First medium TIR and I definitely see the draw. I’ve been waiting for these to come back into stock with the SFT40. I actually surprised how much I like the SFT40 in a light like this. It is almost a perfect hyper white without any corona and with a light like this being a CRIbaby doesn’t really matter that much. I had gotten this light with the intention of swapping it but it doesn’t really need it. I’d actually add another one if there are other emitter options or to swap it.
I hadn’t pulled the trigger on the small, 40mm TIR because the smaller batteries didn’t really fit in anywhere that the KR1 didn’t already do but with the 21700 the IF22A hit the mark. 18650 lights seem to get less and less use compared to with 14500 and 21700 lately. It either slips in a pocket comfortably or doesn’t so might as well go 21700.
The beam pattern at about 30 feet is about twice as wide as the W2.2 but with no spill. My primary use for this light is looking for critters at night, particularly skunks without bugging my neighbors, so the lack of spill is really beneficial. Low is low and probably as low as it needs to go on a thrower but not sub lumen. The light on turbo get to 125 with a non-calibrated IR thermometer. It plants firm at 125 at the head which is just uncomfortable enough to hold tightly bare handed. The body stays within a reasonable and holdable temperature.
Button action is pretty good, on par with the other raised metal buttons from Sofirn and Wurkkos but not as tight as some of the Fireflies ones.
UI, like the rest of the more recent Sofirn lights without Anduril, is great. Ramping could be a little faster but everything is easy to access and lockout seems to function.
What I would like to see changed:
UI is almost perfect. A battery check would really be useful, but with a bigger battery, it doesn’t matter s much as with lights like the SC21.
This light just screams for a tail switch. It is a spotlight that gets hot and a reverse grip is the most comfortable overall. The light works with pinky activation in a reverse grip but is not ideal.
Glowing button light outside of charging would be helpful as always.
Overall I like this light a lot, actually more than I though. It comes in at about the same price as the other similar TIR with the same head size but seems more practical for multi-day use than something like a mini Catapult. A couple of little changes could make this light just about perfect for what it is and the introduction of silver is great, maybe some other colors too.
