Last night I was burning a heap of leaves and straw in my backyard, and a stupid accident occured: my beloved FW3A fell in the fire and by the time i got some tool to try to save it it exploded grenade like, blasting metal bits 30 feet around!
The flashlight was one of the original FW3A, desert tan, with an SST20 2700k emitter. I liked its very smooth light spread with no hot spot, and I’m so sad to have lost it in such a stupid way. It seems that the newer one are not as good. Do you know if there are any store/seller that still have some of the old batch ? Otherwise, what would be a close alternative (nice compact body, tail cap, TIR glass optic, 2700 or 3000k…)
Unfortunately the FW series is no longer available and commands high prices on eBay and the like. The FW3a takes a Carclo optic which fits a bunch of lights from Convoy, to Emisar/Noctigon, and similar style TIR lens in Wurkkos, Acebeam and Sofirn. There is no replacement for FW3a in its compactness and minimalist style. The only tailswitch TIR light that would be comparable is the Noctigon KR4. The switch on the tail is complicated and most lights with Anduril don’t have a tail switch, but a side switch. Fireflylite or Emissary/Noctigon have fairly compact lights with anduril that come in 2700k.
The alternative is posting on the buying thread here on BLF or getting really lucky on eBay.
That really sucks what happened to your beloved FW3A! Luckily you didn’t get injured.
There were lots of original FW3As sold, so I would guess that someone would be willing to sell if the price was right.
Else I would just get a newer flashlight with 519A LEDs or some other LED depending on what is most important to you. The Emisar KR4, as mentioned above, is certainly a great choice if you want something similar to the FW3A. And you could still get the same SST20 2700K LEDs if you want.
Last time i tried to buy one, the cheapest i could get an original with the updated tail switch and oroginal driver the guy wanted $90 for it. I found another with the Covid era fet driver for $60. Sooo, i did the right thing and built a s2+ triple with 3x xpl HI 5000k, a 8 A buck driver, and 18350 tube for like $35.00. Works great and is brighter with higher sustained brightness than the original and abiut as pocketable. Although nothing scratches an itch like the fw3A. A flashlight from a bygone era…
No Anduril. However Simon does make a 17mm anduril drover, but its for a specific model of light. Plus honestly the included 12 group UI is fine if you dont need ramping or rhe fancy features.
