to stick to the original design that they never understood. Externally, this flashlight no longer looks different than any other flashlights contrary to the initial goal. Externally, it’s no longer Fritz’s Works so why keeping its name : FW3A ?
I would wish they will revert to the original external design for a copper or brass or whatever material generally without anodization, but that will never happen. They didn’t get it.
It’s hopeless to see that they can’t make something different when left on their own despite the hard work done by those involved to make it a turnkey project.
Which is great for my wallet.
We must be small potatoes.
Most likely in the big scheme of things …. very small potatoes indeed.
And on top of that, very small potatoes that want certain things the general public has no idea about. And the majority of those people most likely would not want those things even if they did know.
Careful there Tally-ho. The last person who commented about these issues got a stern finger wagging from the mods and then disappeared.
They added a long bevel to the battery tube on the head side “à la” nitecore concept 1. They added a bevel on the battery tube on the tail side (why did they not put the same bevel with moderate angle on both side ?).
Those were changed by Fritz, not Lumintop. He made sure to clarify this, and his post has been repeated a few times whenever the topic comes up. The last time was only ten days ago. I’m not sure why people keep posting the same false claims almost a year after Fritz tried to put an end to it, but it gets old.
They have no idea what they are doing…
The problem is more that we on BLF have no idea what they’re doing at Lumintop. Communication hasn’t been very good. It’s a bit like trying to chat with someone online through a router which drops a lot of packets and uses lossy compression algorithms on the rest.
To put it visually, someone sends a message like this…
… and this is what eventually gets received some time later:
So it can be a bit difficult to nail down details or sometimes even broad strokes of what was in the original message.
An old joke comes to mind…
In the beginning was the PLAN
And then came THE ASSUMPTIONS
And the assumptions were without form
And the plan was completely without substance;
And darkness was upon the faces of the employees
And they spoke amongst themselves, saying,
“IT IS A CROCK OF [bleep] AND IT STINKS!”And the employees went unto their supervisors saying, “It is a pail of dung and none may abide the odor thereof.”
And the supervisors went unto their managers saying, “It is a container of excrement and it is very strong such that none may abide by it.”
And the managers went unto their directors saying, “It is a vessel of fertilizer and none may abide its strength.”
And the directors went unto their executive directors saying, “It contains that which aids plant growth and is very strong.”
And the exective directors went unto the general manager saying, “It promotes growth and is very powerful.”
And the general manager went unto the Board of Directors saying, “This new plan will actively promote growth and efficiency of this organization and these areas in particular.”
And the Board of Directors looked upon the plan and saw that it was good and the plan became policy.
Good joke!
Those were changed by Fritz, not Lumintop.
He also said that the new design (long bevel) was growing on him so he probably wasn’t at the origin of it and probably not so found of it at first.
It sounds more a lumintop’s change, later accepted by Fritz who changed the angle on the tail side for a less akward combination of angles, probably.
What about the raw material with machining marks to make it looks like more a custom flashlight fresh out of the lathe which was the main idea, did he gave up on this too ?
Anyway, I already said what to do with my 4 units.
Careful there Tally-ho. The last person who commented about these issues got a stern finger wagging from the mods and then disappeared.
I’m not a pilar of BLF so I will not miss to anyone + I got 2 accounts permanently banned from CPF for less than that, I get used to stern finger wagging then i’m fine with whatever decision from the mods.
I will have more time to complete some mods I’m planning since long.
There’s only one mod, the forum owner and he doesn’t step in unless rules are broken and we don’t have many rules.
In general, you have to go out of your way to be permabanned, and Mr. Admin usually will give you a warning if you're out of line.
I think it’s silly when I see people posting they won’t buy the light because of it. To me it is utterly comical to read those “I won’t buy because……” posts.
That is usually the case when said poster thinks other people will follow his “Jerry Maquire” moment.
Some people are interested in the finer details of products.
Personally, I have decided to buy or not to buy stuff many times due to ‘minor details’ alone.
I think people complaining about the particular things they don’t like about a product is great feedback.
Of course, you can’t please everyone but the more ideas kicking about, the better.