Orcatorch T11 Review

Orcatorch T11 Review

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Hey folks today I will be reviewing the Orcatorch T11. My review is later then every one else because i am special! Well It got caught in the flooding in China lucky for the lads at Orcatorch they are prepared! As they make diving lights. Please do not dive into flood water! Lots of reviews already up here on BLF so I will add my touch. Unlike a priest my touch wont effect any ones life later on! Unless you now feel dumber for reading this. Then I apologize.

Orcatorch was kind enough to send me this light for free so I thank them and I also thank Archer for being an active member of the BLF family. I will do a fair review of course just because it was free doesn’t mean I wont its not like I am serving politician.

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The Orcatorch T11 is a flashlight that is marketed at the masses running on a single AA battery for an impressive output of 190 lumens on turbo mode. Now I know where I am posting this so I will add not every one wants 1000000000 lumens running on 10000 18650s. But if I could afford it I would actually want that light. But its not about me well it is my review so it kind of is about me I guess.

Anyhow! Selling a light to a none flashaholic is hard work how do you define what is needed by an every day person? My best mate is a mechanic does the T11 fit his needs? Yes it does. After I gave him a lecture on lithium ions does he want to use them? No! Probably my fault saying your house will burn down! Can you be naughty and run the T11 on a 14500 for extra output? Yes I am doing as we speak. But be warned Santa may banish you from his good books. Orcatorch will also banish your warranty. A light like is perfect EDC for every one my mate likes using alkaline batteries so it suits him well. We did go to Ikea and buy some laddas just for the extra run time.

The T11 has 4 standard output modes plus a Strobe and SOS mode so a nice wide selection of outputs for every one. ANSI FL1 rated. Usual test at about 10-12 meters from the fence. Low mode is 5 meters from the door.

Turbo mode: 190 lumens @ 2.7 hours

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High mode: 80 lumens @ 7.6 hours

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Medium mode: 30 lumens @ 19.8 hours

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Low mode: 10 lumens @ 60 hours

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Strobe mode: 190 lumens

SOS mode: 190 lumens

The T11 has no memory mode so that is a downside for some and an upside for other for me it depends on the light its self. If the light is a 4000 lumen light I would rather it have no memory and start on low always! For twisties they need a memory mode! These smaller light are okay to have no memory its a situation where you can not make every one happy.

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The T11 uses a Cree XPG2 which is a great LED choice because it is super efficient and small. It is important in smaller lights to use a smaller LED. It makes more sense these light are not made to be super bright because then cooling becomes an issue. Plus it makes more sense reflector wise you can make the whole light smaller. Plus you get the advantage of added run time because of the efficiency aspect. I will add even using a 14500 this light does not heat up at all!

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Working voltage of the T11 is 0.8-3.0 volts so it was not intended to be used with a 14500 so I can not recommend it for warranty purposes! The output with a 14500 seem almost double it is already super bright with a Single AA beating my Jetbeam Jet Mk1 by 40 lumens that is a whole Nitecore tube in brightness! Compared to a standard LED lenser the output from a single cell is great on the T11. Right now I am on Orcatorch Amazon page the light is $32 USD making it about $40 Aussie dollars compared to a similar LED lesner the p6.2 that is 200 lumens from two AA batteries and cost $110 Aussie dollars. Price to performance it is a good deal. Especially seeing as you can pick batteries from any shops and be on your way no extra to pay for chargers or batteries.

Seeing as the minimum voltage is 0.8 volts the T11 is intended to be used with single NiMH AA battery which capacity wise is great you can get cells that are 2500mah doing some tail cap readings brings these results.
Tail cap current tests. Should give you an idea of run times.

NiMH Eneloop pro tail cap current.

Low mode: 0.084

Medium mode: 0.240

High mode: 0.640

Turbo mode: 1.8 amps (2.3 watts)

14500 IMR 4.2 volts tail cap current.

Low mode: 0.084

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Medium mode: 0.200

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High mode: 0.530
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Turbo mode: 1.1 (4.6 watts)

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Seeing as Orcatorch are a diving flashlight company the T11 comes with an IPX rating of 8 which makes it waterproof to under 2 meters. It is not intended to be used as a diving light but if your snorkeling it will be fine. Also fine to get wet by rain water. The T11 has a max beam distance of 106 meters with the NiMH I am sure that distance will increase with the use of a 14500. The beam pattern is more throw heavy than wide but seeing as it uses a XPG2 that is bound to happen. It still does manage to light up a wide area its just not as floody as other lights.
The T11 is impact resistant to 1.5 meters this is a super important feature for an EDC flashlight seeing as the light will be dropped often. This also means that the head is glued but I would prefer this method. Seeing as this driver will have a transformer on it to boost up the voltage to the LED. It is important that the head is glued for extra strength. My mate the mechanic I gave him 3 Hugsby flashlights 2 of the XP-1 and 1 of the XP-2 and he has managed to break them all by dropping them. I have taken them apart and it is the transformer that comes lose when dropped. Could be a design flaw on Hugsby i am not sure.

Looks wise the T11 has a very tactical look to it. I like the way it looks It has a fairly aggressive stance with out being too over the top. It is a larger single AA flashlight but by no means over the top size wise it is still shorter then a convoy S2+ and much thinner in width. The T11 has functional cooling fins to dissipate the heat the switch is on the back of the flashlight but it is recessed inside the body of the light for protection. This means it doesn’t get switched on by accident. The switch used is a forward clicky so you can half press to change to modes. It comes with a clip already attached to the light from factory. when using the clip the light faces downwards when mounted. The clip is secure and well mounted you can rotate the clip so the light can face any direction. The clip is removable but it will be hard to get of. The tail cap has lanyard holes so that comes in handy if you like lanyard (I do). Also seeing as the tail cap is recessed you can tail stand this flashlight!

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Total length of the body is 10.5cm and the head diameter is 2.5cm and the tail cap diameter is 2.3cm. The T11 can only be opened at one place where the end of the flashlight joins with the tail cap. The batteries fits nice and tight inside the light but I would have liked to seen double springs but as this flashlight is marketed at AA NiMH not a major problem unless they make flat top NiMH? The threads came very well lubed and cut. I am glad to say the light has no shape edges for this price I would hope so! Total weight of the T11 is a tiny 55 grams with out the battery so it will be an easy to carry EDC. The anadizing is type 3 and is well finished.

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The package inclues the following.

The orchatorch T11

Sheath

Lanyard

Clip already attached

Spare O-rings

Warranty and instructions

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Overall i can not fault this light it is very well built and durable it comes as a complete package with extras Orcatorch back there products. I honestly do not find the price to high for what you are getting if you compare it to going to the shops and buying a light here it is way cheaper and a lot better built. I love my EDC the Jetbeam Jet Mk1 but this light is far Superior in build quality and durability and even output with a standard cell. I will add i would love to see a magnet added to future models of this light.

Thanks for reading!

Regards Chris

Finally video is up. I have to learn to wrap this video thing up faster!

Nice review! Thanks for your efforts for our flashlight.

Your camera auto-adjusted brightness between each mode shot, so they look nearly the same except the background and the sky change with each picture

I have the T11 as well. Great little light. I have to say I’ve been using the 14500 with no problems.

Yea mate new phone and new software. Either way i would adjust the exposure manually on my camera. Its the only way you can see the true amount of light.

This photo was taken at 2am when i was fishing on a lake. Iso is only 400 but i left the lens open for 8 seconds. Using a point and shoot camera

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I really like your reviews man. You seem to shoot from the hip when you speak, seems genuine. Only reviewer I’ve seen that reads notes on camera lol. Keep up the good work.