[BLF Joint-Development] WildTrail BLF Tactical Flashlight

[reserved]

Looks like another BLF Special in the works :slight_smile:

Please make a better clip

Thank you for taking on this project.

I would like to be on the interest list for 2 units.

USB charging in threads is a great idea.

Forward clicky (momentary on) tail switch is essential for a tactical flashlight.

21700 support is preferable.

Please make a “deep carry” pocket clip so the tail does not stick our of one’s pocket. Also, please make it reversible.

And of course… hi CRI led options.

My suggestions:

- 21700 is good.

- I hope no Anduril since this has a dual switch already. Anduril is a flashlight enthusiast UI and everytime a muggle uses it, they always end up in some blinking modes. I prefer simple UI. Rear button to turn on in the last mode. Click side swith to change modes.

- Add more surface area with deeper fins. What made D80v2 so special to me is the deep functional finning. The heat shedding is phenomenal especially when outdoors with a little night breeze.

- I hope the threads can turn with ease without grease. My experience with flashlights with usb ports built in the thread is that the greased thread is a dirt magnet. I love USB-C recharge though so hope this feature will stay.

- Maybe try a SST-70 emitter in there but not sure if driver will be too expensive. I would be willing to pay the price though since it is as bright as the XHP50.2 and throws farther than the XHP35.

I think this light needs something special to set it apart from the crowd as right now it doesn’t look like anything that can’t be had in existing lights. IMO a major area of improvement would be a UI specifically designed around the two button interface. Having one for off-on and the other for changing modes is annoying as you need to switch grips all the time and doesn’t add new functionality. Anduril and Narsil work fine with one button and I don’t see a clear way to beneficially incorporate a second button.

My idea is allow the user to customize the functionality of each switch. So for example I could have the side switch activate Anduril while the tail switch has a simple l-m-h suitable for handing to non enthusiasts. Or you could market it to the tactical crowd with a ramping UI on the side switch and high-only or strobe-only on the tail switch. I realize writing such a UI would require a lot of work and it would be complicated to implement the configuration options, but I think it could really put this light above the competition.

Are you ok with all the hours that you spend with BLF? It will not be the first time that someone spends too much of his life here, with too many obligations, and suddenly collapses.

That said, I think this design looks nice but also not different from other tactical lights out there (not neccessarily a bad thing, tactical people may have conservative minds :wink: ) . For me for it to be attractive is that it is smaller than the other “tactical” lights, i.e. the Jetbeam Jet IIM is huge for a 18650 flashlight, and a large size is by no means a neccessity for building a tough light.

The design look good to me but only in 21700 .

Tactical and sophisticated UI don’t go together in my head.
Potted?

I agree with /u Random Dan that the light needs something to set it apart. And although I’m enthousiast, I like “muggle” UI as a default. The other thing is the design. It’s not only conservative, it’s outdated. I’d like a sleek, minimalist design and some very clever, innovative solution for heat dissipation. USB charging is nice but must be USB-C. But to me, this design makes it “meh”.

This :slight_smile:
For a tactical UI how about boot switch turns on in last mode so it can provide simple on/off switching (like the C8F), side switch is press on/press off, press and hold to ramp up, and again to ramp down.
Will probably get shot down but anything more complicated is not tactical or intuitive.

And this! Make sure you look after yourself, the more intensely you function the easier it is to hit a bottleneck which causes everything to collapse in on itself.

I find the design rather pleasant, bit similar to Klarus XT series, Acebeam L16 or the Jetbeam JET IIIM, which are tactical classics. Support for 21700 cells and the “shrouded” USB C charging would be great.

I would be willing to spend more cash if the light had the following:

- decent quality regulated driver for balance of power and runtime. Im not interested in those ridiculous “novelty items” that eat up battery in minutes while overheating to the point of self destruction. Preferably potted for high reliability.

- tank like built designed to withstand abuse especially drops, shocks and humidity

- anti roll design so you can lay it down anywhere and lanyard hole

- 21700 tube that accommodates any cell thickness, tired of guessing games whether rewraps fit or only OEMs

- responsive switches with no mushy feelings

  • customizable UI, potentially allowing to use rear switch as dedicated for turbo - similar to L16

In for 2!

21700 please and tail sw for just Flash-and-dash situations, having 2 with the same function risk of getting smtg messed up is high

  1. I like the basic look of the initial draft design so far.
  2. I’d prefer 21700 size.
  3. I like the USB-C charge port in the threads.
  4. I don’t like crenelated bezels. If the bezel is to be crenelated, I’d like it as low profile as possible.
  5. I agree with others about the clip. A good sturdy deep-carry clip would be worth having. Anything else is garbage and a waste of money.

With dual button interface, there is plenty of room for creativity. I would like to see the advanced features being only available from the side e-switch. Perhaps the side e-switch can be locked out by default at all times, and the bottom switch can be single mode on/off. The single mode’s level would be assigned by the side e-switch, using last-mode memory. Every time the bottom switch is turned off, the side e-switch would become locked again, so the bottom switch can be used for momentary (forward clicky). Or maybe there could be a delay after turning it off with the bottom button, using brown-out detection, so if you turn it back on in a short period of time, it will not have locked out the e-switch yet. After the delay, to use the side e-switch, it would have to be unlocked with the assigned series of presses (“four clicks” I believe with Andúril). Also, the light can be turned off electronically, and it will then continue to be operable like any other e-switch light. I think if it was set up this way, it would allow using the light either as a tactical light or as an advanced-feature-set light, and the two wouldn’t interfere with each other.

To my knowledge, Anduril can’t really do dual e-switch (as the underlying FSM does not support it - TK might correct me on this and everything else I say on this topic). Getting Anduril to support it might be some work. Andurils is meant for single-switch lights. If you don’t opt for dual e-switch but the one in the back is a regular one you won’t have a light with two independent switches and the rear one is only for on/off + some auxilary function. This would be possible with FSM though (but is also not part of Anduril afaik) - example: ~toykeeper/flashlight-firmware/trunk : contents of ToyKeeper/spaghetti-monster/werner/README at revision 249

I personally would prefer something more in the XT2CR/M2R size category (potentially even shorter, around 11cm would be great). I don’t need USB-C port necessarily.

But honestly… designwise it seems like a 1:1 rip-off of the XT11GT. Literally every element is copied. And it’s obvious because you even copied the two different cuts in the tailcap. In the XT11GT one is for the main switch, the other,m steeper one for the paddle, which does not make any sense if you only have a single button. But as you wrote, it’s just a first drawing, so I am interested to see the final product.

I don’t care for 21700 size and that clip. Deep carry clip would be better, I can live with or without USB onboard charging not major factor for me.

Anduril maybe too complicated but ramping would be awesome to have, may be UI like the sofirn sp32 v2 ?

Two light Groups:
Group 1—-multi-modes: ECO (5lm) / Low (50lm) / Med (160lm) / High (500lm); double clicks for Turbo(1300 lm); Triple click for Strobe (1300lm)
Group 2—-Ramping: from 5 lumen to 1300 lumen; double click for Turbo (1300lm); Triple click for Strobe (1300lm)
Change From Group 1 to Group 2: hold& press the switch for 3 sec on any modes, 2 blinks confirm success.

FSM works pretty well with a rear fwd switch it will turn on in the last used mode and you can signal with it and everything. It wont change modes or anything though.

Looks promising!

(I'm not a fan of side switches, but I doubt that will be changed.)

I prefer that the tail switch be used as an on/off only and the side switch as mode selection. Low to read in the car. Medium for casual search ie “I dropped my keys buy the car” and with a traffic cone. High for building searches. Turbo for woods and parking lots. Fifth mode strobe. 21700 great. Cree XHP-50.2 3v might need looking at, at 6 amps. I don’t need to see 400 yards away but I do need a lot of spill to fill that room or alley way side to side. Slight flared tail cap to help hold into a leather holster. Don’t be stingy on weight. A little extra mass goes a long way in durability and cooling. Double o-ring very much appreciated. Real tactical lights need to be very simple because we’ve got other things going on.

Astrolux FT01/Mateminco TK01 comes really close for me but not all of the modes are tail switch accessible. The charging port while a nice idea, when the rubber plug fails it becomes a water and crap magnet. Your plan to place it under the threads is great. It’s o-ring protected. Please pot everything to waterproof and hold into place. I’ve had a few charging port break off. USB-C charge port so I can plug it in the dark. No charging port to keep things simple would be my first choice.

I’ve never seen S.O.S. or beacon modes used in real life. For mode changing in full tacticool setup place the flashlight head into your leg. Turn on and mode select until you got the right one.

If the side switch will not turn on the flashlight, then that's a side switch I can get behind.