Review of Thorfire VG-10

This light was provided by Thorfire for review.

I am liking this light, it is similar to a Convoy M1 in size and versatility. It runs on a single 18650 (included but read below) and has excellent modes. It also comes with a clip, lanyard and a small assortment of replacement parts if you should ever need them. Since it is similar to the Convoy M1 i will use the Convoy as a reference in this review.




Observations:
This light has a steel bezel (foybezelled), it has excellent mode spacing, though the high is not as bright as i have become accustomed to, indoors you won’t really notice it but outdoors you would.

It is tailstandable with about 50% of a circle on the back, though in my experience lights with this type of tailstanding can be unstable, i have a Klarus P1A with a similar tailcap and it will stand for a few hours then inexplicably fall over for no reason.

The switch is different then what i am used to, it has a shorter travel, clicking it on and changing modes is a shorter press then most of the lights we are used to, IMO it adds a classy feel to the light.

I am not a big fan of clips on a light i know many people are this light includes it.

This sample came with prelubricated (and anodized) threads but had a few metal shavings in the tailcap and headcap that needed to be cleaned out, so if giving as a gift get the light delivered to you and make sure its gift ready.

The glass does not appear to be AR coated.

It took me a few tries to figure out how to remove the reflector (its screwed on), and unfortunately cleaning it left some fine scratches in it :frowning:

I like the mode spacing, compared to the average 105C driver that comes in most lights the low and medium output levels are superior in this light, its about half the typical 105C low, and the medium is also about half the 105C which makes it very useful in most situations. It works the same way as a 105C driver, one partial click to activate mode changing and subsequent clicks changes the mode. But one annoyance is that the direction is High, Medium, Low, which unfortunately is counter intuitive, if i am on low and want medium i have to go to high first which causes me to see spots since i usually want medium when i am in a white coloured or small space. Strobe is activated by changing modes very quickly, it can be activated accidentally but that happens very rarely. In fact activating strobe is sometimes hit and miss even if done intentionally, it sometimes takes a few tries to get it to activate.

I don’t have the ability to test the included battery in capacity or internal resistance, and being a brand i have never heard if i cannot recommend using it, from a bit of research i cannot determine if its a rebadged name brand or a chinese factory sourced battery. That said it may be a good quality cell, but since i cannot find any information about it i recommend being cautious and not using the included cell.

My uncalibrated and not quite accurate scale says 122g and 165g with battery.

I could not remove the thick brass ring holding the driver in place and i am told by Thorfire that it cannot be removed (I am sure Justin would make short work of it however) so driver replacement is not very feasible





Pros
Its a good size and comes with a removable clip
It can tailstand
It can take 18650 or 2 x CR123 (i don’t have and CR123s to test this)
It feels durable and not cheap/flimsy like some cheap lights

Cons
Its max brightness is not as high as we are used to
It may not be 100% stable tailstanding
I could not remove the driver so i cannot ascertain how replaceable it is, its reasonable to assume it can be somehow removed and upgraded or repaired if necessary, but this cannot be taken for granted



Tailcap currents: Specs say 728 lumens
0.03 (approximately 14 LED lumens)
0.33 (approximately 150 LED lumens)
1.38 (approximately 540 LED lumens)




**Please right click and view image to see any pic in full size**




Front view of light



Side view of the head



The backside of the head


![](http://s30.postimg.org/xgpwdmvtt/IMG_6943.jpg) Bezel, lens with washer and led centering gasket
![](http://s4.postimg.org/shhl4l331/IMG_6961.jpg) I am not a fan of OP reflectors, but many people are


Side view of reflector


![](http://s15.postimg.org/as9e47lvv/IMG_6965.jpg) There is generous thermal paste behind the star


Side view of body, its interesting that part of hte head is built into the body


View of front of body


![](http://s29.postimg.org/sutf8vypz/IMG_6941.jpg) View of back of body


Back of tailcap


Side view of tailcap


Tailcap before dissasembly


Tailcap after reassembly, the spring with cap sprang up as i was disassembing it and has stayed this way, i don’t know what kept it recessed until disassembly


![](http://s18.postimg.org/pr5l3wuuh/IMG_6935.jpg) ![](http://s13.postimg.org/iivhb8zbb/IMG_6936.jpg) Inside the tailcap in order
![](http://s13.postimg.org/538glsqtj/IMG_6909.jpg) ![](http://s22.postimg.org/r5rejhpht/IMG_6911.jpg) ![](http://s13.postimg.org/4ezm2us3r/IMG_6910.jpg) Battery of unknown lineage

![](http://s23.postimg.org/g85ruw6dn/IMG_6972.jpg) Owners manual
![](http://s4.postimg.org/jy2skkk4d/IMG_6966.jpg) Additional parts that come with the light

![](http://s15.postimg.org/j6p0samx7/IMG_6968.jpg) Box it came in




Comparison with Convoy M1






Summary
I am liking this light and will likely add it to my often used lights collection in place of the C5 from the last review. Its an excellent all purpose light though i wish the high was as bright as the Convoy M1 (though low and medium are superior). Driver replacement is not plug and play so thats a weak spot on this light but drivers don’t often fail in my experience


Thanks for reading and i am happy to answer questions

For no special reason

Looks like a nice light, good to see a light that is not just another copy.
Wonder who make the driver?
The stars on the driver look like a Russian star :slight_smile:

Thanks,
Keith

I have no idea, my modest light collection has no identical or even vaguely similar driver, hopefully someone recognizes it as i am also curious

Thanks for the review .

Just got one of these today, very nice. Had to remove the lanyard ring which was causing lockout and the driver modes are backwards but otherwise this is a really nice light. Very similar to the Roche F8 externally. Really like this light, very well made.

Is there visible PWM on any of the modes? I have read several reviews of this light but no one mentions it… or at least I’ve skimmed over it.

no PWM to speak off

Thanks old4570!

what are those stars for on the driver?

The latest spec of this VG10 I see claims to have moonlight mode and the highest output is 847 lumens. Now they have an upgraded version of it?

It looks like it. There’s quite a few reviews for the upgraded version… I was looking at this on my mobile, and didn’t realize it was the old version. That said, I just picked a review to ask the question on without looking at the original post date.

good point, i wrote a review on the updated version (still not the claimed lumens :frowning: ) and should have posted the link here
Review on new version

Has anyone figured out how to get the driver out of this light?