T40CS seems promising. Cannot say to be a real fan of throwers but T40CS seems to have a wide spill, no PWM, side clicky, hidden flashies, good regulation and efficiency... Many good arguments.
ILF; what would you say about those beam rings, are they that bad?
TK41, hmm, seems also "legit" but for some reason does not ring the bell.
How about something different! The Photon Proton Pro. It’s only about $40 and has been out for years but is a totally cool light IMO.
It’s single AA with a side button that ramps the output from high to low (uses a XP-E). It also has a red LED. That ramps from low (almost invisible) to high.
It has multiple beacons/strobes/SOS but they are all hidden.
It throws well for such a small light but if you like flood (and I do) you can take the head apart easily and put some diffusion film in there and you’ll have both a beautiful white and red beam.
You could also wear it around your neck, use it with a key chain or use the removable clip as well as just dropping it in your pocket.
The beam rings you basically will see indoors more than you will outdoors. But even if they are present, they don't bother me in the slightest. The T40CS will become one of your favorite lights. Trust me.
tk41 - if you change your mind it will sell quickly to one of your 'hey get me a light' buddies ;)
HKequipment seems to have a set of 8 Eneloops with TK41 for 130$. Not NECESSARILY needin 8 more Eneloops but it does not hurt. Not sure if I have 8 more absolutely idle...
DD does not have, Batteryjunction for 130$ but no loops...
I quess a light with AA-configuration would sell here, if I decide to sell it.
I think I will get that TK41 to see, what´s that all fuzz about :)
Had one Fenix before, L0D...
If it´s a no-no, T40CS is next in the line :D
there's a long thread on cpf about diffusers for it - I forget which one specific model, but there's an olight diffuser that's supposed to fit well...if you're into that sort of thing
You have made a wise choice with the TK41. Look how long I had to keep bugging ILF before he bought one. Now it's his favorite light.
Have not ordered yet :D
Soon...
Noticed someone ranting about battery holder rattling.
Does this TK41 have bad PWM on low levels?
With greeting: Allergic to PWM :|
Yep. And it uses AA nimh batteries which is a good option to have.
I chose to take it from HKequipment now, not cheapest at 129.90 but it has added 8 Eneloops, 3-5$/pcs locally.
I think it is a fair difference for getting a bare light for some 116$ or so. Locally this is 172$ for the set.
Bet I can sell this away here with quite small losses if needed...
You can feel the battery holder rattle a little if you move it quickly or when you bump it. There is an easy fix that someone mentioned either here or over at CPF. After I put the batteries in the holder, I wrap two 3x5 index cards around the batteries and holder before I put it into the body. Stops everything from moving or rattling around and the index cards mold themselves to fit the inside of the body of the light. They stay in when I remove the batteries from the light.
Received today, seems legit!
More comments to come a bit later -> 8)
Ok.
First things to notice were: centered emitter, flawless reflector, AR-lens and very balanced beam with no artifacts.
I like the side clicky. Size is good, beam is spotty for all-round -use but on the other hand spill is wide and nicer than in most of my lights.
No PWM, which is nice. Modes are nicely spaced. Seems to give good runtimes 8)
Rants go to a bit greenish tint, battery holder is rattling a bit. Outlook and feel are a weird thing. Somehow it does not feel like "a solid tool". Looks from outside and knurling texture feels and looks a bit generic, cloned or should I say, genderless. I might be looking for some heftier figures, I really can´t describe it well enough.
Maybe it´s the size proportions, body thickness & head size. Somehow the body tube also feels very light and thin, not bulky at all. Tailcap is the worst part.
Weight is naturally a bad thing if you want to carry it with ease.
I wrap a single piece of paper towel around the battery holder, that keeps any rattles away. I'm glad it's not heavier, I would not use it as much if it was. My emitter is WAY off center, but it does not seem to affect the beam at all, go figure.
Haven't found any dislikes with my TK41, and it blows away anyone who sees what it can light up at night.
Streetlights were off this evening...
Tested on yard, throw is quite impressive!
Seems to dissipate heat on High with ease, does not get too hot.
To get a full reload, I will have to do two full sets with my 4-bay Maha.
OTOH, two 18650 take also several hours, even longer than eneloops.
Tested again today, paper towel indeed takes rattling away nicely!
At winter wind breeze, this did not get even slightly warm outside this evening.
However, I noticed one thing:
Side buttons are nice but if you wear gloves (like I do when it´s dark in here), they are harder to find by the touch of your thumb.
Tail clicky "is always there" where you would expect it to be. These are not, if you happen to rotate light.
These also seem to have very shallow press, which I do like but they have far more open slack than the actual travel of the microswitch. This together with quite low button profile does not impress my thumb.
You see, at winter my skin dries up, thumbs tend to have cracks, so I generally use the side of the thumb to press these side-clickies. Therefore the accuracy of press and feel is not that good.
Shallow button profile and quite hard press for the size are surely intentional to avoid activation by accident.
Hmm, this one is going to be sold now.
Again, don´t take seriously, I´m ranting now on your favorite lights, this just does not ring the bell... :)
If I can get some cash back from this, I´m probably up for SWM or something else.
Please, keep those great suggestions coming! 8)
Skyray King?
After all of my dabbles in nitecore, swm, fenix, spark etc., the SWM's have always been the one I go to for quality, user interface (can't beat infinite variable control ring), and I like the look too. Not to say the others were bad. I loved them too but the SWM just continuously blow me away with overall greatness.
Interesting, I don't own a single SWM light. Not sure why, just never got excited enough to spend the money on one.
;)
Too suspicious IMO and I bet it has as slow PWM as a bit faster strobe modes.
I have also zero SWM´s. At start the brand name sounded weird so I did not read much about them.
Now they start to look better and better...