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

Thank you dragunbayne, that did it!! :beer:
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I bet it hit the Q8 or the edge of that lamp base.

Yeah, I think the Q8 bezel took a tiny chunk of aluminum out of it. I don’t know if any anodized surface would have withstood that.

Hmmm… I don’t know enough technically to explain what is going on, but it has something to do with the picture code it is posted with.

This is the picture code you posted.


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This is the picture code I posted.

https://i.imgur.com/FdoMZxV_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium

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This “picture code” thing has something to do with why I can’t see what you or fazalmajid posted.

Agreed, the stainless bezel of the Q8 is the most likely suspect. In fact it is really the only suspect really besides the edge of the lamp stand base.

But I’m bettin on the hard stainless Q8 bezel.

I’d say the bright side is that the ano is adhered so well that it had to be scraped off from the looks of it. I’ve seen ano chip off in chunks when done poorly.

That’s just a reflection on the aluminum (probably the FW3A box). It’s hard to shoot something that reflective.

Here are some shots with a macro lens, varying the position of the light source.

The lamp is an IKEA “Not” uplighter. Given IKEA quality, I suspect dropping popcorn on the lamp would dent it :slight_smile: The lamp base is completely covered by the white plastic shield, there’s no way the FW3A would have banged against it.

Agreed about the Q8 bezel. I had forgotten about it when I first posted. I would think a type III hard anodized surface would have bounced without too much damage. I tested that theory with a $15 UltraFire WF-502B red LED light I have lying around. I dropped it on the Q8 bezel from slightly higher than the FW3A dropped, and neither light suffered any damage.

As for the people who are having problems loading the images, I apologize, they are hosted on my own site, which has ultra-paranoid HTTPS/TLS security settings, so if you have an older browser or operating system it may not be able to negotiate. The images are on: Index of /images/blf/

It was probably a matter of just the right angle.

OK…. that rules out the lamp base then. :+1:

Had to be the Q8 bezel & the bad luck that the FW3A just happened to hit it just right. :frowning:

It might hit it again a hundred times & nothing happen.

Ah yep, I blame the Q8 bezel now too.

I know this is silly, but I actually enjoy things more once they get that first ding. Flashlights, knives, even watches, I am too worried about them when they are new. Once they get that first scar, I use them and enjoy them more.

Right, they’re tools, not jewelry (unlike Muyshondt flashlights that are jewelry but unfair for purpose as tools).

My FW3A with the SST 20’s arrived today. These are my ’first’ impressions…

  • Very nice tint.
  • Fit & finish is excellent.
  • One piece optic is OK, not bad at all; but I prefer the Carclo w/ glass lens.
  • Tail cap is screwed on super tight!! :open_mouth:
  • Switch is silent but super easy to activate. Personally I like the first ones much better. Not sure why they changed this. :open_mouth:
  • Less lumen output than XP-L HI
  • More heat than XP-L HI
  • Better CRI than XP-L HI . It does not to me. In this light, I would rather have the XP-L HI with a nice tint than the SST-20 with a nice tint, for the reasons listed above.
    Glad I got the SST-20 since it has/had the nice tint & the XP-L HI 3D tints in mine basically suck. :smiley:

Those are my ’first impressions’. More later if anything else becomes apparent.

I think some people complained about the switch being to easily accidentally activated so lumenstop redesigned it to make it even worse :laughing:

For me, I don’t notice the change in activation much but it feels a lot better. I love the SST20. I don’t have a xpl-hi version. Everybody says it’s hotter. Does that mean you can hold the xpl an extra 10 seconds on turbo or at the top of the ramp? What are we talking about here in real terms?

The one I had ,10 seconds would’ve been a luxury.

Comparing my first units & this one…. that is exactly what happened Nev. :person_facepalming: . :smiley:

Maybe the design requires higher precision that is possible at this price point? I don’t know, just wondering. On a related note, who creates the blueprint files for projects like this?

Nev, there’s no ugly green tint from your example sst20 ?

I had XPLHI , after a short time it did develop a blue tinge to it, but that was after one led went bad & started to smoke , but before that it was ok for a warmish or neutral or whatever just under 5000k is ,with no green more of a yellowy white.
Another new colour I’ve invented :smiley:

Never heard of that happening before. XPL-HI is normally extremely tolerant of hi current.