Very nice! What did you use as spacer for the mule?
What’s the technique for heat coloring? Do you hold it under a blow torch for a while?
I sanded down the reflector and turned it up side down to make the spacer. I also stretched the springs to fit the longer tube.
I used a blow torch to do the coloring, It is actually a fairly tough coating.
I gave some away to coworkers.
Make sure you clean the tube really well before heating, any oil or moisture will make spots.
still waiting on my two which shipped from the NETHERLANDS? on March 14 to here in New Jersey.
no way to track the tracking number either.
not impressed so far with gearbest first purchase.
will wait a couple of more days before looking into this further.
@=the= Thank you for the effort that went into this group buy. The more I use the light the more I like it. It wasn’t so long ago I carried a 3x aa maglite. The output from this light is similar to that maglite but a much nicer tint and it fits easily in a shirt pocket. Thanks to the BLF-348 I have a new appreciation for smaller lights.
At least people are getting theirs. I seem to have to chalk this up to the last straw with gearbest. Paid for better shipping and tracking doesnt even exist anywhere. Had a friend that paid me for a couple of these too.
They really need to pull their head out and learn to ship with reliable companies.
Really happy with the lights, thanks @the.
Gave one away today and my friend was pretty stoked about it. So I went out to Gearbest and bought some more to give away!
Thanks for the GB!
The BLF348 with and one without engraving just arrived.
My wife is going to use the one with engraving YAY! At last I found something she likes besides her cheapie zoomie.
Mine finally arrived yesterday. I’m almost as happy with this batch as I was with the first. There are two minor things I noticed though. First, the threads on this batch seem grittier than the first batch. I cleaned and lubed them and that seems to have resolved the problem. Second, one of my four has a noticeably cooler tint than the rest. It’s not worth the hassle of trying to replace but it should be noted anyway.
Thanks for all the effort that went into this!
Mine just arrived, finally.
Pretty sweet little things.
Being a newb and ignorant I bought a couple of 10440 batteries for the two lights.
After reading the comments here about the heat from those things I put one in one of the two an Alkaline AAA I had on hand in the other.
I’m a happy camper today.
Now if only my Tool Ti would arrive.
Soon.
I just received my 2 lights. 20 days for shipping to Canada (I didn’t pay for any extras on the shipping), which is pretty good. The lights were well-protected during shipping: bubble-wrapped, inside a box, inside a bubble-wrapped envelope. Here’s my mini-review:
They are nice, clean-looking, stainless steel lights. Quality seems quite good. Threads are reasonably smooth, but will benefit from cleaning and oiling when you get the light. Switches seem good, though one is a little easier to push than the other (so there’s a small variability between samples). The LEDs are centered.
The lights are a little longer than I expected for a 1xAAA light (3.5”). Perhaps a little long for a pants-pocket, but I suppose that’s what the clip is for. They’re nice and narrow, though.
The beam has that beautiful even Nichia 219 tint. No hint of green, and the tint is consistent from hot-spot to spill. This is why I bought these lights!
I measure the CCT at 5200K and 5300K on my lights. So, there’s a noticeable difference in tint between samples, but well within expectations. This is cooler than my liking; I prefer tints around 4000K. It’s on the cool side of neutral. Some like that, some do not. Regardless, it’s a high CRI tint, so very pleasant to look at.
The beam is quite floody, with a large undefined hot-spot. I think it’s the most floody of all my non-MULE lights. Not surprising, given the very small diameter reflector. But given how deep the reflector is, I thought it might be a bit more throwy. In any case, I like floody lights for EDC, so the beam is good for me.
Springs on both ends of the battery is a nice touch (can use with flat-tops). However, I’m not sure if the light is polarity-protected, which could be an issue if you’re not careful. Anyone know?
I esimate the light outputs about 40 lumens on Eneloops, maybe a bit more. Decent for a 1xAAA light. It gets warm (not hot) at the end after 10 minutes or so. I can’t imagine running this on lithium-ion, not for long anyway.
One nice unexpected bonus is that the light will tail-stand. The switch is very flat, so it will stand on a solid surface. Easy to knock over, obviously, but it’s a feature I find very useful.
The only issue I have is that the clip can make screwing together the light a little tricky to get the threads lined up before tightening. Not a big deal, but a minor annoyance.
Note that these lights are not waterproof, so use with caution around water. They look like they’ll handle a light rain, but I wouldn’t rely on more than that. Has anyone done a torture-test on them?
Overall, I’m quite pleased with the light. Build quality is decent, it looks nice, and tint is excellent (though a cool tint for neutral). Excellent value at this price point.
One contributing factor must be that the flashlights in the second round of the group buy use an emitter from a lower flux bin.
The follow note appears in the OP:
Update 2016-2-19:
I just got a confirmation from the factory: They are back from holidays, and have got the emitters! Based on the reel label, the emitters are authentic and the correct version:
sw50 = ~5000K
R9050 = 90+CRI (93 typical)
Note that the flux bin is one lower than earlier (D200 vs. D220), but that’s not a big deal.
Well… I guess my wife just did. :-x
Results after whirling a whole program in washing machine: lens is broken, lithium cell positive end rusty, and the switch broken. Bypassing the switch helps and… Wait for it… It still lights up (with the washed rusty cell!!)
Luckily I have enough spares… 
I’m in the u.s. also and just got mine. If it makes you feel any worse I didn’t pay any extra for shipping. Guess it’s just where you are. But I’ve always got my stuff from Gearbest and not any longer than anything from China.
WalkIntoTheLight, Excellent question and worth repeating
“Is this light polarity protected”? I’m definitely hoping so
I received my 5 on the 30th. WOW. Very impressive. I was going to gift them to a few buddies, but now they are going to family. A quality light in such a tiny package. Count me in on any future group creations. Thank you so much.
One thing different about this batch that’s a little odd.
The six I just received, when I look straight into the emitter, the emitters all look a little off center because there’s a dark crescent visible around half of the edge.
Looking at the first six that I got last year (and at several Singfire versions), those emitters all look centered because there’s a shiny silver ring all the way around each emitter.
Are the reflectors cut a bit different this time? Or other differences, if anyone who’s brave has pulled out the innards of one each of last year’s and this year’s for comparison?
I don’t have last year’s model, but I did take apart this one. The dark piece is an insulation gasket around the LED. Yours probably just isn’t centered well. It’s easy enough to remove the bezel (to remove the pressure holding them together) and shake a bit to move the reflector/board around until things line up better.
The reflectors are a little different. I just took one out of each batch and the newest batch has larger openings at the base. The previous batch was sized just right to fit around the emitter.
Nope, there’s something else different; when I get the reflector centered perfectly on the black insulation washer the black ring is visible on this year’s.
Could be they trimmed the reflector opening a bit wider this time so it doesnt’ cover up that black washer.
Or I guess the emitter could be a little smaller in diameter, come to think of it.
No big deal, doesn’t seem to affect the light it puts out. Just struck me when I looked at all dozen or more straight on that this year’s looked a bit …. googly-eyed …. compared to last year’s.
Stuff happens. I was paid surprisingly well to be a nitpicker, all my working life, and the habit’s hard to tone down.