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

[charwinger21]

@Firelight2

To be fair, Lumintop delivered what was requested for the Group Buy.

Any changes they make after the group buy is done is up to them.

None of the SST-20 group buy lights have shipped yet.

[Coscar]

It would be nice if Neal could provide a date when these changes started and if it actually applies to orders made before the changes were known. I dont think it should be “okay” for them to make changes to what we ordered.

[Firelight2]

@Coscar

It would be nice if Neal could provide a date when these changes started and if it actually applies to orders made before the changes were known. I dont think it should be “okay” for them to make changes to what we ordered.

Agreed. All orders placed before Lumintop changed the decscription on the order page to remove glass lens really ought to ship with the glass lens plus Carclo optic. Hopefully this change will only apply to orders after Lumintop announced the change.

[teacher]

@Firelight2

@Coscar

It would be nice if Neal could provide a date when these changes started and if it actually applies to orders made before the changes were known. I dont think it should be “okay” for them to make changes to what we ordered.

Agreed. All orders placed before Lumintop changed the decscription on the order page to remove glass lens really ought to ship with the glass lens plus Carclo optic. Hopefully this change will only apply to orders after Lumintop announced the change.

Hopefully…. time will tell I guess.

I imagine Neal is as surprised & disgusted by this change Lumintop decided upon as most of us are.

I feel bad for Neal that Lumintop placed him in the lurch like this. It sux.

[xevious (Gary)]

@BlueSwordM

Yep.

Not only is an all plastic optic+lens combo much more scratch prone, but the problem with the sapphire optic is that it’s less optically efficient than glass ones.

While an AR glass lens might achieve 98-99+ optical efficiency, a sapphire one might only get 90-92.

That’s quite the lumen loss.

I wonder if Neal can also offer a standard AR tempered glass in addition to the sapphire AR one? They exist, as they’re on the original… unless they were custom cut.

@Firelight2

While I would prefer the glass lens+carclo optic combo, I’ll happily order even with the new optic.
Fortunately, I already have a supply of Carclo 10507 optics and compatible AR-coated glass lenses from flashlightlens.com.

Closest I could find on that site is 22.61mm x 1.90mm. There’s also a 22.61mm x 0.95mm, which I guess could be useful for adding a GITD o-ring. There’s also a Borofloat Lens option too… which is similar to Pyrex with better clarity, but has a 5% transmittance loss over UCL.

[raccoon]

I wasn't so sure this thread would someday hit 15,000 posts...

But with self-inflicted controversies, anything is possible!

[Lick]

You're "only" 11971. I doubt it will reach that number. Did you mean 10k?

[raccoon]

No, with controversies like this, I believe 15k posts will be inevitable.

[teacher]

Agreed…. only 3026 to go also.

“Lens Gate” will be good for many, many extra posts. .

As will ’Color Gate’, ’Material Gate’, and any other pending ’Gate’ that may arise.

[Lick]

And if we continue to clutter it ;)

But looks like the coupon is gone, maybe lumintop just wanted to make the agreed amount of the flashlights for the price? I hope that I can get a rosy 219c instead of the SST20. Seems like they at least choose good bins.

[contactcr]

@teacher

Agreed…. only 3026 to go also.

“Lens Gate” will be good for many, many extra posts. . :+1:

As will ’Color Gate’, ’Material Gate’, and any other pending ’Gate’ that may arise.

I look forward to Gate Gate when they switch to a knockoff FET

[teacher]

@contactcr

@teacher

Agreed…. only 3026 to go also.

“Lens Gate” will be good for many, many extra posts. . :+1:

As will ’Color Gate’, ’Material Gate’, and any other pending ’Gate’ that may arise.

I look forward to Gate Gate when they switch to a knockoff FET

Yeah, all this is potentially bad enough…… but that will be the ‘icing on the cake’… :person_facepalming:

[iamlucky13]

@contactcr

@teacher

Agreed…. only 3026 to go also.

“Lens Gate” will be good for many, many extra posts. . :+1:

As will ’Color Gate’, ’Material Gate’, and any other pending ’Gate’ that may arise.

I look forward to Gate Gate when they switch to a knockoff FET

Will that be before or after ditching 18650 support in favor of this tech…
https://www.hydralight.com/

…leading to Watergate. :smiling_imp:

[deleted-200707]

I don’t think we count as much as we’d like.
This item is pimped everywhere.

[teacher]

@iamlucky13

Will that be before or after ditching 18650 support in favor of this tech…
https://www.hydralight.com/

…leading to Watergate. :smiling_imp:

… Good one, I’ve never seen that before…

[teacher]

@chinooker

I don’t think we count as much as we’d like.
This item is pimped everywhere.

I think your probably right…… . :+1:

[BT100]

lumintop just made my decision between a FW3A and D4 much easier. FW3A is being downgraded, D4 is being upgraded.

[saypat]

both worthy of possessing…

[BlueSwordM]

Nah.

Only one is worthy.

One is making upgrades.
The other is downgrades.

IMO, they should’ve just kept the glass, and changed the optic, while telling us about the change.

There’s a much bigger difference between a worse design vs a change of part that doesn’t change much.

[JasonWW]

@xevious

Excellent point made about Lumintop not having to do any of the design engineering for this light. They were given the blueprints already complete.

I believe Lumintop had to do a lot of design engineering and make their own blueprints. I doubt they copied Fritz’s measurements and tolerances precisely. They probably used his light as inspiration, but basically designed it all new (body/machining wise).

@xevious

Naturally, they make less money because of the design licensing.

What licensing? Between Fritz and Lumintop? I don’t believe there was any mention of such a thing. If there was, I missed it.

@cabfrank

I guess Lumintop quickly forgot how much effort and development was put in to this project, at no cost to them.

I don’t think you are realizing just how much effort and money Lumintop also put into this project. It’s not fair to say they were “gifted” the design and they only had to “make” it. It’s like I design a car and hand it to Ford and say “Make this”. It’s not that simple, it’s very complicated. Ford has to figure out all the nitty gritty details like fit, finish, tolerances, prototyping, testing, etc…

I think the only thing Lumintop did not have to work on was Anduril, because ToyKeeper worked on it for them.

So it was truly a group effort. Not many manufacturers will even work with forums since we are such a pain in their butt with so many demands, etc…

Still, I can’t defend this last minute optic design change. They should say the problem they are having, for example maybe their supply of Carclo lenses is getting low and Carclo can not keep up demand. So an example to remedy this is to have a different company make a custom lens. They should ask us if this is acceptable before just doing it. Maybe it is only about lowering production costs, I don’t really know. The way they did it with no warning (kinda) and no explanation of why is surely going to upset many people and lose sales.