KC1 keychain light is available now

I think the confusion is due to some test samples (don’t remember the source for them) sent to members being basically confirmed to be a different bin than they labeled as IIRC.

A few notes from my blue KR4 copy…

• The switch needs more travel to activate over my FW3A (gasket modded). It also feels & sounds a bit springy/grindy, especially on the edges, but works fine none the less. I will do some R&D to see if I can mod it in a similar fashion to the FW for a more consistent and stable feel.

• I chose a yellow tritium vial which works decent although it is quite dim like lower end watch hands. But still much better than the overpriced turboglow button switch and gasket on my FW3A which gasses out in minutes and is mostly unusable in pure darkness.

• Hank assured me my copy would be an FA3 iteration of the SST20 4000K. At first glance it looked quite neutral and devoid of greens throughout the ramp range. But after comparing it to my 219Bs, 219Cs, and other lights (going on 30+ now) I did notice a very slight tinge of green comparatively. Maybe I received an FD2 bin? Dunno. I used a 1/4 minus green filter and it has neutralized any green hues and I did not notice much OTF falloff in power. The beam pattern is a tad crunchy on these optics but only noticeable if you are up really close to a white all. Perhaps I need to do a DC Fix for a bit more blend or diffusion.

• Overall, the light feels a bit gritty out of the box but after several days of use it now feels quite smooth and grippy. I actually prefer the heft over my other 18650 lights, unlike most people, as it just feels more solid and likely able to absorb and dissipate heat better throughout the core.

• I was surprised that the Clip wasn’t as ghastly as it looked in pictures. It’s quite robust and geometric/modern looking. Pretty solid if you ask me. Personally, I prefer lanyards (which is included) so i switched to that setup.

Here are some awful crappy phone pics, including a corner beam shot with the minus green, that actually looks fairly close to IRL (to my old eyes at least). My ceiling is white and the wall is a basic gray.

NOTE: The KR4 color is more of a denim blue rather than the more muted cyan on the D4S models. I’ve seen many quoting they were “ready to order the cyan kr4” They are very different blues.

Cheers.



In reality from my testing and others, the FA3 is noticeably less green than the FD2 bins (less positive duv). It is still not rosy by any means except on turbo. But it is decent enough to not be annoying.

I haven’t seen a 219C 4000K below the BBL. Which 219C light did you compare it to?

I have 2 FW3As…an XPL HI 3D and a 219C 4000K as well as a MF01 219C 4000K as well as an EDC18 in the same guise…they all look very similar and somehow made the KR4 copy I received look a touch green. shrug I have a ton of different gels so it didn’t bother me much to add the minus green. Otherwise, in a vacuum, I’m sure for 90% of most flashaholics are fine with the way the KR4 performs out of the box. CRI babies nonwithstanding.

Here is a graph I screencapped from a poster in a past FW3A post…I don’t remember the poster name or when it was exactly…maybe can help everyone with some insight.

Any chance of the KR4 or similar battery/heat sink with a side switch?

Are there primers on the differences between the XPL Hi and HD?

Thanks!

The D4v2?

The HI is a factory dedomed version of the HD - HI has more throw, less lumens. The bin spec (V2, V3, V6, W2, etc.) is the rating of lumens output. The typically highest for a HI is V3, and for the HD V6. There are some V4 rated HI's, and W2 rated HD's around though.

Now an additional feature of the HI version is a smooth, nice beam - no yellow or green rings, consistent tint throughout. The XPL2's are almost exactly opposite with a terribly inconsistent beam.

I really like the newer HI V2 5D's, but even the V4 3C doesn't look bad. A 3C is typically towards the green side, but in a HI LED, dunno why but it looks pretty darn good. Think there are V2 3A's around as well. For CREE's, the A's and D's are always better than the B's and C's because they are less green.

This chart helps: https://flashlightwiki.com/images/c/cb/Ansi-white.jpg

That is interesting your 219C FW3A has such good tint. I tested one and saw DUV about 0.003

Those graphs are not mine. I screencapped it from a post in a FW3A post and don’t remember when or who posted it but, considering all tests are different, it does give a good relative comparison between those two emitters on the same equipment.

For me using the same equipment, the FW3A FD2 is rosier than the 219C 4000K and my Fireflies E07 FA3 is rosier than the FD2. The 219C seems to vary quite a bit between batches.

I did a non-scientific test and left both lights on top ramp of “muggle” for maybe 10 minutes. (FW3A 219C & KR4 SST20 4K) The FW3A was strangely piping hot…as if it was on turbo for over a minute. I changed to a fresh battery and cleaned the connectors but it seems to be doing the same thing. The KR4, on the other hand, was luke warm. Has anyone experienced this with the FW on 219Cs or is it simply an emitter, efficiency and driver situation?

I think mass is also an issue. The KR4 is a bigger light with more metal in it. Plus it has heat sink fins.

It simply has more mass that is better able to sink the heat at any output than an FW3A.

No instructions…
Going to try and figure out what aux leds do

Same purpose as in the Emisar D4V2.

The Aux LEDs are little multicolored LEDs under the bezel adjacent to the main LEDs. They can be configured to off or on. You can change the brightness and you can change the color. Uses for the aux LEDs:

  • can be used in place of trits to help locate the light when the main LEDs are off.
  • can be configured to battery voltage checker mode that lets you see at a glance how much power is left based on what color the aux LEDs are.
  • can be configured to show at a glance when electronic lockout is off.

Can you, or anyone, tell me how to remove the clip? I thought it would be accessible when I removed the tailcap, but there seems to be something else holding it in place. How do I get to it?

Sorry for the dumb question. I worry about damaging things when I poke around without knowing what I’m doing.

—Bob Q

There is a thin gasket that rests on top of the clip below the main rounder gasket, similar to the FW lights, so that it doesn’t slide around when screwed down. Just gently remove that first by rubbing it up against the threads and I found spinning (counter-clockwise) the clip up will get it off.

Yes, like the FW3 series there is a thin o-ring right above the clip.

In the FW3 series that o-ring is clear color, and it does not retain the clip when the tailcap is opened, because it does not have a slot. Instead its purpose is solely to prevent the clip from spinning when the light is fully assembled.

In the KR4, the o-ring above the clip is black and it has its own slot. Because it is in a slot, it prevents the clip from falling out. In my light, I dug a tweezers under the edge of that o-ring and then lifted it off. Once that o-ring is remove the clip falls right out.

Personally, I prefer the light without the clip. The softly fluted body tube feels great in the hand without the clip. I quite like that this light is so grippy.

Agreed…It feels more like a true universal utility light for all seasons rather than just an outright EDC, which it can still be used for of course.

I got mine today. Has anyone else noticed that moonlight is slower to respond than other Anduril lights? I suspect it’s the new driver, but it’s definitely different when you press and hold to start at moonlight.

Please try to do a factory reset. Yes, KR4 driver is different from the other 7135 based drivers.