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

Pictures of the FW3 Ti+Cu and FW3 brass are here : FW3A, a TLF/BLF EDC flashlight - SST-20 available, coupon codes public - #11471 by M4D_M4X

I didn’t realize the left one was brass - i thought it was the copper one.

So actual versions floating around are:

  • Anodized aluminum - original FW3A available in gray so far
  • Copper - can be ordered, unsure whether it ships yet
  • Brass - proto?
  • Titanium/Copper - proto?
  • SS - ?

Any confirmations on those?

got it cool thanks

Only ones I think are confirmed to be working on are:

  • Grey anodized aluminum - FW3A - available
  • Copper - FW3C - available for preorder
  • Cu-Ti - FW3T - planned. Photo of prototype
  • Brass - photo of prototype.
  • Other colors of anodized aluminum (green, purple, blue) - planned.

I don’t recall hearing or seeing anything official about any other versions of the FW3A.

What is SS’s heat capacity compared to anodized aluminium? Will the Cu head in FW3T make it have better or slightly less heat tolerance than original the Al-ano? Has brass equal heat tolerance as Al?

I think the best dissipator of heat is copper, then aluminum…not counting precious metals

Not a scientific response, but recollection from the top of my head:

  • SS is pretty bad for heat - it conducts heat worse than Titanium and much worse than copper or aluminum. It’s also extremely heavy. Expect a stainless steel FW3A to get really hot at the head really fast, without conducting much heat out of the head to the rest of the light. It would probably ramp down pretty fast. I haven’t actually seen anything from Neal about a SS version though. I don’t think one is planned.
  • Brass’ heat tolerance depends on the alloy. My understanding is that the typical type of brass found in flashlights conducts heat worse than aluminum and much worse than pure copper. It is also quite a bit heaiver than aluminum.
  • FW3T contains a copper head combined with titanium bezel, body tube and tailcap. Copper both holds more heat than aluminum and conducts it much better. However, Titanium conducts heat much worse than aluminum. If it’s anything like the difference between the D4 and D4 Ti (which used a similar setup), I expect the copper head would heat up really fast, but the body tube would remain relatively cool. The light probably wouldn’t stay at max output for long and might even ramp down earlier than the all aluminum version.
  • FW3C - all copper version should have the best thermal characteristics of all the FW3A variants and should be able to run turbo longest. However, if it transmits heat too well, the user might find it actually to be less practical than the aluminum version. This would be the case if the entire exterior heats up at such a uniform rate there isn’t a safe place to hold the light without getting burned.

The best heat conductor is copper, then brass (no matter which alloy), alu and SS and at the last place is titanium.
It’s a neverending subject in CPF group…

Can anyone tell me why would someone choose XP-L over SST 20 ?

The tint is much nicer, and doesn’t shift from green to purple as you increase the power. It’s also quite efficient, so it won’t get as hot. It’s also more powerful than the high CRI SST-20s, though slightly less throwy than the low CRI ones.

I’m a huge fan of the XP-L HI, but if the SST-20s that the team managed to bag for the FW3A do indeed turn out to be not green, then I might just have a new favourite emitter. CRI + good tint is a major win in my book, but I can’t stand the puke green of all the SST-20s I have seen so far, so I’m really hoping that the ones in the FW3A will change that.

I’m not sure, anything is possible I suppose, but I was told this was solid ti? Not sure the provenance of this photo but it looks darker than aluminum to me. Maybe its the titanium body with a bare aluminum head? idk…

Less heat, greater output, great tint.

It’s not less heat unless they did something to the firmware to limit output in which case it would be less output at the cost of less heat.

Higher max output, better efficiency, for very cool or warm CCT, and potentially for better tint.

Eh, the 3Ds my light came with looked pretty gross TBH. Almost more green than the sliced 90CRI LH351Ds I compared them to. No clue what the 7A tint was like but the 3D were very disappointing with what I’ve seen from XPL HIs up to this point.

Oh yeah, I forgot that the 3Ds sourced for the FW3A didn’t turn out to be as good as expected. I got the 3300K 7A emitters and they’re gorgeous, with a slight hint of rosiness. I’ve also got the 5D 4000K emitters in a few other flashlights, which are just about perfect in my eyes, as well as 3A 5000K, which looks absolutely pure white to my eyes.

Shame we didn’t get 3A in the FW3A. The name is kind of asking for it.

Normally, I prefer XPL HI over SST-20, because of the extra output and better tint. And that’s using XPL HI emitters I’ve modded in… not the stock XPL HI emitters.

But in the case of the FW3A, the SST20s it comes with are the best I’ve ever seen. Not greenish at all. Holding it up side-by-side next to my puke-green Emisar D4 SST-20, the beams are night and day. And I prefer these SST-20 over any XPL HI I’ve tried.

I’ve got a triple board of 5Ds on the way for mine, I’m stoked.

My FW3C SST-20 just shipped today. I’m quite excited to get my hands on it now! I’ve ordered a clear optic with it, and I can also swap it with my FW3A’s frosted optic too, in addition to trying the even floodier Lumintop optic.

Will the new SST-20 emitter version be delivered with the latest/fixed anduril? (to manually set the memorized level)?

Which one has better tint subjective?

Nichia 219c 4000k or SST20 4000k.