The Wurkkos TS12 will feature the following:
- 14500 cell
- YLX N3535B emitter
- 1050lm with 432m throw on Turbo
- side e-switch
- USB-C charging port
- magnetic tailcap
Video link:
https://youtu.be/nby6hIdPVE0
(Saw on BLF)
The Wurkkos TS12 will feature the following:
Video link:
https://youtu.be/nby6hIdPVE0
(Saw on BLF)
Interesting about the NiMH AAAA’s. The 200 lumen lights of 2010 were because of LED limits back then. Batteries are a little bit better now, but LEDs are ridiculously better.
I don’t see Hank as trying to make the smallest possible lights, given that the D4v2 and D4K are almost the same thickness, and the D2 is huge for a 14500 light. He is trying to make them as short as possible, but doesn’t care that much about diameter. He also ships a rather gaudy Anduril setup, so the first thing I had to do when I got mine was figure out how to set it to something a little more sedate.
Of course everyone has their own usage patterns and obsessions. I do like very small lights, like the Skilhunt E3A that I carry most of the time. I sometimes think of dialing back its power level (by changing a resistor) to get more runtime, but in practice I’m not likely to bother.
The 2AA Minimag was supposedly the most popular flashlight of the 1980s-90s. It might have gotten 14 lumens with brand new batteries and bulb. Over most of its runtime and bulb life, it was more like 5 lumens. It was focusable, but still, people hugely underestimate what a few lumens can do in a dark environment.
If the D2 were a single-channel light, used smaller-than-3535 emitters, or had uselessly-small/bad optics, I’d be more inclined to agree. It’s still smaller than my Rider RX though, while having the choice between twice the power or twice the functionality. And it’s definitely smaller than carrying two separate 14500 lights, which is basically what it is. As one who uses UV for work, I rather like needing to carry just one light.
I’m not sure what you mean by “gaudy” here. Do you mean, “capable of going past 100 lumens”? I’m not the type to run my flashlights at the ceiling any more than I drive with my gas pedal slammed to the floor, so I just leave Turbo enabled and the ceiling at default so I don’t need to reconfigure when I need more than 35/150 delivers.
That’s why I love ramping UI’s like Anduril, and wish Skilhunt, Zebra, and Convoy had better mode spacing. Skilhunt’s not bad though. Well, at least the M and H series that have multiple levels.
That Maglite was only really enough in a “better than nothing” way. Yeah, I could walk around the ship without tripping over the lower lip of watertight hatches, but between the low lumens, low CCT (with resulting drop in CRI), and narrow beam even when set to max spill, plus the ringiness, found it difficult working on live circuits due to the beam quality. For things like working inside a live breaker panel or going through an unlit hangar bay without tripping over tiedown chains, it really helps having a bit more flood, and enough lumens to support making an entire circle evenly-bright. Between that and breaking at least a dozen of them doing things that my Hanklights didn’t even feel despite their reputation for fragility, I actually stopped caring about flashlights for a while until technology evolved. But that’s what the ship store had, and with no internet and the nearest store (or land) thousands of miles away, I used what was available. It’s also why I prefer high-CRI flooders in the 4500-5700K range; to make up for years of using low-quality lights.
The main thing I remember prompting the word “gaudy” was the setting of the aux leds to some kind of breathing, color-changing mode. I changed it, like I think most people do, to show the battery level. I also set the ramping to 7 steps instead of stepless, though that’s a matter of preference. 2 click turbo is there but until a few weeks ago I hardly ever used it for real (as opposed to impressing myself by lighting up trees while outside). Instead I generally use level 1 (supposedly 10 lumens) or click up to level 3 or so if I want more illumination. Ironically, the thing I now use turbo for is charging up GITD tape, which I got a roll of recently. I don’t know the lux level, but a few seconds at 3 inches from the light is enough to fully charge the tape.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my D4v2, but I feel like there is some design confusion to Hank lights in general, with the D4v2 being a lucky hit. The battery crushing, too-short tailcap spring in the boost converter configs, the battery fussiness in the M44 per the recent review, the inability to accomodate protected cells (which would take a slightly longer battery tube and allow the use of cells with built in USB charging), etc., all seem like compromises in basic functionality for no gain that I can see. It’s not about minimizing the size or weight, as we see with the D2 or the rather heavy DW4. The D2 design has its attractions but I’d frankly prefer an 18650 version.
I liked this old Jim Sexton CPF post about different types of flashaholics (flashlight enthusiasts):
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/cured-of-flashoholism-mahalo-don.216921/page-2#post-2767473
I went through most of those phases, and eventually withdrew from the hobby because of a firmware bug in my Spy 005. Anduril got me back in, but I still mostly refuse to buy microprocessor lights with closed firmware. I think of reprogramming my D2v4 as a one level light of around 100 lumens, with some kind of “secret” escape code if I want to access the rest of the modes. In the sense of that CPF post, it seems to me that Hank’s lights (and today’s BLF-style lights in general) have not yet really matured.
Ah, “Disco Mode”. Yeah, it impresses the Normies, and everyone else will just 7H regardless. I’m a ramping Mode guy, and wish Zebra would put in a ramping mode. I find Turbo nice as a party trick, hand warmer, or improvised heat gun, but rarely as a light source. My UV D2’s are better at charging GITD stuff than ungawdly lumens of white light.
I consider the D4V2 to be the Gold Standard. Not the best, but as a light to compare others to. I’m not sure if the KR4 is really all that different from the D4V2, but my KR4, D4V2, and DT8 all have the same dent despite the KR4 being my only boosted Hanklight. As for not being able to use protected cells, I see no sense in allowing a light that will draw 18A to be able to take batteries that max out at 10A. And I have opinions about USB charging that make me consider being unable to use things of questionable quality and reliability a plus. I simply never trusted mini-chargers even before USB existed.
The weight of the DW4 actually makes sense to me. Aside from the actual metal portion of the head and the bezel, it’s a D4V2; same parts bins and all. Simplifies logistics. Pretty important for any business doing less than a billion dollars a year. Potentially being over 4000 lumens with a Linear+FET driver as opposed to the boost driver of the TH30 or the (far less powerful) Zebras and Skilhunts has some thermal requirements that can’t be met with thin metal. It takes thicker, heavier metal to transfer the heat from where it’s generated to where it can be shed. Then there’s the layout required to use the same boards and optics as the D4V2. To my mind, it’s as small as can be without requiring more DW4-specific parts, and as light as it can be to maintain thermals comparable to a D4V2. Now, if manufacturing were entirely “Print on demand” and all that was required for different models was changing a program in a 3D printer, then I’d fell differently. But I worked manufacturing (mostly as a CNC machinist) for long enough to understand the engineering. The D2 was entirely new from the ground up, which allowed for greater freedom of design.
I don’t see myself there. The closest is #3, but even that isn’t really close. And it seems outright derogatory towards those who aren’t, “A 3D-cell Maglite was good enough for my grandfather, so it’s good enough for me and is the only light anyone should ever need!”, folks. I’m honestly surprised he didn’t yell at the kids to get off his lawn.
That really depends on one’s idea of “matured”. I’ve been a bit of a technophile and neophile for half a century. I do not see “matured” as “becoming closer to my tastes as I, personally, get older”. My definition is closer to, “Expansion of capability”. It’s the ability to meet the needs/desires of a wider market, even if that requires a bit of a learning curve to configure it to one’s personal tastes. Anduril seems pretty close, and I think Hanklights do as well when you consider how many hardware options he offers. What you describe seems to me to be a simple matter of setting Simple Mode to a single step with Floor and Ceiling adjusted appropriately, then hitting 10H as needed. No need to edit source code and reflash.
This thread is getting long, but:
Only the FET+1 version of the D4v2 drew 18A and from what I can tell, Hank gave up on that some time ago. The present CC drivers take 5A, 7.5A, or 9A depending. I think mine is 7.5A. No idea about the boost driver.
The highest discharge 18350 that I could find with a quick search was 10A (Hank offers an 18350 tube for the D4v2), same as I see for USB charging 18650 (Vapcell P1835A). I also see a 30 amp USB-C 21700 (Acebeam IMR21700H-400A) so for the D4K, that concern simply goes away. Anyway, if the user wants to give up the “hand warmer” mode of a light to have some more flexibility in battery choices, that should be up to the user. So I think you are simply trying to rationalize a shortcoming of this light. My other 18650 light (Fenix BC21R) works fine on both protected and unprotected cells. It came with a protected cell and it’s annoying to not be able to interchange that cell between the two lights. The BC21R’s brightest mode also heats up too fast to be usable, so the protected cell isn’t the limiting factor.
All versions of the D4v2 appear to dent up batteries. The boost version with its flat spring seems to have even worse problems, but I don’t have one so am not sure of specifics.
I’m not claiming that the D4v2 is too big or heavy. I find it just right, and I’d actually prefer it slightly bigger, to accomodate protected cells. All I’ve said is that whatever Hank is after, it doesn’t seem to be weight or size minimization. The D4v2 is slightly bigger than a 1xCR123A McLux Sundrop for what it’s worth, and weighs about the same because of the Sundrop’s heavier titanium construction. And I found the Sundrop to be just about perfect for its era.
I’d consider a mature light as one conceived holistically by the designer in the context of a deep understanding of its intended usage, not compromising its usability as a light source in favor of party tricks or heat gun functions. The Spy 005 was radical but at the same time mature as conceived, even though some bugs then had to be worked out of the implementation. I’d say all the later McLuxes have the same sense of maturity. McGizmo is a real Zen master of flashlights.
As for Hank offering lots of hardware options, that is somewhat true. There is a 35mm battery tube, and a 50mm, and a 65mm. So why is he (and apparently you) he so opposed to a 70mm? I’d buy one. I’d also probably buy a D4K, if it could hold the Vapcell P2150A which is a 76.6mm 21700 with a built in power bank function. (Hmm, maybe that can fit into the D4Sv2 with the 26800 tube and a spacer).