Review: X-Power Wildfire

2100 -

I'll try the finger thing again but I swear I can't see it. My camera trick usually tells the tale. The ubiquitous UF 3-mode XM-L drop-in, as good as it is, shows huge, fat lines on low and medium - indicating fairly significant PWM yet I struggle to see it with my poor old eyes.

I say that because I feel my reviews would be more comprehensive were they more technically accurate/informative.

offtodobeamshotsFoy

cool,I realize after I posted that it wasn’t a put down to this light,rather an abstract for others to compare.I’m anxious to see beamshots,this is a sexy light and worth a look.thanks for taking time to do these reviews. DARC

Complaining about your reviews is like "aww the ferrari I just got for free is ruby-red but I wanted carmine-red"

Nice review, but I didnt quite understand the paragraph about the brand name. Would you prefer flashlights without brand names?

I already was worried you might be ill or sth, two weeks without a Foyview just seemed wrong.

What a nice looking light, great review as usual thanks.

You can put the streetlight out temporarily with your green laser, if you still have. Just shine it at the switch on the top and the streetlight should go out long enough for you to take some beam shots.

I do still have that green laser. Really? I didn't know you could do that.

NightCrawl -

Clumsy way of saying I like the name brand being printed in one spot and no where else. In fact, if the knurling were uninterupted all the way around (with no name at all) that would be even better.

horsewithnonameFoy

Gotcha. :)

Problem is everytime I do that.... I pull the trigger as well.

then i can't do beamshots because I'm hiding my gun. :P

This is one beautiful light and you know i'm quick to bash a light even in someones review .I've never been a believer that all reviews must just be filled with lovers of the light ..I'm more than happy to hear that people hate it for good reasons .

The truth is...like you said... take out the center pieces and the light gets boring very quickly ...Same with the Xeno/farka lights ..One reason i'm still searching for those cigar grips in quantities .

The only problem I see with this light is distance ..it's about 2000 miles to far from my house ....that and I can't get Michael Murphys song out of my head ... http://www.youtube.com/embed/ug8vrxMekAU

happy birthday you old dog

That is extractly what i had seen a month ago. As i remember, it is ~30$, i really love it but don't know why, i didn't order it . 2 week ago, i seen it cost 57$ so that i really regret , and now when i see this review, i do regret again but i will not buy this, 57$ is too much for budget light

Great thanks for your review

$34.95 plus shipping

https://illuminationsupply.com/t30-p-99.html?zenid=cc702f3bb365e4275f939e7958de68df

Edit: I forgot to mention that I really like all the detailed photos, Good Work

Great Review as usual Foy.

Not to Hijack this thread but I just received my ThruNite T30 from HKequipment.

It is identical to the Wildfire in every way except branding and I did receive a holster too. The Quality is very nice and the mode changing is super smooth. One of THE nicest body designs ever. Definitely a Keeper.

However, I returned a Quark 1 x AA light a few years ago due to this " Moonlight or Firefly " Low mode. (At $60.00 no less - Ouch). The Quark had a 0.2 Lumen low and a 4 Lumen next low (OTF not FL1, so even lower than that) and quite frankly, I can not see the usefulness of a setting that low as you can not even read a document comfortably in pitch black darkness. Honestly, anything below 5 lumens is not useful as a beam. Unless someone can enlighten me to the purpose of settings this low where there is NO useable light ?

My Balder BD-1P has a very low setting of 6 Lumens and is right on the border line of useable light.

I have several lights that are 10 Lumens on low and find that to be about perfect, but any lower and I don't see the point.

Don't get me wrong, I love a 3 mode, Low, Medium, High, Flashlight as much as the next guy, but ThruNite should have made the LOW setting at 10 - 15 Lumens and it would truly be perfection. As it stands, it's really only a 2 mode light in my opinion.

I couldn't disagree more....

I have nitecores at 2 lumens for the D-10 and 3 lumens for the ex-10nad i'd say the 3 lumens is almost too high ...i prefer the 2 lumens over the 3 .I like the low low lows of my zebralights ...

i'm always turning lights down lower not jacking them up ...that's why i like lights that start on low or where you last left them parked .

The nitecores are really smart and go from med if you left it on medium to low next than run thru the 3 modes like normal low med high ... it''s just smart the first time you turn it on to stay parked but then go down rather than up .... smart very smart ..

I still love the look of this light ...it's one very pretty light in my humble opinion

I understand what you are saying Boaz. And Yes those Nitecores are very nice. But what do you ACTUALLY use that 2 or 3 Lumens for, because I am talking about a Low, Low that is 1/3 of that.

Here is the Thrunite T30 output specs from their website.

Firefly: 0.9 lumens - Mid: 109 lumens - Max output: 600 lumens (530 Lumens on the package).

So we go from 0.9 Lumens, which is 1/2 to 1/3 of what you like as a low, to a medium of 109 lumens with nothing in between. So if you need to see the back of your computer in a dark hole under your desk, then 0.9 Lumens is not enough and 109 is way to much when you are up close...blinding.

4 or 5 or 10 would be good. I am just saying. Useful and Usable light is what I NEED.

If I shine it under my office desk at night, I can't even tell it's on with the Low, Low mode.

The Firefly mode only serves one purpose, so that ThruNite can bragg that it gets 706 hours of runtime on Low mode.

By the way, my eyes are over 50 years old, so I need a little bit more light.

update:

From the department of unsolicited honesty:

I don't have much to report about the Wildfire because . . . . it is something of a shelf queen. It might be because I have so many flashlights and perhaps, because the Wildfire is so damn sexy I want it to stay looking brand new forever. After reading my review I'm reminded of the reverse threaded tail cap switch locking ring that can not loosen over time like so many lights I have do . . . and the super low, low. Despite the practical, real world value of a low this low, being brought into question; I remain convinced it is a particularly nice feature.

For me, it has nothing to do with run time. It's about seeing the thermostat, and only the thermostat, without waking anyone. It's about seeing/finding a tiny whatever while lying in your sleeping bag among four snoring tent companions, that wish to remain snoring. The good news is; it is essentially a single mode torch. You access the mode, re-tighten the head and that's what kind of light it is until you change the mode. I'm sure it works great in actual use. I wouldn't know, I haven't actually used my Wildfire as a . . . well, as a flashlight.

Guaranteed to vastly improve the apperance of any shelf.

Foy

I’ve always felt that the ThruNite T30 missed the mark as well as what it can do for its size. It’s slightly larger than a Solarforce L2, and pretty much performs like one, putting out only 500 or so lumens. That changed, though, when I decided to mod it. This was a simple 10 minute mod, but, the results were worth it. The reason for this mod is that the reflector is larger than your average P60 drop-in. Take out the large XM-L emitter and swap it for an XP-G2 and you have a pocket thrower in your hands. Sure, lights like the Deft EDC will outclass this light in terms of outright throw in the same size class, but, the pencil thin 75 lumen beam is worthless in the real world and the T30 is far more affordable. True dedicated throwers will easily out throw this light, but, they’re not easy to drop into a pocket like the T30 is. This light comes apart easily with only a pair of pliers needed to loosen the brass pill from the head. The star that the original emitter came on was 16mm and copper, but, a standard 20mm MCPCB fits into the same space. This requires a custom spacer, though, so I cranked one out on the lathe. It serves double duty to center the emitter to the reflector and to press the MCPCB to the brass pill, which is the way the original emitter was held down. The next picture shows the emitter centered in the reflector before I reinstalled the O-ring, lens, and retaining ring.

So, how well did this work? It is the throwiest 6P sized light that I have. Period. My dedicated throwers will blow this one away, though. Even my XM-L MagLite driven at 2.8A behind a cut down incandescent Mag reflector will out throw it. These lights, though, are nowhere as compact as the T30 and an important thing to remember about any light is that it’s only useful if you have it near you when you need it instead of having it at home collecting dust because it was too large to bring along.

Nice work PCC! Where did you find the 16mm XPG2? Or did you reflow it?

It’s a 20mm star.

Oh, thanks. I am still trying to find some for P60 drop ins. :(

IS has them on 10mm MCPCBs. Why not use those?

Hard to center, the 16mm ones just drop right in. I guess I'll just keep waiting. :)