Having been vocal in my approbation of a few ThorFire products around the place, ThorFire contacted me to ask if I would like to review the S70S in anticipation of its entry into the Australian market. That is, available from Amazon AU as opposed to offshore vendors. Interesting choice as I’m new to this place and this is my 1st review but I wanted to give it a red hot crack as local politicians have been fond of putting it lately. No further inducements from Thorfire apart from supplying the review sample. Fair to say I’ve gone a little bit overboard with pics and not enough technical depth but I figure that’s been done before with the ThorFire S70S well established in the market. It’s all good and well for those more knowledgeable to discuss the intricacies of swapping out various drivers and emitters – for a n00b like me a picture speaks a thousand words.
Early on I learned there are two basic types of lights – flooders and throwers. More recently I’ve read of a third kind, a blend of the two – A Wall of Light. The ThorFire S70S puts out a wall of light. The combination of XHP70 emitter and close to 3inch wide orange peal reflector results in a wide beam of useful light that penetrates into the distance. A decent 26650 will give great runtime in this light, the Keeppower 26650 6000mAh are highly recommended. I get these from an Australian (Sydney based) ebay seller who also stocks a wide range of 18650, some 18350/14500 and more.
The features straight from ThorFire website:
Features:
Brightness: 1 - 3960Lm
Power Source: 2x 18650 Batteries or 2x 26650 Batteries (Neither Included)
6 Modes: Low-Mid-High-Turbo-Strobe-Moonlight
IPX8 Waterproof & Shockproof
Hard anodized aircraft graded Aluminum Alloy Casing
Product Weight: 590g (Exclude the battery)
Size: approx 245mm (Length) * 35mm(Body Diameter) *74mm(Head Diameter).
Maximum Runtime of 72 Hours at Low Output; runs on Medium for 18 Hours, on High for 3.75 Hours and on Moonlight for 480 Hours.
The tail switch locks out the battery, the mode switch on the side does everything else. Moonlight is hidden - medium press from OFF. Low to Turbo is cycled with medium press. The modes are nicely spaced from low to high but visually doesn’t seem like a big jump from high to turbo. Double click to strobe.
Box
The box was sent from Amazon AU
Accessories
The accessories supplied go beyond just o-rings. Spare tail switch caps & lens, 18650 adapters and split rings to attach supplied shoulder strap to a hole just above the mode switch and next to the tail switch.
Balance of the light is around the mode switch and the body fits nicely in the hand. The head has very distinctive heatsinking fins all around with some more either side of the mode switch. The body has a light ribbed pattern. Nice thick thread but were a bit dry on delivery, soon fixed.
Interestingly this unit came with a Tail Cap Spring Bypass. Haven’t seen that in other reviews.
I purchased Keeppower 26650 6000mAh before I received the light and was a bit worried the cells wouldn’t fit. There is such a small gap that the cells drop in very slowly – not much room for the air to evacuate between the battery and the tube.
Went down to a local park, narrow but long around 110m to the house at the far end. The trees on either side give you a good indication of the spill. Threw in a shot with BLF A6 and BLF Q8 for reference.
Park Low Medium High
Turbo
A6
BLF Q8
It’s bin night. Pretty poor streetlighting, only two along the whole length, a lot blocked by trees. It’s 185 meters to the house at the end. Lucky folks get a torch beam in their front room window on a regular basis. RT70 to compare.
Street
Low Medium High
Turbo
RT70
Another local park. Massive spill and good throw.
The kids local footy ground. 180m to the goals at the other end.
175m to the scoreboard
Last shot with my faithful assistant eager to get back indoors.
If you made it this far, thank you for reading. I’m very happy with the ThorFire S70S. Great for outdoor activities. Though mine are currently limited to walking the dog I can see myself attaching the shoulder strap for the next camping trip. There isn’t much to compare in bang for buck, currently AUD$80 plus postage on Amazon AU with 30% coupon under Special offers in the Amazon listing bringing it down to $59 though not sure when this coupon expires.I think ThorFire should be applauded from bringing stock to Amazon AU, not a lot of other manufacturers have done so. Hopefully they’ll start stocking batteries soon too 