Sold out! - GBGB: BLF-348 - Classy and Small 1xAAA Stainless Steel light, with Nichia NVSW219B-V1 R9050

1st thing I did was pop in a fully charged efest 10440. Worked perfectly and the heat was very manageable. Your hands make for great heat sinks. Leaving it standing might get a bit hot.

And possibly the best bargain I’ve ever been in on. Exterior finish is impeccable. Of 3 one had a slightly loose front retainer ring; push in with thumb and tighten, no problem. Liked the bubble-pack sleeve over it in the box, wish that were made a standard practice.

Clip is attached so firmly I don’t want to try to move it till I scratch it up elsewhere first. Fits over blue jean pocket seam (unlike many lights including the BLF A6) and has great retention. The problem is that it rubs the body tube when opening to insert/remove a cell so it will scratch in time unless you address that, and the scratch will be right over the engraving.

All 3 switches felt gritty and took firm pressure to use. I’d rather have that than one that turns itself on inadvertently. Fat fingers may have a problem using these but I like the switch (and I generally dislike hate tail-clickys in pouch or pocket carry).

Tailcap threads feel a bit gritty too but for the price they are fine, clean and lube later. Alignment is finicky with the clip pressure but not bad. Seems solid enough and that’s what counts most to me in a light at this price.

A cross-room beamshot showed one was floody, no discernible hotspot and pretty even light distribution. Unexpected but welcome because it’s a good pattern, this is the one I’m keeping for that reason alone. The other two had decent hotspots semi-gradually going to some even spill. It’s a good pattern and balance IMHO, especially at this price.

I tried a 600mA Trustfire 10440, dropped right in and got fairly hot in a few minutes. It should be OK for general use as-is since we all understand to monitor the temp; not for general gifting set up that way though. Didn’t try an Efest yet.

I also did a 1 hour test with a nearly new cheap AAA alkie. It got warm but not hot at all and I didn’t see any difference in output or color after having tried the 10440 or after the hour’s burn-in. The AAA performance also makes this an excellent ‘gifter’ for noobs.

I’m not picky about beam color but this one is nice, perhaps a little on the warm side with AAA but not glaringly cold with 10440; another plus for gifting.

My only beef (and I knew this beforehand) is that there’s no keychain attachment possible, and that is an obvious use for such a small light as this. I like my Tank007 E09 better for that purpose so I’m not out anything, but others might want that possibility.

One reason I wanted this light was that I have an old Gerber multi-tool and a crescent wrench in a belt pouch where I once stashed first a MagLite Solitaire (a great fit but a wimpy light) then a Tank007 TK703 (a very tight fit but not a good light). This one slips right in as a perfect fit. I can pull out any of the 3 pieces and not snag the others, unlike the knurled Tank. The clip keeps the light where I want it with me being able to instantly bring it to hand. Very few if any other AAA format lights worth buying are this slender and this smooth. That could be a drawback with slick hands but there’s tons of more grippable lights to choose from so I don’t see that as an issue, but as a bonus. I swapped the Lithium primary from the Tank into this and I’m completely good-to-go once again.

Am I happy with these lights? No, I’m nearly ecstatic. You can’t touch the performance for twice the price, and you can’t get a better finished surface at any price so it’s an absolute joy to own. I like the exclusivity factor of special BLF lights like this one but TBH I hope it becomes a regular production light as long as the quality doesn’t drop away because this little light is simply too awesome to not be available to everyone. It’s an instant classic in every way, the epitome of a BLF-style AAA/10440 light.

And “the”, I owe you one for doing this GB. “Thank You” can’t begin to express how happy I am with the whole deal. It don’t get any better than this!

Phil

There’s a small hole at the tailcap end. I think you could put a small split ring or maybe one of the lanyards with the strings through it?

Got my light yesterday and i must admit the seamless design is beautiful :heart_eyes:
I should order more

Thanks _ the _

So glad I stopped in and spotted this before they’re gone. Crazy good deal!

Cart won’t allow to delete tracking $1.99 so the real cost is $8.98, unless I’m doing something wrong.

Gorgeous light, the only thing I could wish for is a moonlight mode.

Standard battery and a simple UI makes it a perfect giveaway.

Thanks for organizing the GB!

Got mine today. Flawless. I’ll get some photos during the week

Moonlight and high would have been perfect for me.

Received mine and love them. It remains just sightly warm with an eneloop and doesn’t need much to figure out how to use it, perfect for gifts. Construction is excellent and it’s hard to see where the tailcap meets the body which means good machining.

I ordered 2 but wish it have been more, although people have mixed feelings when I gift them a flashlight, they give me this strange look :~ until I explain them why this is superior than their 2D incan in the kitchen drawer.

I wanted better color rendition .

I bought four , and none of my examples have the beautiful tint and CRI from my other Nichia 219B emitters .

They will still make great gifts .

Bad news: mine is busted, it ran almost one cycle on NiMh and now, no light but 2A drain… Havent opened yet…

Good news: still got 4 of em to go.

ugh, don’t say that. :frowning: I only ordered one and it’s not here yet.

About tint……

Very neutral. Regular “neutral white” is nowhere near as neutral as this looks to my eye.
After this neutrals look like warm.

OTOH: reds dont pop-out so much as with neutral or warm white (if you prefer it like that).

I got one older Nichia but it is WW and High CRI.

With this and white wall, I have to say it is hard to detect any tint. It is mostly just white.
Of course, depends on your eyes… I recently did a test, Im tetrachromatic.

In short:

I REALLY LIKE THE TINT!!! 8)

Thats bad news. High CRI was the main reason I ordered this light. I havent got my light yet.

Well I’ll throw in the contrarian position, because I don’t know what these other folks are going on about. I also only bought one and its great - works flawlessly, beautiful tint, great CRI. And yes I have other 219b emitters for comparison. Its so good that I went back and ordered a couple more, for some reason.

You folks who haven’t received yours yet can stop worrying - the light is great.

You can't compare the CRI of 2 different tints without being subjective, the 4500K is simply another tint (nominal by the way), the CRI is not, you just totally prefer the 4500K. I am saying this because I go some NVSW219B-V1 in 5000K and it is unfair to call them as not having good CRI.

+1

Please note that the light uses the 219B-V1 emitter, that started shipping last spring, it’s 5000K as opposed to previous 219B with 4500K.

It’s a more natural color temperature and the typical CRI is 93 (previous version is 92).

@Ormbett: Don’t worry mate. It’s high CRI. All Nichia 219B are…