Thorfire TK05 / Full review

This is the Throfire TK05 , sent for my review and NO other comepensation other than keeping the light.

As far as I know the 20% off code is working at the time of this review …. L4SPZS6H
Light can be found at ……… Amazon.com (link NON affliated)

I know there are a few reviews out already on this light , but Thorfire asked me to do a review and I have had a number of set backs and / or hold up since that time , so my apologies to them and everyone else for not having this done sooner.

The TK05 is the newest Thorfire EDC style light , powered by either a 14500 , AA Alkaline or NiMH cell.
The light arrived in a padded mailing envelope with the Thorfire box inside that and the light itself in a bubble wrap sleeve inside the box. The package contains the TK05 , User manual and 2 extra O-rings.

The TK 05 is a side switch only with a simple UI , having only Low, Medium , High and hidden strobe modes , with last mode memory also.
To turn the light on it is a simple click of the side switch , then to change modes a quick click to advance to the next level and a quick double click to get the strobe mode. A longer press turns the light off and as mentioned the last used mode will be memorized. The strobe can be accessed from any other mode including off.

The over all appearance of the TK05 is very pleasing to my personal liking , with the large Pineapple style knurling on it , the metallic side switch and sliver clip to compliment that. The TK05 does tailstand well on a flat surface and although it does not come with a lanyard (at least my sample didn’t) there are 2 large lanyard holes if you wanted to put one on it.
The styling is much like that on the TK18 , so if you have that one it makes a nice pair. Also if you have , or if you are familiar with the TG06 , the TK05 is just slightly shorter than that one.

The threads are all well machined and smooth on this one and the anodizing is well done also.
Manual Lockout only , at the head or the tailcap either one with about 1/8th of a turn.

There are Fins on the TK05 , although they are shallow , they do the job needed for this light. The light does not seem to need alot of cooling and does not get to the point of being really what I would call hot.
There is however a step down at 3 minutes and if you go back into the High mode right away after the step down , then the light will start getting fairly hot the second cycle in High using the 14500 cell.

The emitter is a XP-G3 sitting in the Orange peel reflector.

The beam is a more floody beam with the OP reflector , but for the small size and reflector it has , it does give a decent amount of distance to go along with the floody beam.
Distances in the below shots…. 3 feet (low) , 22 feet (Medium and High) from garage door. From Gate 75 , 50 and 25 yards in High mode………

I think it should be mentioned that longer cells (over 51mm or 52mm) will probably not work in the TK05 , as I tried a couple of protected cells over the 51mm length and they would not work. I think it is the way the tailcap is designed as it has a flat area inside and NO retaining ring to allow that little bit of extra length from the way it looks to me. Also there is the fact that the spring is totally compressed with the longer cells. The AA alkalines and the AA Eneloop Pro , both work fine in the light , as do the unprotected button and flat top 14500.

Nothing is glued on the TK05 , so those who want to do mods on it will not have any problem getting into the light at all.

Overall I think the TK05 is a very nice little light and good for EDC.
The only negative I have with this one is the XP-G3 emitter , as it does have that Olive color around the main hotspot that seems to be present with most of the XP-G3 emitter lights.

Here are the charts on the testing I have done with the TK05……….

For those who do not want to watch the whole video , the beamshots and stills of the light start at 6:43 of the video timeline and the live outdoor footage with comparison to the TK05 and the Thrunite Archer V2 starts at 9:24 of the timeline.

I kept saying TG05 in the video when showing this light , but it is in fact the TK05.

Video followed by listed specs……….

Specification:
CREE XPG3 Led: with life span of 20+ years
Size: 3.5inch(Length)*0.75 inch(Body diameter)
Weight: 1.48 oz (excluding battery)
Color Temperature: 5350-5700K
Single Side Switch for on/off and output selection
High efficiency lens

Operation:
On and Off
Press and release the side switch to turn on the flashlight, Press and hold the switch to turn off the light.

Mode Change:
Turn light on and click side switch to cycle through different brightness modes. The TK05 will cycle Low/Mid/High. In any mode, a fast double click of the side switch activates the strobe mode. Another click of the side switch will return you to the previous mode.

Lockout:
To prevent accidental activation in a pocket or purse simply unscrew the tail cap 1/5 turn for a mechanical lockout. Tighten the tail cap to resume normal operation.

Caution:
The TK05 is very bright, Do not stare directly into beam or shine it directly into anyone’s face. If light will be stored for an extended period it is recommended that the battery be removed to avoid any leakage risk which might damage the light.

What’s in the package:
1* ThorFire TK05 Led Flashlight
2* Spare O-rings
1* user manual

So even with AAs it steps down from 240 to around 80 lumens?

I didn’t even check the AA or Eneloop when I did my testing but……….

I have just ran the light with the Eneloop Pro for 7 minutes and it did not step down and was at 253 lumens at the 7 minute mark.

EDIT: I need to mention I have already changed the emitter to a XP-L V6 so the lumens are higher than what the XP-G3 will be.

Interesting. Is there any patter to what level of lumens causes a light to step down?

It seems to be a thermal step down really. The light gets much hotter with the 14500 than with the AA or NiMH.

One more question about this one. I have UltraFire protected 14500s that are a hair under 50mm. Will they fit?

Just a FYI…….I am not trying to be a smart AZZ or anything like that but , as a general rule the Ultrafire cells (especially the smaller sizes) have been proven many times by the people in this forum to be more or less junk and can be dangerous.
The internal resistance is usually pretty poor (high) among a number of other factors , such as a tiny cell wrapped in a larger casing to make the size right , with a wire connected to each end of the outer casing and packed with sand to make the weight right.

I would suggest getting some good name brand cells such as Samsung , Sony , Panasonic and such.

The protected or unprotected either one in a 50mm length will be fine and TK05. I would guess up to maybe 52 or 53 mm would still work ok , although it may start being a tight fit by then.

EDIT: I am thinking of the wrong light………51mm will probably be the max length on the TK05

High to Med is a 3 minute timed step down.

Just throwing in a bit more in the way of details. The big problem is the whole series of “xxxFire” names never got patented or copyrighted so there are any number of fly-by-night folks who make random cells of unknown quality and then they get wrapped with “whatever” name.

So in fact you can actually get decent cells with a xxxFire name on them, but the odds are NOT good and really it just isn’t worth the risk.

It depends on the driver and what is flashed into the programming. Some step down using a thermal sensor , others step down due to a timer and at the point that timer is set at (1 minute , 2 minutes etc….)
Most lights now also have low voltage protection , which is a sensor or sensors that will send a signal to the MCU which in turn will cut the power level to the driver as the cell or cells start getting lower on voltage. Usually around 3 volts as a medium is where the power starts dropping off and then 2.7 to around 2.9 volts is where the Low Voltage Protection will shut the light down completely.

The “fire” in the name for the most part people avoid. There are a few cells such as some of the Trustfire and Thorfire and Windyfire that come to mind right off , that are actually decent cells.

Timed step down to 80 lumens? Why would they do such a thing?

Learning, ever learning. It would be helpful if businesses would add “junk” in parentheses by their products. There’s just something about spending more for batteries and charger than for the flashlight that galls me (obviously, this isn’t a serious hobby of mine).

As far as their stand point I really cant answer that.

It is a dual cell capable driver though , so it is possible that could be part of it maybe?

The light does not get hot by the 3 minute mark but if it was running 5 minutes or more it would start getting pretty warm by then and be depleting the cell at a much faster rate due to the constant current driver trying to get more from less from the depleting cell.

Is there any way to tell, by looking at them, whether mine are good ?

Having dealt with a number of Thorfire products at this point, I’m pretty sure they control costs by using a number of the same drivers, switches, and programming arrangements for multiple light branches.

For example, the 1,000 Lumen 18650 based TK15S does start to warm up fairly quickly and a three minute timed step-down makes some sense (though personally I’d have gone for 4-5 min).

Take the same driver and switch and put it in the TK05 and you’ve reduced parts cost, but you have people scratching their head as to why the light runs like it does.

Rick,
I don’t know of any way just by looking at the cells to figure out their provenance or quality level.

The best thing I can suggest is to use them with a bit of caution, don’t just leave them sitting in a light long term, don’t run them all the way down, and use a good quality charger that will abort the charge if something isn’t right.

Personally, I also bought several ceramic tiles from Home Depot and all of my chargers sit on a ceramic tile as a bit of extra fire protection.

If you decide to dump them and get something else, I’ve been happy with the Jetbeam branded 14500 cells but there are a lot of others out there too.

No there is not unfortunately , but with them being the 14500 size Ultrafire , I would almost bet they are not very good quality.

If you already have a charger though you can get some decent cells without spending a fortune really.

Richard at Mountain Electronics sells the Windyfire 14500 for $2.99 each ($2.89 for 2 or more) and he is a great guy to deal with as so many here do.
They are Unprotected , but the light itself has built in Low voltage protection and will shut off when the cells start getting too low , so really the protection circuit on the cell is not needed in the end , unless it is just something you feel better about using.
http://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=59_87&product_id=477

So, two UltraFires and a cheap charger here. Not getting off to a good start.

I’m going to buy an 18650 flashlight (likely a Convoy S9) and a smaller, 14500 light to carry in my bag. It looks like I should be prepared to dump a good amount of $ in a good quality charger that does both (and good batteries, too, of course). Or just get lights that take alkalines (I know, heresy around here).

Will it say in the light’s description whether it has low-voltage protection?