I received a free sample of a Thorfire Tk05 for review pictured in the middle. It uses AA or 14500 batteries. The LED is an XPG3.
For someone interested in a budget priced AA/14500 light, the Thorfire TK05 is a good option.
20% OFF promo code for TK05: L4SPZS6H
TK05: Amazon.com
The ad on Amazon has additional pictures
It says: ”Color temperature is neutral white: 5350-5700K.”
The light on the left has been modified to 4000k Nichia 219b, the Thorfire is in the middle, the light on the right is a stock Fenix E01. Here are their beam colors
Here is the weight in grams, empty
I took extreme closeups to try and detect PWM or Constant Current. Here is the lowest mode:
And the medium mode
And high mode
My interpretation of those led closeups is that the light uses Constant Current. The frequency is too fast to show dots when I wave the light, and there is NoPWM.
For reference, here is my Oight S Mini on moonlight. Its constant current on moonlight is about 1500 hz, and I can see dots when I wave the light. The Thorfire is much faster.
I used my home-brew integrated light meter to get some idea of the relative brightness of the 3 modes The results closely match the lumen specs of 5-70-240 LMH on AA. I include the Fenix for reference. Thorfire was tested with a freshly charged Eneloop, I have no 14500 cells.
~6 lumens low:
~70 lumens medium:
~ 248 lumens high (the scale changed, ignore the decimal)
the Fenix has an Ultimate Lithium that has seen some use.
The Fenix, whose spec is 13 lumens, measured ~12 lumens
The Thorfire has mode memory and turns on the last used mode, by a single click. Subsequent single clicks advance the mode to the next higher mode. To turn off the light, use a long press.
The clip can be rotated to a preferred position, so the switch is not necessarily opposite the clip. The light can be locked out by slightly unscrewing the tail, or head. The sideswitch does not protrude, I was not able to cause the light to turn on by pressing the switch against a table, so I do not think accidental activation is very likely in pocket.
Strobe is available with a double click, both when the light is on, or off. I find strobe useful for signaling traffic when I cross the street. The beam of the ThorFire Tk05 is a useful combination of hotspot and spill. I like the deep reflector with slight orange peel. The LED is perfectly centered, and the threads when removing the tailcap to install a battery operate smoothly.
With the pocket clip removed the light can roll, but there are a couple flat spots that will stop it if set down without pushing it.
The anodizing looks very nice and black, and the crenelations on the bezel allow the light to stand bezel down and show a little bit of light. The light also tail stands securely.
I find the size and weight comfortable in hand