Review (short): Thorfire TK4A

Thorfire sent me this TK4A out of the blue. It has been reviewed by user tru3s1lv3r back in September, and there’s not a whole lot to add except my opinion of it.

This is the only 4xAA light I own. Actually, the only AA light I own that doesn’t use a Li-ion 14500. I bought a set of Energizer Lithium primary batteries just to test in this, but will get a set of Eneloops when these die. Do not use 4v 14500s or you will blow the driver.

The TK4A is a stout little light, a little shorter in length than a Convoy S2+, and 1.6 inches (41mm) in diameter. It comes in the standard Thorfire box with a lanyard, 2 o-rings, a manual, and a holster. The holster is rather flimsy, but works good as a protection bag for the light to toss in a backpack or the glove box of a car. The belt loop is sewn with a single stitch seam, and wouldn’t trust it as a belt holster.

The battery tube is a machined or extruded type holder, a swiveling tail cap with the direction pins so you can’t screw it on wrong. Straight forward & simple.

When you turn the light on with fresh batteries, the small LED indicator on the button is green. It turns to orange when the batteries get to around 60 or 70%, and red when it’s time to charge. Seems to be constant current though and detected no PWM. According the the manufacturer, the run-times are… Low (30lm) 48hrs — Medium (200lm) 3hr 45min — High (600lm) 1hr 25min — Turbo (1100lm) 45min. The turbo run time is cumulative since it steps down after 3 minutes. After it steps down, you can click the button again to return to turbo and so on. I have no idea what batteries Thorfire used for these results.

The UI is simple click to on, click through the modes, and hold for off. 3 seconds in any mode is memorized. Double click for the blinky while light is on or off. While light is off, hold button for 1sec, and it goes into the 1 lumen moonlight mode. Nothing more to it than that.

The TK4A uses an XPL emitter and appears to be cool white. It’s a nice clear white with no blue tint. Shining on a wall, the hot spot has some very slight reflector distortion but you certainly can’t see it outdoors. It’s such a tiny amount that my camera can’t really pick it up.

And finally, a couple outdoor shots. Thorfire claims 1100 lumens. I have no way of testing this other than to take another light of similar claimed lumens and compare the two. The bottom picture is an Acebeam EC35 with a claimed 1200lm. This particular EC35 has a 4000k XPL HI in it, so it’s probably closer to around 1000 to 1100lm and it has a little more throw than flood. As you can see, the two are not so different, so I believe Thorfire’s claimed output is about right. + or -

Thorfire TK4A

Acebeam EC35 XPL HI 4000k (sorry about the steam cloud in the photo. my furnace decided to kick on just as I was taking the pict, and it was cold outside)

Overall, I do like this light. This will live in my vehicle’s glove compartment. I personally won’t leave a rechargeable lithium ion flashlight in the vehicle. I believe temperature extremes are not good for those types of cells. However the TK4A using primaries is great for this application, and nice to have a 1000lm flashlight running primaries in the car. Just make sure you either use lithium primaries (that won’t leak), or change out the alkaline’s once in a while. If you get an alkaline that leaks in this thing, it will be very difficult to clean it out. The battery tube does not separate from the head.

Cheers!

I'm a fan of 4AA lights. Thank you for this review RobertB.

Thought maybe the flashlight god might materialize out of that cloud of vaper. How far is your furnace from your house?

Lol, do you see the pvc pipe sticking out of the side of the house, just under the window planter? The pipe sticking up is the exhaust, and the one pointing down is the intake.

That's funny, the cloud looks so far away to me. I see what you mean now though. Guess the ancestral cloud/fog observation gene skipped a generation with me. Thank you :)

Well, it’s a good size house with a fairly powerful natural gas furnace, and it was 16°F outside. I don’t think it gets quite that cold in SC. Come visit Michigan some time in the winter, and you’ll find that gene quickly :smiley:

Yeah got one in the car too
No green or blue in the tint
Love it!
Thanks for the review (must have been a cool surprise receiving it out of the blue)

It was a nice surprise. Was thinking about what would be a good car light for a while.

Learned my lesson about leaving 18650’s in the car. Was camping a couple summers ago and left a couple cells charging in the car all day on a 90F (32C) sunny day with the windows up. The cells were too hot to touch, and kind of scared me. Never felt a battery that hot before.

The light looks very good :+1:

There is a nice moon mode only accessible from off with a long press. A double click from any other mode including off goes straight to strobe and it’s nice that strobe is the only mode you get to with that double click, readily accessible but easy to avoid.

Thanks for the review and great pictures. :+1:

Thanks for that info, will update. I missed that mode in the manual.

Years ago my Wife and I were taking the Metro (subway) in Paris. Looking at the time schedule card, I asked her how they expected anyone could read this fine print. She looked at it and said “I can read it fine, you need glasses”

Thanks for the review RobertB. I’m particularly fond of 4 AA flashlights since my first “really good” flashlight was a Nitecore EA4. I like that the Thorfire TK4A does not use a battery carrier and has a battery indicator LED in the switch.