Review: ThruNite Archer 1A
Sat, 01/26/2013 - 04:34
ThruNite Archer 1A
Summary:
- LED: CREE XP-G2 LED with a lifespan of 20+ years of run time.
- Max 178lumen output using 1 x 1.5v AA battery.
- Firefly:0.2lm.249hours; Low:24lm.6hours;Mid80lm.1.5hours;Max Output:178lm.58minutes;Strobe:178lm.2.5hours.
- Working voltage:0.9v to 4.2v.
- Removable steel pocket clip.
- Max run time:249hours(Firefly mode)
- Max beam distance:184meters.
- Peak beam intensity:2993cd.
- Impact resistant:10meters.
- Waterproof to IPX-8 Standard
- 104.14MM LENGTH,22.10mm bezel diameter.
- Weight: 60g without battery.
- Aircraft grade aluminium body structure.
- premium type III hard anodized anti-abrasive finish.
- Ultra-clear tempered glass lens with anti-reflective coating.
- Momentary forward click tactical switch.
- programmable memory function
- Strobe mode for tactial and emergency use.
- Low,medium and high modes to balance power consumption and light output.
- Smooth reflector for max light output.
- Highly focused beam for maximum distance
- Stainless steel front striking bezel.
- Tactical knurling for firm girp.
- Streamlined body design
- Reversed polarity protection.
- Durable T-shaped thread.
- Intelligent highly efficient circuit board design for max performance and long run time.
The ThruNite Archer 1A is the updated version of the ThruNite Neutron 1A. The Neutron uses a XM-L T6 LED and the output was 145 ANSI lumens, the Archer 1A uses a XP-G2 with a output of 178 ANSI lumens.
This come with my Saber 1A and the box was about twice as big, upon opening it I realized what I had read about it being the size of some newer 18650 lights is no exaggeration. Its very solid and feels high quality. One of the things I noticed at first was the pocket clip, its very sturdy and is attached by a separate ring at the tail cap end.
Left: After unscrewing the tail cap and then unscrewing the ring that hold the clip in, the clip can be pulled out with ease. On another note, the clip is firmly pressed against the head and the head is twisted for changing modes. I'm not sure if I will use the clip but I might be worried about wear on the head if I did.
Middle: Here you can see the ring unscrewed and the and the clip half taken out, there was a little wear from where the ring tightens over the clip but you don't see it when it is screwed down.
Right: Here you can see the clip removed and the ring back in place, it leaves a small hole where the clip would usually come out from.
With the tail cap, o-ring, metal ring and clip removed. The tail end has square threads that come lubed with some light oil, then a gap for the o-ring then some more threads for the ring that holds the clip. And below the o-ring and clip.
Squared threads on the head end as well.
Above you can see how thick the side walls are.
This driver looks odd to me but I am sure it has a purpose to be that way. The modes are controlled by twisting the head, but the on and off is controlled by the switch.
Stainless steel bezel, this isn't going to bend like aluminium when you drop it face first.
Inside the tail switch, this is the best tail clicky I have ever felt.
Size comparison with my T10, it nearly looks like you could put the T10 inside of it.
Disassembled size comparison with a standard AA battery.
This is 1 solid light, it feels good in the hand and its not something you will have to be careful with. It also has a very deep reflector, not as wide as my RC-G2 but about the same depth. The hotspot from it is very concentrated, I have a feeling that this is going to out throw my RC-G2 III because of its higher lumens and 20% tighter hotspot of the XP-G2 LED.
The twisty head is convenient but takes some getting used to, you just give it a tiny twist then tighten it again and it changes through the modes. When you turn it on via the tail cap it will always come back on in the same mode you left it on.
I'm not sure why the clip is directly over where its says Archer 1A, it doesn't bother me at all but it just seems odd and it can't be moved to another position.
Over all I am very pleased with this light, its now the brightest single AA that I own (I have also read people guessing 300-400 lumens on a 14500 but its unconfirmed)
I'll updated with some beamshots tomorrow night hopefully.
Some outdoor pics below.
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Mon, 03/18/2013 - 21:52
#1
Beamshots coming soon.
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Sat, 01/26/2013 - 04:46
#2
Nice review ezarc. I have the
Nice review ezarc. I have the older Neutron 1A. It really is a very nice solid light. I love the low low and useful modes.
Sat, 01/26/2013 - 05:25
#3
Nice review. Thanks for
Nice review. Thanks for sharing!
Sat, 01/26/2013 - 07:28
#4
Thanks for the review, i very
Thanks for the review, i very much enjoyed the pictures 
Sat, 01/26/2013 - 10:17
#5
Just so you know, the reason
Just so you know, the reason it looks that way is the plates on the side prevent the battery from making a connection if you put it in backwards, a.k.a. it is mechanical reverse polarity protection.
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My LED comparison thread with links.
Tint, Binning, and CRI Explanation (For the XM-L)
Li-ion Battery Safety and Shopping Guide
Now taking suggestions for next article
Sat, 01/26/2013 - 11:33
#6
scaru wrote:Just so you know,
Just so you know, the reason it looks that way is the plates on the side prevent the battery from making a connection if you put it in backwards, a.k.a. it is mechanical reverse polarity protection.
Hard to see in the photo, but those two outside plates would have to be slightly above the center one to prevent – end of AA battery from connecting.
So, I’ll assume the 2 outside plates are slightly raised above the center one..
Sat, 01/26/2013 - 11:35
#7
Forgot to mention…Very nice
Forgot to mention…Very nice review ezarc.
My first reaction though, is this is one very LARGE single AA flashlight..??? Dunno..seems odd.
Sat, 01/26/2013 - 12:11
#8
Streamer wrote:scaru
Just so you know, the reason it looks that way is the plates on the side prevent the battery from making a connection if you put it in backwards, a.k.a. it is mechanical reverse polarity protection.
Yep, at least that is how it works on my LD20.
__________________
My LED comparison thread with links.
Tint, Binning, and CRI Explanation (For the XM-L)
Li-ion Battery Safety and Shopping Guide
Now taking suggestions for next article
Sat, 01/26/2013 - 15:18
#9
Thanks for the review ezarc .
Sat, 01/26/2013 - 17:00
#10
nice review but damn that’s
nice review but damn that’s big
Mon, 01/28/2013 - 07:48
#11
Thanks very much! Frontpage’d
Thanks very much! Frontpage’d and Sticky’d.
Mon, 01/28/2013 - 19:50
#12
nice light. This led me to
nice light. This led me to picking up a neutron 1c
Mon, 01/28/2013 - 21:47
#13
0.20mm difference in height i
Quote Kreisler: “0.20mm difference in height i dunno whats that in ounces sorry”
mm to ounces? Good one Kreis.. 
Tue, 01/29/2013 - 01:27
#14
Thanks for the review ezarc.
Thanks for the review ezarc. The threads on this light are the squarest I've ever seen.
Tue, 01/29/2013 - 09:10
#15
Beamshots added to the 2nd
Beamshots added to the 2nd post.
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Tue, 01/29/2013 - 19:38
#16
Well done, ezarc !
How
Well done, ezarc 
!
How about runtimes, have you tested any? Amp draw?
Also, this light looks so huge, it could be 2xAA rather than 1xAA, how big 2xAA Archer should be?!
Tue, 01/29/2013 - 20:24
#17
Thanks veer.
I haven’t
Thanks veer.
I haven’t tested run times and unfortunately I don’t have a DMM.
Here kreisler has some detailed specs, it looks like it draws 2.1A on a eneloop.
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Tue, 01/29/2013 - 20:45
#18
Weird thing is – Archer and
Weird thing is – Archer and Saber have almost the same lumens output on high, difference is less than 10lm, yet Archer, according to TN, runs for less than one hour on high while Saber can do 1.5h on high.
As I said in your Saber’s review, I would like to see Archer vs Saber beamshot comparison in the same environment, Im not sure whether Archer had better throw/was brighter than Saber or not.
Perhaps it has to do with reflector solely?
Wed, 01/30/2013 - 03:36
#19
NIce beamshots, greatly
NIce beamshots, greatly improved
Thank you ezarc !
Wed, 01/30/2013 - 16:13
#20
Streamer wrote:Quote
Quote Kreisler: “0.20mm difference in height i dunno whats that in ounces sorry”
mm to ounces? Good one Kreis.. :D
It’s easy to convert millimeters to ounces. The are 553 inches in a pound. Divide that by 12 (these are Troy ounces remember) and you get 46.083333333. Take that and convert to metric. Now we have 896.7373. Divide that by 100 and multiply back to 16 to get standard ounces. Take that figure convert to the original “0.20mm” and we get 1.047cabbage8483 millimeters to the standard English banana ounce.
Mon, 03/18/2013 - 11:32
#21
Thrunite Archer 1A
To All,
I just purchased this light for $34.40 through a “Group Buy” from Thrunite’s website. I encourage all to register with Thrunite on their forum. These lights go for $48 on eBay.
Tue, 04/02/2013 - 23:31
#22
Received my two units from
Received my two units from the group buy and am a bit disappointed. Both had tool marks and loose burrs when I removed the tail cap. I had to clean out the battery compartment to make sure no burrs were inside. Also, the tail caps looked like they was assembled without proper tools. One had severe gouge marks while the other had deformed pinholes. There’s also a small spot on one of the bodies missing anodizing which wouldn’t be very noticeable if it wasn’t silver on an otherwise all black body.
The two that I have also show slightly different beam patterns with one exhibiting a more defined ring effect than the other. I’ll be contacting Thrunite to see if this is accepted as normal or if this is outside their quality standards. Compared to the Solarforce L2P I recently bought, these two Archers are certainly a step or two down in terms of quality.
Tue, 04/02/2013 - 23:50
#23
I messaged the owner of
I messaged the owner of ThruNite with the link to your post, he said they will replace it for you. I’ll PM you the contact details.
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Wed, 04/03/2013 - 07:26
#24
Archer 1A
I just received my Archer 1A. It is definitely a step up from the Neutron 1A. I like the mode feature. At first I thought I blew the led when I turned it on with a 14500 cell. I was wrong. I didn’t realize that I had turned the head which enabled the firefly mode and it was extremely dull. Once I read the instructions I was blown away by the whiteness and the throw on it. It has a forward clicky versus the reverse clicky on the Neutron 1A. Both lights are interchangeable with each other which is cool. The switch on the Archer 1A is longer than the Neutron 1A. I’m thinking of swapping out the guts on each switch. I prefer small when it comes to all my 14500 lights. I’m thinking XP-G2 is now my favorite led.
Wed, 04/03/2013 - 14:53
#25
No doubt the design is
No doubt the design is fantastic for an AA/14500 light. I also prefer the forward clicky switch combined with the twist head for mode changes. Since it has mode memory, I can set up the flashlight to be whatever I need it to be and then just grab it and click the switch when I need it.
I’m just disappointed with the quality and workmanship. It was very apparent since I bought two of them and could compare them side by side.
On another note, the o-ring that’s installed on the body is a bit oversized for the flashlight body. It is very easy to pinch when screwing own the tailcap. One of the lights I received had a pinched o-ring right out of the box. Everyone should take care when reassembling this light to ensure the o-rings aren’t pinched or torn.
Thu, 04/04/2013 - 05:47
#26
Have my fingers crossed.... twice
Just spotted on the USPS web site that mine has arrived in town. Hoping the @#$%^ contract postal delivery guy comes to my door to obtain a signature. He ought to as I had the local postmaster chew him out good last month for doing his lazy “leave a notification slip in the mailbox and run” routine. It’d save me a drive out of the hills in to town. Also hoping that the torch is problem free given CharT’s post above.
Thu, 04/04/2013 - 09:02
#27
ThruNite Archer 1A -Just perfect!!
Received today my ThruNite Archer 1A!!
I am very impressed with the looks, body machining, style and finishing! The modes the brightness and the beam spot are just perfect for my taste. The XP G2 led makes a difference!
By far, the best thrower out of my twenty other 1xAA flashlights!! And the brightest one, second only to my Zebra SC52, however i want to see the actual difference when it gets dark.
I liked very much the way the clip head is hidden under the body of the flashlight!! Brilliant!! You can easily remove the clip with no fear of showing any damage or scratch on the body.
The nice and quality holster and the moonlight mode were the cherry in the pie
I will come back with some more nice photos!
Good job ThruNite and thanks for group offer
Thu, 04/04/2013 - 15:15
#28
Got it. Everything looks
Got it. Everything looks just fine!
I knew it would be bigger than my L3 Illumination L10 but it surprised me as to just how much bigger. It is basically the same size as my Inova X5T…just ~3/8” shorter. It really is BIG for a 1xAA torch. Heck it isn’t much smaller than my Fenix PD32-R5 
Thu, 04/04/2013 - 14:15
#29
Nice! You guys are making me
Nice! You guys are making me regret not spending a little extra for the Archer instead of getting a Saber. Hopefully the only difference will be the stainless bezel and switch. I'm hoping my BLF Saber will have the same reflector as the Archer. 
Thu, 04/04/2013 - 14:33
#30
kreisler wrote:i am still
i am still waiting for my new o-rings from Fasttech.
will ask them to resend the order.
Curious…. what size o-rings did you order?
Sun, 04/07/2013 - 16:14
#31
Tailcap O-ring
Gesh I’ve had this light a whopping 3 days. First NiMh battery swap through the tail end and I have an O-ring in two pieces. This is absolutely unsatisfactory! Getting two spares with the torch isn’t gonna cut it. I’m NOT happy.
Sun, 04/07/2013 - 16:47
#32
I got my archer yesterday (it
I got my archer yesterday (it is big but I like it) and after some playing around with it I must say I really like the UI, it is the first UI I to date in which I actually like that it has memory.
Mon, 04/08/2013 - 08:42
#33
kreisler wrote:bald1
and I have an O-ring in two pieces.
i revised the section on Archer 1A o-rings in my flashlight presentation thread
Mon, 04/08/2013 - 09:17
#34
Still waiting for my Archer
Still waiting for my Archer 1A that I ordered through the group buy. The UI seems strange based on what I’ve read, but I’m looking forward to it as everything seems to indicate this is a quality light.
