neilgunton
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2015
- Messages
- 1
Use case: Looking around fields near to my house for coyotes at dusk/night, so our semi-feral kitties don't get eaten. This is on the edge of suburbs and farmland, SW Albany, Oregon. Also, looking around the neighborhood, under cars etc for cats, so a good switchability between bright and dimmer modes would really be a big plus too here.
I was using a Surefire P2X Fury, 500 lumens, which is very nice. I really like Surefire. Then I noticed I was going through too many of those CR123a batteries, and the Fury doesn't take 18650 (without reaming it out, which I'm not really all that keen on trying), and I've been aware that there are much brighter lights out there now... so, I looked for 18650 lights, and found the Surefire Peacekeeper 600 lumens. I got one from Amazon, and it was very nice too. A bit brighter than the Fury. But I wasn't too keen on the fact that it went straight to high mode when you clicked it on - this wasn't optimal for looking under parked cars for my cats and around the neighborhood in general. Better, for my use case, to have it go on dim at first, and one more click to bright.
Then I started thinking about brightness, and how I couldn't see all the way across the field with the Peacekeeper. I remembered reading about the Fenix TK35 a while back, and this time quickly found the Fenix TK75. 2900 lumens, good reviews that talk about this being one of the best compromises between throw and flood, so I ordered one. It's here now, and I tried it out last night.
First impressions: It's obviously a very powerful light. Can see over to the trees on the other side of this large field no problem now. And I really like how I can stand it on the tail to be a candle light for the house in power outages. However, one or two things bug me: First, the button for cycling through the modes. When I'm walking around the 'hood, looking for cats and such, I want to be able to start with low light sometimes. So if the light was on high previously, then I have to switch it on into that mode before cycling through the modes to get to the lower setting. Sure, it's not a huge deal, but it kind of bugs me. I would like to be able to adjust the brightness prior to turning the light on, rather than having to have that quick blast and then frantic button pushing to get to the mode I want.
Also, the light is a bit bulky. Ok, so it's not the light you take when you think you might need a flashlight; no, it's the light you take when you KNOW you're gonna need a flashlight. But still, walking around at midnight looking for kitties, I found myself wanting to take the Fury instead, which surprised me. I mean, looking out over the fields, the TK75 is definitely the one that I want to have in my hand. But going around the houses and cars, the Fury is a lot more, well, usable.
Yes, I know, some will say "one flashlight can't do everything", but I'm really hoping to find one that can be "the one" that I take when going out at night to check the kitties and look for coyotes. It all tends to be done at the same time, walking out the front door, checking cars, bushes, then walking around back and checking the field for coyotes. It would be nice if it could be done all with the same light.
So then I started looking around, and found the Thrunite TN32, which seems to have a great reputation for throw, and the interface appears to be what I want - a ring which you can adjust before turning the light on, and a momentary on switch at the tailcap. Seems nice. I have ordered one from Amazon, and plan to try it out side by side with the TK75 in the field, and return whichever one doesn't make the cut. That's the ultimate way to figure this out, right? Just try them both out side by side.
In the meantime, what do you think? Are there any other lights I should be considering here? For example I keep seeing reference to someone named Vinh who does mods on a TK75 to take it to something like 4400 lumens. Is this the super light I'm after? Or a modded TN32? Or something else?
Just to recap, here are my requirements as I see them currently:
o 18650 batteries (I have a number of the Orbtronic 3400 mAh now, and a Nitecore D4 charger)
o Great throw, for spotting coyotes across the large field
o Good flood, for lighting up the field as well, so it's not just a tiny spot in the distance (I know, everything's a compromise)
o Good lower mode, for looking under cars for kitties without blinding everybody
o Good interface for quickly switching between brightness levels, ideally even when the light is off
o Momentary on, via tailcap switch
What do you think? I know the Fenix TK61 is maybe the more appropriate light to compare to the TN32, but from what I read, the TK61 isn't as impressive as the TK75 (which I already have). So I think the options might be to either get the TK75 modded to be a "super throw", or else just return it and get something like the TN32 (or whatever). I don't really want to go too much over $200 on this. And, the more I think about it, the less enamored I am with the Fenix "click button to cycle through modes, but only when the light is on" interface. I haven't tried the Thrunite interface yet, but I like the end cap momentary on, and the ring sounds like it makes sense to me. But how will it compare in terms of lighting up the field? Even non-modded, the TK75 is 2900 lumens, the TN32 is "only" 1703. But from what I have read, even so the TN32 kind of blows supposedly more powerful lights out of the water in terms of throw... but how will it actually look out in the field at night? I guess I'll find out in a few days.
Am I on the right track? Any other lights I should be considering here? I don't want this to be all over the place, I know everybody has their favorite light but I'm just hoping to stay focused on my main requirements...
Thanks for any advice!
Neil
I was using a Surefire P2X Fury, 500 lumens, which is very nice. I really like Surefire. Then I noticed I was going through too many of those CR123a batteries, and the Fury doesn't take 18650 (without reaming it out, which I'm not really all that keen on trying), and I've been aware that there are much brighter lights out there now... so, I looked for 18650 lights, and found the Surefire Peacekeeper 600 lumens. I got one from Amazon, and it was very nice too. A bit brighter than the Fury. But I wasn't too keen on the fact that it went straight to high mode when you clicked it on - this wasn't optimal for looking under parked cars for my cats and around the neighborhood in general. Better, for my use case, to have it go on dim at first, and one more click to bright.
Then I started thinking about brightness, and how I couldn't see all the way across the field with the Peacekeeper. I remembered reading about the Fenix TK35 a while back, and this time quickly found the Fenix TK75. 2900 lumens, good reviews that talk about this being one of the best compromises between throw and flood, so I ordered one. It's here now, and I tried it out last night.
First impressions: It's obviously a very powerful light. Can see over to the trees on the other side of this large field no problem now. And I really like how I can stand it on the tail to be a candle light for the house in power outages. However, one or two things bug me: First, the button for cycling through the modes. When I'm walking around the 'hood, looking for cats and such, I want to be able to start with low light sometimes. So if the light was on high previously, then I have to switch it on into that mode before cycling through the modes to get to the lower setting. Sure, it's not a huge deal, but it kind of bugs me. I would like to be able to adjust the brightness prior to turning the light on, rather than having to have that quick blast and then frantic button pushing to get to the mode I want.
Also, the light is a bit bulky. Ok, so it's not the light you take when you think you might need a flashlight; no, it's the light you take when you KNOW you're gonna need a flashlight. But still, walking around at midnight looking for kitties, I found myself wanting to take the Fury instead, which surprised me. I mean, looking out over the fields, the TK75 is definitely the one that I want to have in my hand. But going around the houses and cars, the Fury is a lot more, well, usable.
Yes, I know, some will say "one flashlight can't do everything", but I'm really hoping to find one that can be "the one" that I take when going out at night to check the kitties and look for coyotes. It all tends to be done at the same time, walking out the front door, checking cars, bushes, then walking around back and checking the field for coyotes. It would be nice if it could be done all with the same light.
So then I started looking around, and found the Thrunite TN32, which seems to have a great reputation for throw, and the interface appears to be what I want - a ring which you can adjust before turning the light on, and a momentary on switch at the tailcap. Seems nice. I have ordered one from Amazon, and plan to try it out side by side with the TK75 in the field, and return whichever one doesn't make the cut. That's the ultimate way to figure this out, right? Just try them both out side by side.
In the meantime, what do you think? Are there any other lights I should be considering here? For example I keep seeing reference to someone named Vinh who does mods on a TK75 to take it to something like 4400 lumens. Is this the super light I'm after? Or a modded TN32? Or something else?
Just to recap, here are my requirements as I see them currently:
o 18650 batteries (I have a number of the Orbtronic 3400 mAh now, and a Nitecore D4 charger)
o Great throw, for spotting coyotes across the large field
o Good flood, for lighting up the field as well, so it's not just a tiny spot in the distance (I know, everything's a compromise)
o Good lower mode, for looking under cars for kitties without blinding everybody
o Good interface for quickly switching between brightness levels, ideally even when the light is off
o Momentary on, via tailcap switch
What do you think? I know the Fenix TK61 is maybe the more appropriate light to compare to the TN32, but from what I read, the TK61 isn't as impressive as the TK75 (which I already have). So I think the options might be to either get the TK75 modded to be a "super throw", or else just return it and get something like the TN32 (or whatever). I don't really want to go too much over $200 on this. And, the more I think about it, the less enamored I am with the Fenix "click button to cycle through modes, but only when the light is on" interface. I haven't tried the Thrunite interface yet, but I like the end cap momentary on, and the ring sounds like it makes sense to me. But how will it compare in terms of lighting up the field? Even non-modded, the TK75 is 2900 lumens, the TN32 is "only" 1703. But from what I have read, even so the TN32 kind of blows supposedly more powerful lights out of the water in terms of throw... but how will it actually look out in the field at night? I guess I'll find out in a few days.
Am I on the right track? Any other lights I should be considering here? I don't want this to be all over the place, I know everybody has their favorite light but I'm just hoping to stay focused on my main requirements...
Thanks for any advice!
Neil
