csshih
Flashlight Enthusiast
Note: This review is of a preproduction unit.. Final units have some changes to the body tube -- there is knurling on both tubes, and,
as MattK says: Final production units are 3 levels + strobe and ~7% brighter.
Please note: because of a new FTC regulation which came to my attention from this post, I shall place emphasis that ThruNite(the manufacturer) provided this light for review. I always state where the light comes from in all my reviews, but to prevent any potential trouble, I will make it more prominent. They have not sent any other compensation other than allowing me to keep the test sample for future comparisons.
Conflict of interest? I try to provide reviews that are as accurate as possible, but, the review portion will obviously have to be my own personal opinions and observations. Everyone's opinions are different. Because of this, I will stand by the cliche, "A picture is worth a thousand words," I try to provide good pictures to show most aspects of the light, but I occasionally slip and either provide a slightly blurry picture, or forget to include something. I will try to retake(or take) any picture upon request. I will, if noticed, state all flaws I find with the light. Sometimes, though, things are overlooked. I apologize in advance if anything like that happens, do not hesitate to point out my errors and I will try to fix them as soon as possible.
Now, back to my traditional style of reviewing:
Hi Everyone,
Up for review is ThruNite's latest offering, the ThruNite Catapult. This light is meant to do what other lights using the Cree MC-E and SSC P7 can not.
Here are some specs from ThruNite:
A bit of background:
Thrunite is still a relatively new brand. Their first light was a small affordable titanium light that ran off of button cells. You can see their post here. They then introduced the Catapult in this thread here. Further soon after, the lights availability was announced in the thread here.
This light was provided by ThruNite themselves. This light will be on available in stores soon, I believe it will be available on BatteryJunction.com.
it is now also available at flashlightconnection: http://flashlightconnection.com/ThruNite-Flashlights/ThruNite-Catapult-p229.html
Onwards!
A decent paper box, held closed by a magnetic flap.
Contents include: Light, Extension tube, Lanyard, Warranty card, Manual(not pictured. oops), and 2 extra orings.
1x18650 format (note: AW 2600mAh cells work fine in this light as there are springs at the end. AW cells are considerd top notch in the flashlight community, so I recommend those)
2x18650 format NOTE: I assembled the tube wrong. The knurled side should be touching the head, not the smooth side.
You can see the slight tinge of purple from the coating
NOTE: I assembled the tube wrong. The knurled side should be touching the head, not the smooth side.
and with a light shining on it at the right angle.
Head of the light disassembled: The Bezel ring is removeable.. I tihnk it would be very beneficial if ThruNite could manufacture a stainless steel bezel right to help protect the light more.
The core of the light: the LED.
Comparisons:
The Catapult is the light with the thickest walls in this lineup. The reflector is also the deepest.
White Wall Shots:
I suggest the user stay with the Smooth reflector as it still throws with an almost perfect beam. the OP reflector makes the beam better, but the difference isn't worth the drop in output.
Outdoor Beamshots:
ThruNite Catapult 2x18650
shots are done with the SMO reflector installed.
Compare these with other ones in this thread
High output comparison:
ThruNite Catapult, Tiablo ACE-G
SolarforceL950m, MG RX-1
Eagletac M2XC4 CW, Epsilon ED-P72
Barbolight T-15, Solarforce Masterpiece
Impressions
What struck me the moment I picked up this light was how sturdy it felt. This light feels like it can take a beating, perhaps akin to the Fenix Tk11 which is well known for its robustness? here is a picture of how thick the battery tube is:
This is Thrunite's second attempt at getting their brand into the flashlight industry's mainstream, and I'll have to say,in my opinion, they did quite a bit better the second time around. ( I thought the ThruNite TiKey wasn't as good as it could have been ). Thrunite has put allot more attention to the small details this time around, and their efforts have been rewarding to the consumer.
The core of this flashlight is one of the newest cutting edge "Luminus SST-50" LEDs. This is a LED with the potential of outputting 1250 lumens, but Thrunite has kept the output @ a 900 (emitter?) lumens for a longer and cooler running light. The reason this is different from, say, a Cree MC-E which can output roughly the same amount of light, is that it uses a solid chip compared to the 4 chips of the MC-E. How is this different? Well, there is spacing between the MC-E's 4 chips, and this would result in what we call a "donut hole" in the beam if a deep reflector (needed for a thrower) was used. The SST-50 has no problem being a thrower as it does not have the die gap problem. Most, if not all of the throwers currently on the market are using the Cree XR-E or XP-E because it is a single die LED and relatively easy to focus, but, the maximum output is roughly 300 lumens. The SST-50 changes all of that. I hope to see many other manufacturers implementing this new LED. ThruNite is the first company to use this LED in a mass produced, affordable light. ( the previous manufacturer to use a SST-50 would be Olight in their limited release titanium light)
Onto the light itself. again. At first glance, the light catches your eye with the multicoated window, not unlike what Jetbeams lights have. This deep hue of purple at just the right angle is interesting, personally, I think it looks cool. Technically, this is supposed to help with light transmission. A win win, it seems? As for grip on the light, I think that without the battery tube, the light would be a bit slippery to grasp, and you would be too likely to drop the light. The Threads on the battery tubes are anodized, which allows for lockout to prevent accidental activation.
Dimming -- I cannot detect any traces of PWM -- I belive this light to be current based regulation. :thumbsup:
the UI, to me, is simple to use. Although, instead of the smooth ramping as I am used to when setting the low mode, the light jumps in brightness until you decide it is at the correct level. The lowest low is a very nice low one. kudos to ThruNite!
There actually is a slight "clover"(as Mev observed) in the beam.. I estimate it to be 1/15 of the hotspot by area.
The ThruNite Catapult is the first high output light to be a thrower, and have a very good beam. This light sets the foundation for throwers to come.
In my honest opinion, This is a great light. Please, do not hesitate to comment if you think otherwise, questions are encouraged as I might have missed some points.
Thank you for reading.
Accidental drop test: While taking the outdoor beamshots, the light happened to roll off the tripod, plummeting 3.5 feet to the concrete tiles below with a sickening thud. Result: The light changed modes, a few light scratches. Passed with flying colors.
as of 10/10/09, the Thrunite Catapult retails for 149$
as MattK says: Final production units are 3 levels + strobe and ~7% brighter.
Please note: because of a new FTC regulation which came to my attention from this post, I shall place emphasis that ThruNite(the manufacturer) provided this light for review. I always state where the light comes from in all my reviews, but to prevent any potential trouble, I will make it more prominent. They have not sent any other compensation other than allowing me to keep the test sample for future comparisons.
Conflict of interest? I try to provide reviews that are as accurate as possible, but, the review portion will obviously have to be my own personal opinions and observations. Everyone's opinions are different. Because of this, I will stand by the cliche, "A picture is worth a thousand words," I try to provide good pictures to show most aspects of the light, but I occasionally slip and either provide a slightly blurry picture, or forget to include something. I will try to retake(or take) any picture upon request. I will, if noticed, state all flaws I find with the light. Sometimes, though, things are overlooked. I apologize in advance if anything like that happens, do not hesitate to point out my errors and I will try to fix them as soon as possible.
Now, back to my traditional style of reviewing:
Hi Everyone,
Up for review is ThruNite's latest offering, the ThruNite Catapult. This light is meant to do what other lights using the Cree MC-E and SSC P7 can not.
Here are some specs from ThruNite:
- Luminus SST-50 of the highest flux bin
- 900 Lumens on high
- 2 Mode Groups: standard and tactical (standard: High + user set brightness) (tactical: High + strobe), Forward clicky
- Super-low = 20mA; High = 2.8A
- Reverse polarity protection
- Type III hard anodized 7075AL for durability and wear resistance
- Length: 185mm; Head diameter: 58mm; Body diameter: 31mm; Weight: 390g. (Extended tube excluded)
- 2*CR123A / 2*RCR123A / 2 x 16340 / 1x 18650 / 1 x 17670. 2*18650 2*17670
- Anti-shatter ultra clear lens with double-sided multilayer AR coating
- Overdischarge protection
A bit of background:
Thrunite is still a relatively new brand. Their first light was a small affordable titanium light that ran off of button cells. You can see their post here. They then introduced the Catapult in this thread here. Further soon after, the lights availability was announced in the thread here.
This light was provided by ThruNite themselves. This light will be on available in stores soon, I believe it will be available on BatteryJunction.com.
it is now also available at flashlightconnection: http://flashlightconnection.com/ThruNite-Flashlights/ThruNite-Catapult-p229.html
Onwards!
A decent paper box, held closed by a magnetic flap.
Contents include: Light, Extension tube, Lanyard, Warranty card, Manual(not pictured. oops), and 2 extra orings.
1x18650 format (note: AW 2600mAh cells work fine in this light as there are springs at the end. AW cells are considerd top notch in the flashlight community, so I recommend those)
2x18650 format NOTE: I assembled the tube wrong. The knurled side should be touching the head, not the smooth side.
You can see the slight tinge of purple from the coating
NOTE: I assembled the tube wrong. The knurled side should be touching the head, not the smooth side.
and with a light shining on it at the right angle.
Head of the light disassembled: The Bezel ring is removeable.. I tihnk it would be very beneficial if ThruNite could manufacture a stainless steel bezel right to help protect the light more.
The core of the light: the LED.
Comparisons:
The Catapult is the light with the thickest walls in this lineup. The reflector is also the deepest.
White Wall Shots:
I suggest the user stay with the Smooth reflector as it still throws with an almost perfect beam. the OP reflector makes the beam better, but the difference isn't worth the drop in output.
Outdoor Beamshots:
ThruNite Catapult 2x18650
shots are done with the SMO reflector installed.
Compare these with other ones in this thread
High output comparison:
ThruNite Catapult, Tiablo ACE-G
SolarforceL950m, MG RX-1
Eagletac M2XC4 CW, Epsilon ED-P72
Barbolight T-15, Solarforce Masterpiece
Impressions
What struck me the moment I picked up this light was how sturdy it felt. This light feels like it can take a beating, perhaps akin to the Fenix Tk11 which is well known for its robustness? here is a picture of how thick the battery tube is:
This is Thrunite's second attempt at getting their brand into the flashlight industry's mainstream, and I'll have to say,in my opinion, they did quite a bit better the second time around. ( I thought the ThruNite TiKey wasn't as good as it could have been ). Thrunite has put allot more attention to the small details this time around, and their efforts have been rewarding to the consumer.
The core of this flashlight is one of the newest cutting edge "Luminus SST-50" LEDs. This is a LED with the potential of outputting 1250 lumens, but Thrunite has kept the output @ a 900 (emitter?) lumens for a longer and cooler running light. The reason this is different from, say, a Cree MC-E which can output roughly the same amount of light, is that it uses a solid chip compared to the 4 chips of the MC-E. How is this different? Well, there is spacing between the MC-E's 4 chips, and this would result in what we call a "donut hole" in the beam if a deep reflector (needed for a thrower) was used. The SST-50 has no problem being a thrower as it does not have the die gap problem. Most, if not all of the throwers currently on the market are using the Cree XR-E or XP-E because it is a single die LED and relatively easy to focus, but, the maximum output is roughly 300 lumens. The SST-50 changes all of that. I hope to see many other manufacturers implementing this new LED. ThruNite is the first company to use this LED in a mass produced, affordable light. ( the previous manufacturer to use a SST-50 would be Olight in their limited release titanium light)
Onto the light itself. again. At first glance, the light catches your eye with the multicoated window, not unlike what Jetbeams lights have. This deep hue of purple at just the right angle is interesting, personally, I think it looks cool. Technically, this is supposed to help with light transmission. A win win, it seems? As for grip on the light, I think that without the battery tube, the light would be a bit slippery to grasp, and you would be too likely to drop the light. The Threads on the battery tubes are anodized, which allows for lockout to prevent accidental activation.
Dimming -- I cannot detect any traces of PWM -- I belive this light to be current based regulation. :thumbsup:
the UI, to me, is simple to use. Although, instead of the smooth ramping as I am used to when setting the low mode, the light jumps in brightness until you decide it is at the correct level. The lowest low is a very nice low one. kudos to ThruNite!
There actually is a slight "clover"(as Mev observed) in the beam.. I estimate it to be 1/15 of the hotspot by area.
The ThruNite Catapult is the first high output light to be a thrower, and have a very good beam. This light sets the foundation for throwers to come.
In my honest opinion, This is a great light. Please, do not hesitate to comment if you think otherwise, questions are encouraged as I might have missed some points.
Thank you for reading.
Accidental drop test: While taking the outdoor beamshots, the light happened to roll off the tripod, plummeting 3.5 feet to the concrete tiles below with a sickening thud. Result: The light changed modes, a few light scratches. Passed with flying colors.
as of 10/10/09, the Thrunite Catapult retails for 149$
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