I have really liked the SFT40 emitters I have tried so I picked up a FC12 in the fabulous purple. I am a big fan of breaking out of the sea of black and I like the new colors between the green/champagne/purple. From lessons learned, I will probably wait for the second run of lights so I can get a non-black (regret from the TS21…).
I think Wurkkos did a nice job implementing the SFT40 and it seems like the reflector was made for this light instead of going with an off the shelf part. It is deeper than the SC31B/Pro reflector as well as the S2+.
There is a slight yellow corona but that seems to disappear on anything other than white walls. The beam has a little haloing but controlled better than other lights of its ilk and is pretty smooth in overall use. The IF22a has a cleaner center but obviously a different spill and a larger hot spot. I hope for a lower temperature SFT40 at some point, but since they are hard to find in any form right now it works really well as a thrower. The center spot is very similar to a KR1 with a W2.2 at 60 feet and pretty similar overall but the W2 has a brighter center. Ramping speed is good with no complaints.
Overall, I quite like the design of the light, especially in the body. The segmented ribbed(?) scales work well and look good. They probably work a little better than the straight ribbed body of the HD20 at grip, especially with gloves on. It tail stands with some effort, but the 50 percent coverage of the rear clicky makes a reverse grip pretty comfortable and lessens accidental clicks. It’s not really a ceiling bounce kinda light so the lack of tail standing doesn’t really bother me on this light. It takes a bit to get used to on/off at the rear and ramping on the side button. Its a simple light to use but kind of counter muscle memory with just a single rear/side button. Action is on par with all of the similar rubber button lights. It is pretty long, longer than an S2+, which makes pants pocket carry not the most comfortable for the front pocket. It’s more of a bag light because of its length. A 18350 tube would be kind of fun but probably not as much fun on running it not high…
On turbo, the light got to about 125 degrees on an IR thermometer and seemed to stay there. It took at least a minute or two for the body to heat up but its still fine if the head gets avoided. This temperature is just outside comfortable for me with a solid grip.
There’s not a whole lot I would change on this light and it works well as a tactical/duty style light. There is no direct to turbo mode but memory can be on high, so for duty use this may be a negative, but to an accidental turn-on, it’s nice because there is no lockout. Moonlight could be lower, but how much this matters on this kind of light? I really with there was a battery check, the red button light is ok, but when you need to check to make sure you have enough juice every shift, 0-80% doesn’t cut it.
My biggest grip is the locktite/glue on the bezel. Please, please Wurrkos stop gluing the bezel. Broken lenses, shifted reflector, or adding filters to the lenses all require bezel removal. This was the most glue I have ever seen on a light bezel and it was the hardest one I have removed yet even after a long turbo run.
Overall, I dig the new body styes and lights from Wurkkos. They seem to work well and I haven’t had any real issues with any of them. The SFT40 is a great thrower without much tint shift and from the reports around here is seems pretty robust. They FC12 is good use of it in a 18650 slim thrower. A slightly larger 21700 version would be really great as some competition to the SP35. The TS21 is not really any wider and the extra thermal/battery capacity would be appreciated, especially if it had power bank capabilities.