Picked up a couple of new Fenix lights today.

[Bullman]

I was at Smokey Mountain Knife Works today and I was able to pick up a Fenix LD20 and a TK40. I was hoping to get a TK41 but they didn't have any. I think the stock that they did have was a little old, I read something on the box about it using MC-E technology, aren't we a couple of improvements past that?

 

[koolranch]

Yes, the tk40 was my first real light when I started getting into lights in 2009. It's a nice light though. What did you pay?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bullman]

60 for the LD20, 160 for the TK40.

 

[ArmoredFiend]

For AA light, both LD20 and TK40 are great lights. I have my LD20 3 yrs back and been using them regularly..still work nicely...minus the dings scratches and stuffs....

In fact on any hiking/campingcaving trip..TK40 is gonna be my main with LD20 as backup..they compliment each other perfectly...

 

[Tommygun45]

Its an ok light but you over paid for it. Can you Return it? MSRP On it 3 years ago was 155. I mean, you can get the TK41 for 117 off gg or many other retailers sites using coupon codes from here.

 

[Bullman]

I don't know, I might see if I can turn it to one of my buddies and pick up the 41 if I don't care for it. I figured I probably paid a little over for it, but I was there, the light was there, it was just one of those things, I had wanted one for a while and the opportunity presented itself.

 

[Bullman]

Well, I picked up some Li Ion Energizers at Walmart today to power up the TK and I must say that so far, I am way under impressed. My Streamlight DS HP Stinger is rated at 200 lumens. Now I realize it has a different beam color and is more set up for throw than flood, but this TK40 is supposed to be rated at 630 lumens, 3 times brighter. I would not expect the Streamlight beam to wash out the TK's, but it does, it just doesn't look three times brighter to me yet. I have just been doing basement stuff right now, will have to wait to get it out in the darkness to really see what it can do but so far, I have not be "wowed"

 

[moldyoldy]

You are underimpressed with the TK-40? My first doubt is about the cells that you used. I had two TK-40s before my nephew absconded with both of them. Both were impressive to us on his hobby farm. However I always used NiMH cells in them. The current draw is very high. I recommend that you try out the same light with 8 NiMH cells of at least 2000 mah capacity, preferably the LSD composition.

 

[Bullman]

Well, I did go outside tonight and I can see the difference a little better now. The Streamlight has a tight hot spot and is a thrower, the TK is more like a wall of light and just lights up everything. I did expect it to be a little brighter though.

I figured until I could get some good NiMH rechargables that Lithium Energizers would be about the best I could do. Everyone I have seen on here recommends eneloops, are they the best?

 

[moldyoldy]

Well, I did go outside tonight and I can see the difference a little better now. The Streamlight has a tight hot spot and is a thrower, the TK is more like a wall of light and just lights up everything. I did expect it to be a little brighter though.

I figured until I could get some good NiMH rechargables that Lithium Energizers would be about the best I could do. Everyone I have seen on here recommends eneloops, are they the best?

Eneloops are generally considered "better" than Imedions on CPF forums & tests. Both brands have had their failures. More specifically, in my limited experience, AA Eneloops have performed better with a high-current draw as compared with the Imedions, but run for a slightly shorter time than AA Imedions. However keep in mind that each of the main brands, Eneloop and Imedion are leap-frogging each other trying to address perceived shortcomings. According to recent posts, there are evidently several versions of Eneloops available for which I have no experience. Ergo, do some research on CPF.

In general, my experience with higher-power flashlights, the ability to deliver high currents and the state of charge in the rechargeable cells has become an overriding concern if you are looking for max lumens, no matter that the LED driver is "regulated". For example in my tests, the LiMN cells have demonstrated the ability to deliver a much higher current in exactly the same 1xRCR123a light than the more conventional LiIon cells - 1/4 to 1/3 more current - and the difference in lumens is visible!

 

[Cataract]

a 200 lumen Streamlight washing out a TK40????? I don't see why you wouldn't get a good turbo mode, even with primary lithium AA's (although I think that by running lithium's you are close to the maximum rated voltage, but last time I checked it should work fine)

1 - clean ALL contacts
2- check your cell polarity. One of those cells could be bad too, you never know

You should by all means be able to make your streamlight look like it's off!

 

[Robin24k]

You should by all means be able to make your streamlight look like it's off!

Not exactly...he mentioned Stinger DS LED HP, which is 200 lumens but has 40,000cd. It's a tight spot beam.

 

[Bullman]

Not exactly...he mentioned Stinger DS LED HP, which is 200 lumens but has 40,000cd. It's a tight spot beam.

You are quite correct, it has a tight hot spot, while the TK appears to be more floody. I am thinking that they are a different color beam too, maybe the TK is a bit "warmer" than the Streamlight. Outside at great distances I could tell that the TK is a much better light, but.... I just thought it would be brighter. It's bright, no doubt about it, but it won't wash out that hotspot.

 

[tbenedict]

Cool, I live about 40 min away. I've found several knife deals there over the years. They had the Fenix 123 twisty on sale for a while.

 

[Cataract]

Not exactly...he mentioned Stinger DS LED HP, which is 200 lumens but has 40,000cd. It's a tight spot beam.

The spots should at the very very least look similar in brightness... My Predators have about the same brightness in the hotspot as my TK40 and we're talking about a 5 degree hot spot with definitely more than 200 lumens of output (I believe 365 measured by SelfBuilt, if my memory is correct)