Tag: Long Distance Flashlight

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Wurkkos TS12 Review (Budget Pocket Thrower!)

Today I am taking a look at the Wurkkos TS12, a small pocket thrower with onboard USB-C charging. It’s using a new YLX N3535B round LED and is powered by a 14500 battery all for a bargain price. Thanks to Wurkkos for sending this to me to review any discounts or coupons I have will be in the description.

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Get your own Wurkkos TS12 for a discount at https://wurkkos.com/products/wurkkos-ts12-mini-edc-flashlight,-1050lm-432meters-powerful-rechargeable-light-with-bezel?DIST=REJCFVQ%3D&VariantsId=11017

 

Packaging & Accessories

Wurkkos packaging on recent models has been a lot nicer and this is no exception, it’s a full color slip with technical specs on the back over a white box with magnetic closures, a sticker on the end of the box let’s you know what the specs of your model are. The light ships with a few accessories, a generic lanyard, 2 spare orings for the tail cap, and USB-A to USB-C charging cable. You can get it with a 900mAh 14500 for an additional $2 which is worth doing in my opinion.

 

Construction & Design

The TS12 is made from 6061 aluminum and anodized in black. The light is a mini thrower and has a form factor similar to the Lumintop GTmini, but with a bit more of a tactical feel. The tailcap is flat and magnetic so it tailstands without a problem. In the hand the deeper groves provide decent grip for a light with no knurling on it. There is only a spring in the tail cap, threads are standard ACME cut and the head and body tube are all one piece. 

The button has a silicone cover, with an LED in it’s center that’s used for a charge status indicator. The USB charging port on the rear is small, not all your USB-C cables will fit due to width restrictions. The front bezel is aluminum I believe and anodized in a gunmetal finish and glued in place. The front lens is thick glass, and below it is a deep smooth reflector with a small round LED in the center. 

 

UI

The light has two UI modes, a stepped that it ships in by default and a ramping option that you can switch to. Stepped mode is a very traditional flashlight interface, simple click to turn on, long press to go up through the 3 main modes, double press to go to turbo, and triple press to go to the blinking modes. Once in the blinking modes, you can double press to move between strobe, SOS, and Beacon modes. The light also has moon mode which you can access from off by long pressing. 

 

To switch to ramping mode when on click 4 times to switch between mode groups, the light will flashlight to confirm. 

 

Ramping mode works like you think with double click to turbo, and triple click to strobe although when ramping if you hit peak output the light will reset down to low instead of stopping. Not idea IMHO.

 

Retention

For retention, there is a small lanyard hole in the tailcap for the included generic lanyard. The light looks like it’s designed for a clip to attach at the rear however one is not included. I like it’s slightly longer length than the GTNano I have since the body tube is a little longer. 

 

Size & Weight

I measured the length at 90.9mm, body diameter at 20mm, and head diameter at 33mm. Weight with the battery came in at 2.61oz. The light is IPX8 water rated and drop rated for 1M. 

 

LED & Beam

The Wurkkos TS12 is using a new LED the YLX N3535B  which is round instead of square. There isn’t much information available for this LED that I can find, but from testing, I can tell you my example is 5536k and 57Ra on my Opple Meter. Its tint is more yellow in DUV than we see from most other LED’s. To my eye, it looks yellow-green but that doesn’t show up on the meter much. In a thrower, we typically don’t care as much about high CRI so this isn’t as big of deal. It’s something I would notice though if using it on something reflective like snow. The beam has a small hot center, and a few diffused rings in it. The spill has a small area around the hot spot where it’s reasonably intense and then a huge drop-off for everything past that. I don’t notice much of a difference here with the LED being round vs. square and having optics. There is fast PWM in the light.

 

Outputs

My measured outputs (On my TexasAce LumenTube) were generally pretty close to what was claimed by Wurkkos for the TS12.The exception was Turbo at the standard FL1 reading of 30 seconds was 844 lumens instead of the 1050 lumens claimed. I saw 1050 lumens but only on the very initial startup output. 

 

Heat & Runtime

Turbo stepdown on the TS12 is pretty significant and occurs pretty quickly. It goes from a peak near 1050 lumens to around 300 lumens in 90 seconds. I do wish it could sustain more lumens for longer. Peak heat was around the 15-minute mark at 46C which is warm but won’t burn you. Around the 35-minute mark on out to an hour, the light began to sea saw in output, too slowly to see with the eye but enough to see in the graph before running on low. While the light stayed on (but in a very low output) for another 90 minutes, when starting in turbo the effective useful runtime is about an hour. Starting in High, you got a lot of more of this sea saw output much sooner and a little bump in effective runtime. In medium, it did about 3:20:00 of total runtime and no sea saw output. 

 

Recharging

A couple of notes on charging with the TS12. I found the USB-C port to be a bit narrow, the ID of a USB-C port is 8.1mm wide while the width of the surrounding aluminum for this recessed port is only 11mm so you can’t use a particularly wide cable or an adapter to get there in my experience. The included battery rated at 900mAh and I tested it at 881mAh on my Vapcell S4 Plus charger. This isn’t a light where a high drain battery is required. Charging itself was without issue, and it charged fine with PD charging. I record the light charging in exactly 90 minutes at a maximum charge rate of 0.84A. Full the battery measured at 4.12v which is a little low. LVP kicked in at 2.980v.

 

Conclusion

Pocket throwers have a more limited niche use in a lot of situations. It’s made it hard to justify on price sometimes, but the Wurkkos TS12 delivers a solid mini thrower, with solid performance for a budget price. It’s an easy light to recommend in the pocket thrower class without a lot of strong negatives.

 

Get your own Wurkkos TS12 for a discount at https://wurkkos.com/products/wurkkos-ts12-mini-edc-flashlight,-1050lm-432meters-powerful-rechargeable-light-with-bezel?DIST=REJCFVQ%3D&VariantsId=11017

 

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Thrunite Catapult Mini Review (680 Lumens, 89,000 Candela, 18350)

Today I have a shortened review of the new Thrunite Catapult Mini, a handheld thrower running an Osram LED and a 18350 battery. While not super bright in number off lumens, the light really throws well for its very small size. Thanks to Thrunite for sending this to me to take a quick look at and review.

 

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Get the Thrunite Catapult Mini on Amazon (Save 20% by clicking the coupon on the page)

Gray https://amzn.to/3ma0JAD

Black https://amzn.to/3yEHWAA

ThruNite Store: https://amzn.to/37zrsOj

 

Accessories

Packaging is the standard Thrunite box. Here is a photo of all the accessories the light comes with. It’s nice to see them include the spare button and port covers still, that’s not something every manufacture is still doing in 2021. 

 

Short overview of construction

The Catapult mini is available in 2 colors black and gray, and I have gray here. It’s made from 6061 T6 aluminum and nicely anodized. Despite it’s small size, they didn’t skimp out on machining quality. The light separates into 3 pieces easily, and it does stand on it’s flat, non magnetic tail. The body tube has the squares milled into it like we saw on the Thrunite TT20 but deeper, and it’s non reversible. 

The body head section uses the standard Thrunite button with LED indicator in the center, and USB-C charging port opposite with a silicone cover. The head itself is the largest part of the light, with a small flat bezel. The bezel does unscrew easily to remove the lens and optic, which should make this light fairly easy to mod if you wish. 

The Lens itself is covered by glass, with a plastic TIR style optic below. This optic reminds me of some of them I have seen on some of my larger Acebeams as well, it helps diffuse the beam a bit but still create that nice hot center and throw. 

 

Comparison with other lights

LED & Beam

The light is using an Osram KW.CSLNM1.TG in Cool white, but to my eyes it’s definitely more neutral than cold. The beam is extremely focused, it has the slightest amount of spill that fades very smoothly without artifacts. It’s a great beam profile for a mini thrower. No PWM was observed on any of the 5 modes.

 

Outputs are listed officially at 

  • Turbo – 680 Lumens
  • High – 235 Lumens
  • Medium – 96 Lumens
  • Low – 21 Lumens
  • Firefly – 0.5 Lumens
  • Strobe – 680 Lumens
  • 89,600 Candela

Night Shots

Heat and Runtime

Turbo on this light lasted for 1 minute before step down, maximum temp was reached at 1:30 at 35C so it gets warm pretty quickly but not in the danger zone. From there the light steps down to about 35% relative output where it will run for 2 hours before running in firefly mode for another 30 minutes or so. Total runtime was 2:30:00. Nothing here surprising. 

 

UI & Recharge

The UI here is standard Thrunite, 3 main modes with firefly at the bottom, and turbo at the top with memory for the main modes. Long press from off to access firefly, double click to access turbo, triple click to access strobe. 

Recharging is accomplished with the onboard USB-C port. It is incompatible with C to C charging or PD charging and requires an A to C charging cable that’s supplied. This is disappointing in 2021. Charging is on the conservative time, it took 2 hours even to charge the included 1100mAh 18350 battery from LVP at 3.035V to full at 4.145v. Total charge rate was about 0.6A. While charging you can use all modes on the light.

One quick note about the battery, it has the positive and negative terminal on the one end of the battery like you see with many brands these days. However in this case you don’t actually need it to use or charge the battery in the light. That’s great news. I tested with a flat top unprotected Keeppower battery and had no issues.

Conclusion

Pocket thrower flashlights seem to be the popular type this year. I found the Thrunite Catapult Mini to be a good performer, especially for it’s size. While not the brightest in terms of lumens it really does throw impressively. I seem to say this a lot but non flashlight people will be impressed with how far you can reach with such a small light. I remember using a 6D Cell Maglight as a kid because it could go so far, it was huge and weighed a ton. This little light outperforms it in all ways, at a pretty affordable price. 

 

I do wish Thrunite would go back to offering more Neutral and even Warm LED tints when they launch new products. They were one of the only manufactures doing this but have seemed to get away from it recently. That said I would call the tint here pretty neutral, so about perfect despite the box saying cool white. 

 

I like the Thrunite Catapult Mini and can recommend it. Everyone needs a pocket thrower, and this is a good choice thats a lot of fun, and comes in a color other then black, if you want that. Thrunite has good customer support too should you ever need it, and best yet it’s on sale for around the $40 price point at the time of filming this video. So if your interested please check the link in the description to see where you can purchase it at. 

 

Get the Thrunite Catapult Mini on Amazon (Save 20% by clicking the coupon on the page)

Gray https://amzn.to/3ma0JAD

Black https://amzn.to/3yEHWAA

ThruNite Store: https://amzn.to/37zrsOj

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Wowtac A4 V2 Review (617 Meter Throw, 1895 Lumens, 26650 Battery)

Today I have a review of the Wowtac A4 V2 flashlight that’s utilizing a Cree XHP35 HI LED an included 26650 battery to produce a handheld thrower flashlight with nearly 1900 lumens. Thanks to Wowtac for sending this to me to review. 

 

WowTac is having a sale for Father’s day on all of their products. 20% off all lights via the WowTac Amazon store, and 30% off the A4 V2 with my discount code in the description only on June 15 through the 20th. So make sure you check that out to get a gift for a dad in your life or to treat yourself. 

 

Get 20% off for all WOWTAC flashlights using the code “2LiquidRetro” at https://amzn.to/3eaPX5W

Get 30% off for the A4 V2 Neutral White using the code “3LiquidRetro” at https://amzn.to/2UHRV6f

Get 30% off for the A4 V2 Cool White using the code “3LiquidRetro” at https://amzn.to/3hoFmXk

The sale runs from June 15 to June 20, 2020

 

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Packaging

Packaging is a brown rigid box with a deep lid that fits all the way to the base. Similar to other Wowtac and Thrunite lights. The outside is minimal with just the light name and line drawing and then emitter option on the side. Inside the light is protected with foam. Accessories include the 5000mAh Thrunite branded button top 26650 battery, basic lanyard, spare orings, and  spare button cover. 

Construction

The light is made from aluminum and anodized black. I have no complaints with the machining. The tail is non magnetic, flat and allows for tail standing. The light comes into 3 pieces, the tail, body tube and head. The tail and body tube has square knurled that are reasonably shallow, they do a good job at adding grip without being too aggressive. 

The tail cap has 2 large beefy springs inside, not what you typically see but it does a fantastic job of making the battery not bounce or rattle. The body tube is non reversible (anodized on the head end, raw on the tail end). The head itself is fairly standard, the steps up the the lens are closer to 90 degrees then angular and gradual. The front bezel is smooth and I was able to twist it off by hand. The glass is anti reflective coated. The reflector is smooth and deep, with the LED having some space around it at the bottom. 

 

Size & Weight 

I measured overall length at 125mm, minimum diameter on the tube at 32mm and maximum diameter on the head at 48mm. Weight with the included battery is 235g

 

Competition

A couple of competitors came to mind with the A4 V2, the Thrunite Catapult V6 and the Astrolux FT03. The Astrolux is closest in terms of price, but it’s head is significantly larger. I wouldn’t think about trying to carry the FT03 on my belt with a holster but with the A4 V2 that’s not an issue. The Thrunite Catapult V6 is similar, but has a slightly larger head. 

 

Retention

There isn’t much to say here on retention. There is a small hole in the tail cap for a lanyard that is included with the light. For lights like this a holster can be a nice option but one isn’t included.

 

LED & Beam 

The LED in use on the Wowtac A4 V2 is the Cree XHP35 HI. A cool and neutral white model are both available, and in my example I have the Neutral white. Tint is on the warmer side of Neutral which I enjoy I would say between 4500k and 5000k. The beam with this LED and the smooth fairly deep reflector is a thrower. You get a small tight hot center and a large dim spill. At lower powers the spill is not very visible. 

Wowtac’s claimed ratings

Turbo – 1895 Lumens

High – 1058 Lumens 

Medium – 208 Lumens

Low – 28 Lumens

Firefly – 0.5 Lumens

Strobe – 1200 Lumens

 

Heat & Runtime

I ran an uncooled heat and runtime test with this light and agree with Wowtac’s claims. Turbo has stepped down at the 3 minute mark to the 50% relative output mark where it ran till the 24 minute mark. Here is ran at about 42% relative output for the bulk of the time about another 108 minutes before stepping down and low voltage protection kicking in on the light at 2.985V. The light gets warm around the mid section where the LED is and other electronics. Maximum heat I saw during Turbo was 57C (134F).

 

UI

The UI here is standard Wowtac/Thrunite. It’s simple with just the features you need and nothing more. It’s a simple electronic switch under a slightly raised dome button. Underneath is a 2 LED (Red & Blue) to indicate charge status. It comes on blue briefly when the light is turned on. 

 

Long press from off to get moonlight mode. A single press turns the light on in it’s lowest mode. When on if you long press it will advance up in modes. You have a low, medium and high. Double press to shortcut to turbo, and once in tubo double press again to go to strobe. 

 

Recharging

The A4 V2 has onboard charging via MicroUSB. The port is slightly offset from the directly behind the button, not typical but not bad either. The silicone cover doesn’t get in the way. Total charge time for the included 5000mAh battery was 2 hours and 53 minutes. Charging started quickly, at 1.8A and generally increased up until the 2 hour and 18 minute mark before slowing down as it ended. Maximum charge rate I saw was right at 2A. The battery measured 4.155V when charging stopped. There is a LED inside the switch that’s red when charging and blue when charged.

Conclusion

The Wowtac A4 V2 is a nice budget thrower, available in both neutral and cool white, so everyone can be happy. It’s less expensive then other similarly sized lights running a 26650 battery with performance that’s just as good. It doesn’t come with as many accessories but for the price I am ok with that. 

 

Don’t forget about the father’s day sale here either, as this would make a great gift. It’s an all inclusive package with the battery and onboard USB charging. It’s available from Amazon so it will arrive fast and has a great return policy. If your dad or someone else in your life hasn’t had a modern LED flashlight powered by lithium batteries they will be amazed at how much and how far the light goes in such a small package. Gone are the days that you need a flashlight the size of a baseball bat, here are the days a ton of power fits comfortably in your hand and only weighs 8.29oz.

 

This is a nice budget light with no budget features. I can recommend it. 

 

Get 20% off for all WOWTAC flashlights using the code “2LiquidRetro” at https://amzn.to/3eaPX5W

Get 30% off for the A4 V2 Neutral White using the code “3LiquidRetro” at https://amzn.to/2UHRV6f

Get 30% off for the A4 V2 Cool White using the code “3LiquidRetro” at https://amzn.to/3hoFmXk

The sale runs from June 15 to June 20, 2020