Okay, I put a XP-L HD 3D into this FW1A to see how it looks. At the 1x7135 level, this is what I measured:
Before (XP-L HI 1A):
138.2 lm
3120 cd
22.58 cd/lm
After (XP-L HD 3D V6):
151.9 lm
1648 cd
10.85 cd/lm
So it increased lumens to about 110% and cut throw to about 53%. It’s still a spot+spill beam pattern, but the spot is bigger as expected. It also increased the Cree rainbow effect, so the hotspot is relatively warm and the spill area is relatively cold.
Due to the way throw works, the estimated throw in meters on turbo is now about 76% of where it was originally. It went down from ~336-ish meters to ~255 m… or ~28 kcd to ~16 kcd. That’s not a huge amount higher than the FW3A’s 12.5 kcd, but it accomplishes this with a fraction as much power.
Just received my FW1A and I like the beam, I don’t think is too narrow. It’s not a big spill but it doesn’t feel uncomfortable for walking. If I need flood I have the FW3A, I prefer the FW1A to throw as much as possible
Measured 1400lm and 368m (34000cd) with VTC6 battery, impressive!!
It’s still a FET light designed to be as light weight as possible. Without cooling and on full turbo all 3 of my FWxA lights have a drastic step down within the first minute, as expected.
The sustainable level should be pretty similar to FW3A, but it throws a lot farther at that level.
As for the initial ramp-down, it probably happens a bit later and a bit slower, but I expect it’ll still be less than a minute. I probably should have measured that before modding it…
Thank you for even doing all that you do for us. It does make me think when I pick up a light what to do after clicking it on. I have bistro, ramping two versions and Anduril at least two versions. Thanks.
Chris
I got some DC-Fix like material from Boaz’s DC-Fix thread that should mimic an elliptical optic. I haven’t actually tried it yet, though. Might be an option:
I for one like the gray aluminum. It allows for no guilt when carrying a light and it gets scratched, dropped or otherwise boogered up. I have several copper, brass and titanium lights that I don’t carry for fear of damaging them.
I hope the FW1A sticks around, because it’s a good design. But it doesn’t have a list of literally thousands of people waiting to buy it like the FW3A did, so I don’t expect it will be as popular or have as many flavors.
Plus, many of us now have quite a few FW3As so it’s difficult to justify buying more. I’m at the point where I have a whole line-up to choose from when I want a light… can be hard to decide between purple 3D, bare 3D, grey 219B, grey 5A, copper SST-20, purple 219C, and FW1A. Plus, of course, all the other lights on my desk…
Steel can be pretty nice, as long as weight isn’t importand and the LEDs inside aren’t turned up too high.
In a FW3A, I’m guessing a steel version would probably regulate down to the regulation floor, and then mostly just stay there. Steel is good at keeping the heat in, so the highest sustainable level is probably just a couple hundred lumens.