Review. ThruNite Archer 2C V2.

This light was supplied by ThruNite for review.

The ThruNite Archer 2C V2, link to manufacturers specs, is an updated light in the Archer Range of lights. This light comes equipped with the new Cree XP-L V6 led as well as an updated UI.

The light was well packaged in a thick cardboard box.

The light was wrapped in a soft material bag with plenty of foam protection around it.

The included accessory's and spares were two x o'rings for the tailcap, tailcap boot, lanyard, pocket clip, (fitted to the light) and a well written user manual in English.

The light was built around a one piece battery tube and head with the usual threaded on tailcap. The anodizing was of a good quality and had a satin finish. The knurling on the tailcap and battery tube was quite fine with reasonable grip.

The belt clip is reversible and is made from one mm thick material. It is quite solid in use. The few times the clip was removed and replace onto the light the surface finish of the anodizing remained unmarked.

The XP-L V6 CW led itself is not quite centered but this did not seem to affect the beam pattern. The reflector has a smooth finish to it and is very well finished. The inside measurement of the bezel is 17.8mm in diameter.

The light tailstands but has a slight lean to it due to the cap just edging out past the housing. The tailcap has two slots in either side for the the lanyard and has two large gaps allowing easy access to the forward clicky switch. If a lanyard is fitted tailstanding will be affected again as the thickness of the cord will also give it the leaning tower of Pisa look. The switch itself has a very firm spring in it which would just about prevent any accidental activation of the light. This switch does not change modes as the electronic switch does this.

There is about two and a half threads that hold the tailcap to the battery tube. Not a lot in my book but they are deep course threads. Spring wire is .6 mm in diameter. The tailcap must be threaded all the way on for the light to work as the battery tube thread is anodized. The switch retainer nut is left hand threaded.

The components in the tailcap. The spring isolator is an o'ring which sits in a recess in the retaining nut. Simple but effective.

Both button top non protected and longer protected batteries are well accommodated for though shorter non protected flat top batteries would not reliably work. I would not recommend a battery length under 66 mm for reliable operation.

Looking down the battery tube to the positive battery connection point is a solid button mounted to the circuit board. It appears this is assembled through the front of the light and was not removed.

The bezel is polished and had all the sharp edges removed. there is not much chance of this bezel causing any damage to clothing.

Under the bezel sits a 19 mm diameter x 1.6 mm AR glass lens. This is totally surrounded by the blue protective seal which glows in the dark for a short period after the light is turned off.

The electronic switch sits slightly proud of the light and also has a firm click to it. The five modes are the way I like it. Extremely simple and very well spaced. Once the tailcap switch has been activated the light starts on the last mode used. Current readings at the tailcap with a protected 2600mAh sanyo battery were as follows. High 2.2 amps, medium .31 amps, low .03 amps and firefly did not register on my DMM which reads to two decimal points. The single flashy mode was accessible by holding the electronic switch for about one second. Returning back to the normal modes was accomplished with a single click again of the electronic switch.

The threads for the tailcap were anodized on the battery tube and were square cut. Thread tolerances were good with minimal play. The o'ring provides a good seal. Water proof testing was not carried out.

Size wise of the light compared to a few others. Left to right. XinTD C8, Convoy M1, Eagle Eye X6 and finally the Archer 2C V2.

The run time test. The light switches to a lower mode after being on high for two minutes twenty seconds. Light output is reduced about 33% when this happens. The light output remained very consistent after this drop down until the voltage in the battery dropped below the voltage required by the led. The maximum peak temperature of the light reached about 55C in a cool room during testing.

The low voltage warning was indicated by a red led in the center of the electronic switch. Early low voltage warning was indicated by this led flashing for a couple of minutes until it turned a solid red. The light turned of shortly afterwards. After a minute the light was able to be turned on but only in the lower modes until again the low voltage warning light started flashing again.

Firefly mode was not bright enough for an outside shot. This picture is taken with the light 1.2 meters from the firewood.
Low. A little more was lit up than visible in this picture.
Medium.
And high. Distance to the shrub in the middle of the picture is about 63 meters.
A mouseover for a comparison with an XPG-2 in a slightly larger diameter,1mm, reflector with OP finish. Both leds are running the same current. Mouse out XPG-2.
And finally a picture of my two sacked assistants who begged me to allow them to help with this review. They both know that they are on probation for an unspecified time. In all honesty I think they just wanted to go for a walk.
Thanks for reading.

Thanks for the review.
Is there two dogs in the chair? If not, your dog sure has a cool color and pattern

Hes a mongeloid dog.

Nah its two very very spoilt adventuress dogs.

Nice review and nice pooches.

Great photos, thanks for the review.

nice dogs!

and a nice review also :wink: