Jomohr84
Newly Enlightened
Review: ThorFire C8s XM-L2 900 Lumen 1x18650/2xcr123
Disclaimer: This flashlight was provided by ThorFire for an honest, unbiased review for the purposes of product improvement. No other compensation was provided, and I will strive to provide an accurate, honest and unbiased review of this sample.
Overview
Product name: ThorFire C8s
Emitter Type: XM-L2
Material: Aero grade aluminum alloy
Mode: Moonlight/Low/Mid/High/Strobe(hidden)
Lumens: 0.5LM, 30LM, 280LM, 900LM
Battery: 1×18650 battery or 2×CR123A
Max Output: 900lumens
Reflector: Smooth aluminum reflector
Waterproof: IPX-8 waterpoof
Weight: 200g without battery
Size: 7.4 × 2.1 × 3.3 inches
The C8s is ThorFire's foray into the C8 form factor, one of my personal favorite designs. I have carried a Convoy C8 daily in my profession as a maintenance technician for quite some time, always on my belt in a holster. Today, we will take a look at how the ThorFire C8s stacks up.
Package Contents
The C8s arrived in a nicely designed cardboard box, with foam in the bottom and the light in bubble wrap, along with instructions, a packet containing a decent lanyard and 2 spare o rings. The instructions are straight-forward and well written, and Thorfire did a good job with the packaging overall, much better than Convoy in that respect. My Convoy lights came in a plain cardboard box with no instructions, no lanyard or spare o rings, nothing.
Build quality
The C8s is built quite well. It has and XM-L2 emitter, of unknown bin. I contacted ThorFire customer service and asked what bin the emitter is, but never received a response. I would speculate it is probably a U2, which is very common. It's anodization is a quite nice matte finish, and has proven durable. It is IPX8 rated waterproof. The springs in the tailcap and head are strong and adequately thick, and the threads are very nice square cut and anodized at the tailcap for lockout. The threads on my sample were nearly devoid of any lube, and had to be lubed myself. This is one small oversight, which was easily remedied.
The emitter is perfectly centered in my sample, and the aluminum reflector is perfectly smooth, very nice! The lens is not AR coated, unfortunately. The tailcap pushbutton is of good quality and has a good feel. The tailcap has cutouts for ease of activation, and holes in the side for a lanyard so as not to interfere with tail standing functionality. The knurling is average, not really adding much to the grip, but enough that it does help slightly. Crenelation at the bezel is a nice touch, adding to the aesthetics.
Note the difference between AR coating on the right and non-AR coated C8s on the left.
There is a generous amount of thermal paste visible under the star, though I would prefer to see the emitter board screwed down, as when reassembling the light, it began to turn the entire board and the light wouldn't work. Had to unscrew it and retighten many times slowly and carefully until it was finally completely tightened and working again.
Operation
Operation of the light is covered in the instructions, and is quite simple. There are 4 brightness settings and one hidden strobe setting. One full press of the tailcap switch for on, tap to change modes. Full press again to turn the light off. Double tap while on for strobe, tap again to go back to last setting. The C8s has mode memory for all modes except strobe.
Now for the biggest gripe I have with this light…there is a delay when switching between brightness settings. It is milliseconds, but it is quite noticeable. I tried swapping tailcaps with a Convoy of mine, but the delay is still present, so it seems an issue with the driver. This would be the first thing I would like to see changed about this light. For the average user it may not be a deal-breaker, but for many others, it is.
The mode spacing is good, with a moonlight mode(0.5lm), Low(30lm), Mid(280lm), and High(900lm). The hidden strobe was easy for me to activate via a quick double tap while the light is on.
Output
The output seems very close to what is specified by the manufacturer. There is a noticeable difference between all modes, and the modes are all useful in their own respects. Comparing to other lights claiming similar specs, this light holds its own quite well. Thorfire claims max output at 2.8A.
My tailcap measurements were as follows:
Moonlight - .01A
Low - .07A
Mid - .60A
Hi – 2.4A
The following are my own personal output estimates. I in no way purport them to be 100% accurate, so take them for what they are; my own personal estimations.
So even at 2.4A, the output appears on par with other C8 flashlights that I own. It is VERY bright. The tint on this light is quite nice, not too cool, actually it looks identical to the tint on my Nitecore MH20GT, a very nice white. It has a focused hotspot, with a nice spill, making for quite useful mid to long range illumination at the mid and high settings.
I did not detect PWM in any mode when testing with my camera.
Conclusion
The ThorFire C8s is quite a good value overall, but I would like to see the delay when switching modes eliminated. My Convoy C8 has zero delay when switching modes. AR glass would be nice, but it's not a deal breaker.
All in all, if the delay were not present, the lens AR coated, and the emitter board screwed down, it would be a 4.5-5 / 5. It uses quality components and is a fantastic value, but with the delay I can only give it a 3.5 / 5, as no other reputable manufacturers lights have such a delay when switching modes.
At the moment there are others making C8 lights at competitive prices, and though they are not without their own issues, the delay on this one deters me from recommending it when there are others at similar price points without this issue.
Disclaimer: This flashlight was provided by ThorFire for an honest, unbiased review for the purposes of product improvement. No other compensation was provided, and I will strive to provide an accurate, honest and unbiased review of this sample.
Overview
Product name: ThorFire C8s
Emitter Type: XM-L2
Material: Aero grade aluminum alloy
Mode: Moonlight/Low/Mid/High/Strobe(hidden)
Lumens: 0.5LM, 30LM, 280LM, 900LM
Battery: 1×18650 battery or 2×CR123A
Max Output: 900lumens
Reflector: Smooth aluminum reflector
Waterproof: IPX-8 waterpoof
Weight: 200g without battery
Size: 7.4 × 2.1 × 3.3 inches
The C8s is ThorFire's foray into the C8 form factor, one of my personal favorite designs. I have carried a Convoy C8 daily in my profession as a maintenance technician for quite some time, always on my belt in a holster. Today, we will take a look at how the ThorFire C8s stacks up.
Package Contents
The C8s arrived in a nicely designed cardboard box, with foam in the bottom and the light in bubble wrap, along with instructions, a packet containing a decent lanyard and 2 spare o rings. The instructions are straight-forward and well written, and Thorfire did a good job with the packaging overall, much better than Convoy in that respect. My Convoy lights came in a plain cardboard box with no instructions, no lanyard or spare o rings, nothing.
Build quality
The C8s is built quite well. It has and XM-L2 emitter, of unknown bin. I contacted ThorFire customer service and asked what bin the emitter is, but never received a response. I would speculate it is probably a U2, which is very common. It's anodization is a quite nice matte finish, and has proven durable. It is IPX8 rated waterproof. The springs in the tailcap and head are strong and adequately thick, and the threads are very nice square cut and anodized at the tailcap for lockout. The threads on my sample were nearly devoid of any lube, and had to be lubed myself. This is one small oversight, which was easily remedied.
The emitter is perfectly centered in my sample, and the aluminum reflector is perfectly smooth, very nice! The lens is not AR coated, unfortunately. The tailcap pushbutton is of good quality and has a good feel. The tailcap has cutouts for ease of activation, and holes in the side for a lanyard so as not to interfere with tail standing functionality. The knurling is average, not really adding much to the grip, but enough that it does help slightly. Crenelation at the bezel is a nice touch, adding to the aesthetics.
Note the difference between AR coating on the right and non-AR coated C8s on the left.
There is a generous amount of thermal paste visible under the star, though I would prefer to see the emitter board screwed down, as when reassembling the light, it began to turn the entire board and the light wouldn't work. Had to unscrew it and retighten many times slowly and carefully until it was finally completely tightened and working again.
Operation
Operation of the light is covered in the instructions, and is quite simple. There are 4 brightness settings and one hidden strobe setting. One full press of the tailcap switch for on, tap to change modes. Full press again to turn the light off. Double tap while on for strobe, tap again to go back to last setting. The C8s has mode memory for all modes except strobe.
Now for the biggest gripe I have with this light…there is a delay when switching between brightness settings. It is milliseconds, but it is quite noticeable. I tried swapping tailcaps with a Convoy of mine, but the delay is still present, so it seems an issue with the driver. This would be the first thing I would like to see changed about this light. For the average user it may not be a deal-breaker, but for many others, it is.
The mode spacing is good, with a moonlight mode(0.5lm), Low(30lm), Mid(280lm), and High(900lm). The hidden strobe was easy for me to activate via a quick double tap while the light is on.
Output
The output seems very close to what is specified by the manufacturer. There is a noticeable difference between all modes, and the modes are all useful in their own respects. Comparing to other lights claiming similar specs, this light holds its own quite well. Thorfire claims max output at 2.8A.
My tailcap measurements were as follows:
Moonlight - .01A
Low - .07A
Mid - .60A
Hi – 2.4A
The following are my own personal output estimates. I in no way purport them to be 100% accurate, so take them for what they are; my own personal estimations.
So even at 2.4A, the output appears on par with other C8 flashlights that I own. It is VERY bright. The tint on this light is quite nice, not too cool, actually it looks identical to the tint on my Nitecore MH20GT, a very nice white. It has a focused hotspot, with a nice spill, making for quite useful mid to long range illumination at the mid and high settings.
I did not detect PWM in any mode when testing with my camera.
Conclusion
The ThorFire C8s is quite a good value overall, but I would like to see the delay when switching modes eliminated. My Convoy C8 has zero delay when switching modes. AR glass would be nice, but it's not a deal breaker.
All in all, if the delay were not present, the lens AR coated, and the emitter board screwed down, it would be a 4.5-5 / 5. It uses quality components and is a fantastic value, but with the delay I can only give it a 3.5 / 5, as no other reputable manufacturers lights have such a delay when switching modes.
At the moment there are others making C8 lights at competitive prices, and though they are not without their own issues, the delay on this one deters me from recommending it when there are others at similar price points without this issue.
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