Help a newbie out, this VS that (lumintop)

LED Flashlights – General Info
1

Hi everyone, I don’t own a flashlight yet but intend to buy one. It’ll be used primarily for edc, and be stored in my day pack.

I chanced upon information of a Lumintop and BLF collab, the FW3A, and really like the looks, and price point.

Surfing the Lumintop website, there’re quite a few variants, so I’m seeking advice on which to buy.

What would be THE choice:

FW3A versus FW1A Pro versus FW4A versus FW21

I’m so confused.

All thoughts and opinions would be greatly appreciated!

2

1. personal preference may differ, so never swallow other’s opinion wholly.
2. FW3A is more flood, FW1A is more throw, dimension wise, not much difference.
3. both FW4A and FW21 are flood type, my personal experience, FW21 is brighter. Dimension wise, not much difference.
4. flood is short range but wider light, while throw is more range but relatively thinner, focused light. Just in case…
5. understand your needs and pick one (or two, or all three =P) from mentioned alternatives, you will not be dissapointed.
6. all of mentioned type is tail switch, shall you prefer body switch, look elsewhere.
cheers, have a blessed year!

3

Hey thanks for the info about throw and flood, very useful!

Intuitively, I would assume that 4 led’s is “best”, followed by 3, followed by 1.

I suspect though, that things might not be so straightforward?

If so, what’s the optimal number of led’s to have?

4

oh no no, that is not always the case.

  1. there is LED type, some LED is flood type, some is throw type. And then there are several led manufacturers. You can search for that information somewhere in these forums.
  2. and there is reflector type, driver type, which I’m no expert too… =P
  3. thrower type commonly only have 1 led, followed by dome shaped reflector.
  4. flooder type commonly have 3 leds, 4 leds, on some type they even have 7 leds or more.
  5. but to save you the hassle, understand your needs, and stick on your aforementioned flashlights, those are great ones, will not disappoint you.
  6. and if your need is not that urgent, be patient, there are often codes or groupbuys informed on these forums. They provide 10-25% price cuts. =)
5

The FW3A can be finicky. Mine usually works fine but after removing the battery for charging you have to tighten everything up just right. Prone to pocket activation unless you modify it. I still see people talking about the same problems the first ones had. Even TK isn’t recommending them and she was in on the development. YMMV

6

If your going for the 4 LED route why not take a peak at the Noctigon KR4 by Hank, its functions are exactly as the FW4A BUT built with far more quality in mind and a regulated driver at 5amps and auxiliary lights and now with the deep carry pocket clip upgrade from the original its the better of the two imo especially when they are the same price !

7

The EDC18 fixes the finickiness of the FW3A by using a side switch and no inner tube. Everything else is the same. Worth checking out too.

8

Thanks for signing up, Headspace1982!

9

The FW3A does seem to have many issues.

Would those issues by fixed with the FW21 or FW1A Pro?

Or should I look at other brands, like Noctigon, which had been mentioned here.

10

Sadly I believe they’ve discontinued the base FW21 and the FW1A pro is a single emitter, what are you looking towards ? a single emitter mini thrower or a multi emitter edc ?

But for information purposes the FW21 is just an upscaled FW3A which uses a 21700 battery over an 18650. Nothing wrong with the FW3A I own multiple myself can’t really beat its form factor for a general EDC for myself at least. Comparing the FW21 or the FW4A to the KR4 I would reach for the KR4 for the same price point and pocket foot print its pound for pound better quality with fit and finish and internals.

11

Hi Headspace!

To help answer your question, why don’t you tell everyone what your general use would be for?

Examples:
EDC day or night
EDC for administrative use (reading, writing, looking at a map, dropped your keys in a broom closet)
EDC with a bit of temporary blinding power to help you out in a situation
Camping? Hiking? Searching outdoors? Searching indoors? Hog Hunting? Light Painting & Photography?
Those types of things.
This will help folks assist you in choosing floor vs throw, amount of output vs runtime, so on and so forth.
Oh yeah, do you have a budget?

12

Hi Jason, I’ll be using the light for:

- EDC day and night use.

- In an urban setting, general home use, looking at a map.

- I work in environments like car parks, apartment complexes, various building where I need a light to assist me in taking measurements of areas, and also for looking at finer details of structures.

- Not anticipating camping, hiking or hunting.

  • Temporary blinding power would be a useful thing to have, if available.

Ideally the limit would be $100.

I’m not sure what what floor vs throw or output vs runtime mean.

Also, should I be looking at a single emitter? Multiple emitters (3, 4)?

Any suggestions would be most helpful.

13

I guess I’m about a week ahead of you. I lurked the site for a while and today got a FW3A delivered thanks to Amazon and the Big Blue Wrecking Crew.

I went with the FW3A because it’s affordable, about $65 with delivery, and mods are are available and plentiful. It’s a platform newbies like us can work on with plenty of institutional knowledge and replacement/upgrade parts available.

That’s not to say that it’s necessarily the right choice for you. But I figure as a decent little EDC beginner piece that won’t be expected to do any heavy lifting, for me, I think it’s a good starter.

14

Throw Vs Flood
Think of Throw as a spotlight

and flood as a light bulb in your house, lights up everything close but wouldn’t go far outside

Generally there is a mix of a bit of flood, which is often called spill, and throw (see hotspot in pic below)
The further that light moves away from the wall it is shining on, the larger that hotspot and spill will get. Not always but don’t worry about those types of special lights right now, the aren’t useful but in a very few cases.

Runtime is simply how long it “runs” before the battery is dead and needs to be changed or recharged.

I can’t speak to multiple emitters as I have never had any.

Your best bet at this point is to be patient and research, research, research. Read this forum and watch a lot of youtube.
If you aren’t all that interested in putting hours into studying and just want a light, for the purpose you described above just go buy something like a Streamlight Macrostream and be done with it.
If you are all that interested in this hobby and like researching…… LOL…… you’re hooked SUKKAAAAA!!!