**NEW** Thrunite TC15 Custom Edition /// Full Review

Shake Sam, he has probably eaten any spare change you had laying around… :stuck_out_tongue:

Edit: Sorry Ms. Robo, I was just kiddin, we’d NEVER shake your cat looking for loose change. :person_facepalming:

Edit II: Already learned he doesn’t give it up. Whaaaaat?

He may have……….I think he tries to eat about anything that looks half interesting.
If curiosity don’t kill the cat…….I might one day. J/K

It seems ThruNite makes really good boost drivers. They really know how to kick the XHP35 to drive it to its very limits, i.e. 2.3A or even more. Dale, I'm sure you'll be able to squeeze out some more lumens after some modification work. :-P :-D

I wish they sold these drivers separately. A friend of mine is absolutely happy about his original TC15 that gets reeeaaally hot on Turbo and maintains brightness longer than any other flashlight in comparable size and weight. I really hope ThruNite changes their mind and restarts selling these directly to Europe again. Their small portfolio of lights over here is not worth to mention and the TC15 is only available in CW.

Ahh, another light with that good ol’ XHP35 HD donut-hole, I know it well.

I love mine, just wish it would stay on turbo longer than 5 seconds.

Try cleaning the cell ends well and also the back of the driver and other contact points. Many times this will solve the short turbo mode.

Yes have done that. Tried also, 30Q,VTC6,VTC5a,Molicel P26 variable results but still short Turbo.

My Rofis MR70 is exactly the same.

Well you have already ruled out my next suggestion on another cell.

Video it and send a short video to thrunite how it acts , along with what you tried to correct the problem. I would think they would replace it.

EDIT: as mentioned in the main review (OP) I also tried a number of cells in my review sample and the driver seems to be vary well regulated. I had pretty consistent results with only 30 to 40 lumens variance in Turbo mode and the rest of the modes were even closer together. Another reason it makes me think something wrong in the driver or in the ground path of your light somewhere. Could even be the emitter didn’t get a good reflow?

Some feedback about my e-mail to service@thrunite.com

I was asking to do a review of the TC15 custom military tan edition and if there's any chance to buy it in Europe/Germany.

They replied that it is unavailable to EU customers now but sent me a link to Amazon DE along with the information it is being restocked again in 10 days.

So far, they didn't sell the NW version at all. No word about my inquiry for a review, though.

Hopefully they will broaden the shipping to cover more area. Looks like it could only benefit them in the sales department , unless the shipping rates to certain areas might be too high?

Unlike Thorfire , Sofirn and a few others , ThruNite is not one of the easiest companies to become a reviewer for from my experience. They send out very limited quantities of their lights for review. I asked them several times and had pretty much given up when they contacted me 3 years or a little more ago , to review for them and I have been doing reviews for ThruNite since.

I really like the products and also like the fact they do not want me to hide anything or even tell a little white lie about their product , asking for only my honest opinion and true findings when I review their stuff.

Good luck with becoming a reviewer for them though , or at least getting a review on the light you specifically asked to review.

Thank you robo819.

My experience with ThruNite was excellent so far. I once asked them if there's any chance to buy the TN4A holster as spare part - they sent me one free of charge. That's great customer service. In 2018 they stopped shipping lights to Europe from their US headquarters (www.thrunite.com). By that time I asked to buy their Catapult V6 Mini and was offered their promo price by ordering it directly via e-mail incl. direct payment to their Paypal address. A week later I received my light from a German warehouse. Another great purchase experience.

I can only presume but guess they ran into some trouble with European tax laws and customs when selling flashlights directly. They also closed all their Amazon stores "ThruNite EU" subsequently by that time. Now, they have relaunched their presence here but still it's by far not the same as it was before.

The good news is, I just found their TC15 available for sale in Germany. But it's not the fancy custom military tan version...

https://thrunite.shop/Thrunite-Taschenlampen-Thrunite-TC15-inkl--IMR-Akku---bis-2300-Lumen.html

I don’t know if it is just listed as such , or if they actually ship some of their lights “international” , but on this Amazon page , if you look on the side panel to the left , there is a box to check for international shipping eligible……………
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=thrunite+tc15+customized&rh=p_n_shipping_option-bin%3A3242350011&dc&crid=3R97C84Z75T9&qid=1568900963&rnid=2944662011&sprefix=Thrubite+TC15+%2Caps%2C181&ref=sr_nr_p_n_shipping_option-bin_1

Also good to hear you have had good experiences with them. I am sure as with pretty much any company out there, a few have had an experience at some time or other with the company that they were not happy with , but overall I think thrunite has a pretty good track record to the best of my knowledge.

Just an update…………

I decided to take the original TC15 apart and I dedomed the XHP35 that was in it , just to see how much it tightened up the beam. I figure the result is about the same as putting a XHP35 HI in the light. (do correct me if I am wrong here)

The beams and lumens output were almost identical to begin with on the 2 lights.

Anyway the result was as expected when I started the simple mod , with a tighter beam and warmer tint from the dedomed emitter. Also as with pretty much any dedome , there was a loss of lumens. I dropped about 290-300 lumens in the Turbo mode at start , but with more light down the middle , the hotspot looks brighter than the TC15 Custom Edition that still has the dome on (HD) emitter. There is still plenty of useable spill for walking or what have you with the dedomed emitter also , just not as broad of an area as it started out.

Here are the beamshots showing how much tighter the beam is now and the tint change , just incase anyone might be thinking about putting a XHP35 HI in one of these lights or doing a slice or dedome on the emitter that is in it.
These beamshots were also added in the OP as Edit 2.

10 yards (white) garage door / Medium Mode

Original (HD)………

Dedomed………

75 yards to Trees / Turbo Mode

Original (HD)……

Dedomed………

100 yards to Gate

Original (HD)…….

Dedomed………

I like the tightened beam profile, my walks generally have me trekking down our 300 yd long driveway and the extra reach is welcome. Thanks for showing us what tis little light is capable of.

YW…….It makes a good bit of difference in the throw for sure , but stills maintains the useable spill.

I had a mad moment and ordered this from Amazon.com, on Thursday and was informed it would be delivered on the 25th. It turned up at 2pm Monday, and according to the tracking information, it came from the States :-). Now that was quick.

And a very nice flashlight as well.

Yes that was pretty quick service. I am liking both of mine (original and Custom) , but I do like this Custom edition just a little better for the looks and the feel of the light.

@ robo819

Can you please tell me how you took the TC15 apart? It would be nice to know how the head can be dismantled. Thank you! :-)

Well surprisingly the one I took apart was not as tightly glued as most of the thrunites to begin with.
The method I have had luck with (that I have taken apart without damage) is to use a fairly rigid piece of rubber on a hard flat surface to place the end of the bezel against just as hard as I can. I also use a thinner rubber strip wrapped around , just above where the bezel should break loose , to hold the head itself. Then while pressing down hard , grunt and turn red in the face until things finally give way.

Thank you robo819 :THUMBS-UP: Can you show me on a picture where the bezel breaks loose when turning the head section of the light? It seems ThruNite was very successful hiding any visible gaps on the TC15's head. :-)