I hear ya, next month Fenix is releasing a new 3400 lumen light you might want to wait to see what that is….
I hear ya. I was talking to Wayne ( Elektrolumens ) They are thinking of discontinuing the S&E extreme… The Fenix will be around for yeaes. Gotta get while the gettings good :bigsmile:
Though I’m interested in the 3400 lumens Fenix coming out next month too, I doubt it would be as unique as the ST90 in terms of massively over-engineered quality and USA-made direct-from-manufacturer access! Wayne is great to deal with, and is very personable and honest in his approach … if you have any issues or questions with your purchase you can contact him directly and he will help you.
Plus with the design of the ST90 it really offers modding / upgrading potential should that be your interest, as the thing is really just one giant heat sink! 
Well, if you de-dome it and it screws up . . that seems a perfectly good excuse to look for a replacement from Waiven’s product samples.
Not that my wife would agree . . .
How inexpensive. ;) A while back I sent them an email about the ones for XM-Ls and XP-Gs but I never got an answer.
Yeah, needs a good group buy!
I don’t know, but what little I did see my beam when it worked for a few seconds that I’m not so sure if a TN31 1st version wouldn’t out throw it and might even be brighter on a wall.
I don’t have a light meter, but I’m just saying it I think that light don’t have anything a on a good TN31.
Gotta agree with d337944, I have an ST90 that I dedomed and WOW does it throw (no angry blue just creamy white) it way out throws my JM26 with 26650IMR hands down - IMO SST90 leds give a 3 dimension look to the beam compared to XM-L’s that look flat.
I would recommend a dedome and if you don’t like it you can buy another star from Wayne no probs - I have the earlier model but he said he was going to make the SST90 stars in a way that the bolts that hold it in would be the + & - terminals on the later models so no soldering needed (but not sure if he did it, ask).
Agreed, not sure that was the question. Beung that a I have both. I can tell you pretty much straight out the BTU will not out distance the 31. For flood, the 31 isnt in the same league.
I was just putting in my 2 cents.
Buy you a Fire Foxes FF3 and then you will have some throw. Again just giving you my advice.
Well if someone wants my FF3 they can buy it as new and I’ll throw in 4x unprotected pink LG 18650 3000mah batteries.
My bad Brad… My brain cross referenced another post.
How much you asking for the FF3
$250 - I put it up on CPF just after I mentioned it here and it sold in a short time, I didn’t list it here as I think BLF is for more for budget lights (maybe?)
Glenn7, is there specific reason you sold it? FF3 does not meet your expectation? Would like to hear what is potential cons.
Actually it is me who should apologize. I was off subject.
Well in all honesty there is no doubt that for its size its output was amazing, a good balance between flood and throw also color was ok (warm/natural) for an HID.
IMO HID’s are made mostly for the purpose of searching and not for general use - these are my cons as you asked for them lovers of HID’s won’t like admitting them, but as I said these are my opinion.
My cons:
I like lights that fire up instantly not taking 20 or so seconds to get to the right color and intensity, because when you hear a bump or want to remain in the dark for say security reasons or just check something quickly - once you fire up HID’s you get funky greeny/purple flickery light for at least 5 seconds then it goes blueish/white till it stabilizes down to its warm 4300k color (or chosen kelvin) and then up to its full output/lumens - because initially when HID’s fire up the ballast pumps out a huge voltage that produces a small ball of plasma between two probes and that is what shimmers/wobbles the beam around till it stabilizes output, because of the time it takes to do that it always feels to me like I’ve missed the moment unlike LEDS being instant on/off/on (Polarion and expensive brands may not do that but boy do you pay extra $$ for the privilege)
HID’s hate being turned off then on before they cool a bit, some have a re-strike feature to lesson the damage but it still shortens the life of any HID if you re-strike while hot - also over time the bulbs loose intensity and shift color too.
Maybe I’m being a little paranoid but I also don’t like the feeling that I have to be careful all the time about bumping or dropping the light and busting the bulb or bending wire/bulb out of center/focus.
HID’s produce UV that makes lots of heat OTF so if lens is not pyrex or something tough it could crack if suddenly hit with water - and you have to be careful when you put it down so as to not burn yourself or melt something with that hot front lens till it cools.
Ballasts and bulbs don’t last nearly as long as LED’s and they cost heaps to replace.
I guess the last thing I can think that is again my opinion - LED’s have a much smoother/uniform pleasing beam to me no projections (dark spots in beam) from the wire or bulb, as I’ve had a few HID’s I have noticed you always get a slight star shape that’s brighter in the center of the beam that’s greeny/blue or not the same color as the rest of the beam.
I just always find I will grab an LED light before an HID.
Hope this makes sense & sorry if this offends any HID nuts out there.
Oh I just thought of something else one of the reasons I bought the FF3 was not only that it was small but that I could replace the batteries as 99% of HID lights have battery packs and to me that’s a turn off.