Category: Reviews

Posted on

Nitecore NU25 (Lightweight Headlamp, High CRI, USB Rechargeable, Red LED)

Today I have a new lightweight headlamp from Nitecore the NU25. This headlamp offers 3 LED colors, 1 Main white emitter, 1 lower lumen high CRI emitter and then a Red emitter. It contains a built in 610mAh non replaceable battery and is rechargeable via micro USB. Thanks to NitecoreStore.com for sending this to me to take a look at.

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/hXDIDdB
YouTube Version of this Review:

Packaging
The packaging is a cardboard hanger style package with the center being clear plastic showing the light and all the accessories. The package touts the lumens,k battery size and it’s IPX6 water resistance. Included with the light is a comfortable elastic band that has a zebra style pattern with Nitecore written in yellow on it. On the inside there is a silicone line at the front to help it keep from sliding on a helmet or your forehead. The light also comes with a branded Nitecore cable with a velcro tie to keep it organized.



Construction
The light itself is available in 3 Colors of glass reinforced plastic, Black, White, and the Yellow that I have. The light is rectangular and is 50mm long, 33mm tall and 18mm thick. On the top there are 2 buttons a main power, and a red power button, each are made of gray silicon rubber. On the bottom is the USB charging port covered again in the gray silicon rubber. The hinge mechanism fits in from each side and the angle is controlled with 2 ratcheting strips built into the rear of the light. You have a total of 5 adjustment points for about 45 degrees of adjustment. Weight with the strap was 45.6 grams.


 (Size comparison)

LED/Runtime
The main emitter in this light is a Cree XP-G2 S3 LED making a maximum of 360 lumens, lower modes are 190, 38, 1 lumen. The make and model of the high CRI LED isn’t mentioned but it’s rectangular in shape nad is good for 20 lumens. The make and model of the red LED isn’t mentioned , it’s good for 0.9 and 13 lumens.

Beamshots
Main Emitter – 
High CRI – 
High Red – 
Outdoor Main – 

Runtime of the main LED from start to finish was longer than I expected for a 610mAh battery. Turbo lasted for about 8 minutes and then the step down was in slow linear steps over the next 100 minutes or so to 15% relative output where the light lasted for another 220 minutes. The light does one final spike in brightness for a low battery indicator before going to absolute moon mode.

UI
The UI on this light is simple and straightforward. It has 2 dedicated buttons for the 2 color of LED’s. First you have the red button which when pressed turns the Red LED on Low, press again get the red on high, press again and you get a slow red beacon. Long press to turn off. If you long press the red from off you get a battery check.

Long press on the main power button and you get the high CRI LED. This only has one mode and is suitable for close up tasks like reading a map or book. Shot presses activate the main white LED. This has 3 modes and comes on in low first. Fast double click on the main power mode once the light is on and it will jump to turbo.

The light also has lockout in any state if you press both switches at the same time. The red indicator will flash once to let you know its locked. To unlock repeat pressing both switches again.

Recharging
Recharging isn’t a fast process, I tested it from empty to a full charge taking 2 hours and 10 minutes. The light can be used while charging which is a nice feature. This could be connected to a power bank or wall charger and run kind of indefinitely.

Pro’s

  • High CRI reading mode
  • Despite the small battery it lasts a surprisingly long time
  • Dim Red Mode that is great for map reading or short distance tasks, can bump up to brigher if needed.
  • UI that starts on low on both white and red mode
  • No PWM, it uses a constant current

Con’s

  • All Plastic Construction
  • Slow recharging Speed

Conclusion
I was surprised at how light the NU25 was and how long it lasted with the small battery. While it didn’t make a ton of light during this long run time if your going to be using it during hiking or something like that it should produce enough that you can navigate. I really like the addition of a white high CRI LED. I wish it was the main LED but know that high CRI LED’s are usually less efficient. I do appreciate that the NU25 has a low red mode that’s actually useful and not too bright like some of the recent lights I have tested. Overall the NU25 is a good light for it’s weight. If you can afford more weight I would personally recommend a light that took a removable higher capacity battery like an 18650. That said if your hiking or in another application where every gram matters the NU25 is a nice option.

Posted on

JetBeam WL-20 (Tri-Color rotating head Hunting Light)

On my review table today I have the JetBeam WL-20 a flashlight designed for hunting. It can be mounted to a rifle with optional accessories jetbeam produces. This light has 3 colors (White, Red, and Green) and features 2 LED’s per color. Thanks to JetBeam for sending this for me to take a look at. Let’s take a closer look at how Jetbeam achieves this multicolor hunting light.

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/6Z11Bit
YouTube Version of this Review:

Packaging
The package is similar to other recent JetBeam lights with a blue and black cardboard box. On the outside it has highlights and on the back is a runtime chart. On the inside is a plastic shell that houses the light and all the accessories. It’s a pretty full package. Included with this light is the Flashlight itself, it comes preinstalled with a Jetbeam protected button top Jetbeam 18650 with microUSB recharging. Also included is a branded holster with a bit of padding, Plastic D Ring, velcro belt loop, lanyard and microUSB charging cable. It comes with a small bag of spares including an extra red o Ring and rear tail button boot.






Construction
The head of this light is what sets it apart from some of the others, it rotates around the body. This allows the side by side lens configuration to only show 2 of the 6 total LED’s in the light at a time. Between colors it’s a heavy detent that almost requires two hands to operate. It makes a louder click moving between modes. Staying with the head of the light it’s and the rest of the light is made from aluminium that’s black anodized. The front bezel of the light is unanodized and has a short but sharply milled front bezel. The lens is glass with anti reflective coating. The lens is interesting as it has two deep recesses for the side by side LED configuration, with part of the middle reflector cut out.


The rest of the head has some milling for heat sinks and areas milled out to provide a bit of grip to turn it left and right. The body below is much smaller in diameter and 4 flats with knurling in between. It’s smoother knurling. On two of the flats an edge has been milled in for style and to aid in grip.

The Tailcap has one main on/off button that stands proud and is a textured rubber. It’s a pretty stiff button and can be used as momentary or a full press for a lock on. Next to the button are two paddles, these are metal and are similar to what you would see on a tactical light but with less grip. These are used for mode selection and act as pure momentary switches. The tail has small holes for attaching the lanyard, no paracord here. The light doesn’t tail stand due to a slightly proud center tail button and being unstable in this configuration.

Threads were square but and very smooth but dry. The Oring is a little larger than usual and is red rather than black. The WL20 use a stiff dual spring arrangement in the tail cap. In the head there is also dual springs but these are much less stout.

Overall weight with the included battery is 218 grams. Maximum diameter at it’s widest point is 42mm, minimum diameter is 26.5mm. Length is 146mm and the light is IPX8 water rated.

LED/Runtime/Drain
This light uses a total of 6 LEDs. The White LED’s are Cree XPG3 S4 LEDs in a very cool white. The Red and Green LED’s are only mentioned as “3535”. The lens is deep and it produces a beam pattern that was better than I expected. It’s a bit egg shaped in the spill but the hot center is pretty round at short distances. At longer distances it’s pretty normal.



Runtime
Jetbeam ships this light with the 2600mah microUSB rechargeable battery. However the offical runtimes they give on the package and in the manual are done using a 3500mAh cell. All my tests have been done with the 2600mAh cell that shipped with the light. To save time I won’t go into depth describing runtime just give a few facts and provide the graph.

White – Total runtime was about 150 minutes with flashing near the end. Turbo (1000L was good for about 5 minutes before stepping down to high. Step downs are hard steps.

Red – Total run time was 140 minutes with slow decline but it ran at 80% most of the time before an abrupt end and LVP kickin in.

Green – Total run time was 130 minutes with 1 small step down after 90 minutes. The end was and abrupt shut off in 3 short stages.

UI
The UI of this light depends on which color mode you have it in. In all 3 modes, the large round button at the tail cap is your main on and off. The momentary paddles work for momentary and will cycle the light through modes if that color has one. To rotate between colors rotate the head of the light left or right. It has a strong and audible detent.

In Green this light has one brightness level at 300 lumens. Paddles work for momentary, center button is on/off and can be momentary with a ½ press.

In Red this light has two modes, 125 lumens and 20 lumens. The paddles work for momentary and will cycle between modes. If it’s on a constant on the paddles just will cycle modes. High is the default red mode and it does not have memory in this mode.

In White this light has 4 main modes and strobe. Eco is 20 lumens, Low is 120 lumens, high is 330 lumens, and Tubro and strobe are 1000 lumens. The light will start off in turbo if using the main on/off. From there you can use the paddles to advance to eco, low, high and back to turbo. When off hitting the paddles will give you strobe, or from on a long press on the paddles will give you strobe.

Recharging and the Battery
The WL20 comes with a Jetbeam branded button top 2600mAH battery that has built in microUSB for charging. It says it’s rated for 1A charging speed but in my testing the best I got was 0.73A this resulted in a empty battery taking 4 hours 40 minutes to recharge. Personally I will use a more traditional charger instead.

A note about durability of this type of battery in a light designed for possibly mounting on a rifle. The additional circuit board not only makes the battery longer than a typical 18650 but it adds an additional possible failure point due to recoil. In a hunting environment you probably won’t be taking lots of shots, but in a more tactical environment you might be. I would recommend using a button top battery battery without protection instead for better durability.

Pro’s

  • One handed operation and rotating emitter.lens setup make it unique and it works well.
  • Heavy detents and big buttons make it easy enough to use with gloves but it almost takes two hands to rotate the head into a different color mode.
  • Brightest Red and Green modes I have tested thus far
  • Throws pretty well and has a decent beam pattern for the side by side LED configuration.

Con’s

  • It’s relatively heavy, while you could mount it onto a firearm I don’t think you would want to because of the weight and battery.
  • The white emitter has a very cool tint.I would prefer Neutral White or warm white myself and for the UI to start in eco first.
  • I would prefer the white emitter mode to have one addition moonlight mode since Red is still too bright for up close work.
  • Head rotation is almost too difficult, especially while wearing a cast.
  • The manual and packaging are not in sync as to which LED’s are in use in the light.

Conclusion
I was pretty interested in how this light accomplished it’s multi color LED’s and how much that would compromise beam quality. The good news is it was a lot better than I expected. It’s not a perfectly round beam but it doesn’t have many artifacts or ugly pieces too it.

As a weapon light I think there are better options that are smaller and better suited to attaching directly to a rifle. However as a hunting light that you might hand hold or use to get to a tree stand or blind and then use after the shot I think it would work fairly well. It has the strongest green mode on a light I have tested and that can be useful for finding a blood trail. It’s nice to see that the red mode has two brightness levels but the low is still a bit too bright for my liking for up close work.

This is a niche light, and won’t apply for the vast majority. For those that do need a hunting light that’s multicolor this is certainly an option for you that should work pretty well.

Learn more at the official WL20 website http://www.jetbeamlight.com/products_show289.html and it can be found on Amazon as well https://amzn.to/2zFCLq4

Posted on

Thrunite 2C V3 Review (1100 Lumens, Ramping UI, Short + Long tube)

I have enjoyed the previous lights from Thrunite that I have taken a look at and they asked if I would be interested in looking at a current model of the Thrunite 2C V3. The Thrunite 2C V3 is an all in one light with onboard charging and it’s flexible in its physical size and with the batteries it can use. Thanks to Thrunite for sending it for me to take a look at.

Full Image Gallery for this Review: https://imgur.com/a/zwNCRhe

YouTube Version of this Review:

What’s in the package
The box is similar to other Thrunite’s I have reviewed recently. It’s a sturdy brown paper box with limited markings and information. The goodies are all in side. Included is the Flashlight itself, pocket clip, lanyard, MicroUSB charging cable, bag of spares (Oring, 2 USB port covers, and button diagram), and Thrunite button top protected, high discharge 3400mah 18650 battery. The holster is made for this light and it fits nicely. There is a plastic d-ring at the top and the belt loop is fixed.






Construction
This light is made from aluminium and is hard anodized with a smooth gloss finish. Some interesting design choices have been made to keep this light short and flexible with it’s battery sizes. Starting at the back the rear is flat and non magnetic. There is a small hole drilled for the lanyard and below that is the only place a clip attaches to the light. The clip itself is very deep carry and works well for both length of the light. The body tube is 2 pieces with square cut threading and an O ring. This design allows battery size flexibility which I will talk about more in a few minutes. The knurling is a diamond pattern and is deep and aggressive.



The head portion of the Neutron 2C has the anti roll ring which contains the electronic button with LED charge status indicator in the center. The button sits pretty flat and has a nice audible click. The microUSB charging port is opposite. It’s standard depth so any standard cable should work well. The charging cover is a smart design. It uses a larger looped piece of rubber that goes around the entire head of the light and this is what the door sealing out moisture is located. The result is it’s super easy to replace if needed.



Size & Water Rating
Length in long configuration 125mm
Length in short configuration 94mm
Width at it’s maximum 26mm
Width at it’s minimum 24.5mm
The light is IPX8 water rated.
 Short
 Long

LED/Runtime/Parasitic Drain
The LED used here is a Cree XP-L V6 in Cool White, Neutral White is available as well and is my personal preference.The reflecto is smooth and fairly deep. LED centering is nice, and everything sits behind a antireflective coated glass lens.

This light can use a variety of different sizes of lithium batteries. It ships with a Thrunite button top, protected, high drain 3400mAh battery which is how I will most likely use it the most. It will also work with 2X CR123A, 1X 18350, 1× 16340, or 2× 16340. Button tops are recommended. I had some minor issues getting my flat top 18350’s working with small magnets. Working voltage is 2.7-9.0V.

 Short
 Long

Beam Pattern
The Neutron 2C throws quite well for an EDC. It has a small hot center with a moderate spill and hard cut off. It’s a pretty useful beam pattern.

Runtime
I ran my runtime test with the included 3400mAh 18650 battery. In Turbo mode the light will last about 10 minutes before you see a large decline to about 65% relative output. This will go for about 60 seconds before a slow gentle decrease down to 10% relative output when the Low Voltage Protection cut in. Low Voltage cut off with the included battery was 2.93V. I measured parasitic drain at 0.3uA.

UI
UI on this light ramps. That means there isn’t defined modes for the most part. Using a long press from off and the light enters firefly mode at 0.5 lumens. Long press again and you get to what Thrunite is calling Infinity Low at 12 lumens. Here is where the ramping begins. Long pressing again and the light begins increasing in brightness slowly. It takes 6 seconds to reach Infinity high at 650 lumens. Double click at any time to reach Turbo at 1100 lumens, and double click again to reach strobe. When in the ramping modes you can stop at any time at the desired brightness. If you long press again it will begin decreasing. The light will flash at both high and low ends to let you know you have reached the maximum or minimum.

Recharging
Recharging is accomplished via the microUSB port opposite the switch on the light. Unfortunately the light only recharges at a maximum speed of 1A. This means it’s a bit slow to recharge. In my test it took 4 hours and 52 minutes to recharge from 2.93V to 4.2V. The LED button contained within the button of the light acts as both a battery level indicator while the light is in use and a charging indicator while charging based on the color and blink pattern.

Pro

  • Available in Neutral and Cool White emitters
  • Flexible in output to whatever level desired, but the ramping is a little slow.
  • Flexible in length and battery
  • 3400mAh high drain 18650 battery is included.
  • Con
  • 1A recharging is a little slow. It would be nice to see this move up to 2A.
  • The ramping output of the light doesn’t cover the entire range. Nothing between 650 lumens and 1100 lumens. Ramping is only available between 12 lumens and 650 lumens.

Conclusion

The Thrunite Neutron 2C V3 packs a lot of features and flexibility into one small package with a nice UI. I would like to see ramping be a bit faster and cover the entire range of the lights output ability. That said it’s an all around nice light that really give the user a lot of flexibility in what battery they they want to run (Or what’s available), flexibility to in the length of the light without any extra parts to buy, option of the emitter tint, and flexibility to charge onboard via microUSB. Overall I think this is a light that will appeal to both enthusiasts and non flashaholics. Pickup the ThruNite Neutron 2C V3 on Amazon at (Affiliate Link) or from Thrunite Direct http://www.thrunite.com/thrunite-neutron-2c-v3-1100-lumen-flashlight/

Posted on

Litesam ED08 Review (14500, EDC)

Litesam is a newer brand operated by the same people who run FiTorch. It’s a single emitter AA/14500 sized light designed with everyday carry in mind. Thanks to Litesam for sending it to me. Due to some recent wrist surgery I am going to try and keep this shorter since typing and editing with a splint/cast isn’t the most fun thing to do right now. So if you see fewer reviews and videos from me over the next 8 weeks this is why.

Packaging and Accessories

Packaging is a small cardboard box with a slip on cover where all the details are located. It was a very tight fit and a little difficult to open without ripping it open. Inside the light was contained in a clear plastic tray with the light, holster, lanyard, and extra oring, and extra tail button. The battery was preinstalled but needed to have a plastic disk removed before it was operational.

The light is made from black anodized aluminum. Its fairly light weight in at 55g with the included battery and clip. Length comes in at 101mm and diameter at 18.25mm and compared to a few other 14500 lights I have the ED08 is slightly longer then my Reylight Ti-Lan V3, and quite a bit longer then my Olight S1A. However of the 3, the ED08’s diameter is the smallest. The knurling is a diamond shaped with the flats having additional texture and a few milled areas. Shape wise it’s fairly generic and is just about as thin as possible for as possible. Threads were standard but dry.

The tail has 2 large lanyard holes that also serve the purpose of protecting the button. The light will tail stand but its not the most stable doing so.The button is a loud clicky mechanical style that takes a decent effort to push. I didn’t have any trouble with it coming on accidently in my pocket. The lens is smooth and LED is well centered.

LED, UI, Runtimes

This light uses a Cree XP-L in Cool white. It’s one of the most cold tint’s I have seen in a light this year or longer. The beam pattern is good for EDC tasks, it’s got a hot center and projects decently well. It’s flood is functional.

Included battery is a Litesam branded, button top, protected 14500 rated at 750mAh. It’s overall length is 52.13mm. I had no issues with it

Runtime on 14500

On the supplied 14500 total runtime from 100% output to 0 relative output was about 110 minutes. Most of the time was below 50% relative output. high lasted about 2-3 minutes before the big step down occurred. Medium is where this light stayed for most of its curve.

Advertised brightness’s are high at 700 lumens, 100 lumens on medium, 30 lumens on low. 700 lumens for both Strobe and SOS.

Runtime on Eneloop resulted in less overall output but more of that higher output for longer. It was able to keep over 90% relative output for about 50 minutes before a large decrease over the next 20 minutes. Overall runtime was 105 minutes.

Parasitic Drain was measured at 0.23mA.

 

UI

The UI of this light is one area that could be improved a lot in my opinion. It goes from High, Medium, Low, Strobe and then SOS. For EDC I prefer a light to start in its lowest mode giving the user the option to bump up if needed and retain night vision. I also really don’t like having to cycle through Strobe and SOS as part of the main mode group. These would be much better under a sub mode, requiring a double or triple click to get there.

 

Pocket Clip

In the pocket this is decent. The clip is built for thin pockets, jeans or any canvas type material will have a hard time fitting to the top of the clip and thus not as deep as possible. Personally I prefer as deep as carry as possible and this one could be deeper. Other then that I had no issues during carry or retention.

Pro’s

  • I like that it includes a decent 14500 cell in the package with the light for the low price.

  • Thin profile with good knurling

  • Good Beam profile for an EDC light

Con’s

  • Has Strobe and Beacon in main modes, these would be better as a shortcut or a secondary mode on an EDC light.

  • Very cool tint

  • Pocket clip could be deeper and designed to fit thicker pants.

Conclusion

At time of writing this light can be found in the US for less then $25 on Amazon (Affiliate Link). Given that it comes with a 14500 battery I find this is a pretty good value for this size of light if you don’t mind cool white. I don’t have the equipment to get an accurate lumen reading but when comparing it to other AA lights I feel like the rating of 700lm may be a little optimistic. I personally don’t care for the light having Strobe and SOS in it’s main mode group and the fact that it starts in high, with memory on all modes. Hopefully Lightsam offers a revised UI in the future that takes the special modes out of the main group as it would make the light a more attractive EDC option.

Posted on

Olight i1R Keychain Flashlight Review & Giveaway

I have reviewed several keychain style flashlights and due to size, I end up taking many of them off. This is where the Olight i1R is different. It’s seriously tiny yet is a completely functional bright light for brief uses offering 5 and 130 lumen modes. Thanks to Olight for providing this to me to take a look at. I am also doing a giveaway over on my Youtube channel an Olight i1R to a lucky viewer in North America.

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/QvnqSTC
YouTube Version of this Review + Giveaway:

Packaging
With such a small light it also has a small packaging. The i1R packaging follows the recent several Olights of being a white heavy cardboard box with a plastic tray inside. It contains the light itself with its built in battery and split ring already attached, a olight branded micro USB cable and the manual.



Construction
This light is built from nicely machined black anodized aluminum. The light has a little bit of straight knurling on the head that provides good grip to twist the light on and off. Twist off the head completely and you get the microUSB connector for recharging. The light weights 0.42 ounces and is only 41mm in length. It’s also IPX-8 rated and I can attest it will survive a few drops from waist height onto ceramic flooring.




Compare to a few other small lights and objects.

https://i.imgur.com/naJ06cR.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/IS4qEgw.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/kHePoYY.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/5TAXPm5.jpg

On the back there is a simple diagram showing you which way to turn the light to make it work. From off, turn it clockwise and first you will get low, keep twisting and you get high. Turn to the light left until it turns off.

LED + Runtime + Charging
The LED in use is a Philips Luxeon TX in a pleasant cool white. The beam pattern is smooth with no artifacts or hot spot.

The battery is an internal and sealed lithium ion 10180. This is unfortunate. It’s also been mentioned that it doesn’t have low voltage protection over on Budget Light Forums. At this price point I can live with a sealed battery but I think it really needs LVP for protection. Overly discharging the cell once isn’t that dangerous but charging it again can be more dangerous. For a light that’s aimed at the mainstream consumer it’s something that it should really have.

In Low mode of 5 lumens, Olight rates it as being able to produce light for 7 hours, and on high 130 lumens, it’s rated for 20 minutes. I made one discharge graph from high and it lasts a bit longer than 20 minutes. It creates a S curve as it discharges losing lumens slowly the entire time. I stopped my test at 30 minute mark and the battery measured 2.82V.


Charging is accomplished via the built in microUSB port that can be found if you completely unscrew the head. There is a fairly bright red LED under the white plastic positive end that stays on until the light is charged when it turns green. Charging happens fairly slowly as you would expect from a small battery like this. In my test it took 65 minutes at 0.08A maximum speed.

Giveaway
Olight has provided me a brand new i1R in the box that I will be giving away to a viewer on June 12th 2018 to my North American audience. I will be using Glem.io and have a link in the description below. To enter you will need to make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel. I will have a few other ways you can increase your chances at winning in the description over on YouTube.

<a class=“e-widget no-button” href=“https://gleam.io/i2Cnr/olight-i1r-giveaway” rel=“nofollow”>Olight i1R Giveaway</a> <script type=“text/javascript” src=“https://js.gleam.io/e.js” async=“true”></script>

Conclusion
The Olight i1R is simple but effective keychain light that is really small and lightweight. It’s not exactly what enthusiasts would want since it lacks a removable battery and Low voltage protection, however at this price point of under $20 I think this will be a hit. My girlfriend wants it to replace the Nitecore Tiny she had had on her keys because it’s smaller and won’t activate as easily. I think for what it is this is a perfectly adequate light and plan to put it on my keychain for a backup light to use for short periods of time. I do think it should have LVP added and hopefully they are able to do that. Overall I like the Olight i1R because of it’s small size, relatively high output and affordable price. Check it out at the Olight Store. or on Amazon.

Posted on

Thrunite Catapult V6 Review (26650 Compact Thrower, MicroUSB Rechargeable)

Today I have a review of the Thrunite Catapult V6. This the 6th generation in Catapult “Thrower” line from Thrunite. It’s compact spotlight style light using a 26650 battery, and is capable of throwing light out to 750 meters and upto 1700 lumens. Thanks to Thrunite for sending this to me to review and evaluate.

Full Image Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/K0bz2lc
YouTube Version of this Review:

Packaging
Packaging is like similar Thrunite products I have reviewed, it comes in a sturdy brown paper box with minimal information on the outside with only the company name, address, model number and LED designation. In my case it was hand checked Cool White. Inside the light was encased in egg case foam. Accessory wise the light includes a Thrunite branded 5000mAh button top 26650 battery, 2 extra Orings, an extra USB cover, extra inner button rubber, split ring, Thrunite branded Lanyard with split ring, a Holster, and a Micro USB charging cable.




The holster is nicely designed to fit the large head of this light. It’s lightly padded and made of the nylon. There is no DRing and the belt loop is permanently attached. The holster is the way to go if you were wanting to carry this light on your person. The multilanguage manual is brief but does a good job of going over the necessary info in 4 languages (English, German, Chinese, Japanese).

Construction
Construction of the Catapult V6 is on par with other recent Thrunite lights I have looked at such as the TC20. It’s made of nicely machined aluminium and anodized in a black hard semi gloss coating. The tail caps on the Catapult V6 and TC20 look similar. Both are non magnetic and allow the light to tail stand. Each has a small hole for the included lanyard. Its one area where some will want a larger hole for paracord. There isn’t any knurling on the tail cap but I was able to get it off easily. Threads are square cut and lightly lubricated along with an Oring.


The body tube has a large diamond pattern milled around it. This isn’t super grippy but it’s a nice change from a more traditional knurling patterns. The body tube is directional but doesn’t have any polarity markings on it for the battery. This light does come into 3 pieces the tail cap, body tube, and head.

The head is fairly large. The light has a polished steel bezel that can be unscrewed with considerable effort according to others on budget light forums. The lens is large and anti reflective coated glass. The reflector is smooth and deep with the LED nicely centered on a large white PCB. The head has minimal milled out areas The button is metal feeling and has a hole for an indicator LED underneath for charging status. It’s an electric switch and requires medium effort to use.


LED + Beamshots, Runtimes
This light uses a Cree XHP35 HI LED in cool white. According to the box there may be a Neutral White Catapult V6 in the future, however as of now this has not been released. This is a 12V emitter so the light is using a boost driver to get the batteries voltage to that level. It has a working voltage of 2.75V to 4.2V

Supplied with the Thrunite 5000mAh 26650 button top battery. It’s capable of delivering the 8A this light requires when use of Turbo.The light will accept button or flat top batteries without issue.

Outputs are pretty impressive. Turbo is rated for 1700 lumens, high for 960, medium for 180 lumens, low for 22 lumens, and firefly at 0.5 lumens. The light also has strobe that is at 1200 lumens.

The Catapult V6 was able to maintain a longer runtime for quite a while, maintaining above 60% relative output for about 125 minutes. Turbo slowly fell to about 90% relative output over the first 20 minutes which is where the light stepped down and ran for another 40 before stepping down for the remaining 70 minutes. Fall off after that was pretty rapid.

Distance
The beamshot of this light is a spotlight thrower. I found it impressive that even on moonlight mode (0.5 Lumens) it ends up throwing quite well over 10ft on a dark night. Over a longer distance and with higher modes the light beam does spread some but it’s still a spotlight. The distance claim of 750 meters is reasonably accurate. The light does have minimal amount of spill with a hard cut off on the edges. Video is really the best to see this in action. See the YouTube version of this review above.

Compared to Klarus XT32 and other 26650 lights I have
When I compared it to my Klarus XT32 the tint colors are very similar. The Captapult V6 has a little bit larger hotspot and a harder cut off on the spill at distances over 100 yards. I think the Catapult V6 for me in my hand is better balanced and easier to manipulate. I also included a picture of the size of the Catapult V6 in comparisons to other 26650 lights I have.

UI
UI is clear and simple to follow. From off a short press starts the light off in low, and short presses will cycle up in modes to medium and high. When the light is on in any mode double click to shortcut to turbo, double click again takes you to strobe. To access firefly long press from off. The light also has memory and will turn on in the last mode accessed except for firefly, turbo and strobe modes.

USB Recharging
The light also is capable of being recharged via microUSB. This is opposite the electronic switch and is covered with a rubber flap. I had no issues with the flap staying in place. Charge time was a respectable 3 hours 22 minutes from empty to full charge with a maximum rate of 2.14A.

Conclusions
This is one of the more compact throwers on the market for the sub $100 price. It’s a complete package including the battery, light, and recharging cable along with holster and spares. Some of the competitors such as the Emmisar D1S are sold as just the light. Combine the Thrunites fash shipping from the US and complete package I feel like it makes a pretty good value. I like the compact size for a thrower and use of one 26650 battery. I have other throwers that use 2× 18650 and these end up creating a pretty large light thats much less easy to put on a belt or bag. I like the extra diameter too in the Catapult V6.

This would be a nice choice for security guard applications, landowners looking to survey their property at a distance, or hunters trying to spot game. Due to that tight beam it’s not the best choice for a general EDC light or trail hiking in my opinion but that is to be expected. Overall it’s a very nice compact thrower.

Thrunite is offering 20% off if you order this light through their website through June 15th 2018. http://www.thrunite.com/thrunite-catapult-v6-mini-thrower-rechargeable-flashlight/ It’s also available on Amazon (at normal prices) but currently out of stock.