Help me understand the popularity of the TS10

[vicv]

Good morning. Not here to ruffle feathers, but I'm genuinely curious why everyone is obsessed with this thing.
It's a great looking light, I'll give it that. But that's about it.
I don't like multiple emitters. It just makes a floody mess. And with the performance issues of this light, it needs the lumens it doesn't have. With flood, the light is washed out without a lot of it.
But the big issue is the aforementioned performance. Sure, 1400 lumens sounds great on paper. Until you see that by 30 seconds after turn on, it's down to 130 lumens. 130! Actually this light can't sustain more than 50 lumens after 10 minutes in any mode. That's terrible. I've never seen any light perform as bad as this one. The convoy T3 has better sustained brightness on nimh.
Oh and the light can't take nimh. The only reason to choose 14500 over 16340. The extra thinness is barely noticeable.
Anduril isn't for me but that's more of a personal thing. It doesn't make the light perform worse like everything else

 

[kerneldrop]

different strokes for different folks. Nothing more nothing less

 

[vicv]

different strokes for different folks. Nothing more nothing less

I get that each person likes different things. But I'm just trying to figure out the absolute obsession with this thing. I could understand if it was a good flashlight . But it's one of the worst I've ever seen. I honestly cannot think of a single 14 500 flashlight that is worse than this. I don't even know what the current draw is on, but I don't imagine a 14 500 is going to last very long. 6 to 8 a maybe? That's a lot on an 18 650. But looking at their specs, it does not require a high drain cell. Good chance of having a vent with flame going 8C

 

[desert.snake]

It's like spinners, they will pass, Malkoff, HDS, Convoy and others will remain. In any case, their existence is useful for expanding the understanding of the limits of what engineers can do, something will be taken for more conservative lanterns

 

[scout24]

Great low and moonlight modes, which is where the triple emitter flood bias shines, no pun intended. Good form factor. A tail switch I can find instead of a side button. Always on locators. Cheap as chips, as our across-the-pond brethren say. And in something this small, a whole bunch of light, even for a short period, is a welcome bonus given how compact it is. Nobody carries a watch pocket light as a tactical, long runtime, door kicking, zombie apocalypse light. It's handy, well thought out, and 14500's are great for this application. I know of one member here who has owned many, many custom and high end lights who now primarily carries one of these and has multiple backups.

 

[raggie33]

i have 3 and have 3 more coming lol there cheap bright and fun

 

[vicv]

Great low and moonlight modes, which is where the triple emitter flood bias shines, no pun intended. Good form factor. A tail switch I can find instead of a side button. Always on locators. Cheap as chips, as our across-the-pond brethren say. And in something this small, a whole bunch of light, even for a short period, is a welcome bonus given how compact it is. Nobody carries a watch pocket light as a tactical, long runtime, door kicking, zombie apocalypse light. It's handy, well thought out, and 14500's are great for this application. I know of one member here who has owned many, many custom and high end lights who now primarily carries one of these and has multiple backups.

I'm not tactical guy. I generally use under 100 lm when I'm using a light but I expect it to be able to sustain that brightness. I would consider this light to be 50 lm and below. Which is fine if it took regular AA.

 

[vicv]

i have 3 and have 3 more coming lol there cheap bright and fun

There are a lot of lights that are cheap, bright, and fun. That vastly out perform this.

 

[vicv]

Great low and moonlight modes, which is where the triple emitter flood bias shines, no pun intended. Good form factor. A tail switch I can find instead of a side button. Always on locators. Cheap as chips, as our across-the-pond brethren say. And in something this small, a whole bunch of light, even for a short period, is a welcome bonus given how compact it is. Nobody carries a watch pocket light as a tactical, long runtime, door kicking, zombie apocalypse light. It's handy, well thought out, and 14500's are great for this application. I know of one member here who has owned many, many custom and high end lights who now primarily carries one of these and has multiple backups.

Your first sentence about the flooding. Nature is good for low modes. That is an interesting take. I've always thought the exact opposite. The more CD you have, the lower brightness still works. When the light gets very flooded, you need more light.

 

[raggie33]

There are a lot of lights that are cheap, bright, and fun. That vastly out perform this.

but do they have color leds they relax me so pretty

 

[vicv]

but do they have color leds they relax me so pretty

I have absolutely no argument against that

 

[raggie33]

i have a new one coming its titanium and it has rgb im hoping it can do rainbow .ill find out in like 3 weeks

 

[raggie33]

and as a small human i like small things lol id guess im the shortest male on this forum lol

 

[3_gun]

Another great vote here. I use floody lights ALOT more than throwers. The UI is made to order, I've turned turbo off, set max ramp to about 500L'ish, lowest ramp about 10L, made it 4 steps, use manual "on" set around 60L & it has a high CRI. Still have the shortcuts from off + 3rd party testing has it holding over 100L for 90min. I usually carry it clipped to a button hole on my shirt behind my tie [if I'm wearing one] & on sale it can be had for <$15 w/battery. Solid little EDC light

 

[vicv]

Another great vote here. I use floody lights ALOT more than throwers. The UI is made to order, I've turned turbo off, set max ramp to about 500L'ish, lowest ramp about 10L, made it 4 steps, use manual "on" set around 60L & it has a high CRI. Still have the shortcuts from off + 3rd party testing has it holding over 100L for 90min. I usually carry it clipped to a button hole on my shirt behind my tie [if I'm wearing one] & on sale it can be had for <$15 w/battery. Solid little EDC light

From the review I saw, 1lumen, no modes sustain higher than 50 lumens for more than 10 minutes.🤷‍♂️ 100L for over 90 mins ain't bad

 

[jon_slider]

this light can't sustain more than 50 lumens after 10 minutes in any mode.

that is not my reading of the 1Lumen review, though I understand how you got that impression

this is my perspective:

the 1 lumen review has these charts, I added the black rectangle.
Starting at any output above 100 lumens, the light maintains over 100 lumens for 10 minutes:

The ansi runtime, starting at 130 lumens is 2.5 hours:

Bear in mind those tests were done w the thermal ceiling set to 45C, I raise mine to 55C, which adds another 100 lumens to the sustainable output..

The TS10 is popular as a light that is used at indoor distances, where I usually use about 20 lumens.

The floody beam works great to see things at arms reach.

Most of your comments suggest your usage application is neither indoors, nor at arms reach, which is where the TS10 really shines.

I agree it is ridiculous to expect to use it at 1400 lumens.. thats just for marketing..

The TS10 is a great little light for walking through the house in the dark of night, without waking anybody up.

The TS10 has one of the lowest firefly outputs of any light I own, including HDS.

My TS10 can sustain 200 lumens, just like my HDS.

The TS10 is definitely not the light to use as a weapon mounted light, for spotting coyotes on the back 40. And I do not like the stock pocket clip, I change that item.. consider it a custom modification.. lol

otoh, it is a very small and lightweight package. Works great for brief EDC uses, such as:

reading the ingredients on food packaging..

finding something I dropped on the floor, that rolled under the couch..

illuminating my way to the bathroom,

looking into the battery tube of another host in my hands,

illuminating the mcpcb Im reflowing and soldering back into another host,

finding things in the trunk, or on the floor of my car,

looking for my lost shaker of salt in my backpack,

finding the noodles in my food pantry,

finding the Torx driver in my tool bag, etc..

Suggest you buy an Aluminium TS10 from Amazon, and try it, indoors, for yourself. If you still cant see the appeal of a small indoor EDC.. just return it to Whole Foods for refund, and buy yourself some cookies and icecream instead ;-)

 

[vicv]

the 1 lumen review has these charts, I added the black rectangle.
Starting at any output above 100 lumens, the light maintains over 100 lumens for 10 minutes:
View attachment 53270
The ansi runtime, starting at 130 lumens is 2.5 hours:
View attachment 53271
The TS10 is popular as a light that is used at indoor distances, where I usually use about 20 lumens.

The floody beam works great to see things at arms reach.

Suggest you buy and try one for yourself.

Most of your comments suggest your usage application is neither indoors, nor at arms reach, which is where the TS10 really shines.

I agree it is ridiculous to expect to use it at 1400 lumens.. thats just for marketing..

The TS10 is a great little light for walking through the house in the dark of night, without waking anybody up.

It has one of the lowest firefly outputs of any light I own, including HDS.

It is definitely not the light to use for spotting coyotes on the back 40.

That is a fair description. Thank you. I use a convoy S2 plus for that use. It definitely is not as pocket as the TS 10, but as in around the house light, it doesn't need to be. Mostly at night I use the red LED low beam on my A2 aviator, but that's more because I like that light so much than for any practical reason, I will admit I'm definitely more of a throw light type of person. Not insane throw. Ten to 30,000 CD is fine for me On high. I guess I really dislike the high output marketing that seems to be on every flashlight made anymore. I will probably get one, but even then I think I would still prefer something like a convoy T3. I just don't like having a AA light that does not take normal AA. But the cutiti10 sure is a looker. Is the driver easily changeable?

 

[StephenD]

I used a TS10 for a while and have moved on to a zebralight as I just like to feel like I'm using something quality but it had lots of merits, exactly as a 'round the house' light like John said.

It not only has the lowest lows I've ever seen (more than zebralight even), but with the red aux lights you get an even lower low, and you can find it if you drop it trying to turn it on (Which you might, as it's not the most grippy thing of all time ) - I'm a dad with little toddlers and a easily disturbed wife so being stealthy is necessary Sometimes I would use the red aux lights on high (I had lockout setup this way) when going to check or change my baby in the middle of the night, that worked good.

I think the main selling point though is it's one of the only 'small' Anduril torches. Unless I'm out of date, there are only two 14500 Anduril lights at the moment, this and the Sofirn SP10 Pro and this has better tint and aux lights.

 

[vicv]

I used a TS10 for a while and have moved on to a zebralight as I just like to feel like I'm using something quality but it had lots of merits, exactly as a 'round the house' light like John said.

It not only has the lowest lows I've ever seen (more than zebralight even), but with the red aux lights you get an even lower low, and you can find it if you drop it trying to turn it on (Which you might, as it's not the most grippy thing of all time ) - I'm a dad with little toddlers and a easily disturbed wife so being stealthy is necessary Sometimes I would use the red aux lights on high (I had lockout setup this way) when going to check or change my baby in the middle of the night, that worked good.

I think the main selling point though is it's one of the only 'small' Anduril torches. Unless I'm out of date, there are only two 14500 Anduril lights at the moment, this and the Sofirn SP10 Pro and this has better tint and aux lights.

I completely understand. I also have a very disturbed wife.

 

[jon_slider]

Is the driver easily changeable?

It can be configured to have as few or as many mode steps as you like. I set the stepped mode to 12 steps, homage to Zebra, except Im not limited to just 3 modes at a time.. I can ramp through all 12 steps easily, just hold the button.

If you only want 3 modes, that is also easy to configure. If you want the max output to be 90 lumens like an AA light, the ceiling can be set to your preference.

Anduril can also let you set manual memory, or not, depending on your preference the light will always turn on at the same output, or at the last used output.

What makes the TS10 so powerful is the flexibility of the Anduril UI. If you appreciate a smooth ramping UI, smoother than the 24 steps on an HDS, Anduril also offers smooth, stepless ramping. It is the closest thing to my Jetbeam Rotary UI, but Anduril adds LVP, Voltage check, locator lights, and any number of disco modes (not my thing).

two 14500 Anduril lights at the moment, this and the Sofirn SP10 Pro

there is one more, the Emisar D2, which is really two lights in one.. mine has a Red LED and a DeDomed 519a 4500K, which produces a lovely 3500K beam.