The Wurkkos WK40 is the newest addition to the brand, following in the footsteps of the WK30. The original WK30 had 3 emitters: white, red, and ultraviolet (UV). The WK40 has 4 emitters: white, red, green, and blue. So the WK40 covers pretty much the visible spectrum based on one’s needs.
The light came in the typische orange and white Wurkkos box, chock full of goodies! There was of course the light itself, pre-stuffed with a 5000mAH 21700 cell and insulator. The cell clocked in favorably at about 4800mAH on my Opus 3100. Included is a big honkin’ diffuser, a USB charging cable, a printed manual, and a shorty tube so that you can use a 20350 cell! I can use it with an 18350 just fine, no spacer needed. So that makes it even more portable.
FIrst impression is good as always. Anodisation is flawless, the usual semigloss black with no dings or chips anywhere to be seen. There’s a quad TIR lens arrangement for the 4 emitters, and it’s protected by a real glass in front of it. No scratching the lenses underneath. The tailcap has a nice “tactful” rear on/off switch, reverse-clicky for mode-changes, and a beautiful all-around rim around the switch! No silly “thumb cutouts” anywhere, so this light tailstands beautifully! Definitely a “Thank you, Jesus!” moment when I saw that! There’s no knurling anywhere, just a tapered-hourglass profile of the battery tube, with wider head and tailcap for grip. The magnetic-ring which sets the brightness levels (4) is flush with the head, and the ring is segmented so that you can feel where it is and twist it easily. It’s not scratchy, /per se/, but I’d prefer a bit more goop (Nyogel, YEZL, etc.) to make it more “viscous” when twisting.
Overall feel is great. It’s a heavy light, quite solid, and while I wouldn’t use it as a “glass broker” or “brick smaher” (look it up :laughing: ), it’s definitely got some heft to it that can be used to good advantage if needed. Holding it in the hand, to me, goes beyond feeling good; it feels perfect. Maybe it’s that hourglass taper, but holding it gives an incredibly balanced feel with nothing silly (side-switch, charging port, bumps or flats, etc.) getting in the way. And with the wider head and tail, it naturally self-centers in the hand. And it makes no difference if you hold the light “sword” or “icepick” style, as it works out both ways.
There’s a charging port which I haven’t used yet, as the cell ended up charged after testing its capacity, so I’ll take it on faith so far that it works as it should. The port is recessed into the light and covered with a pretty thick though narrow rubber flap. The indicator light next to it doubles as a charging/done indicator, but also shows battery level for 5sec on turning on the light. Green for good, red for low, blinking red for “charge me now!!!”.
Operation is simple. Click the rear switch for on/off, select 1 of 4 brightness levels via the magnetic ring around the head. There are 3… groups?… of light settings. There’s white mode, multicolor mode, and blinky mode. You cycle through each group by 3clicking when on.
White mode would seem to be the most used mode, but not to me. There’s constant white light, and 2clicking selects strobe, and you can click back to constant. Meh. Multicolor mode to me is most useful. No blinkies, just on/off. When on, a half-press cycles through the 4 colors (r/g/b/w).
About the colors… The white emitter is a nice creamy color on full blast which takes on the slightest hint of green at the lowest levels, which I really have to strain to see, so I don’t find it objectionable at all. Even the highly regarded LH351 had that greenish tinge on its lowest settings, and I never minded it, so this shouldn’t be a problem at all. Red, green, and blue are monochromatic from what I can tell; none of the emitters seems phosphor-converted.
White, of course, would be used for general illumination. Red would be for preserving night-vision and/or not attracting bugs when outdoors. Green could be used for hunting, if you want “brighter” light yet not spook critters. Blue, well, I’m not sure what blue might be used for, but it does cause some items to fluoresce without the need for UV light.
Blinky mode has alternating flashes of r/g/b and r/g/b/w in 1 or 2 flashes per color. Infinite gradient slowly fades through each color. That’s one good way to use the diffuser and tailstand capability, by having multicolor “flashes” in a party setting. :laughing:
My own personal druthers would be to ditch white mode altogether and default to multicolor mode. Blinkies might be useful if someone wants them, but ask 10 people what blinky modes they might want, and you’ll get 37 different answers.
All in all, even with just multicolor mode, the WK40 has become my new go-to light for putzing around the house. I even keep it set to red and in its lowest setting so I can skulk through the house at night without ruining my night-vision or jarring myself awake, when I go to see what mischief my cats are doing when I hear them “exploring”. And using the diffuser cap and cranking it to full, bathing the entire room in eerie red light, gives a fun demonic feel to the room. :laughing: Or switch to green and pretend The Borg are coming.
Also, this could make a great Granny Light. The simplicity of on/off with the rear switch, and incredibly intuitive “volume control” of the magnetic ring for brightness could make it a great gift for someone who has issues with “double-clicking” or poking out flashlight modes in Morse Code on the tailcap just to turn the brightness up/down, etc.
It’s definitely a fun light, as well as being quite useful. The great feel, the colors, the simplicity of the intuitive controls, makes this a winner in my book.
