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Thrunite Catapult Mini V2 Review (1100 Lumens, 515 Meters of throw, 18350)
Today I’m taking a look at the new Thrunite Catapult Mini V2. Now if you have watched my channel for a while you will know I really liked the original Catapult Mini and it’s probably my go to small thrower flashlight so I was excited when Thrunite said they had an updated model coming out. It’s using an SFT40 LED that’s brighter than the original light and a different optic setup, so lets see if it’s an improvement or not. Thanks to Thrunite for sending this to me to look at and review.
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Get the Thrunite Catapult Mini V2 at Amazon with the links below.
Desert Tan https://amzn.to/3oD2ee6 use code LXDG4Y7L to save 15%
Black https://amzn.to/3N1xbln Click the coupon on the page to save 15%
Packaging & Accessories
Standard Thrunite packaging here, the signature brown cardboard box with just the logo on the front and the line drawing on the side, opposite that is the indicator for the body color and LED tint. Inside the light is nicely protected with black foam. Accessories are the light itself, USB-A to C Charging cable, proprietary 18350 1100mAh battery, and a bag of extra o’rings, button, recharging port, and branded lanyard.
Construction & Design
V2 shares some similar design characteristics with V1 in roughly the same shapes but with a little different style. The light is made from 6061 aluminum and is available in two colors currently, a standard black and a Desert Tan that I have here. The V2 is slightly longer by about 4.5mm in length. The V2 to me feels more like most of the recent Thrunite Designs with a lanyard attachment point on the flat tail, allowing the light to tail stand. The grip on the body is a combination of very fine-milled lines, and then 5 milled flats around the side. The head has the standard Thrunite flat metal button with an LED Battery indicator in the middle and a standard USB Port cover opposite that. That head grows in size with a cone and a more traditional flat screw-off bezel that’s not glued in place. The V2 is using a traditional smooth deep reflector where as the V1 used a TIR-style optic and this has a pretty big difference in the beam pattern as we will see later.
Retention
Retention options here are limited, as the light doesn’t have a clip, nor comes with a holster. It does come with a lanyard that attaches to the tail if you wish. The light does tailstand but that’s less useful with a thrower like this in my opinion. I do like the size of the light in my hand, and find it pretty comfortable to use. The tail is nonmagnetic.
Size & Weight
I measured the length at 85.81mm, the diameter of the head at 40.4mm, diameter of the body at 26mm. Weight with the battery installed came to 4.06oz. The light is drop rated to 1.5M, and waterproof to 2M (IPX8). Here is a photo comparing it to the Catapult Mini V1 and the Lumintop GT Nano all small form factor throwers.
LED & Beam
The Catapult Mini V2 is using a SFT40 LED that I measured on my Opple meter at 5835k and 65 CRI, so more on the cool white spectrum and low CRI. DUV had no undesirable tints to it. This LED is combined with a traditional smooth reflector where as the V1 used a unique TIR style optic. The result is the beam patterns are quite different. Where the V1 was all throw, and basically no spill, the V2 has a very bright hot center (with a bit of a donut at closer ranges), and a bit of spill. This makes the V2 somewhat better as more of a general-purpose light rather than only a thrower.
V2
V1
Outputs
Outputs here on the Catapult Mini V2 were generally higher then claimed when measured on my TexasAce lumen tube at the 30 second mark. This isn’t something I mind at all, a nice little benefit.
One other thing to note here on outputs is the candela rating or throw, the V1 was rated at 89,600 candela and 598 meters of throw. The V2 is rated at 66,150 candela and 515 meters of throw, so slightly less throw than the outgoing model, but you are giving that up for a bit more spill to make the light a little more useful as well as a brighter output in all modes.
Heat & Runtime
I will let the graphs do the majority of the talking here on this section. Turbo runtime lasts 90 seconds in my testing, stepping down to 400 lumens. This corresponds to the thermals that I measured on the outside of the light at 34C. It was able to run at this level for 1:20:00, with peak heat increasing to about 39C on the outside of the light. Skipping turbo and just going with high nets you another 6 minutes of total runtime, and running on just medium gives you 3:30:00 of total runtime.
User Interface
The Catapult Mini V2 is using Thrunight’s standard UI that they use with basically all of their lights. It has 3 modes during normal operations and shortcuts to Firefly and Turbo. To get to Firefly from off, just long press for about 1 second. For Turbo double press in any mode, and for strobe triple press. For the main modes once on just long press to cycle between them. The light does have memory and will remember only the main modes. There are 2 lockout methods with the light, first is electronic lockout which you can do by long pressing the button for 4 seconds when off, and the same to unlock it. The LED will breathe fading in and out when it’s locked out with this method. Or my personal favorite is just to mechanically lock it out by slightly unscrewing the body from the head to break contact.
Recharging & Power
The Catapult Mini V2 comes with a Thrunite branded semi-proprietary 1100mAh 18350 battery. I tested this battery at 1181mAh in my Vapcell S4 Plus charger. What makes the battery proprietary is the plastic ring around the positive contact on the battery and the fact that there is both positive and negative contacts on the positive end. However, the Catapult Mini V2 only uses positive contact meaning a button top 18350 that’s long enough works here too.
Using the onboard USB-C charging port I was able to charge the light from LVP at 2.903V to full at 4.191V in 3 hours 3 minutes. Now this is a pretty slow charging speed of about 0.5A and only about 1/2C. So it’s super conservative given the battery capacity. I had no issues here charging with a USB-C PD charger either.
Conclusion
I think it’s debatable if the Catapult Mini V2 is really an upgrade here, while it is brighter, and the beam is more useful as a general-purpose flashlight, it’s slightly not as good as the original at being a thrower, which was what is so impressive about the original. That said the V2 is more useful daily because of the spill and the throw is nearly as far. The SFT40 has a slightly cool white tint with no negative tints which is nice to see.
I do like the design of the V2 light slightly better with the improved grip and lanyard attachment points. The rest is pretty similar and unchanged. While I am a little disappointed a proprietary battery shipped with the light, i’m glad it’s not required to function and that normal small button, button top works here or a standard battery with a magnet if needed.
I can definitely recommend picking up a Catapult mini, now which version I think comes down to how you plan to use it, and the V2 for me probably gets the slight edge over V1 just because it is more useful in more scenarios with the increase in spill. That said let me know what you guys think is the better light to go with and why in the comments below. If I have any discounts those will be in the description of the video along with links to my socials.
Get the Thrunite Catapult Mini V2 at Amazon with the links below.
Desert Tan https://amzn.to/3oD2ee6 use code LXDG4Y7L to save 15%
Black https://amzn.to/3N1xbln Click the coupon on the page to save 15%
Olight Oknife Borzoi Knife Review
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Wuben X3 Review (Wireless Charing, LH351D, GITD)
The Wuben X3 Lightok is the latest new product from Wuben, it’s the 3rd and smallest in the X series of side by side lights from Wuben, but this one brings quite a few different features we have not seen on the others. First is the rotating head to convert from straight on to 90 degrees, both red and white LED’s, and LCD Display, Wireless charging, and a charging case. There is lots to go into detail on this one to explain everything.
Wuben did send this to me to promote the X3’s launch on Kickstarter which is live now. Links will be in the description below to where you can learn more. Supporting the Kickstarter will help support my channel here too. All that said these are my unbias views and opinions on the light and not influenced by Wuben’s decision to send me the X3 in advance of the campaign.
Back the Wuben X3 on Kickstarter at https://bit.ly/LR-X3
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Packaging & Accessories
With my preproduction sample, I didn’t receive the final packaging or accessories. Mine came with the charging case, the flashlight itself with the clip preinstalled, and Wuben’s combination lanyard and USB-C charging cable that’s nifty. The manual I received is the first revision and a bit rough on the translation in some places, word choice is odd, and there are some phrasing head-scratchers. I do expect this to be fixed in the final version.
Construction & Design
Lots of things to talk about on the X3. First, let’s start with the light itself. The head module is made of aluminum and anodized in black in my example. The body in my example is made from hard plastic, which is semi-transparent and glows in the dark. Wuben has said there will be 4 different colors offered, black, white, camouflage green, and a gradient ramp blue similar to what they have done on other X series lights. It unclear if that will be just the head or body color differences and if there may be different materials chosen for the body. The campaign will have pictures to explain that for sure.
The head features two LEDs (White on the left, Red on the right), both LEDs sit behind TIR optics, and a single-piece plastic lens held in place with an aluminum bezel. On the top, you have a small LCD screen on the left, and the UI button on the right which has a nice milled circular texture on it. The head itself rotates clockwise when converting from a right-angle light to a straight-on one. There are only detents at the beginning and end.
The body of the light in my example is made of semi-transparent glow-in-the-dark plastic. On the front, you can see the coil that allows it to charge wirelessly. On the back you have a spring steel clip that’s attached to the light that I will talk more about later and at the bottom there are 2 magnets that hold the light up well. The sides are smooth with some angular relief cuts that seem to fit my hand reasonably well. The light can head or tail stand without issue, it’s a rectangle.
The next piece is the recharging case. This is made of soft-touch plastic that seems to show most marks and fingerprints pretty easily. There is a clear diffused piece of plastic that is hinged and when in the up position the light slides in to charge or for storage. This diffuser combined with the rotating head allows the light to act like a lantern if you want it to. It’s a nice bonus for what is otherwise the charging case. The front of the case contains a little rubber door that covers the USB-C charging port for the internal battery in the case, and the button to control the case.
User Interface
The user interface of the light is reasonably simple, especially the small LCD Screen next to the button. From off a quick press puts your into the main white LED modes, starting with the mode used last (excluding turbo) so it does have memory. Once on long pressing the button allows you to change the 3 main white modes. Double pressing goes to Turbo. Triple pressing at any time takes you to white SOS.
The light also has a red LED thats pretty easy to activate. From Off, long press to go to red, this also has memory mode and strobe inside its 3 mode options, which I’m not a huge fan of myself. Similarly long pressing once already on in red, allows you to change to the other two red modes. Once the light is completely off, the light will go back to white with just a quick press. One interesting note is that you can use the case to make either the red or the white light a lantern.
Retention
The retention option on the light itself is the spring steel clip that’s screwed onto the back of the light. It’s made of pretty sturdy steel and is quite stiff. I would say too stiff as it took two hands to put it onto some overalls or the pocket of some jeans. It’s attached so that it’s a heads up carry. Not great for putting in your pocket to conceal in an EDC manner, but makes sense to use it more as a right angle light.
The case has a slot in the back for attaching the included dual-purpose lanyard and charging cable. It’s a pretty neat design with a cable holder for lack of a better word captures the USB-C ends and the cable portion is more of a ribbon material with a handy metric ruler on it.
Size & Weight
I measured the length of the light at 70.35mm, the width at 35.05mm and the depth at 19.77mm. The weight of just the light with the clip is 62.7g or 2.21oz. With the case but without the lanyard it comes to 5.87oz or 166.4g. The size of the case is 85.4mm x 47mm x 39.7mm. The light is IPX 65 water-rated and drop resistant for 1 meter. No water or drop rating is given for the case. Here are a few photos of the X3 next to it’s other X series lights and my Wurkkos FC11 reference light.
LED & Beam
The Wuben X3 is using the Samsung LH351D emitter in a neutral 5000k tint. On my Opple meter, I measured 4895k at 94.5Ra (CRI), so not only is it neutral but it’s high CRI as well. The DUV was very neutral with no color tinges like you sometimes get with the LH351D’s. For me personally, this is a nice choice of emitter and tint.No specific LED was mentioned for the red LED’s here. There is PWM found here but it’s quick.
The beam pattern is a fuzzy tight hotspot with a minimal amount of spill, I think the fuzzyness is due to the TIR reflector that’s being used here and I don’t really notice it until you are showing the light on a flat uniform surface like a wall or ceiling.
Outputs
A note on outputs, that things in general underperformed Wuben’s initial claims. With Turbo lasting less than 30 seconds in my multiple tests, if I followed the FL1 standard of taking a reading after 30 seconds, the claims here should be more like 175 lumens instead of the 700 claimed or the 515 lumens measured at initial power on. The rest of the modes were within a reasonable margin of error for me, and red actually was more than claimed.
Heat & Runtimes
For my heat and runtimes, I took measurements with my TexasAce Lumentube. Starting in Turbo the light stepped down very quickly right at 30 seconds, this is disappointing along with the output numbers being less than claimed on my preproduction model. This isn’t heat related as the heat barely changed during this time. Max heat was 63C at the 18-minute mark. There isn’t a ton of room to dissipate heat here with the smaller aluminum head. The light was able to sustain between 100-180 lumens then for 90 minutes, in High outputs were slightly lower and runtimes were only 2-3 minutes longer. In Medium the light ran for about 4:30:00 at a very stable 75 lumens or so.
Recharging
Recharging of the X3 flashlight itself can only be done wirelessly. Luckily it seems to use the Qi charging standard so not only can you use the case the light comes with but many other charging pads seem to work in my experience. I have a 5W Samsung charging pad here that I used, and doing that the light took just shy of 2 hours to charge.
Internally the light itself has a lithium polymer battery thats 1000mAh in size. Charging this via the case took about 2:46:00. I measured this by using the case with a full charge, plugging in the light and then plugging in the case to AC power, so in theory the power being consumed was for charging the light. This is a fairly slow charging speed for a small battery, but we need to keep in mind wireless charging isn’t super efficient, just convenient.
The case also contains it’s own 3000mAh battery. In my testing, I found that I could charge the X3 from LVP to full about 1.7 times before it’s internal capacity was full. I tested charging just the internal battery in the case from zero to full and that took 2.5 hours. The case did seem to always draw a small amount of power when it indicated it was full regardless of how many hours you left it in.
Conclusion
When I first read about the X3 I thought it was a little bit of a gimmick, but once I got it in my hand and started using it, it grew on me quickly. It’s a useful feature set for what it is. I like the dual emitter colors, especially in this side-by-side format, it works well. The rotating head here works really well, so not only is it a light you can clip onto a vest or pack strap, but you can use it more like a conventional flashlight too. It’s a good LED and tint option in my opinion here too being neutral and high CRI.
The LED screen here is functional by telling you the mode, number of lumens and power level indicator. The only thing I wish it did was estimate the remaining runtime at this power mode. That’s something NItecore has been doing on their lights with screens that are useful rather than a graphic showing the battery level that isn’t very precise.
The glow-in-the-dark body in this example and the internal LED that comes on when it’s charging creates a neat glowing effect. The magnets in the bottom are strong and functional too. The wireless charging works well but is kind of slow. At first, I was against the idea but found it rather convenient that you could charge in the case or in most places I could charge my smartphone. I could even do wireless powersharing from my smartphone if I wanted. I can’t think of really any other flashlights I have used that charge via Qi.
This isn’t something I will probably EDC In my front jeans pocket like I do smaller round lights due to it’s size and harder angles, and not being deep carry at all. For me, it’s probably more of a back pocket or elsewhere in my bag type of light. I have been finding it something I grab when I need to go look at something in the basement or at night quickly because I like how it feels in my hand. I’m a little disappointed that the output here for me isn’t what’s claimed, and it’s off by a decent margin. Not sure why there is such a large difference but I know other reviewers have had similar experiences. Wuben either needs to address this or adjust its claims to match outputs that are closer to reality. Overall a fun light I can recommend, especially if you have some of the other X series of lights and like them, just be aware turbo output may be underwhelming.. I will have links below in the description to where you can find the Kickstarter on this one or if your watching after the Kickstarter is over where you can pick up the light now.
Back the Wuben X3 on Kickstarter at https://bit.ly/LR-X3
Wurkkos FC13 Review (2000 Lumens, $32, Anduril 2, USB-C)
Today I am taking a quick look at the Wurkkos FC13 a 18650 light running an SFT40 LED and Anduril 2 firmware. It features a colored bezel and RGB button on the side as well as onboard USB-C charging. Thanks to Wurkkos for sending this to me to look at and review.
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Get the Wurkkos FC13 at Amazon at https://amzn.to/3zloXwQ
Use code 6ZXGKK9W to save 20% off either the SFT40 or XHP50 version. Valid until April 10 2023
Packaging & Accessories
Much like Sofirn, Wurkkos has recently gone through a packaging quality upgrade. Now you have a nice white magnetic fold-out box with a full-color photo of the light on the front, a description and spec chart on the back and the specs of the exact model you ordered on the end cap. Inside you have an Olight-style yellow card with first-time startup instructions telling you to remove the insulator inside the battery compartment.
Accessories that are included are the light itself, a 3000mAh button top 18650 (Standard), USB-A to C charging cable, Pocket clip, Lanyard, bag of extra orings, and a manual.
Construction
A few notes on construction, the light is made from aluminum and hard anodized in black. At the current time that’s the only color that’s being offered. The light comes into 3 pieces, the tail is flat and nonmagnetic. The tail cap has minimal milling, the clip is designed to attach at one point, and the body tube has some milling for style and weight reduction over anything else. Threads are anodized, square cut and nicely greased.
The head features a large relief cut for the silicone button that stands slightly proud. The button is smooth in texture and has areas where it’s thinner to allow the LED underneath to shine through and display it’s many colors. The USB port cover stays out of the way. The bezel is flat, and there is an orange aluminum accent piece holding the glass lens and a heavy orange peel reflector in place.
UI
The light is running Anduril 2 which I won’t go into depth about as I have covered it in the past and it’s pretty complicated. If you don’t know the firmware you will want the diagram to help you learn. It does have ramping UI by default or you can switch it into a 7 step stepped UI.
The only thing I can say is I have had quite a bit of difficulty getting the standby LED color to change, but I can replicate what that should look like by locking out the light and showing you what that looks like.
For more info and the firmware diagram check out https://ivanthinking.net/thoughts/anduril2-manual/
Retention
The pocket clip appears to be nearly the same model as what was on the TS21, with the only difference being mainly where the hole is for a lanyard attachment. On the FC13, I would call this a good clip, it’s fairly deep carry, dual direction and didn’t hang up on my jeans pocket in any way. I do recommend you use mechanical lockout though so there are no accidents. You can attach a lanyard on the flat nonmagnetic tail cap or on the clip itself.
Size & Weight
I measured the length at 114mm, the minimum diameter on the body at 22mm, and the maximum diameter at the head at 27mm. Weight with the clip and battery came in at 121.9g or 4.3oz. When I compare it to a few other Wurkkos lights I have the FC13 is right in the middle length-wise between the TS21, and the FC11. The head is more on the size of the TS21 though.
LED & Beam
The FC13 is available with Two LED currently, a Cree XHP50.2 at 5000k and a SFT40 at 6000k which is what I have. On my Opple meter I measured the tint on a medium output power at 5783k, and 66CRI. Tint was just ever so slightly green very hard to notice in my eyes. There is PWM here as it’s an Anduril 2 light. The beam here is a small hotspot with minimal spill. This is what we would expect from the flat-top SFT40 LED in my example.
I measured the parasitic drain when the LED is on in high mode at 5.50mA, (Milliamps) and on low the button pulled 156uA (microAmps) and with the button off 46.2uA (Microamps). So as cool as the RGB button LED is, on it’s brightest mode it will drain the light in less than a month, so I would recommend turning it to low or off (or mechanical lockout by unscrewing the head or tail a ¼ turn).
Outputs
Since the light runs Anduril 2, you don’t have normal stepped modes like most other lights have, instead you have ramping and 7 different stepped modes plus Turbo, so for output testing, I only tested a few. For the SFT40 version of the light which I have on my Texas Ace Lumen tube, I came up with 1640 Lumens on Turbo and 640 on what I will call high. On it’s lowest output it’s sub lumen.
Heat & Runtime
Turbo on my light ran for about 3 minutes before stabilizing with a few steps to get there from the nearly 1800 peak starting lumens. During this time heat peaked at about 46C on an uncalibrated light at the 90 second mark. With the longer runtime graph you can see as heat dissipates the light does increase in brightness too. Total effective runtime is around 3 hours. With a runtime comparison of Turbo with lower modes we can see running at about half power gives far greater runtime lengths out to 13 hours or so.
Recharging
The light features onboard USB-C recharging. I found the port to be recessed a little deeper and access to be slightly tighter than average. The result was the light was pickier about the cable being used to charge it. Charging from LVP at 2.834v to Full at 4.150v came in at 2:11:00 with max charging speed being 1.2A. It’s a very flat charging curve that tapers down at the end. The LED in default mode starts orange and blinks when charging and goes solid when charged but remains orange. You can use the light when it’s charging, but you will only be able to use it in it’s lower modes.
The light also works as a powerbank for your USB-C Devices. I didn’t test any runtimes on this other than to verify it worked with my Samsung S22 Ultra smartphone.
Conclusion
I wouldn’t call the Wurkkos FC13 a successor to the well respected and often recommended FC11 for a few reasons. While the price is very favorable, and the performance is good, the Anduril 2 UI isn’t as easy to use for a lot of people as the FC11’s more standard UI. What I would say the FC13 is, is a good choice for enthusiasts who want Anduril 2, and more throw than the FC11 has in situations where a high CRI isn’t important. The RGB LED in the button is fun, despite being a bit difficult to change in my example. Overall a good light for the right application, but maybe not quite a universal across the board recommendation like the FC11.
Get the Wurkkos FC13 at Amazon at https://amzn.to/3zloXwQ
Use code 6ZXGKK9W to save 20% off either the SFT40 or XHP50 version. Valid until April 10 2023
Thrunite – TC20 Pro Review (3294 Lumens, 350 meters throw, USB-C, 20%)
Today I am looking at the Thrunite TC20 Pro. This is an updated version of the TC20 V2 that I looked at in the past, and the main difference is that the Pro is using a Cree XHP 70 HI LED and smooth reflector. As a part of this review, I will be comparing it to the Fenix PD36R Pro during my night shots section later on. Thanks to Thrunite for sending this to me to look at and offer an unbias review. Any discounts or deals I have for the TC20 Pro will be in the description below along with links to my social media accounts that I encourage you to go and follow.
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Get the Thrunite TC20 Pro at https://amzn.to/3mU8U6g amd save 20% using code 47C8HFMW through midnight PDT 3/26/23
Packaging & Accessories
Standard Thrunite brown cardboard box here with the elastic band, I would call it functional minimalism. Inside is the entire kit with almost everything you need to maintain and use the light for years. You get the light itself, a 5000mAh 26650 Thrunite battery, nylon holster, USB-A to C charging cable, lanyard, a bag of extras including o’rings, button seal, USB port cover, and split ring, a manual, and warranty card.
Construction
Visually and construction-wise, the TC20 Pro is pretty much identical to the TC20 V2, with the main differences being the LED and Lens combination. The light is made from Aluminum and hard anodized black. Build quality is always good from Thrunite and this is no exception. The tail cap provides a flat surface that allows for tail standing and has a lanyard hole. The cap is removable and non-magnetic. Inside there is a stout spring on the tail end only.
The body tube has milled blocks in an almost frag pattern for grip. The corners are well-chamfered though so it’s not too aggressive. Square threads on both ends are anodized, smooth, and nonreversible.
The head features the standard Thrunite electronic switch with a metal button on top, and a small battery indicator LED in the middle. Directly opposite the button is the USB-C charging port that’s covered via a silicone rubber flap. It’s decent fitting and does stay out of the way. The light has moderate milling at the top for heat dissipation and weight reduction. The bezel is flat. The lens is AR coated and the reflector is smooth.
UI
UI here is Thrunite’s standard. Single press to turn on, long press once on to cycle up between the 3 main modes, double press to go to Turbo, triple press to go to strobe. It’s a very simple interface, and it’s easy to use which is nice but also limiting. A fast ramping interface would work pretty well here too given the limited number of modes and wide range of outputs it must cover.
Retention
Retention options include the included nylon holster. It has elastic sides, plastic dring, and a fixed belt loop. It gets the job done but is just of average quality. The light also comes with a branded lanyard and split ring that can be attached to the tail if you wish.
Size & Weight
I measured the length at 118.1mm, the diameter of the body tube at 32.6mm, diameter of the head at 42mm. The weight of the TC20 Pro with the battery is 242.5g. The light is IP68 water-rated to 2 meters. Here are some comparisons with other flashlights, including the Fenix PD36R Pro I will be comparing it to in the night shots coming up soon.
LED & Beam
The TC20 Pro is using a Cree XHP 70 HI LED in cool white. On my Opple meter measured the tint at 6092k and 69 CRI. DUV is fairly neutral with no major tint shifts. When I compare it to my TC20 V2, it has much less tint shift and much less yellow/green, especially at lower outputs. The beam on the TC20 Pro is more spotty and throws a bit further and that makes sense with the smooth emitter and dedomed LED. When I compare it to the Fexnix PD36R Pro the hot spot is of a similar size but has a smoother transition into the spill where as the Fenix is much more pronounced. I would say the tint of the Fenix is more green, especially at lower outputs. There is a small amount of very fast PWM on all modes of the TC20 Pro.
Outputs
Heat & Runtime
The light is able to sustain it’s 3500+ lumens for 3:30 before stepping down to around 1800 lumens where it will run for 32 minutes, before stepping down to about 1600 lumens to finish out the remainder of it’s 1:00:00 runtime. Peak heat during this time was about 59C. Running on medium nets an impressive 9:30:00.
Where this light really shines in my opinion is the amount of time it can sustain well over 1000 lumens. This light maintains over 1400 lumens for 1:40:00. I frequently get asked what light can I buy that will stay over 1000 or 2000 lumens for an hour, well here is a good option for you if that’s what you’re looking for. In comparison to the TC20 V2 the Pro here doesn’t have quite a long of runtime but that’s to be expected with this different LED and more overall output.
Recharging
The TC20 Pro has onboard USB-C charging that’s protected by a silicone rubber port cover. I charged the light charged the light from LVP to full at 4.17v in 3:17:00. You are able to use the light during charging but only in low and medium modes. It charges via USB-C to C or PD without an issue. While the included battery is officially rated at 5000mAh, I tested mine with my Vapcell S4 Plus at 5437mAh.
Conclusion
The Thruntie TC20 Pro is a worthwhile upgrade to the V2. It takes what was a moderately floody light and increases its ability to throw, while still maintaining the size and form factor we know. The tint here is better on the Pro, and over it’s competitors in my opinion, and I prefer the beam tint and shape on the Pro. You do take some small decreases in overall runtime though due to that higher comparison.
Compared to the Fenix PD36R Pro, the TC20 Pro is less tactical with it’s UI and a bit more general purpose in my opinion. It’s also generally a better value and a light I can recommend over either the TC20 V2, or the PD36R Pro dollar for dollar in my opinion.
Get the Thrunite TC20 Pro at https://amzn.to/3mU8U6g amd save 20% using code 47C8HFMW through midnight PDT 3/26/23
Skilhunt H04 RC Review (Nichia 519a, Headlamp, 96CRI)
The Skilhunt H04 RC has been out for a few years, but what’s new here is the LED that’s fairly new being offered, and that’s the Nichia 519a. You know I’m a fan of that LED and I can tell you it makes a great choice in a headlamp for close-up work with it’s neutral tint and high CRI. Thanks to Skilhunt for sending this to me to look at.
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Packaging & Accessories
The light came in a retail hanging box with lots of good information on the outside. Accessories included were the light, pocket clip, 3500mAh 18650 buttons top battery, proprietary magnetic charging cable, Skilhunt branded 3 piece head strap, lanyard, extra o’rings , mesh bag, and the manual.
UI
The UI on this version of the Skilhunt H04 RC has been updated from previous versions. It’s similar to what I saw on the M150 V3. Turning the light on with a single press will bring you into the main mode group in the last mode you used. Long pressing from off brings you into the ultra-low mode group. Within ultra-low, you have 2 brightness options, that you can toggle between by long pressing. This same sub-mode group works with Turbo too, so turbo high, and turbo low if you will. So once you have the low end and the top end set you effectively have a 5-mode light that works like most others. Long press from Off to ultra-low, single press for your main mode groups where you long press to go up in modes in a 3 mode group, and then double press for turbo. Strobe is triple press from on, and it also has 3 strobe modes, tactical, SOS, and Beacon. Lastly, there is electronic lockout which is 4 clicks from off. The mechanical lockout also works well here at the tail cap.
Construction
The light is made from aluminum and hard anodized black in a semi-gloss shine. The tail is magnetic, strong enough to hold the light in the horizontal position on a painted/powder-coated surface with the strap attached, but barely. The tail itself is mostly smooth. The light comes into 2 pieces, tail and body/head. The body has shallow milling for texture.
The head itself is pretty typical of other right-angle flashlights. The lens is round however there is a flush metal bezel that’s square. The lens has texture over top to somewhat diffuse the light. On top you have the recharging contact for the proprietary charging system. On the left you have the button which sits slightly raised. It’s a silicone button surface, semi-transparent and is used as a power level indicator and recharging status indicator.
Retention
You have 3 main retention options with the H04 RC, a lanyard, pocket clip and the 3 piece headband.
The pocket clip itself is press fit and is designed to fit, just under the head. It is pretty tight but can rotate. It’s a good clip as far as tension goes but not what I would consider deep carry as a little over 1.5cm sticks up beyond the clip.
The headband comes unassembled on the H04 RC and no directions were included on how exactly to assemble it. I did find a video on Skilhunt’s YouTube page showing how to do this and it was very helpful. The headband itself is made of good quality elastic, on the inside, it has a silicone band to help it stay put, on the outside it has some reflective pieces The plastic mount itself has no padding like you see on some other brands but I didn’t find this uncomfortable during use working on my car. What I really liked was that the mount is designed to work with the pocket clip still attached to the light. This is the way it should be done. There is also a lanyard that comes with the light, and it threads at the back of the light.
Size & Weight
I measured the length at 101.5mm, the diameter of the body at 21.2mm, largest diameter of the head at 24mm. The weight of the headlamp with clip, and without the head strap came in at 3.69oz, and with the strap, it grows to 5.45oz. The light is IPX 8 water-rated and impact resistant to 1 meter.
LED & Beam Shots
This Skilhunt H04 RC is running a Nichia 519a which is best known for it’s pleasing tint and high CRI. On my Opple meter, I measured the tint at 4211k, and 97.5Ra (CRI) with no DUV shift. This is pretty much perfect for my preferences. I would also call it a constant current driver, without PWM on the multiple modes tested.
The headlamp here is using a TIR optic with texture on the outside and the resulting beam pattern is a large even beam without a pronounced hotspot. The spill is minimal. In the use of the headlamp, I found the beam to be maybe slightly too narrow for the automotive work I was doing, and I found myself manually adjusting the angle of the light a few times more than I would have expected.
Runtime
I will let the graphs do the speaking here, but in general, the outputs are less than Skilhunt claims and I think this is due to them not updating their runtime charts for this new Nichia 519a LED that’s inside. The result is turbo can last to nearly 3 minutes, but you’re starting at about 620 lumens. Peak heat was about 43C so very reasonable temps. Turbo 1 and Turbo 2 runtimes were in the 3:30:00 runtime range, High out to 5:22:00, and Medium one all the way out to 14:30:00.
Recharging
The light has built in recharging via a proprietary magnetic charging cable the light comes with. The contact on the light itself has a weak magnet on it, so I don’t think there will be as many problems on this design as other similar ones on the market. While the light does have the proprietary charging cable it uses standard button top protected 18650 batteries which is great for longevity and future replacements or spares. My tested capacity of the included cell was 3455mAh of a rated 3500mAh.
I charged the light from LVP at 3.074V to Full at 4.185V in just shy of 5 hours. This is pretty slow for a 3500mAh 18650 battery. The peak charging speed was 0.95A but this was a peak, and most of the charging speed was well under that as you can see by the graph. The button on the light does give a power indicator when in use in 4 different states with 2 different colors.
Conclusion
This is a great little headlamp when you are prioritizing light quality over quantity. Skilhunt really should publish official numbers when they put different LED’s in their lights, because they claim 1000 lumens, but this is clearly for a different LED than the example I have in this review that I measured at approximately 620 lumens. It also creates the mode spacing that isn’t ideal.
That said I really enjoyed using this headlamp, and I suspect it will become my new default when i’m doing closer-up work or something where CRI is important. This isn’t the headlamp ill pick to snowblow in because I likely want more output for longer periods of time. It’s a headlamp I can definitely recommend if you don’t have one already.
Olight Arkfeld Review (1000 Lumens, Green Laser, Unique Form Factor)
Most flashlight and laser combinations are designed with a very narrow purpose like a weapon light or are so bad at being both a flashlight or laser that they are hardly worth your time, that is until the Olight Arkfeld arrived on the scene in its unique form factor. Thanks to FlashlightGo.com for sending this to me to look at for review. They are a newer overseas retailer, so check them out.
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Packaging
The packaging here is Olights normal design with a white box pull tab on top and a tray inside holding the contents. The exterior gives a good description, features, and specs. Included is just the light itself, the Olight MCC Charging cable, and the paper manual.
A quick note on FlashlightGo I originally ordered the neutral white version of this flashlight but a mistake was made and cool white was sent. They asked if I could just review it instead which I agreed to but said for a customer who had this happen they would replace the order most likely or offer a discount.
Construction & Design
The Arkfeld is made of aluminum and available in numerous colors at this point (Black, OD Green, Desert Tan, Blue, Orange, Lime Green, Pinwheel Gunmetal Gray) and a few other materials at one time I believe. Mine here is in blue aluminum. Its body isn’t round like we are used to on most flashlights, it’s rectangular with curves almost oval shape, and as a result, it carries really nicely in the pocket.
Upfront it has a thin plastic bezel that protects the glass lens that’s mounted and a bit flexible. On the right-hand side is the flashlight portion and on the left is the laser. I will go over the UI switch and how it works in the next section but know that it works well but isn’t very tactical. The clip at the rear is recessed but sits just inside the MCC charging port.
UI
The user interface of the Arkfeld is a mix of mechanical and familiar UI’s if you have used other Olight flashlights before. At the front end of the light there is a toggle that allows you to switch between Laser or Flashlight mode, it’s not possible to use both at the same time. From there the center button turns on whichever you have selected. The laser is very simple to operate as it only has 1 mode, on or off.
The flashlight portion uses Olight’s standard interface, and all of the normal shortcuts are there. Single press to turn on in the last used normal mode, Long press to increase the output of the 3 normal modes, Double press to go to turbo, triple press to go to strobe and there is even a moonlight mode if you press and hold from off. To turn everything off you just single press once. If the light or laser is already turned on and you want switch to the other you just rotate the toggle, no need to press the power/mode button.
One often looked part of Olight’s UI is the timed modes where when set in these modes the light will automatically shut off in at preset time lengths. The Arkfeld is no exception and has this as an option. Consult the manual for how to enable these, personally, it’s not a feature I really use.
Retention
Retention on the Arkfeld is one of the strong points. On the back of the light there is a long black spring steel clip held on with two Torx screws. This clip is very similar to a “steel flame pattern clip” but with much less of a bend, so your luck may vary on what else might fit here. The clip allows for a pretty deep carry, and plenty of room for the material to fit through it. I found it to be a good clip to carry and had no issues with the light coming on in my pocket accidentally. It was very comfortable to carry in my pocket think of something like an Olight Warrior that’s been squished a bit. The oval shape makes it seem less thick than it is, similar to an OTF knife.
Size & Weight
I measured the length at 4.36”, the diameter at the head at .65” and at the tail .752” width was 0.98”. The weight came in at 3.09oz or 87.7g. The light is IPX7 water and dust rated so it should stay operating in many everyday environments without an issue. Here are some comparisons to other lights of a similar size and things you might have to compare it to.
LED & Beam
The Arkfeld has both an LED flashlight and a green laser. The LED while not specified is mostly like an Osram P9. It’s available in Neutral White and Cool White. I have the cool white here and on my Opple meter it measured in at 6000k at 70 CRI with no significantly negative color cast on DUV. It is good to note here that there was now PWM to speak of on the normal modes.
The beam is a classic TIR optic, with a reasonably large hotspot, and soft spill. Good for those short and medium-range EDC tasks, perfect for this light’s design. There is a slight bit of clipping on the top and bottom due to the rectangular bezel.
Laser
The green 1 laser inside is a class 1 laser rated at a max output of 0.39mW, so not the brightest that’s offered to civilians by any means but plenty powerful enough for presentations or to bother your cats and dogs. This isn’t a laser where you can see the beam during operation but still powerful enough that you won’t want to shine it at people, pets, or aircraft.
LED Output
I did test the outputs on my Texas Ace Lumen tube and the results were as advertised for the most part. No complaints there to speak of. All measurements were taken after 30 seconds.
Heat & Runtime
Per my usual here are the runtime graphs I came up. Nothing here is too surprising. The light runs pretty cool hitting a maximum of 35C (95F) during the first 3 minutes of running in turbo. Turbo itself was good for 3 minutes of pretty stable output, and it appears it’s a timed step-down instead of temperature dependent. Overall runtime starting from Turbo was 2:10:00 and when I repeated the same test but in high you only gained about 8 minutes of additional runtime. I didn’t do any runtime for the laser portion itself as my equipment isn’t really setup for this.
Recharging
The Arkfeld uses Olights MCC3 magnetic recharging system with a connection at the rear of the light. The internally sealed nonuser replaceable 1050mAh lithium polymer battery charged from empty to full in 3:36:00 rather slow for such a small battery. The first hour’s charging speed peaked at 0.9A right at 1 C which is good. My guess is this could safely charge faster but the slower charging speed should help to promote a long battery life for the Arkfeld.
The light does have an onboard battery indicator via 4 onboard LED’s on the front just below the main UI controls. These all show green when full and slowly decrease when empty. Eventually, the last bar will go red then flash red when it’s just about to shut off. These show up well and are a nice touch.
Conclusion
The Arkfeld takes the idea of a laser and flashlight and puts it in packaging that’s pretty unique compared with what else is on the market. The execution here is good in my opinion. I like this rectangular almost remote-like form factor, it carries well, similar in size to an OTF knife. The controls here work well, are super easy to use and I had no accidental activations. I applaud Olight for offering it in neutral white in many colors too. Glad to see that starting to become the norm with Olight again.
The built-in sealed, non-rechargeable battery isn’t great, especially for the price here, it makes the light/laser consumable and not very sustainable. I always think this harms the lifelong value too since it does put a finite life on the product.
Overall I like the Arkfeld even with those cons, and the price, since it’s an Olight it’s available in many different colors and materials. That’s always a plus for me anytime I have color options other than black, especially in a nontactical light like this. I welcome this out of the box design even with it’s shortcomings and hope we will see more out of the box thinking from Olight in the future. This probably won’t be your only EDC flashlight but I could see it being a nice upgrade to the traditional laser pointer pen style for your pointing needs and have the bonus of being a solid flashlight too.