# My quick review of the Fenix TK40



## TallNHairyDave (Apr 15, 2009)

Well, it's arrived. So here goes with a review.

The box when it arrived from Heinnies was smaller than I was expecting and contained my order of two MaxP Volta battery cases, a set of MaxP Sliplocks and the TK40:







Sliding the cardboard outer off revealed an inner, translucent hardcase:






With fold up handles (nice touch)






Opening that revealed the torch and it's accessories all in handly compartments (downside - the metal clip of the shoulder strap has very slightly marked the tailcap of my torch - just visible as a white spec in the photo. In reality, the scratch is about 1mm long.)






The downside of the case (apart from that mentioned above) is that the moulded hinges seem quite thin to me, and I'm not sure how long they'll last for if you use the case as a storage/carry option for the torch regularly. Still, the fact that the torch comes with a custom hard case is a nice touch.

Unpacking the case reveals:






Clockwise from the bottom:

TK40 torch
Shoulder strap
Instruction manual
Warranty form
Small advertising brochure
Ziplock bag containing spare tailcap, 2 spare O-rings and a split ring
Mystery woven lanyard thing


Now, a lot of the quick reviews I've seen so far of this torch seem to have failed to figure out what the mystery lanyard is for, and it had me stumped for a while as it's too damn short to work as a wrist strap. But I finally figured it out!

Moving on, I decided to compare the size of the torch to my Solarforce L2 (which is about the same size as a Surefire 6P). You can see in this pic how the shoulder strap attaches. Oops! I've given away the surprise I was saving for later in the review!).






What strikes me is that the torch isn't HUGE or too heavy, even with 8 AAs in the battery holder. You can carry it in your hand without getting tired.

Speaking of the battery holder... To get it out of the torch, you can unscrew the head or the tailcap. The gotcha being that the bit of the tailcap you expect to unscrew doesn't - it's the very tailmost ring that unscrews.






Here's a closeup of the battery holder loaded with eneloops. It looks exceedingly well made and does the job nicely. Batteries go in the holder with the negative side towards the spring.






Thinking of batteries, the manual tells you to unscrew the head 2.5 turns when not using the light for a while to avoid slow discharge of the batteries. Not sure why this should be so?

Meanwhile, back to the mystery lanyard thing...






You attach the split ring through one of the two holes in the tailcap and clip one end of the shoulder strap onto that....

Then you loop the mystery lanyard around the head of the torch and clip the other end of the shoulder strap onto that....

et voila!






You can then carry the torch slung over your shoulder. Nice 

Operating the torch is pretty simple and is ALL through the tailcap clicky switch.


Pressing the tailcap switch turns the light on and off, and it remembers the last PRIMARY mode (low, medium, high, turbo) you used.
With the torch on, hold down the tailcap button for 1 second to go to the next mode. (You have to release and press again for 1 second to go through the modes. Keeping the buton held down does NOT cycle through modes)
Double-click the tailcap switch to activate the flashing mode that goes with the power mode you are currently on.
The flashing modes are as follows:


Low power = Slow flash (About 2 seconds between flashes. Would make a good locator beacon?)
Medium power = SOS (This is a SLOW SOS flash in morse code)
High power = Fast flash (probably around 1/2 second between flashes?)
Turbo power = Strobe (Holy !&$# That's disorientating!)


If you have it flashing and turn the light off then on again it comes back on in the PRIMARY (non-flashing) mode.

Turbo is DAMN BRIGHT, but they warn you not to use it for more than 15 minutes at a time.

Indoor beamshots to follow when it gets dark! Will get some outdoor ones at the weekend.


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 15, 2009)

By way of experiment, the Mrs just zapped me with it on Turbo from about 7 feet away. (I.e. literally just flashed it up so the hotspot was on my eyes and then dropped it back down again)

Turbo alone made me shut my eyes and flinch away.

We then repeated the test on Strobe.

Holy *expletives deleted*!!!

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME KIDS!

I now have a persistent purple "donut" in my vision which is slowly fading away.

I was prepared for it, and the test was done in a fairly bright room. 

God knows what it would be like with dark adapted eyes in a dark room / alleyway (i.e. if someone jumped out on you and you had this beast on turbo).


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## crazyk4952 (Apr 15, 2009)

Thanks for the review. I look forward to the beamshots.

The manual says not to run it for more than 15 minutes at a time on turbo? This is the first time that I have seen any mention of this here! Here I was thinking that I could tailstand it on turbo and light a room during a power failure. But I guess it will get too hot doing this :thinking:?

That is _really_ disappointing.


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 15, 2009)

crazyk4952 said:


> Thanks for the review. I look forward to the beamshots.
> 
> The manual says not to run it for more than 15 minutes at a time on turbo? This is the first time that I have seen any mention of this here! Here I was thinking that I could tailstand it on turbo and light a room during a power failure. But I guess it will get too hot doing this :thinking:?
> 
> That is _really_ disappointing.



Thanks. Yeah, I was a bit disappointed to read the "15 minutes on turbo" rule as well - especially considering as they say it'll run for 2 hours on turbo with 2700mah cells. I guess they mean "2 hours, as long as you do it in 15 minute chunks" 

In the "Usage and Maintenance" section of the manual it says:



> The flashlights automatic overheating protection may cause the light to flicker during prolonged running in a hot environment. Please do not stay on the turbo mode more than 15 minutes. If this occurs please turn to a lower output mode to cool the flashlight. Normal operation will be restored once the light cools down.


Fortunately, high is pretty damn high and should also do for room lighting in a powercut.

When I do the indoor beamshots I'll try to remember to also get a couple in a dark room with it doing room lighting.


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## Zatoichi (Apr 15, 2009)

crazyk4952 said:


> Here I was thinking that I could tailstand it on turbo and light a room during a power failure. But I guess it will get too hot doing this :thinking:?
> 
> That is _really_ disappointing.



I wouldn't worry about that. Unless you live in a mansion, you won't need 630 lumens to light a room.


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## tabetha (Apr 15, 2009)

Thanks, nice piccies there, am thinking of one myself, as like me FENIX, and OLIGHT's
tabetha


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## flasherByNight (Apr 15, 2009)

I suspect it's just to cover their ***


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## mighty82 (Apr 15, 2009)

It's just for people that don't understand they have to reduce power when the light get's too hot. The time you can run it in turbo will vary with the ambient temperature. 15 min is probably worst case scenario, in a hot envirement. 

Outside with air passing over the light, or in a cool place it will probably never get too hot. They can't make a chart showing how long you can run it in different temperatures, you just have to use common sense. You're holding it, aren't you?


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 15, 2009)

mighty82 said:


> It's just for people that don't understand they have to reduce power when the light get's too hot. The time you can run it in turbo will vary with the ambient temperature. 15 min is probably worst case scenario, in a hot envirement.
> 
> Outside with air passing over the light, or in a cool place it will probably never get too hot. They can't make a chart showing how long you can run it in different temperatures, you just have to use common sense. You're holding it, aren't you?



Indeed! I would expect if you were using this light caving/UrbEx or on a cold night outdoors you'd get more than 15 minutes on Turbo.

Also, I got asked on another forum where I posted this review whether or not the TK40 would fit in the Maxpedition Universal Flashlight/Baton Sheath.

And the answer is YES. But only just.






The fold-over velcro main body flap is only just gripping onto the other body strap and is therefore reliant on the black velcro securing strap for grip. And you have to detach the lid, move it up and re-attach it in order for the lid to fit over the torch head. Thank heavens MaxP made that sheath so adjustable!


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## 13Lites (Apr 15, 2009)

Great work on the review.

off topic: what size are those glow in the dark o rings on the bezel of your solarforce?

That is a cool idea too!

thank you


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## bwanapete (Apr 15, 2009)

When you do your beam shots, would you consider also showing the beam of a 6 volt incan lantern (the kind with the large diameter reflector). If I buy a TK40, and there seem to be many reasons leading me in that direction, I'd like to know whether it will outperform my big old lanterns for throw and flood.


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## Marko (Apr 15, 2009)

Thanks, very good review, great pictures. :thumbsup:


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 15, 2009)

bwanapete said:


> When you do your beam shots, would you consider also showing the beam of a 6 volt incan lantern (the kind with the large diameter reflector). If I buy a TK40, and there seem to be many reasons leading me in that direction, I'd like to know whether it will outperform my big old lanterns for throw and flood.



Sorry mate, I don't actually have a 6V incan lantern! The closest I have to one is a mains powered worklight, and something tells me that that will outdo the TK40.



Marko said:


> Thanks, very good review, great pictures. :thumbsup:



Thanks


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 15, 2009)

OK. Indoor beamshots just aren't working!

This thing has a spill so wide that I can't get the whole spill and hotspot centre in one shot!. Think I'm going to have to try again shining it at the ceiling!

Just about to pop outside and shine it at the wall of the house across the street from me to get some quick outdoor ones for folks.


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## Glock27 (Apr 15, 2009)

I've been doing discharge tests every night. ~40F Outside temp, it doesn't even get warm in 2 1/2 hours. Inside @ 72F, I think it would get too hot unless tailstanding in a glass of water up to the top of the fins :devil:
G27


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 15, 2009)

OK. Distance to target (House across the street side wall) = 13.75 meters

All photos taken at ISO 80, f2.0 for 0.5 second exposure time and have NOT been edited in any way other than to resize them down.

In each case, the torch was held approximately 6 inches above and to the right of the camera.

*CONTROL SHOT - street lighting ONLY*





*TK40 on LOW power*




You can just see the hotspot on the wall under the window frame and lighting up part of the frame.

*TK40 on MEDIUM power*





*TK40 on HIGH power*





*TK40 on TURBO power*





And for comparison - *Solarforce L2 with Cree R2 emitter. Single mode Solarforce dropin.*






Will try and get some decent indoor ones in a bit.

This torch ROCKS :rock:


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## Ryanrpm (Apr 15, 2009)

Ahhh, that is what we like to see! Thanks for the outdoor beamshots! 

Do you have any other light that you can put in there for comparison? Perhaps your L2?

Keep it up Dave, thank you.


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 15, 2009)

No problems mate. I shall fish the L2 out and repeat the shots.

Although the L2 is a single mode only, so there'll be only one shot... 

EDIT - Now added to the original beamshot post.


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## bwanapete (Apr 15, 2009)

Nice photos. To me, the wall looks brighter close to the camera than it does closer to the beam center. When you do your indoor shots, I'll be looking to see whether these show a dark ring between the beam center and the area illuminated by side spill. How far away could you pick out say a large dog or a coyote? My problem is I want a flood with throw.


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 15, 2009)

Bwanapete - I'll pop back outside and take one down the length of the street. Don't know how well that will show the flood or not because of all the street lights, but it might help?


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## Ryanrpm (Apr 15, 2009)

Thanks for the L2 shot. The TK40 definately is putting out a lot of light at 15 meters.

Can you extend the distance.....to say 100 meters? Even a 200 meter shot would be good to see.....if possible.

Thank again for being so willing to take shots 'as we speak'!


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 15, 2009)

Right. Here's some more outdoor beamshots. 

Each photo HAS been edited, but ONLY to erase the street name (the red mark on each pic) so as to respect my neighbour's privacy. There has been no editing of light levels.

In each pic I am standing 3.6 meters away from the gates, and trying to aim the centre of the hotspot on the road about 35m away (as if I was walking down the street)

Again, same camera settings (ISO 80, f2.0 for 0.5 second exposure)

*CONTROL SHOT - street lighting ONLY*






*TK40 on LOW power*




Is there any light visible from it? However, when I was standing outside this would be perfectly adequate to shine on a path right in front of you to avoid tripping over roots etc.

*TK40 on MEDIUM power*





*TK40 on HIGH power*





*TK40 on TURBO power*





Ryanrpm - let me see on Google Earth if the opposite direction will let me get 100m or 200m


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 15, 2009)

I can do 150m, but as it's down a street-lit street I think it'll only be worth me doing it on Turbo.

Popping back out with camera now!


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 15, 2009)

OK, here's the last ones for now. 150m target in street-lit urban area.

Again, same camera settings (ISO 80, f2.0 for 0.5 second exposure)

Please excuse the camera shake, it was starting to rain and I wanted to get these done before the camera got wet.

TARGET IS THE APARTMENTS AT THE END OF THE ROAD. 153m away according to Google Earth.

CONTROL SHOT - Street lit only. 





CONTROL SHOT - 100% Crop of target from original full-size image





TK40 on TURBO




Notice how the spill is reflecting back from car headlamps etc?

TK40 on TURBO - 100% Crop of target from original full-size image





*I'll be getting some decent "in pitch dark, no streetlights" beamshots on Saturday night*


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## ninjaboigt (Apr 15, 2009)

warns us to only use it for 15 mins on turbo? are you kidding me? and this thing is suppose to be a portable search light?, man...better have 4 of them to rotate...


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## bodhran (Apr 15, 2009)

Thanks Dave for a great review and all these outdoor beam shots. You really have gone above and beyond to help others. I also realize now that I have my shoulder strap all wrong. :thumbsup:


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 15, 2009)

ninjaboigt said:


> warns us to only use it for 15 mins on turbo? are you kidding me? and this thing is suppose to be a portable search light?, man...better have 4 of them to rotate...



The 15 minute thing is probably an estimate based on how hot the environment is. Sure you'll get over 15 mins in a cold location, and it's just a case of being careful how hot the torch gets...



bodhran said:


> Thanks Dave for a great review and all these outdoor beam shots. You really have gone above and beyond to help others. I also realize now that I have my shoulder strap all wrong. :thumbsup:



Thanks mate. Happy to help. The only decent outdoor beamshots in this lot (as far as I'm concerned) are of the wall of the house across the street.

I'll be posting NEW beamshots taken in the woods with no streetlights at some point on sunday (assuming I get out to the woods on Saturday night as planned).


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## BBnet3000 (Apr 15, 2009)

id like to see a comparison of this vs a 2 or 3 D mag with a p7, since i have a 2D mag ive been considering upgrading.


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## DM51 (Apr 15, 2009)

Dave, this is good work and a useful review. 

I'd like to move it to the Reviews section, but could you resize your photos please? Most of the beamshots are much too large - Rule 3 states that images should not exceed 800 x 800 pixels.


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 15, 2009)

BBnet3000 said:


> id like to see a comparison of this vs a 2 or 3 D mag with a p7, since i have a 2D mag ive been considering upgrading.



Apologies. I don't have a P7 modded mag. (And I call myself a flashaholic?) I had an Ultrafire WF-1000L but I sold it on, partly to fund this one.

Perhaps another CPF'er can oblige?



DM51 said:


> Dave, this is good work and a useful review.
> 
> I'd like to move it to the Reviews section, but could you resize your photos please? Most of the beamshots are much too large - Rule 3 states that images should not exceed 800 x 800 pixels.



I'm honoured. Thanks 

No problem. Apologies for breaking rule 3. I'll shrink all the big ones down to 800 wide and re-upload them. The change in the post will then happen automagically 

EDIT - Done.


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 15, 2009)

As far as I'm concerned the only decent beamshots in this thread are the ones with a 13.75m target.
*
New outdoor non-urban, no streetlight beamshots will be posted on Sunday. Watch this space! *(I'll leave these ones up for comparison).


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## ntalbot (Apr 15, 2009)

Thanks for the review Dave!

Neil


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 15, 2009)

13Lites said:


> Great work on the review.
> 
> off topic: what size are those glow in the dark o rings on the bezel of your solarforce?
> 
> ...



Thanks!

Sorry I missed your question. The glow rings are 24mm diameter and fit really well.



ntalbot said:


> Thanks for the review Dave!
> 
> Neil



Thanks. It was fun to do.

Still haven't managed to get some decent indoor ones. Will try again tomorrow night.


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## Federal LG (Apr 15, 2009)

Nice review Dave!

Thanks for posting it.

TK40 looks smaller than I thought.

Nice pics too!


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 16, 2009)

Thanks guys.

As promised, here's the indoor "tailstanding as room light" shots.

So here goes - please excuse the clean laundry hanging up to dry over the bath!

Room is 7' wide by 8' long and has approx 8.5' high ceiling.

The torch is tailstanding next to the sink, and the camera is on the windowsill.

Exposures are all identical, camera set on fully manual. 

*ISO 80, f2.0 for 1 second exposure time.*

*CONTROL SHOT* - only light in the room is from streetlight outside





*TK40 on LOW*





*TK40 on MEDIUM*





*TK40 on HIGH*





*TK40 on TURBO*





Note how the image ends up totally over-exposed with the light on Turbo? 

Heck in a powercut I reckon you could comfortably run the light on Medium and have plenty of light to see by combined with good runtime!


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## Badbeams3 (Apr 16, 2009)

Alright! Some great shots showing what this light can do...looks pretty powerful to me. I had to buy a new stove/oven...cost me $320...so my light purchases got put on hold for the month  This light will be the most expensive light I have ever bought...but by far the brightest  It will probably be the only light I buy this year...well, guess I say that all the time :ironic: Thanks for the pic`s. I look forward to any others you might post :thumbsup:

Edit: I must say I got a good chuckle at your user name Dave


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## zx7dave (Apr 16, 2009)

How does the TK40 compare against the Ultrafire WF-1000L? Based off your memory back when you had the WF-1000L...


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## toby_pra (Apr 17, 2009)

Very nice Review! Many thx...:wave:


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## Creecher (Apr 17, 2009)

DM51 said:


> Dave, this is good work and a useful review.
> 
> I'd like to move it to the Reviews section, but could you resize your photos please? Most of the beamshots are much too large - Rule 3 states that images should not exceed 800 x 800 pixels.


 
That's an honour that your review is worthy of T'n'H. Nice work (nice65).:wave:


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 17, 2009)

Badbeams3 said:


> Alright! Some great shots showing what this light can do...looks pretty powerful to me. I had to buy a new stove/oven...cost me $320...so my light purchases got put on hold for the month  This light will be the most expensive light I have ever bought...but by far the brightest  It will probably be the only light I buy this year...well, guess I say that all the time :ironic: Thanks for the pic`s. I look forward to any others you might post :thumbsup:
> 
> Edit: I must say I got a good chuckle at your user name Dave



Thanks man. It's surprisingly powerful and at the 15-20m range it kicks out a hell of a lot of light. Assuming the whether clears for tomorrow night's outdoor beamshot session I'll get the Mrs to stand at various set distances with the light on Turbo so we get some beamshots with a person at various distances.

Well, I used to have longer hair and a beard. Combine that with the fact I'm 6'7" tall and I have a lot of body hair (just look at my arms in those pics) and you can see why I chose it!  

One of the nicknames the Mrs gave me is "The Yeti!"



zx7dave said:


> How does the TK40 compare against the Ultrafire WF-1000L? Based off your memory back when you had the WF-1000L...



The WF was I think a bit more of a thrower. This one is definately a wider flood but still pretty throwy. I prefer the TK40 though, nicer size and feel in hand.



toby_pra said:


> Very nice Review! Many thx...:wave:



Thanks Toby. Glad you liked it



Creecher said:


> That's an honour that your review is worthy of T'n'H. Nice work (nice65).:wave:



Thanks mate! (and :wave: to a fellow BB'er)


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 17, 2009)

I just noticed something odd about the beam of my TK40.

It has a SECOND darker ring of spill around the main area of spill.

This ring has a bluey/purpley tone, and forms a ring around the white spill area with a darker zone seperating the two.

It's very odd! Not bad, just odd... Never seen it before on one of my lights. It's visible at all power settings, but is most noticeable on High and Turbo

I'll try and get a photo.


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 17, 2009)

Here we go...

First photo was taken with the torch on Medium. You can see the hotspot, the spill and then make out the "corona" or "secondary spill" around the outside of the spill. (It's more noticeable in this photo near the torch head)







And this was it on Turbo

You can't see the difference between the hotspot or spill anymore because they've whited out that bit of the image, but you can see the corona really clearly.





(the black splodge at roughly 1 o'clock in this photo is a mark on the wall)


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## Sarratt (Apr 17, 2009)

Thank you for this great review.


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 18, 2009)

Sarratt said:


> Thank you for this great review.



Thanks.

Good news everyone! The weather has cleared so far, and with luck no rain tonight.

Fingers crossed, the outdoor beamshots tonight are "go"


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## thermal guy (Apr 18, 2009)

Wow not many people use straight razors anymore! Great review.


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## TallNHairyDave (Apr 18, 2009)

Sorry folks. The "normal world" intervened and I didn't get a chance to get out into the woods to take more outdoor beamshots.

Hopefully next weekend though.


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## Marko (Apr 21, 2009)

TallNHairyDave said:


> Meanwhile, back to the mystery lanyard thing...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I was wondering about that too (from pictures), nice that You have solved it. Seems like now there is some "official" info available:
http://www.fenixlight.com/viewnproduct.asp?id=41


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## Felco (Oct 4, 2009)

TallNHairyDave said:


> By way of experiment, the Mrs just zapped me with it on Turbo from about 7 feet away. (I.e. literally just flashed it up so the hotspot was on my eyes and then dropped it back down again)
> 
> Turbo alone made me shut my eyes and flinch away.
> 
> ...



DO NOT do this and do not let children have access to high power LED flashlights. I suspect that these lights may be the next "asbestos". In 15 years we'll all know....


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## BaldOldWhiteGuy (Oct 5, 2009)

Thanks for the review. I am a big Fenix fan, but I have been hesitant to drop the cash for the TK40... Now it might be my Christmas present to myself!


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## ccryder (Nov 2, 2009)

Yep this is what I expect under my X-mas tree. I already got the Wife her X-mas present (or at least one) and we started using it (a fire pit) since the weather is just right. I hinted that since she got her present early that it would be nice........ We will see.

Since I have a 5ac backyard and a shooting range I'll have to set up a flashlight range also. B/t my HIDfog light and Quark Turbo AA2, we were chasing the Deer all over the place last night while enjoying the firepit. I was reaching out 100+ yards with the HID and finding all sorts of green-eyed monsters. Can't wait for the TK40!


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## daf3m (May 10, 2010)

Very informative review without much technical details!Also very informative and useful the detail from the FENIX manual that suggests only 15 minutes usage on turbo 
I've read that 4 batteries can be used in case of emergency(as mentioned "Uses eight 1.5V AA (Alkaline, Ni-MH) batteries(4 AA batteries is available in emergency)" .
Could someone explain how is this possible?


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## Locoboy5150 (May 10, 2010)

daf3m said:


> Could someone explain how is this possible?



All of the eight AA batteries are not connected together in series. The TK40's battery carrier connects two groups of four AA batteries in parallel. Thus, it can operate in all light output modes with only four batteries. The run time will be shorter compared to with all eight batteries installed though.


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## daf3m (May 10, 2010)

Aha ..!:thanks: for the clarification Locoboy5150.


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