Review: TrustFire F15-T6

"...Not only does it kick it's ass in brightness, it gives it a parting kick to the nuts while it lays beaten and unconcious..."

Oh man , that's wrong .

The thing about those nice, big C8 reflectors is the focus of the beam and the throw it gives you. Even my R5 Palight with it's XP-G kicks an XM-L's light when you take a good look at the beam and throw.

Soooo . . . ya think this guy can hang with a 980L do ya? Hmmmm. Might be worth $25 so I can do a head-to-head . . . put this matter to rest.

Foy

Call me crazy but I just ordered this thing. I happen to think the 980L will put this flashlight to bed early with no dinner and a bright red bottom.

By the way; enjoyed the review.

justhavingfunweareallfreindsFoy

Exactly. Is anyone able to compare beamshots of the Trustfire F15 with another XM-L in a similar sized reflector?

Nice review Johnny Mac! Your enthusiasm for the light really shines through!

I agree completely about the reflector being the key with this light as I agree with Match about it being a major factor with the 980L performing as well as it does. Comparing it to the Manafont P60 XM-L is not exactly fair but indoors and 6-7 feet from the wall I don't think it's entirely unfair either when there is such a vast difference in the brightness. Outdoors where big distance comes in is a different story. I'm looking forward to Foy getting his so he can do a direct comparison to the 980L and hopefully someone else will be able to compare it with another C8.

@AgedBriar - I hope to do some DMM readings sometime this weekend. With yours pulling 2.7A do you notice it getting as hot as mine does? This is my first C8/MRV style light and I'm not sure what to expect. I have a very well heatsinked P60 in my 501B and it gets hot all over but nothing like this one does. All I know is it makes my P60 look dull and I have no doubts it will hold it's own against others of it's type. Does your F15 have the same driver (the one with the thin red lines) as mine does? I'm actually hoping it doesn't put out 4.5A like Foy's 980L does since I'd like this to last and not poop the bed on me while using it.

@Foy - Bring it on! LOL! I think you will be happy with this light either way and for the money it's a winner. I think you will agree that these lights (980L & F15) are able to hold their own against the snobby lights costing several times more when it comes to fit and finish. I hope my DMM can get good amperage readings on it. It got almost as hot as your 980L and if I hadn't chickened out and let it run the full 15 minutes it would have come within 5 degrees or so I'm thinking. How hot can the Li-Ions safely get? I thought I read somewhere that 50c was the upper limit of safety. Hope I read/recall incorrectly.

Johnny - I'll tell you what; if this light of yours does compare well with the 980L, Foy will be eating some crow for more reasons than one. The F15 is $20 less expensive so, other than the strobe mode (which I do not like) it would represent a better value.

That is of course, if it can hang with the 980L.

I'm interested in that head-to-head between this F15 and the 980L. They both have pills that screw into the body, which is a feature I'm looking for. I like the idea of p60 drop-in modules, but having to wrap foil or what-have-you around the modules doesn't excite me. I'd rather just swap stars on well-heat-sinked lights. Are there any other contenders for good heatsinking and easily-swappable stars in the 1x18650 category? I have an MTE M3-2 that also has a screw-in pill (and the star is screwed onto the pill--another good feature), but its beam is so perfect for me that I don't want to swap the LED.

The Trustfire TF-R2 has a pill that screws onto the head. Coincidentally (?) P60 pills fit perfectly.

http://www.manafont.com/product_info.php/trustfire-ter2-led-5mode-memory-led-flashlight-118650-p-5634

There is thread on it here https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/1094

I don't own the f15 but made myself one. Usually i'm not impresses by the thingas i do myself untill i managed to build this one up. :)

The Trustfire T2 pill screws into the body, so does my palight C8. I think the M8's are the same: most of the budget lights with oversized reflectors have the pill that screws into the body.

Somebody with some math skills could work out the spread based on posts and comments on BLF and come up with betting odds. I'm guessing because much had been said already about the 980L, it might be favored . . . but by how much? Hope Manafont ships fast this time. (been pretty good lately) Will be a fun shootout for us.

Foy

It will be fun! Nothing better than having great lights and lots of options in multiple price ranges. :)

Because it would use less of it when I (inevitably) weaken.

Betting on the 980L is like betting on an incredibly fast horse who you're just not sure if his legs will make it through the whole race.

Absolutely!

What did you order, Bob? The 980L or the F15?

I hope mine doesn't say Johnny Mac on it when it comes in.

LOL! It might or it might say “from Dibbles with love, HappyFathers Day 2011” which is on the other side. She gave it to me early since i couldn’t wait. :slight_smile:

i opened up the pill today and the led die is attached to a round plate with thermal grease and tht plate is then thermal greased onto the aluminum heatsink. I stuck a rigid wire in the hole and pushed the driver/holder down from the top. so mine is not screwed in but snapped into the aluminum heatsink through the bottom. when i tried to turn it led from the top i severed the wires and saw that it was screwed on. simple fix but will probably get some thermal adhesive. will try to take pics later.