Iâm 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.
When lumintop or any other manufacturer that makes these BLF lights decides on last minutes changes, Iâm curious about their point of view:
Do they think we wonât notice because we are dumb, or
Do they assume we wonât care because we arenât 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 itâs not like they canât make it right, itâs almost if they didnât want to. âHey boss, FW3A is ready for production and the specs are fully compliant!â -âGood, now go ahead and put a different clip to itâ
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 donât.
In my opinion the designerâs original idea was way âcoolerâ 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 (proto4âs 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 âĂ laâ 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, itâs no longer Fritzâs 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 didnât get it.
Itâs hopeless to see that they canât 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.
Most likely in the big scheme of things âŚ. 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.
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. Iâm 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.
The problem is more that we on BLF have no idea what theyâre doing at Lumintop. Communication hasnât been very good. Itâs 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 thisâŚ
⌠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.
He also said that the new design (long bevel) was growing on him so he probably wasnât at the origin of it and probably not so found of it at first.
It sounds more a lumintopâs 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.
Iâm 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 iâm fine with whatever decision from the mods.
I will have more time to complete some mods Iâm planning since long.
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 âminor detailsâ alone.
I think people complaining about the particular things they donât like about a product is great feedback.
Of course, you canât please everyone but the more ideas kicking about, the better.