Thrunite Thrower Headlamp Review
Thrunite has introduced the Thrower Headlamp, an aptly named Luminus SFT-40 emitter headlamp with USB-C charging that really throws! Read on!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a link to the Thrunite Thrower Headlamp product page.
Versions
There’s just one version of the Thrunite Thrower Headlamp.
Price
The Thrunite Thrower Headlamp sells for $49.95 right now, and at that price includes the 18650 cell you see in this review. It’s listed at $49.99 on Amazon, but you can apply a 20% off coupon, bringing the Thrunite Thrower Headlamp under $40 (referral link)!
Short Review
Well, this is definitely a thrower of a headlamp! So as far as an item meeting the specification implicated in the title, it’s done that! Throw is great. The output is good too. USB-C charging works well, charging at nearly 2A. All in all, this is a great value headlamp at around $40!
Long Review
The Big Table
| Thrunite Thrower Headlamp | |
|---|---|
| Emitter: | Luminus SFT-40 (Cool White) |
| Price in USD at publication time: | $49.95 or $40 on amazon with coupon! (referral link) |
| Cell: | 1×18650 |
| Turbo Runtime Graph | High Runtime Graph |
| LVP? | Switch warning |
| Switch Type: | E-Switch |
| Quiescent Current (mA): | 0.02 |
| On-Board Charging? | Yes |
| Charge Port Type: | USB-C |
| Charge Graph | |
| Power off Charge Port | “with cell: Firefly only without cell or body: Firefly only” |
| Claimed Lumens (lm) | 1755 |
| Measured Lumens (at 30s) | 1642 (93.6% of claim)^ |
| Candela per Lumen | 18.2 |
| Claimed Throw (m) | 323 |
| Candela (Calculated) in cd (at 30s) | 1167lux @ 5.555m = 36011cd |
| Throw (Calculated) (m) | 379.5 (117.5% of claim)^ |
| Claimed CCT | CW |
| Measured CCT Range (K) | 7000 Kelvin |
| Item provided for review by: | Thrunite |
| 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 Thrower Headlamp
- Thrunite 3400mAh 18650
- Spare o-rings (2)
- Charging cable (USB to USB-C)
- Spare charge port cover
- Headband etc
- Manual
Package and Manual
Build Quality and Disassembly
Thrunite typically makes a nice quality item, and the Thrunite Thrower Headlamp is no exception. There’s nothing I would say directly “this should be made better.”
As far as the build goes, the Thrunite Thrower Headlamp is nearly exactly like the TH30 V2, which I have tested.
Below you can see the tailcap spring. There’s no magnet under that spring (which I find a bit unusual). The threads are short and appropriately lubed. They’re square cut and anodized, too – mechanical lockout is possible with just a short twist.
The positive end has a brass button, but I failed to get a pic of that.
Size and Comps
Officially: 107.5mm x 26.5mm x 23mm and 56g 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 primary means to carry this light will be the headband. The strap is a nice rubber (silicone?) band. The light has smooth indentions which hold the light tightly but still allow the light to rotate, too.
And that’s it! There’s no magnet here. No pocket clip is included, either!
Power and Runtime
A single 18650 runs this headlamp. The button on the positive end would cause no problems using any type of 18650 (button or flat). Do be aware that Turbo requires a lot of the cell (around 8A), so you need to use a high-quality cell for this light.
Thrunite includes this 3400mAh button top cell.
The cell is installed with the button toward the head.
Here are a few runtime tests. Stepdown from the initial 1847 lumens happens at around 1 minute, and then the output drifts downward. High and Medium have approximately the same profile (but without the initial high level stepping down).
I didn’t observe low voltage protection in these tests, but the switch did indicate when the cell was low. It indicates as follows:
Blue: 21-100% power
Red: 11-20% power
Flashing Red: 1-10% power
Off: 0% power
Charging
The Thrunite Thrower Headlamp has onboard charging, too. The head has a USB-C port, which is covered by a rubber boot. Connection of the cover to the body is very snug and secure (an improvement from the TH30 V2, I’d say).
Charging works well, and the CC phase is around 2A for the duration. It’s also very consistent.
C to C charging works, too!
During charging, the indicator switch lights in red. When charging is complete, the indicator turns blue.
Modes and Currents
| Mode | Mode Claimed Output (lm) | Claimed Runtime | Measured Lumens | Tailcap Amps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo | 1755~373 | 5.5m~240m | Initial: 1847 30s: 1642 |
8.37 |
| High | 735~395 | 6.5m~240h | 583 | 2.88 |
| Medium | 258 | 10h | 273 | 0.68 |
| Low | 62 | 48h | 59 | 0.16 |
| Firefly | 0.4 | 39d | 0.4 | 2.2mA |
Pulse Width Modulation
I’d call this use of PWM on the middle three modes to be quite surprising by Thrunite. It probably won’t bother you, except in Low where it could be reasonably be seen by most people.
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
The Thrunite Thrower Headlamp has a single switch on the head. It’s an e-switch, with two indicating emitters; red and blue. The switch is held in place by a bezel I couldn’t remove (not sure if it’s screwed in or press-fit, but there are no reliefs, so it’s likely press-fit) This might not seem like a big deal but have a look at it below. It’s very smooth and great for button-pressing-comfort.
Here’s a user interface table!
| State | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Click | On (Mode Memory except for Firefly, Turbo, and SOS) |
| Off | Hold | Firefly |
| Any | Double Click | Turbo |
| On | Hold | Mode Advance (L, M, H) (No Firefly, Turbo, or SOS) |
| Any | Triple Click | SOS |
| On | Click | Off |
There is no strobe!
LED and Beam
One of the few things that makes this throwy headlamp the Thrower Headlamp is this Luminus SFT-40 emitter. The small emitting area plus the smooth reflector gives a beam with a very tight hotspot.
If you doubt, check out the cd/lm in the table way up top. At cd/lm of 18, it’s a very throwy headlamp!
LED Color Report (CRI and CCT)
Quite a range of CCT on this emitter. But that’s from the wide range of drive it sees – from in the mA range to all the way up around 9A. From around 5700K to up around 7300K. CRI is unsurprisingly low too, at around 67. There’s a price to be paid for all that throw out of one emitter, and that’s the price!
Beamshots
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
- Throw is ridiculous for a headlamp!
- user interface is very simple and pretty good.
- Build quality is good
- Full package is included
- Hits the numbers (throw and output)
- Updated to USB-C charge port
What I don’t like
- Big stepdown from the initial output
- Cool white only
Notes
- This content originally appeared at zeroair.org. Please visit there for the best experience!
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