Iâd buy a few more. The only change Iâd want is a keychain hole. There are plenty of other multi-mode lights and the clean simplicity with good CRI is what makes this one so appealing
If this light can go out of stock for the 3rd consecutive GB and still has high demand, why not just go balls to the wall mass production of 10k+ units and drive the price down to under $5, meanwhile get companies to buy them in bulk with company engraving for internal door gifts and lucky draws to make it more viable.
Iâd love to pick up one or more of these. I really like the Nichia tint and CRI, and a small edc that doesnât chew holes in my clothing would be awesome. I like single mode personally, and Iâll second the interest in a AA version as well.
While it wonât be nearly as small as a â348 or even an AA version of same, what was on my to-do list was a modded minimag (2ĂAA) with 800mA boost driver and â219 emitter. An aspheric is some great flood, but the limited output of the â219 spread across that big of an area leaves intensity very wanting, so a nice TIR would fit the bill instead.
While minimag shorties are kinda funny-looking (they definitely looked âchopped offâ given the location of the knurling), a smaller version of that would be ideal. An AA version of the â348 sounded perfect to me. Twisty or clicky, donât care.
So hey, if anyoneâs going to come out with a 1ĂAA 1-mode â219 flashlight, definitely let me know! Christmas is a-coming!
Nah, IMHO the A01 is a totally different light (I own both), MUCH warmer tint LED, Twisty head mode selector (I HATE that!).
The neutral rosy tint of the original BLF 348 Nichia LED is just PERFECT, it´s the best light I own in terms of CRI and color, even among all the Nichia lights I have. The Astrolux S41 Nichia comes close, but not 100%, and the A01 LEd is just too warm for my taste, it´s almost yellowâŚ
I´d take another original BLF 348 when it gets EXACTLY the same LED again. But the light would be perfect for me with the following changes:
- a little more grippable surface (the stainless steel body is just too slippy)
2 Mode driver (switch): keep the nice reverse clicky switch, but add one 10% mode selectable by short click
But that would ruin the design thoughâŚ
I like it because itâs just a pretty piece of stainless steel pipe.
(I prefer them without the brand on them).
I looked up the specs, I didnât know it had 5000k. I love my 4500k, but that is a significant difference. Iâll take the modes over this though, if it had the modes Iâd love it just as much or more!
Must say though, as a gift to ânormal peopleâ (lol) just one mode is perhaps better, because they want light to see something and itâs either on or off, simple and functional.
If this A01 was a 1-mode critter (twisty, after all!), Iâd buy the whole rainbow of âem. Yeah, even for an AAA light.
I love the sealed-back design. Aside from the front glass, thatâs only 1 weak point now, and thatâs where the head screws onto the tube. One less point of water ingressâŚ
For EDC, sure, get a jack-of-all-trades (and master of none) flashlight what all kinds of modes, no worries. For a simple keychain light? On/off is usually plenty. If you want moonlight in the middle of the night, by the time you flip through all the other modes, youâre already night-blind.
I have so many âspecial-purposeâ lights that are 1-mode only. The most high-rel lights are 1-mode only. 7135-based lights have parallellism in their favor (no ÂľC to go mental on you), and simple resistored-DD lights are even simpler at the expense of current-regulation (ie, light drops off as the cell is discharged).
I only use âmodesâ when Iâve got other lights to back me up. That light I can afford to be a JOAT as far as brightness, but the beam is still the exact same across all modes.
Thatâs why for most ânormal peopleâ, Iâll recommend a zoomie, even though I generally dislike âem (except if the moveble head were welded into a permaflood position). But for muggles, yeah, zoomies give âem that range from flood to batsignal, dim to bright.
But for those who canât handle even that, who view those with disdain, who want a simple on/off just like their plastic-tube glass-bulb 2ĂD drugstore special, hey, give âem what they want.
I know someone who doesnât seem to remember that lights can have modes, and whoâll leave the light on whatever mode it was last in, and doesnât/canât figure that it can be changed brighter/dimmer. People like that, theyâll be disgruntled that the damned light is so dim and good for $#$#&! (Nevermind that itâs stuck in moonlight mode.)
The grey oneâs not bad but the other colors donât do anything for me. It also just doesnât have the same sexiness that the BLF 348 has. But it does have the modes and the lanyard hole. The other drawback for me is that it is a twisty, I prefer a clicky, forward if possible.
BTW: For those of you Cu freaks, they do have a copper version as well.