Thorfire TK05 Review

Thorfire contacted me and asked if I would review this light, I was provided a free sample via their amazon store.
here’s the product link:
Thorfire TK05 Amazon

The TK05 is a single cell light with electronic side switch that uses a standard AA, NI-MH or 14500 LI-ON battery. Uses a Cree XP-G3 LED. I carried the light for about a week before doing this review, and tried to make my findings as objective as possible.

Packaging

The TK05 came in the standard Thorfire cardboard box with a foam liner on the bottom and a bubble wrap sleeve around the flashlight, Included were a spare set of o rings, instruction manual in English. and pre installed pocket clip. Everything was in excellent condition.

Specs

Here’s a photo of the manual specs with runtimes and operation instructions:

*Note some longer protected cells may not work in this light, and will fully compress the spring, so use shorter ones if available.

UI & Modes

3 output modes are available plus a hidden strobe mode. Short click to turn on the light, subsequent short clicks to cycle from L/M/H, from high another short click brings back low mode. Strobe is accessed with a quick double press. Long Press of side switch will turn light off.
600/100/13 Lumens for 14500 LI-ION
240/70/5 Lumens for NIMH or AA alkaline
Mode memory kicks in if you leave it on for 3 or more seconds then shut the power. When turned on again it will display the last mode it was in.
No electronic lockout available, but can lockout through tail cap. I had the light in left front pocket with clip 90° from switch and had no accidental turn ons.

Fit & Finish

The light is a touch over 3.5” in length and about 7/8” in diameter. Uniform anodizing, no chips were present. Diamond/pineapple knurling on battery tube is not too aggressive and feels good in hand. There are several cooling threads cut into the head as well as a few anti roll spots on the body. Crenulated bezel permits you to see if light is still on while head standing.
Sturdy tail stand / does not wobble, tail cap has 2 lanyard holes on the side and does not interfere with tail stand with a lanyard installed(light does not include lanyard.)
Threads were smooth and greased.
The emitter was well centered in the light orange peel reflector.

Pocketclip is quite good and works very well on jeans, not too tight or loose.
The only issue I found is the e switch button rattles if you shake the light. The button seems kind of floaty on its spring/housing, this seems like the same switch as the Sofirn sp10b which also has the same rattle. Just a minor issue and does not affect the switch performance, which has good action.

Performance

I gave the light a 15 minute water dunk test with a LI-ION battery, no water made it’s way to the interior, the light ran normally with no flickering during the test. The e switch despite the rattling button was also not affected, I took the beam and comparison photos 1 day after the water test to make sure it was undamaged.

I tested the TK05 on it’s own and versus 4 other lights in the same single AA/14500 class

Runtime test with NIMH with light on high, ran for 50 minutes, last 10 of which output gradually ramped down to medium output. When the battery hits .9v - 1v the light shuts off

For it’s size the TK05’s CW output was exceptional on high mode with either a NIMH or standard Alkaline, of the 5 lights it was the brightest/second brightest of the group, with the sofirn NW just a hair brighter but hard to say for sureas the color temps were very different(I don’t own a light meter so this is based on visual observation). The mode spacing is well thought out and the low mode is very usable.

With a 14500 the light output greatly increases, but has a built in overheat protection and will step down from High>Med after 3 minutes. I did not observe any thermal stepdown using a NIMH, and it ran for over 40 minutes on high, the hottest it got with a NIMH (measured with infrared meter, did not have a working thermocouple) was 113°F on the midsection, and about 93°F near the switch. The light felt slightly hotter then these temps, and infrared meter is not 100% accurate.

Beamshots

Same order as the above lineup pic with the Thorfire TK05 in the middle(3rd from left) All lights on high mode with identically charged 2000mah Duraloops



TK05 at a few distances from white wall(High mode, NIMH)

The beam is cool white with a large hotspot and useable spill, it has some decent throw for it’s size(will add some outdoor shots soon)

Conclusions

This is an excellent light with great output and runtimes. The appearance is sleek and ergonomics are good. Pocket clip is excellent. With a NIMH or standard AA it beat out several brands on high mode quite easily. On 14500 it packs quite a punch but you need to be wary of battery length as some wont fit.
I carried the light for a week and found it very useful and easy to use, with great battery life and beam profile is quite good. A few tweaks such as electronic lockout, longer battery tube and adjustment to e-switch button so it seats better would be nice to see on future itterations, but all in all the light rates a solid 9/10

Thanks again to Thorfire for providing this light for review :+1: