[PART 1] Official BLF GT Group Buy thread. Group buy officially closed! Lights shipping.

That's exactly the reason for this link

Coyotehawk will add your name to his sign up list. You’ll see your name when he does the next update. It will be sometime mid January when you are emailed with the details of where to go and how to order.

You can also buy 8 of the Samsung 35E batteries for $40 at the same time as you buy the light. No sign up necessary for those. There are plenty of batteries in stock.

Welcome to BLF.

You are already on the list for one light.

R/C I didn’t see a link.

same here alex
seems mine is a tad under driven also
i get 240 all day long on my tn42
both my gt lights get exactly 200, every single time
same xhp35, both lights very deep reflectors
i would rather mine be a tad over driven, and have to back it off manually, when the heat got a tad strong

Search Google for "Universal Grab Handle"

I think this type of handle would be the best for the application. Anti-scratch, adjustable, universal for other throwers, easily stowed flat, comfortable...etc. YMMV

There is more info in this link.

Maybe it was discussed before, but let me ask, for the people that already have the GT…

Where is the balance point (Center of mass) in the GT?

With 4 cells at the rear, it is at the switch. Maybe the back half of the switch.

I would guess that with 8 cells it would be right at the blf gt logo.

The LED in the GT is overdriven already. It is run at 2.5A in turbo which is about as high as is practical before rapidly diminishing returns.

You could swap the sense resistor and raise it to 3A if you really wanted but you would only gain a small amount for the first little bit until the LED heated up.

The biggest reason for the lower readings then other lights is that the GT is using a Neutral white 4000k emitter vs the CW ~6500k emitter in most other lights.

The lux meters we use are biased to the cooler white range and will artificially inflate those numbers.

The stock LED is a D4 bin. The highest bin that Cree lists in the data sheet is E2, which is 1 bin above D4. Or about 7% higher output. So 7% higher is about the most you can expect with another LED, everything else should be the meter bias.

Ceiling bounce is not a very good way to judge lumen output, its not going to be very accurate

This is another point, the concentrated beam of the GT could also effect the way the light bounced and cause less light to reflect at all, skewing your readings further.

Basically the LED in the GT is driven as hard as is practical for a production light, harder then most other lights, including the tn42 (it is driven at 2.25A IIRC). So you won’t get much more out of another LED, I wish we could. The only real improvement is going with an E2 bin LED for a 7% improvement. Which we could not source for the GT due to a shortage of NW E2 LED’s.

R/C I googled it and bing kept coming up.

which handle did you have in mind?

Im number 1186 on the list. I would like to order a 2nd one if possible. Thanks

Two posts. Two GT’s. That’s an amazing track record so far.

that looks perfect!
wonder it the threads will match up ?

Damn, I’m going to regret joining this forum real soon ( I got my first LED flash light only ~ 2 months ago, a brand new old stock TN32, got me addicted to LED flash lights already :smiley: ). Please put me down for a 2nd GT ( even if I didn’t get the first one yet :smiley: ), I should be already in the list somewhere around the position number 11xx .

PS: Happy New Year to everybody ! I wish everybody and their close ones to be healthy, the rest is bonus :smiley:

A happy and healthy 2018 right back at you sunfire!

Yeah, there are no membership fees on this site, but it will still cost you some money from FAD (flashlight acquisition disorder).

Sorry BrianK, I was working on an animation.

The search was a "general" search for a velcro strap-type, that wraps around the battery tube at two points. Mainly as ideas from products made for other things. If you look at the images there are universal grab handles available that are used in off-road vehicles, as grab handles. They are adjustable for 2"-3" diameters, and would wrap nicely on the battery tube of the GT, I think.

My idea may not be for everyone. I was merely trying to help find what's readily available, and share my findings.

EDIT, Your search is done through "Bing". I searched through "Google". When you search for Universal Grab Handle, check images to see what's available.

This is a Universal Grab Handle. There are many types and styles available.

That makes sense to me. Thanks. I found it impressive that i still hit 1.2 million cd even with a NW emitter. I wonder what it would read with a led closer to cool white. my meter is crazy bias to cool white leds for measuring throw. but i LOVE the NW emitter so ill leave it as is. That is till i can get a CFT 90 in there. 5000 lumens and 1.6 ish million cd sounds amazing(just a guess). it wont be cheap but if a driver can be made for it to drive it to its max potential im all in.

Back home from the holiday and I got to take my light out. Man this is the brightest beam I have seen. I have a nice light on my boat but this thing is crazy! I have two questions for the group.

What is the life expectancy of the LED?

Has anyone figured the illuminated circle diameter at a given distance?

Thanks