McGizmo and Sinner actually make lights from scratch. As far as I know, Vinh only modifies existing lights, so he’s not in that class at all. He’s a modder, like myself and Tom and Richard and… given, he’s a fastidious modder, but still.
I’ve only got 7 Sinners, no McGizmo’s but I do rely heavily on some Ti gate clips of his. 
Shoot! I did both my X6's (one SS/Cu, one alum) and both worked out well. Kind of had to jam a tool in the gap between the MCPCB and edge to get it where I wanted, then locked it down. I'm sure lots of variables though piece to piece, so not surprising, but sorry, wish it worked out easier.
Mine centered up well just by adjusting the pcb under the screws. Everything was perfect except the LED placement on the pcb when they flowed it, just a smidge off.
I couldn't keep my hand out of the cookie jar. Everything else being stock, I braided the tailcap spring and am reading 5.8A doing a tailcap bypass. It was 5.6 prior to the bypass. Not much gain but I don't have to worry about melting the spring. I was pleasantly suprised to see they used 24ga Turnigy wire from the pcb to led in place of the typical cheap wire used in most mass produced flashlights.
TK, is there a way to do a master reset on the mcu? The driver in my X5 is still messed up and I can't see anything wrong with it. It worked great for the first 20 minutes lol.
All I want is a unlit tailcap aluminum X5 .
It probably won't be too long before they are available .
I'm a budget guy .
I have a NCR18650 that is tight and 2 intl-outdoor that are too fat. But I wasn’t planning on using them in these higher current lights anyway
is High in Muggle mode the same as Max (highest mode) in normal? Anybody knows?
No....about 60%. TK has a post in this thread within the last couple days that shows approximate values but not gospel on lumens output.
Thanks 4 the info. Just to confirm.
SS/Cu - No step down mode. You can be in turbo all the time.
AL - Step down mode after ?? minutes/seconds?
Honestly...I do not know. I turn off all thermal management and step-down nowadays.
Sort of, if you read on this UI it has a thermal calibration mode. You can turn it off (will run until your bacon wrapped head is tasty) or you can set it to the heat level you want. Up a few pages or in ToyKeepers signature line there is a link to her firmware repository. In there is the text instructions for the thermal calibration…
BOTH AL and SS/Cu have this…
Thank you, again for the simple clarity… that’s all I was getting at with too many words and too much risk of your loyal supporters perceiving I have attacked you. You are not your argument, I’m sure you know that. Again, I just felt the comparison of mass produced items from a large shop to individually produced lights from an individual was not a good basis to describe to anyone interested in heading up a group buy. The lights themselves may be of similar utility, material and quality, but the market sets price based not on manufacturing cost, but other less tangibles. A group buy is all about the manufacturering cost… what can we get as a group with our group buying power… and it could not work if it was about creating something so rare and desired that its introductory market price was too high or even anywhere above the ordinary retail level.
That said, it is very possible nothing like the lights produced in this group buy might ever be made again, and that would increase its rarity and market value if the demand stays the same. This increase in market value still won’t affect the manufacturing cost which is based on other pressures, as you suggest, such as the cost of living and a workers’ wages.
I try to be a straight shooter, but it comes out verbose and confusing. Sorry for my inability to fine tune and make a clear and simple point.
I’ve been playing with my lights this evening and I’ve come to a few conclusions:
- The head on the X5 is just a little too big for me to comfortably carry in my jeans. It’s great in jacket pockets though.
- I love the X5 tube width.
- The A6 size seems to be the widest that I’m comfortable carrying in my jeans.
- I would love an X5 tube with a A6 style head
No 4: So A5 then?
Sounds good to me!
In my 3 Al sets, all the X5’s came with the clip attached and the X6 without the clip attached.
As other have noted, the X5 clip is designed for deep pocket carry but the gap between the clip and the attachment ring is too small not allowing the clip to fully seat in even the thinnest of pockets. I wonder what would be the best way to resolve this without breaking the current clip or scratching up the finish on the light too much.
Clip aside, I am really having fun with these lights. The output is amazing and I am enjoying learning about the various programming modes.
Great job all around.
I do not get this Rarity and Market Value stuff? I mean there has to be a profit in anything for it to be valuable, but like the old joke goes: What do air and sex have in common? Answer: They both aint no big deal until your not getting any…. Value can be placed on a product and never realized by a buyer, then it sits there, unsold. The flashlight world seems so big here, but in the real world, there are many that would NEVER pay even $30 for a pair of lights like this, even after you explain how beautiful, unique and special your little snowflakes are…
There are junkyards full of stuff people thought were valuable at one time. How much landfill space is taken up by beanie babies and such? In ten years, what will the battery, emitter and driver technology look like?
IF you want to make a monetary profit off of this place, you should be the one hosting the GB. I would personally have every one of these shipped to me if I were getting this many complaints over SN and scratches, etc. I would then put 1/3 into a busy gravel parking lot and throw the another 1/3 down the longest set of concrete stairs I could find. A matched set would then come from either the stair group or the parking lot group. The ones that posted they didnt care about SN would get the 1/3 that had no extra engraving…
Seriously, go to a plumbing store and buy $40 worth of solid copper plumbing fittings like valves and reduction couplings, it aint going to weigh much more than the X5 when you get $40 worth, so we are really getting these for a bargain. By the way, they lump the special and expensive plumbing fittings into bins and let them get dinged up… I like the dings, makes me want to use them anyway, both the lights and the fittings… Rant over…
”
WABI SABI”:Wabi-sabi - Wikipedia
Re-posting…
http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~toykeeper/flashlight-firmware/blf-x6v2/view/head:/ToyKeeper/bistro/bistro.txt
Muggle mode “high” is about half power or 5/6th maximum perceived brightness. This is detailed in the text manual above, and also hinted at in the UI diagram.
This is also answered in the text manual. Both sets have identical behavior, thermal step-down that you can configure (or disable) yourself.
Has anyone received the S.S./Cu set ordered without a box yet? The problems seem to have come with the ‘boxed sets’. Wondering how the sets are packaged that come without the box?
I got one today.
The copper X5 is in flawless condition, except for the scratch in the clip groove where the clip was attached before shipping.
The steel is, of course, steel. It’s not going to show any damage unless it gets hit very hard.
Edit: As expected, the serial numbers don’t match. They are in the 251-400 range, each chosen randomly.
Matching serial numbers on the non box set?