Good to hear! 
Excellent news!
Additions to the interest list since post number 1202
Post# / Added / User Name
1214 / 10/04/2021 / el_duderino
1214 / 10/04/2021 / el_duderino
1217 / 10/05/2021 / DM beamshots
1220 / 10/09/2021 / magicman
Interested.
interested in a 2nd one (#27).
If the inner diameter of the battery tube could be slightly larger (about half a millimeter greater which is about 20 thousandths of an inch) than the typical 21700 battery tube, then battery cages that hold three AAA batteries in series could fit with adequate clearance and function.
It would be beneficial to have the option to use Alkaline, Lithium Primary or NiMH AAA batteries in an emergency even though they do not perform as well as Li-ion batteries.
One safety concern would be if someone accidentally used the light's built-in charging port (designed for Li-ion chemistry) while the light contained Alkaline or Lithium Primary AAA batteries.
I am not sure how the light's built-in charging port would function with three NiMH AAA batteries in series, but since charging terminates at ~4.2 VDC and 4.2 / 3 = 1.4 VDC across each battery, it seems unlikely that any single battery would be over-charged (they probably would be under-charged) unless the internal resistance of the batteries were very unbalanced or unless the Li-ion charging termination algorithm (which I do not understand completely, but realize is very different from the NiMH charging termination algorithm) caused a safety issue.
In for 1.
Interested, 2 please, thanks 
interested
please see the picture below, compare the 26650 tube with 21700 tube. 21700 tube seems slimmer.
This is excellent news!!! Slim is good guys!! :+1:
Please sign me up for one additional BLF LT1M-Mini (for a total of three.)
I like the look of the 21700 tube version better. Looks a little lighter.
I had thought that 26650 cells on average had notably higher mAh than 21700 cells. But a recent sweep of batteries in the marketplace turns up something interesting — that while the highest 26650 cells are pushing 5300mAh, the highest 21700 cells have reached 5000mAh. That’s not a huge difference. Frankly, it doesn’t look to me like the 26650 has much of an advantage over the 21700.
Given this, I’d be more inclined to say that a 21700/18650 compatible tube would be preferable. Yeah, this means losing the 3xAAA battery carrier option (in a pinch), but frankly good planning on batteries would obviate the need.
Based on my (not that professional) capacity test, charge battery to 4.20v, then discharge battery at 1Amp until 2.50v (I’m using SkyRC MC3000 analyzing charger), the highest capacity 5000mAh 21700 batteries (eg. Vapcell T50 or Vapcell G50), can barely get 5000mAh capacity (from 4.20v down to 2.50v at 1A discharge current).
Whereas something like the Vapcell/Shockli 5500mAh 26650 (and also the Keeppower 6000mAh 26650, which appear to be using the same internal battery) batteries, using the same discharge test (4.20v down to 2.50v at 1Amp discharge current, yields around 5800-5900mAh capacity on the SkyRC MC3000). So the highest capacity 26650s are still nearly 1000mAh (around 18% more capacity, assuming discharge down to 2.50v). Although it’s difficult to get these “5500mAh” 26650 batteries. Although based on energy density, I recall reading that 26650 is still not as energy dense as high-capacity 18650 or 21700 batteries…)
Thank you, dta. This is enlightening. 18% is nothing to sneer at. And frankly, looking at the form factor differences on diameter, maybe it’s worth a slightly wider girth to have that extended 26650 cell capacity. I wonder if it would make sense to provide two different tube sizes as an option. Certainly it’s done commonly with 18650 & 18350.
I thought 26650 form factor was a great idea for both lantern stability as well as extra capacity
Yeah, a 26650 is about 42% bigger than a 21700, and at most has 15% more capacity (in 2021.)
Not a good trade-off, in my opinion.
And the ability to use 3 AAA batteries?
You're not going to get much runtime compared to a nice 21700 cell.
I do admit that a fatter lantern is more stable, but the 21700 lantern could come with a plastic anti-tipover disc that fits on the bottom of the lantern.
I am excited to see the new build. Its going to be perfect. 
For me personally, it’s more about who wants a skinnier lantern that will tip over easier with less battery capacity?
Does it need to fit into a pocket? No.
Does it need high discharge that 21700 can deliver? No
It’s a lantern, runtime and stability is paramount (for me anyway)
It’s not important that it runs off 3 AAA’s but it’s a nice little bonus that you probably won’t need until you do.