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

I use beacon mode to help induce sleep, the adjustable brightness and speed are wonderfully useful for me. I can see a benefit in having it instantly accessible to avoid the brighter modes first but not enough to warrant a code revision, i’m happy with it where it is, i’m happy that it exists at all!

What’s that based on?

It is based on what I said “+1” to ……
………and what I think most people actually use ’Beacon Mode’ for. :+1:

Nothing more… nothing less. Not scientific by any stretch. :beer:

Thank you for your answer :slight_smile:

Gotcha’…. :+1: . :beer:

You & I both wrote Strobe Mode… but I was actually thinking “Beacon Mode” as I misread what you wrote & miswrote what I asked. :person_facepalming:

I was just curious about frequency of real world use of BEACON Mode…. such as the example Marc E gave.

My pleasure. :beer:

Thanks TK. No, I do not require instant access to beacon, just seemed the logical place to put it in with the other strobe modes. We all compartmentalize differently. I do like watching lightening mode for some reason. Very cool.

I had actually been pretty happy with a 18350 S2 with 219B. This is about the same size and it has a better firmware, I have been very excited for this flashlight for years! I know that the D4 had some firmware issues before and I was looking forward to getting an LH651 flashlight that didn't need to be modded.

I also use mostly AAA lights since its all I need but the small size and the firmware of this light excited me!

/\:+1:

… and it also doesn’t hurt that it has 3X as much battery capacity. :wink:

I’ve used beacon more than I have strobe. I’m unconvinced of the incapacitating power of strobe, having among other things read text from my computer screen in a darkened room with my FW3A on tactical strobe pointed at my face from an arm’s length, and stared at a group of these things for entertainment. Yes, you read that spec sheet right. 180,000 lumens and 101 kcd from 228 XP-Ls.

A bright light to the face does have some deterrent effect, but I don’t think much is gained from it flashing (yes I’ve read the Dutch police study that says strobe is useful, but I suspect the result wouldn’t be reliably replicated).

I’ve used beacon in practical situations a couple times, to keep from being hit on the side of the road. Instant access wasn’t a big deal, and momentary would not have been useful at all. A magnet and a right-angle form factor were useful, neither of which describe the FW3A.

Anyway, momentary candle mode is the best thing ever, and now that I have it on my FW3A, I will never again fear attack by moths.

First time BLF custom group buy noob here.

I committed to one light somewhere around the 1,100's on the list just 'cause it sounded interesting. Then , not knowing anything about the process, sat back & watched as something akin to mating elephants took place; much noise, trumpeting and ground-shaking stomping, with everything happening at a very high level. Fascinating! The analogy breaks down here though, because it took more than ~eighteen months to get results .

Shortly after payment my new FW3A light tool arrived, a delightful piece of industrial art barely larger than my trusty, pocketworn TG06S, but so much more useful and, entertaining to boot. Raided my C8F for the only flat top cell I own(d) to start learning the UI. (A couple of 35E's and MJ1's are on the way.)

What a great light! From my relatively inexperienced perspective I have absolutely no complaints.

I offer my most sincere thanks to everyone who invested their time & resources in making this fine light become a reality.

I'd also like to thank those who have posted about the finer points of use, maintenance & troubleshooting.

Well done, everyone! Thank You!

Now, for just one question:

Are there any leftovers; unclaimed lights from the list where people never followed through with payment? If so, how would one go about purchasing same at the GB price? Inquiring minds want to know...

slmjim

EDIT: Corrected the gestation period of pachyderms.

You’re not limited to buying the number you signed up for. If you want more, buy more.

If you want to recommend the FW3A publicly and not disclose the group buy discount code, PhotonPhreaks has them at a good price.

I had a snafu with mine earlier tonight. I was playing with it outside, I took it out of my pocket, and clicked 4 times to unlock it. It started spazzing out and strobing and clicking it wouldn’t turn it off. I unscrewed the head and put it back together and it seemed fine.

I was playing with again later and noticed an extra blink at the top of the ramp, and it was getting hot.

So at this point I realized what I’d done, earlier when it was blinking and strobing it was just in ramp config mode. Apparently I thought I’d locked it out but didn’t, so I must have turned it on coming out of my pocket, then clicked it 4 times and it entered ramp config mode. All my random clicking trying to turn it off changed the ramp ceiling setting to almost all the way up.

After I figured out that I am in fact an idiot, I got the manual and set everything back to how it’s supposed to be.

Light is fine, just an ID10T error.

Yep, that happened to me too.
Configuration should be harder to access IMO. Once the light is set up how often are you going to change it…

Ha ha. I also stumbled into ramping config mode and freaked out a bit at first. Wasn’t until I found the “modded cheat sheet” that I realized what I had done.

Actually, your analogy isn’t that far off.

Elephants have the longest gestation period of any mammal.

Some species of elephant give birth almost two years after mating. :partying_face:

Probably a bit of a surprise after all that time :smiley:

Has anyone heard from Neal recently? Between this post from TK and several of us not receiving any responses to inquiries about outstanding orders, I hope he’s alright. I’m tempted to order a 219C version, but definitely not until he makes good on my original order (China Post returned it to him; not necessarily his fault, but he said he’d look into it 10 days ago and nothing since then). Anyone know if he’s OK?

Neal is fine, but he probably hasn’t slept in weeks because of the new baby.

My Nichia FW3A shipped yesterday