A few months ago I purchased a Thrunite Catapult V6 SST-70. It’s a great light and a ton of fun, but… I am coming back from around a decade hiatus from the hobby, and I’m starting to feel the itch to mod a bit again. I’ve sliced a few SST-40’s with good success, and seeing the SFT-70 on kaidomain has me thinking… Would this emitter turn an already excellent light into a fantastic one?
There doesn’t seem to be a lot of info or opinions on this emitter. I’ve done a few reflows on stock MCPCBs, a long time ago, and dedomed some xm-l2’s along the way, so I’m not totally hopeless. Aside from the obvious increase in intensity and drop in lumens, my biggest cause for pause is probably beam quality in a smooth reflector. Assuming I don’t completely shoot myself in the foot doing the swap (a real possibility, but a risk I’m willing to take), I don’t see a big downside.
I’ve never reflowed 6/12v emitter before, so another thing bit of fun.
I’ve not seen the “new” version with the SST70 but spent a little time with the previous XHP35 HI version. If they didn’t change the reflector then I’d say based on the nice beam from the XHP then you should be happy with the SFT70 even though it’s larger. If it’s a different reflector than the old one…maybe see if there are previous mods here or on reddit/youtube.
Not positive but it seems like I read somewhere here that the bins on those from KD weren’t so nice, if that matters to you or if you’d run it on lower modes much.
If it doesn’t play well with the reflector, buy an FT03 in the right flavor.
I have the Cat6 V2 XHP35 Hi version and actually went the other way with my hotspot. I prefer medium distances (<100ft) and found the CW XHP35Hi hotspot tight, so went larger with XHP50.2 HD (90CRI 4000K) instead. Stock reflector worked for both emitters with no changes or serious tweaks required. The change in hotspot from SST70 to SFT70 would probably be less pronounced.
Original XHP35 Hi on left, XHP50.2 HD on right. 50ft from wall.
Lots to think about here. The SST-70 has a pretty decent tint for CW, and the beam balance is very good. I live in a dense suburban area and as it is, there are very few places that I can use the throw it provides. I posted this thinking I’d be convinced to just do it, but with the new day, and these excellent points, I think I may pick up another Convoy to muck about with and enjoy the Catapult for the excellent light it is. It’s a lot less painful to muck up a $40 light than a $75 one, and Simon had proven very effective at taking my money recently (4x18a sbt90.2, M21F gt-fx40, and S21D 519a).
I actually got both version of the light. The XHP35HI is pure white on all levels. The SST70 I have is slightly green on lower levels. However, I don’t notice it using it at night. I only notice it when I shine it on the wall on day time.
I wonder if you’d like the Sofirn C8F….triple 21700 in a C8 host, ramping or stepped modes, side e-switch and a power cutting tail switch. One of my favorites, still very pocketable. Not sure what they have currently but they have offered it with XPL and SST20 emitters, I think the LH351D also. Fairly easy to mod if desired. Mildly floody but will still reach out 150-200 yards nicely. WildTrail may be hard to get right now but they brought out a very compact 21700 model with either single or triple emitters and Anduril (WT1M or WT3M…possibly some still on amazon, otherwise aliexpress if they have any left right now). Sofirn IF25A and Hank’s Noctigon KR4 also very popular.
Bunch of good lights in the last couple years, many spurred by the adoption of Anduril and wider use of 21700 cells. Nice to see after a period there where not as much was going on and emitters hadn’t made the big jumps like they used to. Optics instead of reflectors has gotten pretty big, too.
Thanks for all the recommendations, I generally stay away from unregulated multi-emitter lights because they really put the flash in flashlight (thousands of lumens for a few seconds then down to a few hundred four hours). Thankfully my wife is very supportive of my habit.
I picked up a Wurkkos TS30S, had my eye on it for a while and with the current discounts it’s a real steal. It’s my second Andruil light and the UI is growing on me, love the configurability. Also ended up getting a WK30, it’s quite a novelty and I didn’t have an LHD351 light yet.
After watching the Flashaholic’s recent Felix TK20R v2 video, The SFT-70 is still very appealing. It’s a shame there isn’t much adoption or enthusiasm around this emitter right now. I don’t think I am ready to mod my Catapult yet, but that sure did get me thinking again.
