If you are considering the Thrunite TN4A HI version, but are undecided...

These are just a few comments after unboxing my new Thrunite TN4A HI for those who might be thinking about ordering the TN4A HI version but don't want to lose the nice spill/flood of the regular TN4A.

I received my HI version today, and although it's still daylight and I've only been able to compare the HI version and the regular TN4A indoors here is what I can say about the beam...

They HI version hotspot is about half the size and appears brighter than that of the regular version hotspot. The spill/flood light on the HI version is the just about identical size to the regular version (maybe ever so slightly smaller in diameter) and no less bright to the eye.

The tint on the CW is much more neutral in color than the HI model which has more of what you'd expect from a cool white.

I'm anxious to compare them outdoors. While waiting for the HI to arrive I became a little afraid that the HI would give up some of the nice and useful wide spill of the regular TN4A, but now that I've compared the two I'm happy to report that the HI version does not seem to sacrifice any of the flood/spill for the added throw.

I have 3 TN4A's. The CW, the older XML2 NW and the new HI. Why do I have 3? Because they are just that damn good. You make a very valid point in that the HI has a hot spot half the size of the regular TN4A's. I personally expected this when I ordered the HI and have no problem with it. Agreed the beam diameter out of all 3 TN4A's is massive just short of a D cell Mag. When night does come you should be amazed. The stubby 4xAA 50 dollar light really does put out a flamethrowing 53k CD. I personally eyeball the HI at over 55k CD. The throw beam is very bright and cool white. The HI spill is still extremely wide and bright but it is easy to get tunnel vision as it is so easy to become transfixed on the powerful throw beam making the spill seem not as bright as the standard TN4A's.

Thrunite specifically states on their site that to get advertised run times that AA cells of no less than 2500mah must be used a lot of people miss that part. I use Eneloop Pros at 2550mah and have 3000mah Energizer Ultimate Lithiums in my HI for the hell of it. The Energizer loaded HI is indeed noticeably lighter than my other two Eneloop Pro loaded TN4A's. As for durability Ive had the TN4A's since they first came out. Thrunite did an astonishing job on quality and robustness of these lights. I am fully confident I could throw any of them 25 feet onto the ground and theyd be fine. Ive dropped my CW TN4A into 9 feet of water and it just kept cranking.

I understand that there is a NW XP-L TN4A out now. I will buy it to compare tints between the older XML2 NW I have. I predict the NW XP-L will be similar in tint but brighter as Thrunite advertises the NW XP-L as 100 lumens brighter than the old XML2. To sum up if you are on the fence about an TN4A its time to get off of it and buy one. Any one it doesnt matter they are all just that good. Just dont forget the correct batteries.

Didn't come out very well as took it on my iPhone, but here's a pic of my TN4A HI pointing at a cooling tower, 325m confirmed with laser range finder.

In fact I think it's safe to say I need to brush up on my picture taking skills

rusteh said:

In fact I think it's safe to say I need to brush up on my picture taking skills

Click to expand...

do you have low light mode?

Nice backyard you've got there...

I am color blind. It took 6 months of help from my non color blind friends to dial in my Canon to get images closest to what non color blind people see. It is not perfect but its the closest I have ever gotten. Will post some TN4A pics later tonight when it is totally dark. Luckily there is no light pollution here and the beams should show up strong.

I have 3 TN4A's. The CW, the older XML2 NW and the new HI. Why do I have 3? Because they are just that damn good. You make a very valid point in that the HI has a hot spot half the size of the regular TN4A's. I personally expected this when I ordered the HI and have no problem with it. Agreed the beam diameter out of all 3 TN4A's is massive just short of a D cell Mag. When night does come you should be amazed. The stubby 4xAA 50 dollar light really does put out a flamethrowing 53k CD. I personally eyeball the HI at over 55k CD. The throw beam is very bright and cool white. The HI spill is still extremely wide and bright but it is easy to get tunnel vision as it is so easy to become transfixed on the powerful throw beam making the spill seem not as bright as the standard TN4A's...To sum up if you are on the fence about an TN4A its time to get off of it and buy one. Any one it doesnt matter they are all just that good. Just dont forget the correct batteries.

Click to expand...

Yes, I blame you for the fact that I now own three TN4A'. I have the regular CW the updated NW, and now the HI version. Actually, I'm quite happy you helped motivate me, as I agree with you these are awesome lights, and my first update to my old incandescent MAG lights I bought back in the early 90s. Thanks for sharing your experience with the lights. I can second your opinion for any others that come surfing around here looking for a nice, economical 4 AA light. I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures.

rusteh,

Thanks for sharing the picture. I like it. Anxious to try my HI out after dark. I have a large hillside (actually a wooded valley wall, more like a cliff) that rises opposite my backyard. The regular TN4A illuminates the hillside somewhat, but I'm anxious to see how the TN4A HI improves on this.

rusteh said:

Didn't come out very well as took it on my iPhone, but here's a pic of my TN4A HI pointing at a cooling tower, 325m confirmed with laser range finder.

Click to expand...

Must be a perspective thing or that tower is freaking huge, because it looks like it is just behind the house across the street.

scs said:

Must be a perspective thing or that tower is freaking huge, because it looks like it is just behind the house across the street.

Click to expand...

cooling towers are shockingly large... when you get really close to one and look at it yr like ok thats bleeping Gigantic !!!

the big ones can be over 600 feet tall and over 300 feet wide at the top


That back yard with that tower in that spot is one awesome place for beamshots. Id be taking some epic beamshots of my super Vinh throwers of i had a yard like that.

thats a cooling tower for a nuclear reactor? Yikes! My shots tonight will be limited to boring fences and trees in my albeit large backyard. My neighbors dont take kindly to me blasting photon torpedoes at their property/houses anymore so Im kind of limited. It will be totally dark though and the beams should show up much brighter. The trick will be trying to capture the NW TN4A likely against the back of my white house. The NW out of my TN4A is pretty darn neutral and a pain to get it to come across close to what it actually looks like on film.

Coal fired power station, due to be decommissioned this year but i would't be surprised if it gets a reprieve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrybridge_power_stations. The cooling towers are around 400ft tall and whilst not the largest, i can confirm they're mesmerisingly huge from this distance. Also have a nice big park at the end of my street that's around 200x150m which should be good for some beam shots, once i get my technique down :thumbsup: I have a TM16GT winging its way as we speak, should make a nice comparison.

Why.. why did I have to come in here. My TN4A is one of my favorite lights and now it comes in a light saber version... We are so lucky that they are priced where they are. One of the best bang for the buck lights out there when it comes to quality/price/performance imho.

Wife will not be happy LOL... honey... i NEEEEEED it.

Too bad there isnt a XP-L Hi version in NW. Its the only thing missing and the one I would probably want.

freeride21a said:

Why.. why did I have to come in here. My TN4A is one of my favorite lights and now it comes in a light saber version... We are so lucky that they are priced where they are. One of the best bang for the buck lights out there when it comes to quality/price/performance imho.

Wife will not be happy LOL... honey... i NEEEEEED it.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I know the feeling. It wasn't exactly easy explaining to my wife (who already thinks I'm excessive) why a third TN4A arrived in the mail today. Fortunately through the years of our marriage, she has come to recognize a good tool when she sees one, and I was able to convince her of the utility of having 3 of these around, and I promised her that I'd allow her to use the one commissioned as the house light without me overly lecturing her on taking care of it, and not losing it. She drives a hard bargain. The problem is, I'm not sure that I was being entirely sincere...she tends to misplace and/or abuse her stuff fairly regularly. I could see her either misplacing the light or using it as a hammer in a pinch. Her usual response to me is that I need to use my stuff instead of babying it. After 20 something years, it's gotten to the point where I generally don't allow her to play with my stuff, but today she saw a weakness and exploited it.

dmattaponi said:

Yeah, I know the feeling. It wasn't exactly easy explaining to my wife (who already thinks I'm excessive) why a third TN4A arrived in the mail today. Fortunately through the years of our marriage, she has come to recognize a good tool when she sees one, and I was able to convince her of the utility of having 3 of these around, and I promised her that I'd allow her to use the one commissioned as the house light without me overly lecturing her on taking care of it, and not losing it. She drives a hard bargain. The problem is, I'm not sure that I was being entirely sincere...she tends to misplace and/or abuse her stuff fairly regularly. I could see her either misplacing the light or using it as a hammer in a pinch. Her usual response to me is that I need to use my stuff instead of babying it. After 20 something years, it's gotten to the point where I generally don't allow her to play with my stuff, but today she saw a weakness and exploited it.

Click to expand...

My spouse is the same way(terrible with her stuff). One time I bought her a $90 pair of Klipsch earbuds and she destroyed them in a year. I cringed every time I saw them in a tangled mess(ball) kicking around the house. Dont worry though, if she breaks it it is an excuse to buy another light:devil:

Tachead said:

My spouse is the same way(terrible with her stuff). One time I bought her a $90 pair of Klipsch earbuds and she destroyed them in a year. I cringed every time I saw them in a tangled mess(ball) kicking around the house. Dont worry though, if she breaks it it is an excuse to buy another light:devil:

Click to expand...

I like the way you think. She breaks it or loses it, a free ticket to buy another.

Took just a few minutes outdoors tonight to try them out (only 7 degrees, not counting the wind chill). I need to compare them more, because they both throw pretty well in the 100 yards or so I have in my back yard. I want to find a longer distance to compare them when it's a little warmer outside. Spill and flood seemed comparable between the two, but again I want to take my time and compare them more. At this point I'm not sure which I prefer more. Tentatively, I'll say that I don't think the HI version gives up much if anything in regard to it maintaining the useful wide spill beam of the regular TN4A. The TN4A HI also definitely illuminates more of a pinpoint area better than the diffuse hotspot of the regular TN4A, but tonight's rushed comparison didn't allow me to really compare the differences in throw between the two.

dmattaponi said:

Yeah, I know the feeling. It wasn't exactly easy explaining to my wife (who already thinks I'm excessive) why a third TN4A arrived in the mail today. Fortunately through the years of our marriage, she has come to recognize a good tool when she sees one, and I was able to convince her of the utility of having 3 of these around, and I promised her that I'd allow her to use the one commissioned as the house light without me overly lecturing her on taking care of it, and not losing it. She drives a hard bargain. The problem is, I'm not sure that I was being entirely sincere...she tends to misplace and/or abuse her stuff fairly regularly. I could see her either misplacing the light or using it as a hammer in a pinch. Her usual response to me is that I need to use my stuff instead of babying it. After 20 something years, it's gotten to the point where I generally don't allow her to play with my stuff, but today she saw a weakness and exploited it.

Click to expand...

LOL.. I got my wife, destroyer of things, super cheap kitchen knives... were talking the cuisinart $19US colorful pretty knives for her to destroy lol... leave my shun and henkels zwilling and others alone! She has her own lights too.. olight i3s and surefire e1b

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FLQ4EE6/?tag=cpf0b6-20

good lord it is COLD outside tonight. I still promise beamshots once it gets dark again tonight as soon as it gets dark not gonna wait around till its pitch dark and minus 3 degrees.