Video review of the NEW version Thorfire KL02 Keychain light

LED Flashlights – General Info Other Battery Type Flashlights
1

Just an all too lengthy video of a comparison between version one and version two, of the KL02 light from Thorfire.

2

Thanks OL.

3

I really like mine, but I just wish that there were a more secure way of turning it on and off. I carried it in my pocket on my keychain for about a month and I’ve finally given up on it. There were several occasions where the light would turn on in my pocket and times when I would pull out my keys and just the end cap would come out and I would have a battery and the light floating around in my pocket. It is a handy little light to have, I just want a better way to turn it on and off than loosening the end cap.

4

Thanks for the review, it seems that a third gen. is needed!

I dig the shape of this little Thorfire, but I really would have liked modes, especially a moonlight setting or 2 lumen low, and I like any lantern to have a warm tinted led, 3500K or lower.

5

I think they are just going on the assumption that a key-chain light only needs to be on/off. Maybe they are old school.

I don't mind modes, but for a key-chain light, I wouldn't care if it only had one mode. I'm not much of a mode guy anyhow.

6

thanks for your review

do you have any idea yet of runtimes ??

7

Thanks for the video review! I was worried when I saw new version, since I had purchased one of these last summer when Thorfire offered a discount here.

I was expecting a major overhaul with improvements, but was glad to see it was a minor change. I don’t actually use this as a flashlight, so the “improvements” in this model don’t really benefit me. Instead, I find that it makes a good emergency lantern for power outages or camping. I don’t actually keep cells installed, so I actually prefer my first-gen model with the spring. If I were to keep cells installed for an extended time, I’d just put a plastic insulator on the negative pole of the battery to keep it from making contact.

I also don’t use Lithium in mine, due to the higher drive current. One of these with a small pack of CR123a cells makes a good emergency light with a long shelf life. One of my main disappointments with this light was the use of a driverless double-sided PCB for the emitter. I know that was done to keep the light small, but a simple driver with a single 7135 would have made this light great for use with Li-Ion. It also limits my upgrade options to the original Fried-Egg style emitter. I’d like to have the option to install an emitter with a better tint… I’ve actually thought about JB-Welding a smaller PCB on top of the existing board and jumpering to the factory contacts. This light, with a nice high-CRI Nichia? Sounds nice, I may have to try that… I actually have a couple of TINY XP-sized PCBs in my parts pile… :crown:

The factory tint is not great for lantern use… :Sp