First off, I received this penlight in exchange for an honest review. I choose to review honestly, not influenced by the price I did or did not pay.
General thoughts specific to this light. Appears to be very well made, quite bright for the size, good, strong tail clicky switch and runs on regular AAA batteries. I did not expect the quality that I perceive based on the normal selling price (based on my past experience to be shared later). It has 3 very usable modes: Moonlight (very nice for not waking others around you, maintaining night vision, etc), Mid-level (good for general use, finding things in a very dark room etc) and High (around 200 lumens, could be used pretty effectively outside or larger indoor areas).
I mentioned that the tail switch is quite stiff. This can be good and bad. Good because accidental activation will be less likely (draining your batteries when not in use in your pocket). Bad only because it requires quite a firm push (as compared to some other lights I own). The switch has a nice rubbery, tactile feel though, and not slippery. Speaking of slippery, the light itself is quite grippy despite it being smooth, anodized aluminum. The knurling near the tail switch end and the other ridges along the body make it quite easy to handle and hold on to.
Modes and switching
The manual accurately tells you to full click to turn it on in Moonlight, then a half press cycles to Mid then High, then Moonlight, Mid , High in cyclic order. It also has MODE MEMORY. So, whatever mode you use last is the mode it will start in next time. This can be very convenient as not everyone wants to always start in lowest mode and then have to click through to higher outputs every time. One thing that’s not mentioned is the use of the head (the light end) to “lock out” and maybe even switch modes. If you turn the head just slightly (as if you were opening to replace batteries, but only turning a little) the light will not activate, until you tighten the head back down. This can be very useful to avoid accidental activation in pockets etc. I decided to tinker with this a little (because the 4sevens Preon P2 light I also have allows you to change modes this way too). By first clicking the light on with the tail switch, then turning (opening) the head slightly (literally not even a 1/4 turn), the light will turn off. Then by turning the head back, the light will turn back on in the mode it was on (could be useful for someone who wanted more silent operation, in a quiet room etc, without having to “CLICK” the tail switch). Here’s where I “played” a little. If you turn the head back and forth from on to off pretty quickly, it will cycle through the modes. I will emphasize 2 points here. ONE. Again, the manual nor Thorfire say anything about this. Hence, I don’t think this was an intentional feature. (plus I would venture a guess that this negates the waterproofing if you leave the head “slightly open”). It was just me experimenting….so do so at your own risk. TWO. It seemed sporadic. Felt like I had to time it just right to get it to switch modes that way.
Now, for a brief comparison to my 4sevens Preon P2 (last year’s model….which retailed for $50). See pics for beam comparisons and tint comparisons. A fast rundown. The Thorfire PF04 is just slightly longer than the Preon P2. And, to my eyes, the Preon P2 was just a touch “warmer” (or more neutral) beam than the Thorfire, but just barely (that can be good for color rendering, etc) but both are on the cool side compared to my Zebralight SC62w (neutral tint) light and Astrolux S1 3D tint light. However, the Thorfire PF04 is not as cool white as my Nitecore EA11 (which you’ll see in the pics, it’s beam beside the Thorfire looks like it has blinds going across it…the Nitecore’s I mean….guessing PWM). BUT….that’s really the only 2 points I can think of that I favor the Preon on. (In all of the beamshot comparison pics, the Thorfire is on the left, and both lights are about 9 inches from a somewhat white wall….kinda dirty since it’s my garage. The very dark one is an attempt to capture the moonlight mode. All pics taken with Galaxy S6….apologies for not being super professional)
What does the Thorfire do better than the Preon P2?
Wider hotspot
Mode Memory (Preon doesn’t have this)
Much grippier (my biggest complaint about the Preon…very slippery)
True Moolight mode (can’t even see it in the pictures beside the Preon’s 2.2 lumen beam)
No strobe or other crazy modes to accidentally get into (don’t want these on a penlight personally).
MUCH less expensive (durability TBD)
Would i recommend the Thorfire PF04? YES!
Nice job Thorfire!
Never done a true review before, just hoping it all made sense and wasn’t too discombobulated. Hope it helps somebody out. I may get to the point that I carry a penlight regularly or as a backup, but since being introduced to higher end flashlights (darn you BLF, Amazon, CPF etc!), I tend to like to keep a pocket rocket on me as much as possible. Just….in….case. Always looking for an excuse to use it (sad….I know). I do however, frequently carry a penlight as my “church” light, so my pockets don’t look quite so “full” with the slacks on in service or Sunday School 
.
Carried the Astrolux S1 in shorty mode for quite some time back and forth with the Nitecore EA11. But alas, the Zebralight SC62w finally made it into my clutches and it’s the go-to now.