Convoy will have a 17mm AA driver soon with Biscotti-ish software. I asked if Simon would consider a 15mm version, he answered that he will not do that as Convoy does not have a flashlight that takes a 15mm driver.
Conclusion: convince Simon to develop a slimmer version of the Convoy T2, with 15mm biscotti boost driver
Although I get your point of getting the T2 āslimmerā, I guess Iād rather have the driver āshrinkingā up to 15mm, and leave the rest as it is: strong, sturdy, impact resistant The Convoy T2 and the Jaxman E3 have two incredible hosts, that Iād rather keep that way.
Iād say that Acebeam Tk16 (16340) flashlight would be a better example on how to do this. The way that light is built is probably more reliable than the FWxA lights (for those concerned with that). Actually, if Acebeam did a 14500 version of that light, Iād call it a day!!!
It has 2 tubes inside as well, but you cannot āmessā with them, nor with the driver.
BTW, I guess that a 14500 āminiā version of the FWxA should be a single emitter, so that it doesnāt get bulky!
Also, other options such as strategies adopted by CRX, KawiBoy and others could be contemplated to make the inner contacts work, and still get a reliable flashlight.
Im not a fan of how āfragileā the tube alignment has been with the FWXX series lights. I would however bend over backwards for a side e-switch, high CRI single emitter (OP or TIR) 14500 light running Anduril on a boost driver or even a FET/FET+1 driver.
Yesā¦ assuming it was well proportioned and reasonably priced (no more than the FW3A).
AA compatibility would be amazing. I think it would highly unlikely, but if thereās an SP10A Anduril versionā¦
In the meantime Iāll be happy with a Biscotti-clone T2. If djozz can convince Simon to make a slim version with a15mm driver that would be even better.
Since there seems to be quite a few concerns about reliability and sizeā¦
In the FWXX series, demand exploded for Anduril on a compact, stylish 18650 flashlight. And so coming on the heels of the FW3A, Lumintop created the EDC18 - a compact 18650 side-switch running Anduril. It eliminates any problems of the dual-tube layout, and gains button LEDs. For this, it sacrifices the sleek FW3A styling and the idea of having a tail e-switch.
Lumintop already has a compact 14500 / AA light similar to the EDC18, the EDC05. It just doesnāt run Anduril. What if we convinced them to make a version that runs Anduril? That shouldnāt be too far of a stretch. Sure, it wouldnāt have the iconic FWXX styling.
I guess thatās the questionā¦ are we after the styling? Or is it more about having a nice, compact 14500/AA running Anduril?
I agree with the first few posts about size. That was my first thought. I āmightā buy one but maybe not. My enogear AA suits me just fine (though a captive clip would be nice). I donāt what the benefit would be in having andruil in a AA light. Smaller edcās donāt need complicated UI imo (having said that I hated the Tool UI) Unless I got talked into it with reviews and hype I probably wouldnāt buy.
Even Tools donāt have a good enough clip.
My DQG Slim AA clip is pretty good, but it has still been ripped off a couple times. Of course, a clip can be screw-on but get all sorts of bent out of shapeā¦ Iāve several times had to take the tail cap off my D25C Ti to bend the clip back, knowing each time itās weaker than before.
Personally, Iād love the AA compatible, but am willing to lose it for the sake of LVP with Li-Ion, if it really proves that hard to do multi-chemistry LVP.
I would buy a couple but only if relatively slim and supports NiMH (I donāt care for Li-ion in lights this small). Doesnāt have to have Anduril either, ramping would be nice but shortcuts to moon and turbo are essential IMO.
Canāt talk myself into buying any FWxy light. Iād try to collect them-not good with so many variations. But Iām curious how it would look like, so my best wishes for this project.
I like AA lights, if only to keep around for emergency use in case Iām out and about and dont have a way to charge my 18650 lights. I can always buy a cell at the store if necessary. I rarely actually use AA lights anymore, since getting my lumintop hl3a. When Iām out on the town or for other occasions when I want to have my light be as small as possible and not noticeable, I go for an Aaa light.
It all comes down to size to ability ratio, and what Iām using it for. The HL3A hits all the right spots for me since itās so small, thin, and uses 18650 cells. The form factor, even though I wasnāt too sure about it before buying, has proven to be perfect. Putting the LEDs on the side of the battery tube and the switch and driver on that same end was IMO the perfect solution to the tube-in-a-tube switch contact and girth problem. The HL3A is much smaller in diameter than the FW3A, with the very tip of head being the only thing that is as large in diameter. It tapers down from that point to .875ā. The thing really does disappear in a pocket.
The fact that it is still an āend switchā design makes it easy to find the switch. The magnet makes it super useful as a work light, more useful than a traditional cylindrical flashlight because you can aim it 360Ā° while stuck to something magnetic.
Now, if they designed a light like the HL3A but scaled down to take AA/ 14500 and running a simple ramping U/I like a stripped down anduril with double click to turn on (one click does nothing) and a small (no bigger than 19mm) head using only 2 LEDs instead of 3, then I would probably buy that. It could be TINY if built that way.
The advent of super minimalist LI-ION chargers with flexible leads and magnets makes it easy to take a charger with you. I would rather have that than a built in charger that adds to the size of the light.
And sometimes when carrying aa or aaa lights I just throw an extra battery in the other pocket for peace of mind.
Yes, actually. Neal sent me a CAD file of a blank PCB and wanted to know if I could make firmware for it. But, um, a blank PCB canāt run codeā¦ and even just from the PCB I could tell the light would be too big to be worth making. I tried to explain the issues, but nothing ever happened. Perhaps that was just the usual lost-in-translation thing, but as far as I could tell, Lumintop wanted someone to send them complete schematics for the entire lightā¦ and may not have been aware that everyone involved had been gone for a long time.
Iām assuming it would have to be a completely new design in order to be coherent at a smaller size.
If anyone is interested in actually making it happen, Iād suggest putting together a 3D model for the host, and talking privately with Hank of Intl-Outdoor to work out details.
For a 14500 light (especially if it needs to work with AA too), the ideal designs tend to be long and thinā¦ close to the shape of a tube light, but perhaps with a slightly flared head and tail. The tail switch signal could be transferred with a ribbon instead of an entire inner tube, to reduce diameter. A single LED in a reflector can easily be throwy enough without making the head wide. And the clip, of course, should ideally be a unidirectional deep carry type which runs parallel to the tube, similar to an Olight S2 (but perhaps captive instead of clip-on).
With a narrow diameter, it might be necessary to have a tall or stacked driverā¦ especially if it needs AA support. Thatās usually fine though. It worked nicely in the L3 L10, and in the EagleTac D25A.