I am looking at both of these lights to be used for search and rescue purposes, and am having a hard time deciding between the two. I can get both for about the same price so that doesn't make the decision any easier. Does anyone own both? If so would you mind giving me your input on pros and cons of each.
ThruNite TN30 or Fenix TK75
- Thread starter snipe523
- Start date
loquutis79
Enlightened
I only have the ThruNite TN31 so I don't know anything about the Fenix TK75. The TN31 is a hell of a wicked thrower. Almost 800m!, mine anyway. New ones are even a few meters more as they now are fitted with the XM-L2 [Mine is the XM-L U2, still highly impressive!!] I do have several other Fenix lights so I can say that both ThruNite and Fenix are top notch quality builds. I don't think you can go wrong either way. I do however, prefer single emitter lights with throw being more desirable than flood. That may be better for search and rescue but that would be your call on that.
loquutis79
Enlightened
TK75 specs call out 606m. TN31 claims 700m.
MBentz
Enlightened
The TN30 is more of a flood light while the TK75 is a pure thrower. The TN31 compares more favorably to the 75.
I own a TN30 and previously owned a TK70.
Reasons I chose the TN30 over a TK75
-Neutral option
-I prefer the UI and use of the ring over the buttons on the fenix
-The TN30 has all the throw I need on my property
-When I purchased the TN30, it was cheaper than the TK75.
Reasons I chose the TN30 over a TK75
-Neutral option
-I prefer the UI and use of the ring over the buttons on the fenix
-The TN30 has all the throw I need on my property
-When I purchased the TN30, it was cheaper than the TK75.
BeastFlashlight
Flashlight Enthusiast
I was thinking the same thing as mentioned above, that TN31 would be better for search & rescue. It's a better thrower than TN30 and TK75 and I think throw would help more
BeastFlashlight
Flashlight Enthusiast
Always those damn trade offs unfortunately. I wouldn't call TN31's spill terrible. Compared to Deft-X it has awesome spill. But if u want both i have heard people refer to TK75 as the perfect in between flashlight
Maybe this can decide your tie breaker, I've never heard anyone who regretted buying a TK75, but there have been some flickering complaints associated with TN30.
Maybe this can decide your tie breaker, I've never heard anyone who regretted buying a TK75, but there have been some flickering complaints associated with TN30.
Last edited:
AFireInside
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2010
- Messages
- 51
Depends if you're after more flood or throw. I have both and in my situation living on a large property, i reach for the TK75 much more often.
lintonindy
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2012
- Messages
- 149
This one is easy.
A TK75 modified by Vinh. He bumps up the lumens to almost TN30 levels and doubles the throw of the standard TK75 by a whole lot of work to an already fantastic light. If it is too much money now, get the TK75 and wait to send it to Vinh. Might make you appreciate the modifications done to it more.
I bought mine directly off the man and never saw it stock, but it is a sight to behold in this form. It throws a huge neutral tinted beam for a long long way. It is probably my favorite light that I own and I own some good ones.
If your not after the maximum lumens and more throw is your thing then take a look at his modified K40. Lots of lumens still (above 1500), but throws at a 400kcd level.
I guess it's not such an easy decision unless you go with the CPF motto.......Get them both/all!
Good luck and you are looking at some fantastic lights even in there stock form and if your'e not used to high powered LED lights you will be blown away with either/any choice.
A TK75 modified by Vinh. He bumps up the lumens to almost TN30 levels and doubles the throw of the standard TK75 by a whole lot of work to an already fantastic light. If it is too much money now, get the TK75 and wait to send it to Vinh. Might make you appreciate the modifications done to it more.
I bought mine directly off the man and never saw it stock, but it is a sight to behold in this form. It throws a huge neutral tinted beam for a long long way. It is probably my favorite light that I own and I own some good ones.
If your not after the maximum lumens and more throw is your thing then take a look at his modified K40. Lots of lumens still (above 1500), but throws at a 400kcd level.
I guess it's not such an easy decision unless you go with the CPF motto.......Get them both/all!
Good luck and you are looking at some fantastic lights even in there stock form and if your'e not used to high powered LED lights you will be blown away with either/any choice.
BeastFlashlight
Flashlight Enthusiast
What else does Vinh do to the TK75 besides XM-L2 upgrade? Does he add copper bonding? And how much does his upgrade cost?
rickypanecatyl
Enlightened
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2009
- Messages
- 915
Wow that sounds like a cool light... any idea of the OTF lumens and lux? Stock its about 2,500 and 75,000 right?
lintonindy
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2012
- Messages
- 149
Modified exceeds 3,000 lumens and at least double the lux. Probably around 3,200 lumens with 200,000 lux. It is a sight for sure. Many might doubt these claims but Vinh is changing the game currently; him and a few select modders including Saab from OSTS. The lights these guys create aren't even in the same ball park with stock lights at all.
One thing to consider is your expected search terrain.
For fields and so forth where your lines of sight are limited by tall grass, foliage, hills/gullies, etc, the floody light will find your targets faster.
If you can't REACH out far enough on a search, say you are on opposite sides of a ravine/canyon, or the lines of sight are a few hundred of meters or more long...then the throw pattern is more necessary TO reach the targets.
So I tend to have flooders for the tighter terrain, and throwers for the wide open spaces...and use whatever's most appropriate at the time.
Vinh's stuff is excellent, I have a bunch of it, and its top drawer. He DOES tend to make it all work in "Balls to the Wall" mode....so the run time is shortened...but if you need a reach out and touch them and/or a wall of light....he's a good guy to have around.
He will also do custom drive levels, so you can fudge towards more run time or more power, etc.
I also use some HID lights when I need a lot of lumens and a lot of range, but again, they have relatively short run times....and are better when searching from a rig with electricity to power them or at least charge cells you can rotate.
OSTS/OMG Lumens stuff is geared more towards longer runtime and the most throw you can get with that and a good tint. Also top drawer, and I use his stuff too.
For maximizing throw in a small form factor, its hard to beat an aspherical lensed light, but, to SEE what's out there in a small square of light is not as easy as with a flood...you are doing a lot more sweeping and panning, and, sometimes, especially closer up, you might illuminate a part of a body/limb, etc...and out of context, not recognize that's what it is tangled with tree limbs/brush, etc. A wider beam can give more context, so you see the entire target, and can more easily recognize it.
Of course, if you can't CARRY a light with enough range, a small enough to carry floody light that will show you what's out there to 400 meters is less useful if the target is 500 meters away, etc....and its a thrower, or darkness.
:D
I don't know how many people you need to equip, but, also for tighter terrain, even P60-ish sized lights can work if they have the juice and the team is coordinated to cover the ground effectively, etc.
A lot of spare cells are sometimes more important than what lights, as for long searches....you need to swap in freshies every hour or two typically. If you have a lot of spares to swap in, you can get away with more powerful out put at the expense of run time.
So, think about how far away you will be looking for what/who, and in what kind of terrain...and try to get the light patterns that will work best in that scenario.
Generally, to find a target like someone prone in grass/uneven low contrast terrain, you will need about 5 lux or more on them to resolve them from the background on a sweep of your beam if they are 200 M or more away.
To put that into perspective, that's a cd of ~ 200,000 to put 5 lux on something 200 m away, and ~ 50,000 cd to put 5 lux on something 100 M away, etc.
When you consider that kind of relationship, you will see what a big jump in throw it takes to be able to usefully resolve low contrast targets.
IE: Ignore the ANSI ranges claimed for throw....in practice, 0.25 lux might show you that's there's a tree out there, but not the guy facing you, sitting with his back on the tree's truck...looking right at you. At ~ 200-400 meters for example, you are using your fovea to resolve fine details, and, that takes too much light to work well w/o more lux...as your fovea SUCKS at low light vision....hence the 5 lux recommendation.
So, if they give a cd for the light under consideration...take the square root of the cd, then divide by 5, and that's the max search and rescue range (In meters) you'd probably use it at.
Obviously, if your targets are wearing white, or reflective vests, etc...you can "flash" the reflective parts with even lower than the 0.25 lux limits, but, that's an unusual convenience to get in this scenario.
I'm more likely to be told the target is a little old lady in a dark pant suit who wandered off from the assisted living center at lunch, and never came back, etc....and I'm looking in ditches and the canal along where she was reported to take her daily constitutional, etc.
Sometimes, there are NO lights that find them: I had a 90+ yr old that went for lunch-time walk from an assisted living center, and never came back, and we had choppers and ground crews combing all over the freakin place for him, and he showed up in another state, where he decided to go visit some family members...except he picked the wrong state and missed by ~ 500 miles or so....and never actually visited them either. He did have a nice train ride though....and lived to tell about it.
:D
For fields and so forth where your lines of sight are limited by tall grass, foliage, hills/gullies, etc, the floody light will find your targets faster.
If you can't REACH out far enough on a search, say you are on opposite sides of a ravine/canyon, or the lines of sight are a few hundred of meters or more long...then the throw pattern is more necessary TO reach the targets.
So I tend to have flooders for the tighter terrain, and throwers for the wide open spaces...and use whatever's most appropriate at the time.
Vinh's stuff is excellent, I have a bunch of it, and its top drawer. He DOES tend to make it all work in "Balls to the Wall" mode....so the run time is shortened...but if you need a reach out and touch them and/or a wall of light....he's a good guy to have around.
He will also do custom drive levels, so you can fudge towards more run time or more power, etc.
I also use some HID lights when I need a lot of lumens and a lot of range, but again, they have relatively short run times....and are better when searching from a rig with electricity to power them or at least charge cells you can rotate.
OSTS/OMG Lumens stuff is geared more towards longer runtime and the most throw you can get with that and a good tint. Also top drawer, and I use his stuff too.
For maximizing throw in a small form factor, its hard to beat an aspherical lensed light, but, to SEE what's out there in a small square of light is not as easy as with a flood...you are doing a lot more sweeping and panning, and, sometimes, especially closer up, you might illuminate a part of a body/limb, etc...and out of context, not recognize that's what it is tangled with tree limbs/brush, etc. A wider beam can give more context, so you see the entire target, and can more easily recognize it.
Of course, if you can't CARRY a light with enough range, a small enough to carry floody light that will show you what's out there to 400 meters is less useful if the target is 500 meters away, etc....and its a thrower, or darkness.
:D
I don't know how many people you need to equip, but, also for tighter terrain, even P60-ish sized lights can work if they have the juice and the team is coordinated to cover the ground effectively, etc.
A lot of spare cells are sometimes more important than what lights, as for long searches....you need to swap in freshies every hour or two typically. If you have a lot of spares to swap in, you can get away with more powerful out put at the expense of run time.
So, think about how far away you will be looking for what/who, and in what kind of terrain...and try to get the light patterns that will work best in that scenario.
Generally, to find a target like someone prone in grass/uneven low contrast terrain, you will need about 5 lux or more on them to resolve them from the background on a sweep of your beam if they are 200 M or more away.
To put that into perspective, that's a cd of ~ 200,000 to put 5 lux on something 200 m away, and ~ 50,000 cd to put 5 lux on something 100 M away, etc.
When you consider that kind of relationship, you will see what a big jump in throw it takes to be able to usefully resolve low contrast targets.
IE: Ignore the ANSI ranges claimed for throw....in practice, 0.25 lux might show you that's there's a tree out there, but not the guy facing you, sitting with his back on the tree's truck...looking right at you. At ~ 200-400 meters for example, you are using your fovea to resolve fine details, and, that takes too much light to work well w/o more lux...as your fovea SUCKS at low light vision....hence the 5 lux recommendation.
So, if they give a cd for the light under consideration...take the square root of the cd, then divide by 5, and that's the max search and rescue range (In meters) you'd probably use it at.
Obviously, if your targets are wearing white, or reflective vests, etc...you can "flash" the reflective parts with even lower than the 0.25 lux limits, but, that's an unusual convenience to get in this scenario.
I'm more likely to be told the target is a little old lady in a dark pant suit who wandered off from the assisted living center at lunch, and never came back, etc....and I'm looking in ditches and the canal along where she was reported to take her daily constitutional, etc.
Sometimes, there are NO lights that find them: I had a 90+ yr old that went for lunch-time walk from an assisted living center, and never came back, and we had choppers and ground crews combing all over the freakin place for him, and he showed up in another state, where he decided to go visit some family members...except he picked the wrong state and missed by ~ 500 miles or so....and never actually visited them either. He did have a nice train ride though....and lived to tell about it.
:D
Last edited:
BeastFlashlight
Flashlight Enthusiast
This is why I say take the TK75 over TN30 (and in my opinion the TN31 over TK75), if you can only own one, and you are in a situation where the flood light would be better you can compensate by moving the throw light around more (scanning more vigorously). But if you're in a situation where max throw is desired you CAN'T compensate with your flood light!
AngryDaddyBird
Newly Enlightened
For me the TK75 would be a good choice. Runtime with additional kits are excellent and in the moment situations theres usually slight to none chance for battery changes or worst Darkness due to depleted batteries. It has great flood and throw. you should check out some reviews on both to help you figure it out. As others have mentioned the terrain will most determin the choice. to me the Tk75 is a good all around Searchlight.
Selfbuilt and HJK has awesome reviews of your choices in Lights!
Selfbuilt and HJK has awesome reviews of your choices in Lights!
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