Hello and welcome to my first flashlight review here. I’d like to thank Miranda at ThorfFire for providing me with a TK18 for this review.
I really like this light. There’s the story as to why. Opening the light brown cardboard box, I found the TK18 well protected by a cover of bubble wrap. As other reviewers have mentioned, it would be good to have found a lanyard and/or holster included. The TK18 is available alone, or as a kit with a ThorFire branded battery and a single cell charger. While not a big thing for me, if the kit was the only light or one of only a couple of lights someone bought, a lanyard and holster would be a nice bonus.( I suspect that right here most of you are thinking, “Dude, what are you saying”! “Who on earth would only want to buy one flashlight”? I know, I know …but please bear with me and try to read on. )
IMO the TK18 is a great looking light. The knurling on the body of the TK18 is offset rows of good sized diamond shapes with a generous gutter between each row. The finish is well done here giving a secure grip that works well when wet or dry. I ran a while holding the light and with a tight grip on it, the knurling felt good. The tail cap also has a nice looking design. There are six flat surfaces and six convex surfaces that round out the cap. Its easy to get a good grip when outdoors in any weather. The head of the light is a barrel of fins and 4 concave grooves that run across them. The side switch sits on a flat platform running across the fins as well. Running your thumb of forefinger around the fins, all is well. Running a finger over the edges of the fins where they meet the grooves that flank the switch revealed some edges that were a little too sharp for comfort. This was a surprise as I found the rest of the light so well finished.
The TK18 comes with a good clip that I popped on and off the light multiple times and rotated around the light plenty. The clip keeps a great grip on the light and I saw no sign of any scratching.
The TK18 does a stable tail stand and is slotted to attach a small clip or thread a lanyard. The tail switch turns the light on and off and the side switch lets you change modes or use the ramping mode. The rubber cover on the tail switch feels sturdy enough, though only time will tell how well it holds up. The side switch cap is raised enough to be easy to find by feel. In addition, when you turn the light on, the side switch lights up. There’s no mistaking where the switch is. This is more than just a convenient way of letting you know where to put your thumb or forefinger. The side switch will change color from green, to orange, to flashing red as ThorFire’s battery indicator system. I think that’s a great feature as it provides clear, visual, user-friendly feedback as to the state of your battery. The TK18 will shut off as your battery drops below 2.8v. The light works on a series of modes, L, M, H, Turbo, or in a ramping mode with a gradual sweep from low to max and back down again. I like that there’s a choice of discrete modes or ramping. In the TK18, I wish ThorFire would consider one additional step between 3lumens and 100, and one between 100 lumens and 500.
I found myself using the ramping rather than the discrete steps and really enjoyed it as the ability to add and subtract small increments light when in dark places is a personal preference. I also like to have a lot of light on tap should I need that. I find the TK18 does a great job in that regard.
The continuity of the light’s output while ramping is interesting. The ratio of time to increasing brightness isn’t exactly 1:1. It starts out that way, smoothly increasing. But as you continue to hold down the switch the increasing light output slows down. It seems to plateau for a second then repeats the same arc as it moves to maximum output. I don’t have a way to measure what’s happening there so am describing as best I can what I’m seeing. I don’t take this to be a problem or a downside to the light, it just seems to be one of the TK18’s characteristics. I ran the light through its paces with a couple of different batteries just to eliminate what I thought might be one potential variable …two were fully charged, and two less so. Didn’t see any difference in the light’s behavior as per the ramping.
I take the TK18 to be a pretty durable light. I put it in my back pocket and as I reached for it, let it fall onto my brick patio. No chips to the finish and the light came on and did everything it should. Next, I tumbled and rolled it down the six concrete steps in front of my house. Nothing more than a couple of very tiny nicks on the tail cap and bezel. I then turned the light on and it was all systems go. I didn’t submerge the TK18 in water, but have handheld it walking for about an hour in a pretty steady light rain. Next, I clipped it to a small bungee cord on a dry bag and floated around with it in a nearby lake. The light got splashed plenty but was fine. I got really cold.
It was in the water that I really appreciated the TK18’s mix of throw and flood. In the water with my head at the same level as the light I had a good view of what was in front of me in a field that was wide enough to be useful and would really improve overall visibility in true darkness.
Stationary against a white wall the tint is a little yellowish in the generous center and the corona tapers outward in a smooth transition to a very slight blue. Moving around outdoors I didn’t really notice that at all. There are no artifacts, rings, etc. The OP reflector seems to do a good job.
All-in-all I think ThorFire has produced a great light in the TK18 and you can find the kit with a battery and charger at a price point that represents a pretty good value.
Well, that’s my review of the Thorfire TK18. I hope it provides some value.
By my watch it looks like it’s time for happy hour, so I’m turning off the laptop and heading out’a here. Thanks, and Be Well.
Leftwing
