BLF Edition ThruNite Saber 1A Group Buy - $19.99

Is the comparison made with a NiMH instead of the rated alkaline? If so, you should know better than to conflate the two, whatever the outcome would be with the correct cell type.

Just sayin’. I don’t currently own either Thrunite or Eagletac, so I don’t have a bias here.

My ET D25A XPG2 R5 rated at ~130 ANSI lumens on “turbo” is noticeably brighter than the BLF T10 on “high”, and even a bit brighter after it drops 20%. All on NiMH 2000mAh eneloops. Later tonight I can compare them on two AA alkies.

Alright. I just loaded my D25A and the BLF T10 with brand new Duracell alkalines and for the first three minutes, the D25A is noticeably brighter. After step-down they are about the same. There is no doubt in my mind that Thrunite’s output numbers are heavily inflated.

That’s very generous for Thrunite. Cute light though. :8)

In my sample, the xpg2 Saber is definitely visualy brighter than the xpg t-10. In addition, the tint is warmer and makes a lot of difference in what you see. The t-10 appears greenish compared to the warmer Saber.

I definitely prefer the Saber.

My first foray into modern lights was the ThruNite T10 and everything I have bought since gets compared to it.

I just received my Saber 1A today and my initial reaction is similar to others.

First of all the body is, as expected, the same as the T10. Heck, mine says ThruNite T10 on one side and Saber 1A on the other. This compared to my original T10 which says TruNite T10 on one side and a picture of a battery on the other.

The head is, as expected, interchangable between the bodies. The Archer 1A feels, as reported, like sandpaper when you first open it to put in the battery. I need to buy some grease to fix it :frowning:

Light output with enloops is a little brighter than the original T10 on both high and medium according to my untrained eye when I point them both at indoor wall which is about what you would from a light rated 1.5x brighter on a log scale.

Both get warmer than I want to hold after 5 minutes on high.

Don’t get me wrong, I am happy with the light other than having to clean it and replace the grease. It is well worth the 20 dollars I paid for it. Thank you ThruNite for the group buy.

I received my BLF Saber today, and especially for the $19 cost, I am very happy.

Neutral white tint. I like the decent throw it has for such a tiny light, I was not expecting that. No finish issues. My white-top Duraloop fit perfectly, with absolutely NO room to spare. So no room to rattle.

Except for the dry threads out of the box (minor issue), the only problem found so far is the tail stand base. The Saber does tail stand, but just barely.

Welcome fractal! Thanks for weighing in on this light. Seems almost like there were 2 different production runs. Mine is at the post office waiting for me to sign for it (*$^! registered mail means I have to wait 2 extra days and go to the post office to get a light).

Never noticed it until your post, but mine also says ThruNite T10 on one side.

LOL! :bigsmile:

A tube of Nyogel 760g is absolutely worth it (and if you don’t want the big tube, ArmyTec repackages it in smaller tubes - still plenty). I’ve used two kinds of silicone (divers o-ring lube and thinner watch gasket lube), lithium grease, synthetic bike grease, etc. For twisty flashlights the feel of the Nyogel beats them all. Damping is just right for these small lights, and even my relatively rough L10 is now smooth as silk.

Thanks for the tip! Tried rotating the spring with hemostats and now my light actually stays on without flickering. Same beam here, a little cooler (blueish) than my T10.

I had the same problem with mine. I tried cleaning the threads, tightened the pill, checked the wires to the led and nothing... until I rotated the spring. So far it appears to be working without flickering.

I wonder what happened to the quality? I have bought 15+ Thrunites (a lot of Ti's to give away) and only one of them, a Neutron 2A, had a minor problem. It was visibly less bright than my other Neutron 2A, but I got a partial refund. I think I'll take a break from buying any more Thrunites due to these contact issues and the cool (blueish) tint.

I got my BLF Saber today, the threads were a little gritty but no problems with it. The threads are also a lot smoother than my original T10 as I cant twist it with 1 hand but the BLF Saber is easy to twist.

The tint is pure white compared to my blueish/purplish T10 tint, also it didn’t have any contact problems at all.

I’m happy with it, I wish I had bought more for that price.

I got mine yesterday too, its quality is nice. The threads were lubed and like the others mentioned a bit sandy and after turning it (with the sand) on and off 30 times it stopped working…

I removed the dirtylube with a tissue, below the non threadened part and from the top contact. It was black like always and after this it lights up again and is much smoother.

Cheap nimh don’t fit, my nitecore 14500 with an extra layer tape won’t fit too.
and the groove between the two parts could be smaller.

It is bright for such a little cutie, I will measure tailcap current when I have found my trustfire 14500…

I picked mine up from the post office this morning. After hearing bad things, I was prepared for the worst. But I’m quite happy with mine.

Positive: Threads are very smooth, no flickering problems at all. Modes are great, the memory sets after the light is off for about 2 seconds, which is about perfect. Quality seems first rate. It’s also surprisingly bright on AA NiMH. No battery rattle. Modes are L-M-H, no strobes. LED is definitely an XP-G2 and well-centered, though the opening in the reflector is pretty big (about the size of the whole LED; shown below on right vs. V10A on left).

Cons: The tint is definitely cool white. It makes my V10A look neutral by comparison. Pretty big hotspot (same size as my iTP A3 EOS with XP-E), so I don’t think it will be much of a thrower, but it’s tiny, so it’s not supposed to be. There is also some play in the threads like the original iTP A3 EOS where if you twist it to off, you can press the head and it will come on. That’s not a big deal, but you will want to give it a good size twist to off if you are putting this in your pocket. Lastly, I’m not so sure about the lens coating. The coating doesn’t seem as effective as the V10A, but I will need to compare against some uncoated lenses.

Neutral: Says ThruNite T10 on one side and Saber 1A on the other, which is kind of funny. BLF on the head. Tailstanding is a little wobbly due to the thin keyring knockout, but it does stand.

I’m sorry others are having some issues, but hopefully the rough threads can be worked and the contact problems can be solved.

The box says that ThruNite lights are designed in the USA. Does anyone know if there is any truth to that?

I just did a quick comparison of my T10 and Saber 1A. The Saber box says “designed in USA,” the T10 box doesn’t. There are also different company addresses on the boxes (different cities), and looking closely at the heads they don’t quite match (knurling, groove width). My guess is that Thrunite went to a different supplier for the new light, and QC wasn’t as good as the original place.

I received my Saber 1A today. I had been looking forward to it, but instead of joy it was disappointment.
The light flickers on all modes, and sometimes does not turn on. Obviously defective.
Now what??

I should add that I am not technically competent here and am not faintly interested in doing any repair.

Jerry

I picked up mine thus morning and it also seems fine. One hand operation, smooth threads with nice positive feel but not gritty, no flickering, and a very low firefly. Works with both AA and 14500 efest imr and has a nice smooth beam. I’ll have to do a side by side with an RBD Solitaire.

Can anyone tell me how to contact Craig or Thrunite for either a refund or replacement?
Thanks,
Jerry

You should make some attempt at getting the light to work. The fixes people are doing are pretty simple.

As much as I was also disappointed with the lack of checking/QC out of the factory, I agree with brted that you should at least try a minimal contact cleaning. With tweezers or small needle nose pliers you can pull the spring out of the tube and clean its top and bottom contact points with a q-tip moistened with alcohol, then with the same q-tip clean the bottom tube contact, the inner and outer contacts on the bottom of the board plus the top rim of the tube. Put the spring back in and see if the flicker is gone. This can all be done in a couple of minutes.

If you are still having problems contact Thrunite at sabrina@thrunite.com. Good luck.