For reference. My April 26 order still hasn’t SHIPPED.
Got 2 today from the mailman (Netherlands)!!!
Could somebody please give me some advice for the best 18650???
Sure. For this light Sanyo/Panasonic GA, LG MJ1 or Samsung 35E, unprotected flat top.
Same here.
Got mine today, I’ve spent much more for lesser flashlights. What an accomplishment for all involved.
This flashlight is a milestone and many great designs will move forward on it’s success.
The rear switch signal switch has been done before but never quite like this.
Others have had anodized threads and relied on the ends of the battery tube for the negative signal. The FW3A smartly uses the huge, bare metal threads to carry that to ensure that the switch signal tube always makes a good connection. I won’t link to others pictures but Liteflux had both battery negative and switching signals attempting to connect at the driver. Worked ok most of the time, except when it didn’t. Novatac uses a wonky giant spring for the switch signal. Same results.
The FW3A eliminates one point of failure and in doing so strengthens other connection points. Brilliant!
I’ve turned into a clip snob and was sure I’d be replacing the clip, but the stock clip is great and this one will stay on my D4.
Thanks to all who’ve helped get this light out there!
clip idea from emarkd comment 1713 in TK D4 review.
The miraculous force of whining! Now I have a tracking number. Much better than nothing 
I just got my tracking number (no results yet) and I’ve been staring at some 35e cells while waiting for something to put them into I got to thinking, should I order the mtn triple with 219c’s (link) or do I try to source some high cri 219b’s?
My FW3A just arrived in my mailbox.
would this be the right optic to replace with? 10509 Carclo Lens - 3-Up Frosted Wide Spot LED Optic
has anyone replaced one yet? Is it just a matter of taking the head off, lifting out the optic, and replacing it with another? Would this 10509 give additional flood or not? Noticeable?
thank you for any help……
Yup that one should fit just fine. Unscrew the bezel (the portion of the head above the knurling). Lift it and the lens off. Then lift out the existing optic with a toothpick, paperclip or small screwdriver.
Insert the new optic and reassemble. I think the 10509 should be slightly floodier than the one the light comes with.
Interesting. I measured the two as being slightly closer together:
- 3D: 904 lm
- 7A: 727 lm
Also, some modded versions:
- 219B sw45k: 622 lm
- XP-G2 3D: 952 lm
These are all at start, at the 8x7135 level. I haven’t made a SST-20 version yet.
A forward clicky is like interacting with a desktop computer by plugging its power cord into and out of a wall socket.
An e-switch is like interacting with a computer by pressing a key on the keyboard.
Ahh, ok, close enough for me! Like 3% or under. Didn't know you rcv'd the production LED's. Neal gave me the impression I might be the first receiving the 7A.
Has anyone got a discharge curve for the battery while the light is sitting unused?
I just went through my earthquake cache and found several of the other brand lights I’d forgotten to lock out, and all had drained their batteries below where I’d want them in an emergency (only got a few minutes before low battery blinking).
Charged the cells and locked all of them out via tailcap.
BUT now I wonder:
Is tailcap lockout advised for this flashlight?
In other news, my China Post tracking number is no longer showing a 2017 delivery to an address in Russia; instead the light is moving around in China. I guess they reuse tracking numbers ….
No. If you loosen the tailcap the switch loosens.
If you want to mechanically turn the light off, remove the head completely.
It locks out by a quarter turn on the head. No need to remove the head completely
You better feel sorry, buster… you said some nice things.
We don’t tolerate that kind of behavior around here.
If you keep acting like that, you might end up as bad as Poguche, who didn’t even apologize for being nice!
See? No shame at all.
A quarter turn of the head does not actually turn the light off. It only loses power when the head is almost completely off.
However, the standby drain on FW3A is about 0.02 or 0.03 mA, which is lower than a cell’s self-discharge rate. It should last over a decade in theory… or about as long as if the cell were just sitting on a shelf.
Standby drain in lockout mode is the same as the regular “off” mode, so it should be pretty safe to lock the light and leave it in storage. But for the health of the cell inside, it’d be good to drain the cell to about half full first.
And also probably a good idea to make sure the contacts are clean and there’s nothing extra inside the light. If there’s a stray strand of aluminum where it shouldn’t be, it could drain the battery much faster. I haven’t had this happen, but I think one person reported an issue like that… and one person had a similar issue with a ROT66.
So it should be fine, but I’d recommend checking just to be sure. Trust, but verify.
Having the “mail girl” delivering it today, unexpectedly (due to tracking service issues) while being at home, sick, was a nice thing to happen 
I just have to say: it worth the wait and I really like it 
Great job!! I’ll be looking for the SST then 