Oh damn!!
Sorry, it was JohnnyMac.
mybadFoy
Thanks again, Foy!
Every time I read a review by you a smile is slowly building up on my face becoming more distinct the more I read and with every picture I look at anticipation and excitement is added to that. All resulting in: Now I want a TK41, too!
I agree that $110 is probably not what you would call a budget light, but it also depends on your perspective. I had a guy arguing with me on CPF that the Fenix models were the "Fords" of the flashlight world.
If you go here, you will think $110 is a bargain, I think the cheapest light on this site is $203, and I would take the TK41 over them any day.
Besides that, there are folks here who have more than a hundred bucks invested in, say, multiple purchases of the same AA light...and I know a lot of folks here own some Fenix lights, so where should we draw the line?
And lastly, I'd rather have Foy review a light if I was thinking about getting it, than some guy over at that other place. In fact, I find most of the guys who review lights here more informative than the reviews elsewhere.
AnotherawesomereviewthereFoy! 
Great review! The beamshot on the cactus is awesome! I believe this may be my next light.
Nice review but that's what has put me off Fenix... my TK45 is horrible green compared to my other lights. 41 is a great looking light though!
Rich
I updated to include water testing. No ingress at all under spraying water or in the sink.
Foy
Budget is all relative I guess. Def of budget - reasonably priced. 8 x AA form factor (haven't seen this from the usual budget MIC brands). It is not a small flashlight, there is a lot of aluminum and its built is good. Equivalently sized in the MIC world would cost at least $60-80.
My Lightpipe LP-250NS costed me $425. It has risen to 550 now. Shipping alone costed me the price of this TK41! It has a 5mm arc length, 250W and able to sustain 45-50 mins of burn on its Li-ion. If i go to the HID world of above 100 watts and on the ground of performance, that is budget. $425 can't even get you the parts alone shipped.
Another angle - the Yao's 35/80W MIC clone (55W for the clone) costs $52 and 32 shipping via EMS to here. That's $84. We take it as 45-50W coz auto HIDs always get underspec-ed. We need 5 lights to equal the LP-250NS. $d84 * 5 = $420. And that is using a small 5.5AH SLA, not Li-ion. In that sense, it is already on a budget.
When I insert pictures in my reviews, I just right click/copy from flickr and right click/paste where I want it to go. If I use the tree symbol on BLF editor I get a small white box with an x in it when I copy the HTML code from flickr. It just ain't happnin' fer me.
Foy
1) It's a slogan, not a rule.
2) While it's true that 'budget' lights are the primary focus of BLF, as others have pointed out, we all have different budgets.
3) Unlike another forum, this one has an open minded admin and as a result, it tends to attract mostly free thinking and open minded members. Witness the reasonable answers to your question. Imagine the response you might get elsewhere should you try posting a similar question there.
@Foy, Not familiar with flickr's link types, but with imageshack I have to use what is called a 'direct link' instead of any of the several other kinds of links they offer. If Flickr gives you a choice of different links to the same photo, try the one described as 'direct'.
I use the "Direct Link" function on Photobucket to use the Tree-Symbol thingy here in BLF. It (the tree symbol) also gives you the mouseover option, which is a little tedious to use but useful.
Foy, Good to know it is H2O-proof, thanx.
That light is pretty awesome. I can't believe how cool it stays after tailstanding on high! Would love to see the pill and internal heatsinking on this bad boy.
Very nice review Foy, as usual! Thanks a lot! We now have a Fenix review on the frontpage. Looks like a real beauty. Drop that price down to $30 and I'm all over it. :p That'll be the day!
Thank you sb, I appreciate it.
Foy
Interesting question too. I personally would never spend $100+ on a flashlight, but then again I am an incorrigible tightwad. Nevertheless, I do find these reviews of premium lights to be VERY interesting, and even more so when it comes from an enthusiast of budget lights. I think the comparisons are very useful. This Fenix is a real beauty, but I think the comparison beamshots show that the budget $22 - $40 XM-L models, while noticeably less bright, definitely hold their own against this premium product.
Again, thanks for the review Foy!
And one niggle: Why couldn't they make the Fenix TK41 label line up axially with the two switch buttons? That would drive me crazy every time I look at it.
Ah, and a big thanks to trooplewis for kindly loning out your light for review!
That has to be one of the most positive negatives about anything.
"What I don't like about it"
"It isn't mine" :)
Do we see one of these in your future?
:)
No, not in my immediate future anyway. I'm not above spending a little if I happen to have it at the time (which isn't very often any more) but my days of pricey torches are probably behind me for the most part. That's why I jumped at troop's offer to review it. The "Budget" part of BLF seems to suit me economically quite well.
decliningincomeFoy
Can you talk about the benefits/negatives compared to the TK35? From what I gather, it's a great thrower, physically intimidating and uses more common AA batteries, but is less compact, doesn't have a clicky and more unwieldy.