You’re still on time to catch this “train”, don’t worry 
Welcome back!
Yeah nobody will be late for this one for sure…
+1 
I am interested in two of these.
Welcome to BLF. :laughing:
You’ll see your name on the next update.
Hello All,
BLING BLING BLUE BLING !
After reading the preliminary report of the soon to be released upgraded Emisar D4S, I’m absolutely thrilled at the addition of the BLUE “find me” marker LEDs surrounding the main LEDs.
Since tritium is so expensive, GITD fades so quickly, would it be feasible to copycat/incorporate the blue marker design inside the head of the FW3A? To easily locate the light in dark conditions?
I would die happy (hopefully) if it were a possibility....
here is a link
.....and another idea..... following the same “upgrade path” ideas from the Emisar D4 (18650) to the upcoming D4S (26650 cell)
a slightly larger version that optimally fits the excellent Samsung 48G 4,800 mAh 21700 cell for at least a 50% runtime increase over 18650s , while minimizing/avoiding a size/weight penalty of a much larger 26650 cell...
im a monster runtime fanatic and this would put a permagrin on my face...
Can you explain what your refering to? Maybe a link?
Exactly, Mascaratum B, (great many thanks for the assist !!)
the Blue (look cyan to my eye) “auxiliary” LEDs inside the Emisar D4S! It’s a fantastic idea IMHO.
Similar in concept to a lighted tailcap switch, an always-on option for locating the light in the dark.
Here is the link, witness the first photo...
https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/52204
http://toykeeper.net/torches/emisar-d4s/full/auxleds-direct.jpg
Okay, thanks. I hadn’t heard of the D4S. No one sent me the weekly newsletter of all the new models. Lol
So many projects happening at the same time, it’s hard to keep it up with all of them :weary: :person_facepalming:
Lol
Hum, that would be nice, probably…but please let’s put this first 18650 project out of the factory 
Then it would be nice to have the different versions (copper, TI, …) and some 1 led versions and also the 18350 versions… There are so many ideias to explore for this project further! But now, let’s cross fingers for this 18650 version to be out :+1:
Jason WW,
First much gratitude and respect for your active (leadership) role in a diversity of projects here. IMHO you are a strong and valued asset to the BLF community and deserve recognition as such. I applaud your contributions and efforts. I’m very grateful for MascaratumB for catching my reference, otherwise the point of my post would have been missed.
Emisar added 2 major design elements to their evolutionary upgrade from the D4 to the D4S, most notably the BLUE marker always on find me LEDs inside the head and a larger body to incorporate a huge 26650 cell in place of the D4 18650 cell.
Since it has been so long since original concept to build, it is a very appealing idea to follow Emisar’s lead and introduce the same upgrades, perhaps as a separate model,
[FW3B perhaps, B For Blue, Bigger Battery]
Thank you for all that you have done, and continue to do for the BLF community.
Cheers
I’d be interested in 1 please.
Thanks. Been around CPF for … a long time … and happened across this a few weeks ago, finally signing up.
Cool. Got a feel for how volunteer efforts go so I’m patient.
Already mid-August and this light still isn’t ready for production.
I wonder if these will ship before the end of the year. Seems to be awfully slow.
Sho nuff, but Lumintop has been pretty busy. They recently released the ODF30, the ODL20C, GT Mini and GT70. I’m guessing they may not have a lot of resources right now to work on the FW3A. It seems like once they devote some people to it, the project is capable of moving very quickly.
We are approaching the busy season in China. I also hope we can get these lights this year.
Hey, if I was in Lumintop HQ the FW3A would not be my first priority…
Look : the GT is a best-seller but is quite pricey for the average flashaolic… so what do we do ? We make a MINI GT, which has nothing revolutionary, a basic FET driver with a free firmware, an XP-L HI, a SMO reflector and VOILA a nice pocket thrower with a familiar design so everyone wants it…
OTHO, the FW3A gives us some problem because, you know, it’s a bit tricky to make an insulated aluminum tube that doesn’t wear with time…
Anyway, I’m sure I’m not the only one who is annoyed by all this waiting time…
I might end NOT buying it because the novelty has faded…
I just wonder if all those lights have a +1500 (near 2000?) interests list on them, or eventually a close number of buyers…
I do see they have to match the competition of other brands, but…almost 2000 units (despite it’s cheap price) must mean something!!
I am sure that the hundred thousands of people that participates on forums and watches YouTube flashlight’s reviews would be interested in having something like the FW3A!
Just my point!
Used to work for a small manufacturer as a designer. We did short runs of our parts in house - mostly prototypes and high-urgency components - but mostly bought from machine shops and sheet metal houses. I was quite frequently reminded that as many hours as I would put into designing and documenting a part as a design drawing, a vendor would then have to put a similar effort into a production drawing specific to their equipment, run prototypes, then optimize their own workflow so as to balance setups verses delivery schedules. As a smaller outfit, we ended up back of the line and/or buying larger quantities than were ideal at times just to get parts made at all or with a predictable delivery date.
I don’t know what Lumintop’s production volumes are like, but I suspect that a run of ~2000 is on the low end for a custom design with so many unknowns relative to their own doubtlessly higher-volume products.
Then again, I only heard about the FW3A about two months ago and signed up … yesterday … so I’ve not been anticipating for anywhere near as long as everyone else.