The Amutorch AT40 caught my eye because it was made of Titanium, had quad Nichia LED’s, used an 18650 battery, and a screwed on deep carry pocket clip. This light has a few things going for it and some negatives too. Thanks to Banggod for sending this too me so I could investigate it further.
Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/Iel4Okl
Video version of this Review:
Packaging
Packaging is very basic at best. It’s a brown generic cardbox. Inside is some foam fit for the light, and couple of extra o’rings, and rear button. The manual is all in Chinese.
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Construction
The basic and simple design of this light as well as being made in titanium is what grabbed my eye on this light. Starting at the back the clip is screwed on to the very top ring of the light, using 2 T8 Torx screws. I like the clip design on this light, it’s deep and pretty sturdy. The button is a loud mechanical fairly stiff switch but it’s recessed a little. Accidental activation isn’t an issue. Threads are square cut, and came with a decent amount of grease.
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The body tube is a tumbled titanium finish and has cylindrical machining rings in it for the grip. It’s subtle but nice. The head is made of what looks to be a different material then the rest of the light. Not sure if this is titanium or another material
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Disassembly of this light is very simple. Nothing was glued in place. The only trick is to unscrew the rear ring you need to first remove the clip. I used some strap wrenches to tighten and loosen the rear bezel.
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I used this light to try some heat anodizing of titanium for the first time (I went a little further then I wanted). This went moderately well and I will probably attempt to redo the front ring and do the body tube as well. It’s important to make sure you wipe it down one more time right before anodizing.
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LED/Runtime/Heat
This light uses 4x Nichia 219C LED. They are in a neutral white color. The beam pattern on this light in it’s stock configuration isn’t pretty. It’s rather square with rounded corners and has artifacts. It’s convex lens means its pure flood, with no hot center. I personally don’t care for this type of lens, I find it less useful and prefer some spot or TIR options.
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Heat is a pretty major issue with this light, I measured the surface temperature of the pill at 140F which is hot enough to burn you. The light stays quite warm even in it’s medium mode. The pill area gets the warmest and pretty quickly but it doesn’t take much time for this to radiate to the rest of the body.
Runtime
For my runtime tests I used a 3000mAh Sony VTC6 battery. This light only works with unprotected flat top cells. The top runtime (About 2000 lumens according to the listing) is good for about a declining 5 minutes. Between 5 and 10 the light steps down to about 65% relative output where it sits fairly comfortably for the next 60 minutes. Total runtime was about 100 minutes. The last 30 or so minutes the light goes into low power warning mode. It slowly fades out then fades back on.
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UI
UI on this light is 3 simple modes, Starting in high, then to medium, and then to low. It has memory and will remember the last mode you are in. I don’t see this as a tactical light so I would prefer it start in low, go to medium and then high.
Pro’s
- Pretty affordable titanium quad host.
- Awesome, custom like pocket clip
- Nichia Emitters
- Decent option for modding, I hope I can find an optic that will fit.
Con’s
- Stock convex lens is pure flood with an odd beam pattern and artifacts
- Extreme Heat
- Only flat top unprotected batteries work.
- I have read about some DOA units on other forums although I didn’t have one
- I wish it started in Low mode first.
Conclusion
I think of this more as a project light rather than an everyday user, or EDC. I personally don’t care for the convex lens it ships with and the squarish beam pattern it creates. It’s basically a big flood. It doesn’t appear to not have any thermal controls which means it gets dangerously hot for extended runtimes. I like that it’s made of titanium, and can be flame anodized pretty easily. If I am able to find a different optic or reflector for this light I think I will like it quite a bit. If you do decide to get one make sure you mechanically lock it out as an added layer of protection against burns.
Banggood is offering a coupon for this light to get it for $31 with coupon “f0d761” at https://goo.gl/ViGxwQ (Affiliate Link) if you are interested