KevinL
Flashlight Enthusiast
It has been a LONG, LONG time since I have encountered a light that has put a smile on my face. You know, the wicked sick kind of lumens grin. I'm jaded, I'm 'old school' (well, not as old as some but pretty old considering join date of Jun '04 - has it really been five solid years?). I come from a time when Surefire KL1's were 30 lumens on a good day and incans ruled the roost. I've built many a LED and incan light and every time someone lights up one of the more popular incan builds, I'm glad my work has made a difference.
Then I kinda lost interest. LEDs were 'all the same kind' and not much significant progress was being made, just repackaging the same LEDs in different form factors. Work, life takes you far from home and in different directions. I did keep the essentials though, my U2 has always stuck around.
It would take a truly special light to draw me back into the game. That light is the Fenix TK40. Cree MC-E to me represents progress. I haven't seen this kind of quad-die since the days of the Luxeon V - which had already been surpassed by the newer Cree's.
I just got mine, lit it up and holy cow, Turbo mode is AWESOME. Instant-strike, regulated, powered by 8AAs - I'm a bit tired of dealing with finicky li-ions although I still value them for what they can do (and I still have a ton of them anyway).
The battery carrier is magnificent. The build quality, feel and even the intuitive battery polarity markings remind me of some of the custom work I have experienced. This even beats the carrier in the Mag2HID, which is also a 8xAA setup. Overall feel of the light is superb, fit and finish has come a long way since Fenix was brand new to the game. They are now a serious, serious player. The light arrived basically perfect. There are no nits to pick with this.
The multimode switching is surprisingly intuitive, even to someone who doesn't like multi-click lights like myself (another reason I'm a fan of the U2).
The design of the light is nice too, not in any way overstated, just a very plain, simple design. I am not into the tactical light look that makes lights look like pineapples with all the intricate machinework spilling out everywhere. I like simple, timeless, classy designs. In that sense, the TK40 shares more in common with my D3/SRTH combo - even the reflector reminds me a lot of the SRTH.
But the most amazing part is the LIGHT. This is one sick light. The amount of sheer output is.... I can't get over it. Everything I own now looks like a candle compared to this monster. It's ridiculous. It has instant-on capability unlike my Mag2HID, it's brighter than the Mag2HID, and no fragile HID bulb to babysit. It's regulated, unlike the ROP, and it's bright.
The best part is that it is value priced. At $155 that is a tremendous value proposition compared to what we've been paying. Not so long ago a light of this caliber would have been custom work and very, VERY much more expensive.
Fenix has hit a home run with this. Lots of folks raving over it. Just get it.
Props to Lighthound for the super fast shipping and 2% CPF discount which just makes it all the more sweeter.
Then I kinda lost interest. LEDs were 'all the same kind' and not much significant progress was being made, just repackaging the same LEDs in different form factors. Work, life takes you far from home and in different directions. I did keep the essentials though, my U2 has always stuck around.
It would take a truly special light to draw me back into the game. That light is the Fenix TK40. Cree MC-E to me represents progress. I haven't seen this kind of quad-die since the days of the Luxeon V - which had already been surpassed by the newer Cree's.
I just got mine, lit it up and holy cow, Turbo mode is AWESOME. Instant-strike, regulated, powered by 8AAs - I'm a bit tired of dealing with finicky li-ions although I still value them for what they can do (and I still have a ton of them anyway).
The battery carrier is magnificent. The build quality, feel and even the intuitive battery polarity markings remind me of some of the custom work I have experienced. This even beats the carrier in the Mag2HID, which is also a 8xAA setup. Overall feel of the light is superb, fit and finish has come a long way since Fenix was brand new to the game. They are now a serious, serious player. The light arrived basically perfect. There are no nits to pick with this.
The multimode switching is surprisingly intuitive, even to someone who doesn't like multi-click lights like myself (another reason I'm a fan of the U2).
The design of the light is nice too, not in any way overstated, just a very plain, simple design. I am not into the tactical light look that makes lights look like pineapples with all the intricate machinework spilling out everywhere. I like simple, timeless, classy designs. In that sense, the TK40 shares more in common with my D3/SRTH combo - even the reflector reminds me a lot of the SRTH.
But the most amazing part is the LIGHT. This is one sick light. The amount of sheer output is.... I can't get over it. Everything I own now looks like a candle compared to this monster. It's ridiculous. It has instant-on capability unlike my Mag2HID, it's brighter than the Mag2HID, and no fragile HID bulb to babysit. It's regulated, unlike the ROP, and it's bright.
The best part is that it is value priced. At $155 that is a tremendous value proposition compared to what we've been paying. Not so long ago a light of this caliber would have been custom work and very, VERY much more expensive.
Fenix has hit a home run with this. Lots of folks raving over it. Just get it.
Props to Lighthound for the super fast shipping and 2% CPF discount which just makes it all the more sweeter.
. Then I realized it was on high....not turbo!!:laughing: You can imagine my reaction!. It totally blew me away the first time I tried it in our back yard when it got dark!!!
