I normally don’t do flashlight reviews. I was contacted to review this flashlight and I was intrigued and decided to give it a go as I don’t own but one mini flashlight, the Tank 007. This is the Thorfire PF01S.
The flashlight arrived in a small cardboard box. The first thing I noticed is the label says PF10S but the flashlight in the picture says PF01S. This is minor but Thorfire should pay attention to details. Inside the box was the flashlight, brief (very brief) manual, and a couple extra O-rings. The O-rings was a nice touch and was unexpected in a budget light.
I don’t have all specifications on this light. Thorfire lists:
XP-G2
1x AAA battery
98mm length
15mm width
31 gram without battery
3 modes (moonlight, low, high)
The previous PF01 was rated at 100 lumen. I’d suspect this one is between 100-120 lumen. I don’t know the lumen output as Thorfire didn’t include it, nor did I measure it. To me it really doesn’t matter as lthis is a mini light and I’m not trying to shine 100 yards with it. It is small and heatsinking will be poor anyway so i doubt that it will be modified even if it could be modified, so the buyer is essentially stuck with what they get. Since we are on this subject of light output, I like having a moonlight, low, and high modes. However, I quite frankly do not like the modes outputs. The moonlight is below moonlight level and barely visible in a dark room. The low is more like a medium and it’s output is too close to the high mode’s output. It is from one extreme to another. This flashlight has an orange peel reflector and the beam pattern is round and smooth.
Pictures of the light below. Thorfire did a good job anodizing this light. It comes with a pocket clip. After reading reviews of the PF01, a complaint was that the clip was weak. Thorfire must have upgraded it as the clip on the light I received seems to be quite strong and is very useable.
I tried but was unable to get the head off the light. I read a review of the PF01 and I don’t believe I can remove the head without severely gouging the body. I attached a disassembled schematic of the old PF01 from Amazon.
There are square threads on the tail cap, but unfortunately this light left the factory with no lube on the threads. I did not remove the switch as it looks rather cheap and I was worried about breaking it. The switch does provide on/off and momentary on. I don’t know why Thorfire chose to leave the switch button so proud. If this was in somebody’s pocket, it could easily be turned on accidentally.
I am a nurse in an emergency department and I have been carrying this light around for a few weeks now. I have used it multiple times and I almost like it. It fits in the pen slot of my scrub top nicely and it isn’t too heavy to make it noticeable. It is a good bit longer than my old Tank 007, but it isn’t noticeable carrying it in my shirt pocket. I would not put this in my pants pocket due to the exposed switch button and the ease of turning it on and draining the battery.
One of the primary reasons for me to use a flashlight at work is the ease of checking the pupils in the eyes of patients. This light is either too dim (moonlight) or way too bright (low and high) to do this. It is very good to use checking somebody’s throat or tonsils. It has been dropped, ect and hasn’t missed a beat. It is bigger than my Tank 007, but I don’t love my Tank either as I dont like the twist on feature of the tank.
In conclusion, this light is mediocre. I does nothing special. It doesn’t appear it can be easily modified. The mode outputs are off. I really wish they would redesign the tail cap so that the switch doesnt stick out out. If they changed the tail cap design to surround the switch and increased the moonlight and decreased the low modes, Thorfire could have a winner.