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

Good point…. :person_facepalming: . :+1: . :wink:

I would personally prefer to be able to use the clip on a cap, or remove it, so I hope it is not glued. If it is glued, I will use it with the clip as is, and be fine with it.

I assume you don’t wear caps with a duck bill?

There are different categories of meteorite depending on their composition.

The one above is an iron meteorite, composition as follows:

91,8% Fe; 7,7% Ni; 0,5% Co; 0,04% P; 2,4 ppm Ir; 1,97 ppm Ga; 0,111 ppm Ge

So mostly iron with a bit of nickel. If I remember correctly, these are likely to represent the core of large planetary bodies - the space material which has undergone differentiation (light stuff floats to top, heavy sinks to bottom leading to compositional stratification). Not too disimilar to earth - iron-nickle core and ‘scummy’ crust floats ontop.

Wiki link to the meteorite this material came from:

Gibeon - Wikipedia*“:Gibeon - Wikipedia*(meteorite)

Sure got quiet I thought I might get either a “that’s a stupid idea because ……” or “thats a neat idea” or some response in between ……… I don’t know what to think…… maybe I AM missing something.

People were complaining about the off-topic noise, and there hasn’t been much on-topic news to share… so it got quiet.

Oh well, just to rekindle some interest. how about a photo of the ‘softer’ side of the fw3a:

!!

Here’s some on-topic noise. I just read the review of the recent prototype, which notes that the battery tube is not quite long enough to accommodate button-top cells.

Isn’t this a glaring oversight for a product that has been in development for so long, with several prototype stages already past? How difficult can it be to add 50 thousandths of an inch, so that another entire family of common cells can also be used?

I will be pretty disappointed to find this thing in production and still unable to accommodate the collection of high-drain cells I have accumulated for my D4, D1S, and Q8. I don’t want to have to maintain another special set of batteries for this one application.

Hmmm,I could be wrong, but I think this has been designed for flat tops since the beginning.

Proto2 worked fine with button-top unprotected cells. However, proto4 only fits flat-top unprotected cells. I think this is caused by the known issue with the driver being in the wrong spot, and it should be fixed by correcting the driver fit.

It’s supposed to fit like this… which is how both proto1 and proto2 were made:

… but proto4’s driver cavity wasn’t made quite big enough, so it ended up more like this:

I hope it’s clear from the diagram why this could cause issues with battery length. Restoring that part to how it was in earlier prototypes should fix it.

So it was always supppsed to support button tops. I didn’t know that.

Welcome to the world of lithium batteries where there are no standards when it comes to the physical size. :wink:

Unprotected flat top cells are recommended because button top may or may not fit. This was known information for many many months. In post #1 it says the maximum battery length is 66mm. If you have several button top cells then there is a chance some will fit and some won’t.

Unprotected flat tops, on the other hand, will all fit which is why they are recommended.

At first I thought you were talking about Bluzies review where a flat top battery did not fit, but that review was 3 weeks ago and was talked about here already.

What is this new review you speak of?

I don’t normally even buy button top cells. It is much easier to make a cell longer than it is to make it shorter. It would be nice if it fit both for the sake of those who don’t want to go monkeying around with their flat tops or, invested heavily in button tops.

The battery tube length is locked in. It’s a very narrow range of lengths due to the double tube design and both tubes have to have good contact for good functionality.

It’s quite possible Neal will offer the light with the option of a good flat top cell. I have zero concerns about the battery length.

Which “review” are you referring to?? Please provide a link. That information is not correct. The length of the battery tube was not the issue.
_

Nope, not a “glaring oversight” at all. See above & see TK’s detailed explanation quoted below outlining the suspected real problem.

_

Hopefully you will not have to deal with disappointment. Hopefully your particular accumulation collection of high drain cells will work just fine.
But, even in a worse case scenario (which seems extremely unlikely); the FW3A just holds one cell. So, in the very, very, very unlikely event of “worse case scenario”; hopefully you will be able to deal with the disappointment, get one or two cell that fit, & be at least moderately happy with the cool new FW3A. :+1:

Thanks for the illustration of where the real problem lies. I had not seen that diagram, and probably never would, due to the time required to read through 7400 posts. Just for the record, I’m not lazy - I did read every post in the D4 review before buying, and also every post (to date) in the D4S thread, though I haven’t bought that one yet.

The issue seems to be simply a matter of paying more attention to the size tolerance of the various parts, which hopefully the manufacturer will address before beginning production. But yes, it would still bother the heck out of me to see so much good work go into this project and then have the versatility crippled by poor manufacturing.

I would like to buy one.

arent all high drain batteries flat tops anyways stock `? i dont even own a flat top battery for my highdrain lights that takes just 1 battery.

Are you still not sure if I am serious or kidding? Since you didnt respond to my post explaining the cap clip, I was not sure if you just didnt understand what I was trying to do or maybe there was something wrong with the design that would keep it from working……… maybe it is a good design but without explanation your reply suggests otherwise.

All 18650’s from the big Japanese makers (Sanyo/Panasonic, Sony, Samsung and LG) are all flat top. Aftermarket companies add button tops to them.