Any of you still using the Thrunite 1A?

The Thrunite 1A is a pretty old light by technological standards. It is probably one of the earliest light incorporating the XM-L emitter. I have a neutral white 1A that has seen nothing but drawer duties since I received it a couple of years or more ago. I like the tint on this and the beam is nice and bright, especially with 14500, but for some reasons, which I am not sure myself, it has been sitting in the drawer and not seeing any use at all. Maybe it is due to the low sitting position of the clip which bugs me a little as I dislike having the tail sticking so far out of my pocket? Maybe it is the fact that I don't have enough 14500 to burn since I damaged 3 of them 14500 when it went into the laundry? Maybe it is the memory mode on the UI which I disliked (I like the way FourSevens did their UI)?

Today, I played with the 1A a little and I love the beam a lot. I am taking it out for a few days to see how I will like it. Does any of you still use the Thrunite 1A?

Yes! I have both regular and neutral models of both the 1A and 1C. Something about the Neutron series I just love. They are simple, they were among the very first XM-L lights, they were I believe the first lights specifically designed for a wide 0.9-4.2V operating range, they're pure flood, and they are just insanely bright on IMR cells. Even by today's standards.

Oh, and they have moonlight mode so low you can look at the LED directly, no squinting required.

I have the Neutron 2C, and also love it. Like you said, floody beam with such a smoothe transition between spot, corona, and spill, that it is almost all corona. It is ideal for most tasks around the house, IE < 100 feet. My wife claimed it as hers, and uses it as a night reader.

I still use the Neutron 1C occasionally, but I'm on my third unit so I just use it for light duty. The problems I was having aside, I think the whole series was ahead of its time.

Racer, what problems were you having ? I was planning to purchase soon a 2A Neutron.

I use my neutral 1A almost everyday. It is my bedtime light. Yes, it is very bright on 14500 even by today's standards. The XM-L2 isn't that much brighter in reality vs. the regular XM-L.

The most wonderful thing about the 1A is the very low Firefly mode. It is my go to light for when my eyes are dark-adapted. The only other light that I have that has a similar low Firefly is my L10 Nichia from SBFlashlights. My Quark moonlight was low but the Firefly on the Neutron is even lower which is better.

Plus, the floody beam is so useful for up close/indoors needs and also helps with the Firefly illumination where the sub-lumen output is spread out more evenly.

I still use the Neutron 1A a lot w/14500s mostly and like its good mode spacing, efficiency, useful moonlight mode, and have always really liked the unique beam pattern with its deep reflector and narrow (about half the dia. of similarly sized lights) yet very bright spill it appears to be one large hotspot. It throws a little better than most small XM-L lights and find its beam very useful outside and works well inside too. Wish it was about an inch shorter and somewhat warmer tint...I'd probably carry it a lot more, but IMO, still a good design.

flashflood said:

they were I believe the first lights specifically designed for a wide 0.9-4.2V operating range

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I may be wrong but I think FourSevens is way before Thrunite and have been offering their lights in this voltage range?

Poppy said:

I have the Neutron 2C, and also love it.... My wife claimed it as hers, and uses it as a night reader.

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I have the 2C too in cool white flavor but I dislike it. I am not sure if you do notice the rather noticeable PWM pulsing on the lower modes? The 2C is the only model in the series that exhibits such noticeable PWM signature and I kind of felt dizzy after using it awhile. I too gave it to my wife and she uses it frequently besides her Nitecore D10.

Racer said:

I think the whole series was ahead of its time.

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I think I have to agree with this statement. The neutral white 1A that I have is brighter than some of my other XM-L lights.

Mr. Tone said:

The XM-L2 isn't that much brighter in reality vs. the regular XM-L...

My Quark moonlight was low but the Firefly on the Neutron is even lower which is better...

Plus, the floody beam is so useful for up close/indoors needs

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Is there an XM-L2 version of this light? I never expected Thrunite would have updated it.

I did not realize the firefly mode is lower than Quark's. I will have to check it out tonight.

And you are so right about the beam. When I first received this light it was the beam I fell in love with.

cyclesport said:

I still use the Neutron 1A a lot w/14500s mostly and like its good mode spacing, efficiency, useful moonlight mode, and have always really liked the unique beam pattern with its deep reflector and narrow (about half the dia. of similarly sized lights) yet very bright spill it appears to be one large hotspot. It throws a little better than most small XM-L lights and find its beam very useful outside and works well inside too. Wish it was about an inch shorter and somewhat warmer tint...

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I am actually surprised by the beam myself. I remember liking the beam a lot when I first received it as stated above, and what surprises me today is that I still find the beam wonderful compared to some of my other much later and newer purchases. However, I am not sure I like the way the output are spaced. Firefly of course is great. The low could be a tad lower. The medium and high are the ones that really bugs me. I felt that the medium needed to be way lower than that and there is hardly any difference between medium and high. Likewise, the high is not much of a difference to the max (head tightened). I find myself using either the firefly for when my eyes are dark adapted, or the low which is bright enough for almost all the application that I needed it for.

I love the saber 1a!

MojaveMoon07 said:

Racer, what problems were you having ? I was planning to purchase soon a 2A Neutron.

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My first unit had a bad switch, and the retailer took care of it. My second unit died from a drop of about a foot and Thrunite (with some prodding) took care of me. Could be just bad luck with the first two, but the 3rd unit doesn't see much use. It has seen some use though, like a couple camping trips where it was lantern with a diffuser I have.

Racer, Thank you

pjandyho said:

Poppy, I have the 2C too in cool white flavor but I dislike it. I am not sure if you do notice the rather noticeable PWM pulsing on the lower modes? The 2C is the only model in the series that exhibits such noticeable PWM signature and I kind of felt dizzy after using it awhile. I too gave it to my wife and she uses it frequently besides her Nitecore D10.

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I don't recall seeing PWM as an issue with this light, so I just pulled it from her night-table, and tested it and didn't see any. My Niteye MSC20 has terrible PWM on very low, I only mention that, to point out, that I can SEE PWM, just not so much with the Neutron 2C. IIRC Selfbuilt commented that of the Neutron series, the 2C wasn't regulated as well as the others.

pjandyho said:

Is there an XM-L2 version of this light? I never expected Thrunite would have updated it.

I did not realize the firefly mode is lower than Quark's. I will have to check it out tonight.

And you are so right about the beam. When I first received this light it was the beam I fell in love with.

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No, there is not a XM-L2 version of the Neutron series. In fact, the series that replaced the Neutron is called Archer, I think. The Archer series has a few tweeks to the UI and tailcap and is using the XP-G2. I have lights with both the new XM-L2 and also XP-G2 and comparing those to regular XM-L and XP-G there is not a huge difference. A 15-20% increase in output is nice but in reality a very small difference the way our eyes perceive things. The beam angle change is good or bad depending on what you are going for, too.

I have a Thrunite 1C XML which I no longer use.

The beam is floody, but narrow, it's not the brightest, mode switching requires 2 hands, and it won' tailstand after a battery change till enough air leaks out for the rubber boot to deflate. It's also not the smallest 1xRCR123 light around.

A good light for its day, but there are much better lights available now.

When I first got mine, with neutral tint XM-L, I was really impressed with it. But like you, for some reason I soon lost interest and it went to storage. Great wide neutral tint beam, a good light really, but yeah, its a bulky light and has no deep pocket clip: factors which kept me from EDCing it. I went back to carrying a venerable D10 with neutral tint.

Presently I'm carrying a D25A clicky with X-PG warm neutral tint... I like how slim it is and the awesome, secure, very deep pocket clip the D25A has! Not sure what, if anything, I'll ever do with my Thrunight 1A... keep storing it for a dark night, I guess.

I have the XM-L Ti version of the D25A clicky in neutral white. Loved this light very much but it failed me at the most critical time when I really needed a light. Sent it in to Hong Kong to get it serviced after contacting Eagletac and it came back with other issues that wasn't previously there. It went from being the most loved AA light to becoming one of the most unused AA light, and sitting in the drawer. Just took it out to play with it and this time I think the problems that surfaced after the repair have all disappeared and I am kind of starting to like the D25A Ti again.

Huh, just saw this... As luck would have it, the topic came up in a different thread, so I'm gonna shamelessly copy 'n' paste what I wrote earlier...

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I mostly love my Neutron 1A, amazing output, excellent mode selection, built like a tank, stainless bezel... but I just can't seem to deal with reverse-clickies anymore. So close, so far...

The new Thrunite Archer line is identical in build to the Neutrons, but with forward clickies, YAY! But, changing modes now requires head twists, BOO! Again, so close, so far...

Ah, but, since they share body parts... I got me an Archer 1A, and put the Archer tailcap on my Neutron. Finally, the Thrunite Archtron, the config I wanted all along! It's my EDC bag light, lives in the slot on the underside of the Maxpud Janus on the strap of my EDC bag for quick 'n' easy access.

(The leftover-parts "Neucher" I keep as a loaner light. Most non-flashaholics don't seem to mind the reverse clickie like I do, and seem to grok the head-twist mode-change UI pretty quickly. Everybody wins.)

One more thing... If the clip attachment reminds you of the Quarks lights, it's not your imagination: they're 100% compatible. My "Archtron" is sportin' a 4Sevens deep carry clip for extra-secure carry on the Janus, it nearly disappears, leaving nothing to snag.

pjandyho said:

I have the XM-L Ti version of the D25A clicky in neutral white. Loved this light very much but it failed me at the most critical time when I really needed a light. Sent it in to Hong Kong to get it serviced after contacting Eagletac and it came back with other issues that wasn't previously there. It went from being the most loved AA light to becoming one of the most unused AA light, and sitting in the drawer. Just took it out to play with it and this time I think the problems that surfaced after the repair have all disappeared and I am kind of starting to like the D25A Ti again.

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In addition to the regular D25A I have the XM-L Ti version also. SO far so good with them both. Fortunately, there are just a few lights in my reserve lighting storage container, in case something should go wrong. oo:

I just ordered two more... the D25A mini and D25C mini... should be interesting to check those out as well.

I also still rock my Thrunite Archer 1A. Which i believe is the best thrower (un-modded of course) among the 1A line.

Makes a fine EDC thrower with a 14500 cell, i just hate the PWM in the lower modes.