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

[mundele]

Thanks for the Info teacher. Yes I appreciate Neal’s scramble, now that I know, but communication hasn’t been good. Posting here is great but an email to folks who placed orders would have been better. I don’t have time to follow a thread with 12,000 replies just in case an order I placed weeks ago might need attention. Anyway, no big deal in the end

[MascaratumB]

@bigtrav261

Got the 3 SST-20’s that I ordered for myself and two friends. Bodies are definitely a little bit darker than my XPL-HI. That, and the uncoated clip will actually help me to easily differentiate between the two, without having to mark one in some way. The buttons on two of the lights are as described by others. On the third, though, the button is like it is on my xpl. Guess they made the change some time during production of this batch. Maybe it’s because of the reduced output, but the SST-20s do not heat up nearly as fast on turbo vs the XPL-HI.

I switched out the new optics, and replaced them with the three optics from my YLP Gryphon G180. I haven’t been using it much, lately. And, it’ll be easier to replace them, now. Rather than having to get the replacements to my friends, later.

Left - original FW3A optic, Center - current FW3A optic, Right - optic from YLP Gryphon

Is there any possibility of showing us the different beams of the 3 lights? I would be interested in checking all of them. So far I only have the “older” version with Carclo + glass lens.

Thanks in advance!!

[WalkIntoTheLight]

@mundele

@teacher

@mundele

Should I consider this fraud and report it? Call my CC company?

:person_facepalming: … NO

So how long after placing an order with zero responses is appropriate then?

I usually wait about 30 seconds after placing an order. If I don’t have a tracking number by then, I call the police.

[teacher]

[Nev]

@WalkIntoTheLight

@mundele

@teacher

@mundele

Should I consider this fraud and report it? Call my CC company?

:person_facepalming: … NO

So how long after placing an order with zero responses is appropriate then?

I usually wait about 30 seconds after placing an order. If I don’t have a tracking number by then, I call the police.

That’s a bit harsh , I’d wait at least 3 days before I called the police.

[Henk4U2]

@Nev

@WalkIntoTheLight

@mundele

@teacher

@mundele

Should I consider this fraud and report it? Call my CC company?

:person_facepalming: … NO

So how long after placing an order with zero responses is appropriate then?

I usually wait about 30 seconds after placing an order. If I don’t have a tracking number by then, I call the police.

That’s a bit harsh , I’d wait at least 3 days before I called the police.

No-no-no, the first minutes are decisive. Call 911 as soon as you think ‘there is something rotten’.

[pieman7]

Props to Neal for handling this in a professional manner. His efforts are greatly appreciated! I’m confident that this will be worth the wait…

[contactcr]

I like to kid with people as much (or more than) the next person but feels like we are kind of being elitist to people not following a 409 page thread about their $30 light they expect to just ship without a big list of follow up crap to worry about. you shouldn’t need to be such an enthusiast just to purchase the light. lets reserve this judgement for people coming in wanting 6500K tints, protected battery support, tactical everything, strobes, and ugly ano color opinions during the design phase.

[BlueSwordM]

Yeah, that’s completely different.

We should make the process as simple and as seamless as possible.

The change that Lumintop did was unfortunate to say the least.

[mundele]

@contactcr

I like to kid with people as much (or more than) the next person but feels like we are kind of being elitist to people not following a 409 page thread about their $30 light they expect to just ship without a big list of follow up crap to worry about. you shouldn’t need to be such an enthusiast just to purchase the light. lets reserve this judgement for people coming in wanting 6500K tints, protected battery support, tactical everything, strobes, and ugly ano color opinions during the design phase.

Yes, this. Some of us have a day job.

[pennzy]

Don’t get me wrong , I like my FW3A but it is quirky now and then.

[Spiderlight]

My light with SST-20 is due to arrive tomorrow. Tracking the parcel on its way to Germany worked much better this time.

[raccoon]

@Macka17

O.S. Raccoon.

You worried about Longevity and falling over early.

Apart from accidents and diseases.
Look at the FEmale side of your family. MUM Gran.
And Maybe Great Gran.

YOU are their Genes.
and their ages, at falling over, naturally. Will give you an idea of YOUR potential of life.

Unfortunately apart from my mum at 98 yrs.
Going back 4 generations, mine all fell over on 3 figures.
I don’t want that long thank you. Toooo Farkin’old.

Most of my blood relatives, especially the women, lived to be 90 or older.

I don't mind living to be even older, as long as my quality of life is decent.

So there's a chance I'll live a good long time.

EDIT:

What's O.S.?

[Firelight2]

My SST-20 light is out for delivery! I hope it works and is not too green.

Also my shipment of Kaidomain triple-TIR optics arrived today. I hear these have a good beam pattern.

The legs are slightly thicker than Carclo optics and don’t fit in the holes in my Noctigon. I’ll have to wait till I get home to try them out. A few minutes with a small handfile should solve the problem.

[nobody]

Just out of curiosity (since my recently ordered light has not arrived) — If you have received a light with the silver clip, do you like it better than the black one?

i don’t remember seeing a good picture of it (not sure if the one on the website is a good representation). I am kinda fond of the black one that shipped with my original light.

[iamlucky13]

@mundele

Thanks for the Info teacher. Yes I appreciate Neal’s scramble, now that I know, but communication hasn’t been good. Posting here is great but an email to folks who placed orders would have been better. I don’t have time to follow a thread with 12,000 replies just in case an order I placed weeks ago might need attention. Anyway, no big deal in the end

One thing to keep in mind is this sort of situation is not uncommon with BLF group buys. Whoever is coordinating it often ends up dealing with thousands of orders and inquiries in a very short period of time, but without the systems in place that major online retailers have to automatically process orders, create shipping notices, forward tracking info, etc.

It’s often puzzling, and sometimes frustrating, especially if there’s a mistake or warranty issue, so patience is important. I’m pretty sure Neal tries to prioritize shipping orders and fixing mistakes above info inquiries, but I also know from these discussions that sometimes issues fall through the cracks and require followup.

[justanotherguy]

@contactcr

I like to kid with people as much (or more than) the next person but feels like we are kind of being elitist to people not following a 409 page thread about their $30 light they expect to just ship without a big list of follow up crap to worry about. you shouldn’t need to be such an enthusiast just to purchase the light. lets reserve this judgement for people coming in wanting 6500K tints, protected battery support, tactical everything, strobes, and ugly ano color opinions during the design phase.

Lol
You’re taking the wind out of a couple sails there

[Firelight2]

Received my SST-20 FW3A today.

Here are my preliminary impressions:

• Tint - WOW! Possibly the best high-CRI I’ve seen yet. Not greenish at all even on very low power. Maybe even a bit rosy. Reminds me of a 219B but with more vibrant reds due to higher R9. Much, MUCH better than my greenish tinted high-CRI SST-20 Emisar D4.

• Clip - Shiny steel clip looks nice. It matches the button better than the black clip did. I think the new clip looks better.

• Switch - Not quite sure what they changed. The switch on my SST-20 FW3A has slightly shorter travel distance, is much quieter, and requires less pressure to activate. I like the quieter operation, but don’t really like the reduced pressure needed to activate the switch. If it becomes a problem I may end up swapping tailcaps or maybe try adding an extra spring inside the switch to increase the required pressure.

• New Lumintop optic - as expected the new optic is very floody. I think it has a medium frosting on it compared to light frosting on the Carclo 10511. I don’t have a 10511 with me to directly compare though. I will probably swap this optic out for a different one and a lens tonight. As requested, I confirmed that my box did contain the stock lens for use with Carclo optic.

• Body color - new FW3A’s body is a tiny bit darker than my first run XPL HI version. They are super-close in coloration though. So close I think this is just minor variation between batches.

• Fit and Finish - no defects noticed. Worked fine out of the box with no need to tighten anything. Tailcap is still not glued, but was very tightly screwed to the body tube.

[bigtrav261]

@Lick

@bigtrav261

Got the 3 SST-20’s that I ordered for myself and two friends.

What is the tint like on them? What are the differences with it and xpl?

I like the tint on both very much. No green shift at any level on the sst. Best I can describe the overall tint is very halogen (incandescent)-like.

Left- XPL-HI NW, Right- SST20

[nobody]

• [quote=Firelight2] Received my SST-20 FW3A today. *+Here are my preliminary impressions+*: * *Tint* - WOW! Possibly the best high-CRI I've seen yet. 8^) Not greenish at all even on very low power. Maybe even a bit rosy. Reminds me of a 219B but with more vibrant reds due to higher R9. Much, MUCH better than my greenish tinted high-CRI SST-20 Emisar D4. * *Clip* - Shiny steel clip looks nice. It matches the button better than the black clip did. I think the new clip looks better. * *Switch* - Not quite sure what they changed. The switch on my SST-20 FW3A has slightly shorter travel distance, is much quieter, and requires less pressure to activate. I like the quieter operation, but don't really like the reduced pressure needed to activate the switch. If it becomes a problem I may end up swapping tailcaps or maybe try adding an extra spring inside the switch to increase the required pressure. . [/quote]

Thank you for that information!