Thrunite W1 Blue “Aquachigger” Flashlight Review
Thrunite has released the W1 Blue Aquachigger flashlight, a 16340 based flashlight. This light has SST-20 emitter and an indicating e-switch.
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a link to the Thrunite W1 Blue Aquachigger Flashlight product page. It seems they’ve changed the link and now it’s going to redirect to a package page with the orange H01.
Versions
Thrunite’s site right now seems to be a bit of a mess, but there are at least a few versions of the W1. There’s this Aquachigger. There’s the green Black Scout Survival version. That seems to be all that’s listed. All the versions are cool white.
If you want black, you could get the Wowtac version, which I have reviewed.
Price
There doesn’t seem to be a price for just the Thrunite W1 Blue Aquachigger flashlight. It’s now a combo, and alongside the Joe Robinet orange H01, the set is $29.99. You can find that set here.
Short Review
This is a nice little light. I do wish that Thrunite had gone with a neutral white emitter here. But I do think swapping will be easy. All in all though, for the combo price, I think this is hard to beat.
Long Review
The Big Table
| Thrunite W1 Blue Aquachigger | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Luminus SST20 (CW) |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $29.99 |
| Cell: | 1×16340 |
| Turbo Runtime Graph | High Runtime Graph |
| LVP? | Yes |
| Switch Type: | E-Switch |
| Quiescent Current (mA): | Below detection level |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Charge Port Type: | micro-USB |
| Charge Graph | |
| Power off Charge Port | With or without cell: Lowest mode only |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 693 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 714 (103% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 12.1 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 166 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 350lux @ 4.888m = 8362cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 182.9 (110.2% of claim)^ |
| All my Thrunite reviews! | |
^ Measurement disclaimer: Testing flashlights is my hobby. I use hobbyist-level equipment for testing, including some I made myself. Try not to get buried in the details of manufacturer specifications versus measurements recorded here; A certain amount of difference (say, 10 or 15%) is perfectly reasonable.
What’s Included
- Thrunite W1 Blue Aquachigger flashlight
- Thrunite 650mAh 16340
- Charge cable (USB to micro-USB)
- Pocket clip
- Spare o-rings (2)
- Spare charge port covers (2)
- Manual and paperwork
Package and Manual
Build Quality and Disassembly
If you’re paying attention until now, you’ll note that there’s a Wowtac precursor to the W1. I reviewed it, and I like it. The Thrunite W1 Blue Aquachigger flashlight has the same feature set, but a redesigned body.
On the Thrunite version, we see rings instead of knurling, but otherwise, not many changes.
Here’s a top-down view.
“Chigg’s Army” this says. Aquachigger is a youtube channel dedicated to hunting things in the water. Here’s a link to the youtube channel if you want to check out more.
On the tailcap is a logo of Aquachigger.
Inside the head here you can see that little has changed from the Wowtac version. By “little” I mean “nothing.” Not that that’s a bad thing.
The tailend has a spring. But the head is just this brass button.
Size and Comps
68mm x 24.5mm x 20mm, and 40g without the cell.
If the flashlight will headstand, I’ll show it here (usually the third photo). If the flashlight will tailstand, I’ll show that here, too (usually the fourth photo).
Here’s the test light with the venerable Convoy S2+. Mine’s a custom “baked” edition Nichia 219b triple. A very nice 18650 light.
And here’s the light beside my custom engraved TorchLAB BOSS 35, an 18350 light. I reviewed the aluminum version of that light in both 35 and 70 formats.
Retention and Carry
The main carry method will be the pocket clip, which attaches only to the tail end of the light. The clip is a 2-way friction fit clip. Two-way clips aren’t my favorite clips, to be honest, but on lights with only one attachment point, this does give the option of bezel up or down carry.
There’s a wrong way to install the clip – if you don’t press it fully into the groove, it’ll be out as seen below.
A magnet in the tailcap is plenty strong to hold the light.
There’s also a lanyard loop in the tail end. No lanyard is included.
Pocket clip hug!
With the retention feature set, the Thrunite W1 Blue Aquachigger flashlight should serve just fine as a hatlight.
Power and Runtime
The W1 is powered by a single lithium-ion cell – in this case, a 16340. An appropriate cell is included – a 650mAh button top.
The cell is installed into the light in the usual way – positive end toward the head.
Runtimes follow. Turbo steps down fairly quickly, but not in such a way that it seems to be gaming the ANSI standard. This is acceptable. Also this is exactly the same performance as the Wowtac.
The light has an indicating switch, and when the cell voltage is low, this switch will turn red, then blink red.
Charging
The Thrunite W1 Blue Aquachigger flashlight also has built-in charging by way of a micro-USB port on the head.
An appropriate cable is included – USB to micro-USB.
Charging proceeds at around 0.5A, which is good. That’s just under 1C for this 16340. This requires around 2 hours for complete charging, and only charges to around 4.15 consistently. However, when “topping” this cell up to 4.20V, there’s really negligible energy added (something like 3mAh), so I wouldn’t get too bent up about this being below 4.2V.
Modes and Currents
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens | Tailcap Amps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo | 693/231 | 75s/74m | 714 | 1.98 |
| High | 215 | 90m | 223 | 0.58 |
| Medium | 58 | 5h | 62 | 0.14 |
| Low | 7.5 | 60h | ~ | 0.01 |
| Firefly | 0.5 | 13d | ~ | 1mA |
Pulse Width Modulation
Low and Turbo don’t have PWM, but the middle three modes do. I don’t notice it, though.
Here you can see a “baseline” – a chart with almost no light hitting the sensor.
Then there’s the Ultrafire WF-602C flashlight, which has some of the worst PWM I’ve seen. It’s so bad that I used a post about it to explain PWM! Here are multiple timescales (10ms, 5ms, 2ms, 1ms, 0.5ms, 0.2ms) to make comparing this “worst” PWM light to the test light easier. That post also explains why I didn’t test the WF-602C at the usual 50us scale.
User Interface and Operation
There’s a single switch on the Thrunite W1 Blue Aquachigger flashlight. It’s an indicating e-switch, with a gray translucent cover.
Here’s a user interface table!
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Click | On (memory, LMH only) |
| Off | Hold | Firefly |
| Firefly | Hold | Lock |
| Lock | Hold | Unlock |
| Any | Double Click | Turbo |
| Any | Triple Click | Strobe |
| On | Click | Off |
| On | Hold | Mode cycle (LMH only) |
| On for some time (“a while”, 30ish seconds) | Hold | Low |
That’s a similar user interface to other Wowtacs (A4, A5, and A6 for example) and also many Thrunites (TC20 for example), except for access to strobe. I love that fact mainly because I like the user interface in general – very simple but enough features, and easy to access low and high.
LED and Beam
Unlike the Wowtac W1, the Thrunite W1 utilizes a Luminus SST-20 emitter. It’s cool white, too, and despite there being text of “neutral white” on the website, Thrunite seems to be slowly creeping away from any NW offerings at all.
This light has a shallow orange peel reflector but provides a nice tight hotspot.
These beamshots always have the following settings: f8, ISO100, 0.3s shutter, and manual 5000K exposure. These photos are taken at floor level, and the beam hits the ceiling around 9 feet away.
Tint vs BLF-348 (KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b version) (affiliate link)
I keep the test flashlight on the left and the BLF-348 reference flashlight on the right.
I compare everything to the KillzoneFlashlights.com 219b BLF-348 because it’s inexpensive and has the best tint!
Conclusion
What I like
- Meets (really “exceeds”) specifications on throw and output
- Complete package
- Included cell is good
- Nice hotspot
- Magnet is nice and strong
What I don’t like
- Cool white emitter
- PWM on middle three modes
- There doesn’t seem to be a “nonbranded” version (and none of these branded versions are orange.)
Notes
- This light was provided by Thrunite for review. I was not paid to write this review.
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