Fenix L2D v TANK007 TK-566 shoot out.

The Fenix L2D CE and the TANK007 TK-566

Overall impressions for both lights are very good indeed. The Fenix L2D CE is around 18 months old and the TANK007 TK-566 has just arrived today. This is a comparison of a $60 flashlight versus a $15 flashlight.

Overall impressions to begin with.

Firstly the Fenix L2D CE;

This is a very well made and impressive flashlight which takes 2 AA cells either of the alkaline, NiMH and primary Lithium (energiser) type. It is very well made and precisely built and made from good quality components. This version didn't have the orange peel reflector. The L2D weighs 116 grams with standard Eneloop NiMH

A good review is available here at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w622hSop__c

and here at http://www.light-reviews.com/fenix_l2d_ce_q5/

Overall this flashlight is highly recommended.


This brings us to the TANK007 TK-566 which is available from Dealextreme for $15

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.18626

How on earth is this $15 flashlight going to compare to the much more expensive Fenix. Well it does and it even exceeds the Fenix is a few areas. The main advantages of this flashlight are that the TK-566 can also be used not only as a double AA but also as a single AA again using all the same battery types. There is even the possibility of the TK-566 being used with a single 14500 rechargable Lithium Cell although some more research may be required before using this cell type. The TK-566 weighs 125 grams so is just slightly heavier than the Fenix

The construction and build is good, although not as good as the Fenix but it is not far off. The flashlight feels good in the hand has a some what better grip than the Fenix, which I have always found to be a little skinny in the middle. The sizes between both flashlight are comparable when the TK-566 is being used with the double AA extension tube.

The feel on the clicky on the TK-566 subjectively easily beats the Fenix L2D clicky being stiffer and more responsive and gives the feeling of being more precise and robust. The TK-566 has a GITD clicky rubber cover so the flashlight can be located in the dark unlike the Fenix.

Beam performance on the TK-566 is very good and is preferable over the Fenix L2D as the L2D suffers from a slight ringing effect.

The only downside is that the TK-566 cannot be used in candle mode unlike the L2D and this can be a really useful function especially if using the diffuser attachment which is available as a Fenix accessory.

The output on the highest setting for both flashlights are very similar and when the TK-566 is used with a single AA Lithium Cell (weighs a very lightweight 66 grams in total) the output is somwhere between the Turbo and maximum output of the L2D using fresh Eneloops.

Another advantage the TK-566 has over the L2D is that it doesn't forget the mode it was in. The TK-566 will cycle through the settings of Medium, Low, High, Strobe, SOS and if turned off will remember the setting unlike the Fenix L2D.

Overall the TK-566 appears to be exceptional value for money and a decent performer even when compared to one of the best.

Good review! Thanks for putting this up. I ordered two lights from DealExtreme two weeks ago myself. I'm waiting for them to arrive now. I hope I will be as happy with mine as you appear to be with yours. The AA one below is for EDC pocket carry, and the CR123 one is for a weapons light system. I hope they work well (fingers crossed!)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.19187
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.16178

Interesting review! I haven't heard of the TANK007 before. However, there seem to be an awful lot of cheap clones of hi-tech tactical flashlights around nowadays.

To be fair though, it's going to be hard to make a direct comparison until you've used the TK-566 for 18 months... Sometimes first impressions can be favorable but only long-term use really shows all the strengths and weaknesses.

Expensive does not always equal better. For example, I have two of the much-revered ARC AAA lights. Both have stopped working. They were about $25 a piece when I bought them. I also have two Gerber Tempo AAA lights that I paid $6.95 each for. The ARC sure feels heavier-duty and better build quality than the Gerber. However, both ARCs are dead, and the Gerbers just keep on going. The Gerbers have more use logged on them than the ARCs had. I hated to see the ARCs go. It was disappointing. I expected the ARCs to last. I didn't expect that of the Gerbers. But it turned out differently. (Note: the ARCs were regulated, the Gerbers not.)

I have been able to to a bit more testing with the new TANK007, to have get an estimate of the output the TK-566. The output is on a par with a Fenix P3D Premium RB100 in Turbo mode but with a slightly better colour tint at about 200 Lumen (the Lumiled's Rebel LED has a slight greenish tinge.) This is exceptional performance considering that the Fenix P3D RB100 is being powered by 3.7 Volt RCR123As and the TK-566 is using 1.3V NiMh Eneloops. The higest output of the TK-566 is getting somewhere near the Turbo mode output of a Fenix T1 but with a slightly smaller and less intense hot spot. The Fenix T1 was rated at 225 Lumen.


Here is the current I measured for so for a 2000 mAhr capacity NiMh this would give roughly the following run times

0.18 A on low = approx 10 Hrs
0.55 A on medium =approx 3.5 hrs
1.58 A on High =approx 1hr 15 minutes

Slightly worse run time performance compared to the Fenix L2D CE with the L2D having a extra low output giving 22 hrs of use.

I also recieved one of these today to drop into an Ultrafire WF-502B.



How about 20 minutes of 400+ lumen from a CR123A sized EDC flashlight for less than $37 in total.

"..I also received one of these today to drop into an Ultrafire WF-502B. "

Goodness me! You must tell me if that actually works at 400 lumens without melting your gloves. I too have a WF-502B with a couple of drop-ins and that drop-in sounds like a must have.

Sadly, about 1/4 of the stuff I have ordered from DX has been faulty lately. Eventually, I get a replacement but it takes forever.

Run them under a faucet or yard sprinkler for a bit and see how they'll handle rain.

They DealExtreme page says the max input voltage is 3v, which rules out a 14500 cell. You should not use one anyway due to safety hazards if there is no undervoltage protection.

The MC-E drop in was run in the Ultrafire WF-502B for about 15 minutes on max power. The ambient air temperature was around 20C. An Ultrafire 18650 2400mAhr LC 3.7V Li-ion cell was used, which I measured at 3.9 Volts open circuit. The Ultrafire certainly heated up but was still able to be handled without any gloves. I would reckon the temperature stablised at around 40-45 C. The current was initially measured at around 1.8 Amps so the power being dissipated would have been around 7 Watts in total. The output at 7 Watts according to Cree on the MC-E technical data sheet would be around 400-450 lumen (based on the neutral white colour). So overall I'm quite happy with the little MC-E based P60 drop in. Low power output should be around the 100 Lumen mark.



I have just run the TANK007 under the faucet for about 2-3 minutes and there was no problem with the TK-566. If fact after inspecting the clicky switch arrangement internally and comparing the design against the Fenix L2D, I am actually more confident that the TK-566 is better protected against water ingress than this Fenix model.

Umm, not really. The Fenix L2D runtime is rated as:
General Mode: 9 lumens (55hrs) -> 40 lumens (10.5hrs) -> 80 lumens (4hrs) -> Turbo Mode: 140 lumens (2.4hrs). 55 hrs vs. 10 hrs makes a big difference IMHO.

One of the main reasons why I bought an LD20 was the flexible output. You have a very bright turbo mode as well as a low output setting where the batteries will last almost forever (plus several options in between).

I was using the real run times that have been measured for L2D here at

http://www.light-reviews.com/fenix_l2d_ce_q5/

All the testing on this website throughout all the reviews have been standardised on Eneloop AA for all the AA type flashlights.


So for the L2D we get;

Turbo Mode = 2 hrs @ 140 lm compared to approx 1hr 15 min @180-200 lm for the TK-566

High = 4 hr 15 min compared to 3.5hrs for the TK-566 (slight difference in the output will account for the difference)

Medium = 9 3/4 hrs each

Low = 22 hrs (calculated from the measured current draw of my L2D). The TK-566 doesn't have this extra low mode.

These were all measured using Eneloop cells. Primary Lithium will have much longer runtimes.

The published manufacturers data for the run times will always be with the best battery chemistry i.e. Energiser Primary Lithium with some slight exaggeration on their products performance, although Fenix I have found don't tend to be to far over the top for their claims compared to other manufacturers that I can think off.

The L2D does have exceptional run time performance and very flexible output/run time performance especially with the extra low 9 lumen output and claimed 55 hr runtime (a mode the TK-566 doesn't have). The Fenix L2D is a highly recommended flashlight.

The run time estimates for the TK-566 are based on initial current readings for the different modes on fresh Eneloop AAs.

Ok, I don't use Eneloops and I've only owned the LD20, which is slightly different from the L2D. That said, it is my experience as well that the official runtimes seem to be reasonably close to the mark. Your estimation of 22 hrs for the L2D on the lowest setting would therefore appear to be too conservative - even judging by the data on the Light Reviews website (48+ hrs).

Either way, I can confirm that I get markedly better runtimes with my LD20 and NiMH or alkaline cells than the ones posted here: http://www.light-reviews.com/fenix_ld20/
So those estimates are either a bit on the conservative side or reflect the relatively modest capacity of the Eneloops. In any case, the very long runtime on the lowest setting on the L2D/LD20 is an important survival feature IMHO and a major selling point for the emergency preparedness minded. Not that it really has anything to do with the TK-566, it's just one more thing to keep in mind.

The Eneloops have slightly less capacity (@ 2000mAhrs) than many other NiMh cell (2500-2700 mAhrs). Lithium Primary AA is rated @ 3200 mAhrs at a slightly higher voltage so flashlight manufacturers cannot help themselves but quote run times using the highest energy density cell such as Primary Lithium.

There is an excellent article showing the measured run times for the L2D are available here;

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=155819

The Lithium AA cells giving an excellent 86 hours. But the measured light output is only 6 Lumens. Comparing like for like 2AA 2600mA gives 60 hrs runtime again at 6 lumen. If we scale for the smaller capacity Eneloops i.e (2000/2600*60) we get 46 hrs. If my Fenix L2D was actually outputting 12 Lumen rather than 6 lumen then it is not unreasonable to assume(6/12*46) = 23hrs usage. (my 22 hour estimate was calculated by measuring the current draw from the flashlight i.e. 2000/90 where 90mA was the measured current considering the excellent flat regulation). Measuring draw current is a lot easier than measuring lumen output I'm afraid.

I have my doubts that the Fenix LD20 according to the Fenix website can actually output 9 Lumen for 71 hours even when using Lithium Energiser AAs. 71 hrs would mean a battery draw of around (3200/71) = 45mA on the lowest output and an output around 6 Lumen, but then again determining whether 6 or 9 lumens (50% brighter) is being generated is very difficult to determine without specialist optical kit. This is probably why subject photographic comparisons of light outputs between known flashlights are so popular on the Candlepower forum.

+1 about the fenix lights, but there is a couple of things about eneloop that I want to comment:

1) They are called low self discharge cells for a reason. With ordinary nimh, you have to babysit and feed that cell on a regular basis to get anywhere near their rated capacity. Store it for a couple of weeks and that high capacity nimh cell is down to the eneloop capacity or lower.

2) The quality of eneloop is very high and their ratings is conservative. You know what you get, and what you get is very good.

3) Other aspects such as cold weather performance and the ability to deliver high currents when required is better with eneloop than most of the alternatives.


If you use and recharge your batteries on a very frequent basis (once every week or so) you may be better off with high capacity nimh of high quality. If not, eneloop (or similar low self discharge cells of high quality) is a better choice. Most of us don't use/recharge anywhere frequent enough to reap the benefit of the higher capacity rated nimh. Most of us could do very well without the drawbacks of maintaining a suite of self-discharging nimh batteries...


Of course, nothing beats lithium primaries for long shelf life and high capacity. But those would be labeled "emergency use ONLY" in my shelf - too expensive. Batteries to be used would be either lsd nimh (i.e. eneloop) or rechargeable lithium batteries. I use primary alkaline only for toys or equipment with incredible low power consumption (remotes, clocks etc).

OK - can I make a constructive suggestion here.

One of the primary purposes of these new flashlights is that they not only are a good survival tool - but they are also very important as self-defense weapons and tactical weapons. However, very little of the info you have posted gives any useful data that could assess the tactical value of the lights.

From a self-defense point of view, you should take each light at night and shine it on a wall about 10-12 feet away from you. Then try to photograph the whole beam spot on the wall and publish the picture here. That kind of info would be really helpful, esp. if you did a comparison between the two flashlights.

Also, take each flashlight and throw it about 25 feet in the air and let it land hard on concrete. See if either one is still working (and uncracked) after this abuse. That checks on durability.

Finally, take each flashlight and ram the forward end through a piece of drywall. See if each light is still intact and working after that abuse.

After these kinds of tests - you'll have something original to really report.

Pete

Wow...all I really need my flashlights do is light up...

If you need a single tool to defend against wall attacks, pulverize concrete, and remove drywall I'd recommend a sledge hammer not a flashlight.

Flashlights are best for reliably providing light. That's the kind of testing/reporting I like to read. Looking for data that proves one is better than another for chiseling your way into Fort Knox seems a little odd.

The concrete & drywall tests aren't necessarily a bad thing depending or your needs: they're reasonable analogs for rocks etc.

If you're going caving or hiking in arctic environments or fording mountain streams etc, there are lots of "stress tests" of this sort that may make sense, assuming you would rather learn of water penetration or a poorly protected batteries at home rather than in the field.

If you're just getting walked by your dog then a "field failure" may not matter much.

Drywall photos & tests are for comparing different flashlights. One can see that flashlight X has a small, high intensity (far reaching) hot spot, flashlight Y has a wide, low intensity flood kind of light and so on. The trained eye can see these things easily.


Apart from providing the "flashlight experts" with a neutral frame of reference to help evaluate the flashlight, drywall photos have zero to none practical applications. Unless you know what to look for in a drywall photo it will tell you zip and nada about how the light perform. Use and abuse it, that's the only way to see if it works for you.


A special branch is called "drywall hunting". It is not the drywall that is hunted (for that a hammer is recommended), rather the drywall is used to hunt for imperfections and flaws in the beam. Slight imperfections in the beam have absolutely no practical consequences, but flashaholic hut for them all the same. A rather nerdy hobby... (Beams bad enough to have practical limitations is a thing of the past, or of very cheap low quality flashlights).

There might have been some confusion generated in what I said above. So let me explain.

First, I don't mind at all if people use a flashlight just for survival purposes. That's great! If that's your whole intention, just say so on the forum. I will completely understand. And there are lots of very nice lights (esp. LED lights) that work fine for that purpose.

But just be aware that some users (incl myself) really DO carry these lights for self-defense and tactical purposes. NOPE - you do not need a sledgehammer. There are modern tactical lights that are super tough, and these suckers can be used as weapons in several ways. For example, take a look at the Hellfighter lights at the following link:

http://www.hellfireusa.com/cgistore/store.cgi?page=/new/catalog.html&setup=1&cart_id=

These suckers are very bright and extremely solid. As in - super tough. They are not particularly light in weight, but they will take a real beating.

You can take one of these lights and ram it straight through the glass window on the drivers door of a car. Look at the front metal edge ahead of the glass lens - the metal is thick and crenulated ... and very strong. It will shatter things on impact. So these lights make a nice rescue tool for entry through windows. That is what I was referring to when I was talking about drywall. I am saying that you take the flashlight, hit the drywall as hard as you can (front end of flashlight first), and knock a hole right through the drywall. That's a good tactical light. It goes without saying that if you can knock holes in drywall, you can also do a pretty nasty job on an attacker's face or body. The flashlight acts as an impact weapon.

Finally, the pattern of light on a wall tells you quite a lot - if you need self-defense info. You really want a good hotspot in the center of the beam, and a low level of light that extends outwards for a good radius. Some lights have this - and a lot don't. This pattern is optimum for self-defense purposes, but other patterns of light may be quite appropriate for other purposes.

Have fun!

Pete

I'm curious Pete, what sort of work do you do that requires you to put flashlights thru windows?

Well...

You can take a cheap ($3 or thereabout) Mini-Maglite knockoff - made in China probably, they've been around for a long time now.

It's about the same size as hi-tech LED lights and has a solid aluminum body. No, it doesn't look as tactical as that Hellfighter thing with spikes. But if you have to, you can easily make neat holes in drywall with it, smash a window or somebody's skull if it ever comes to that. I don't think you'll notice any difference at all in that department between the $3 knockoff and a $150+ Surefire.

I wouldn't count on any light (regardless of the brand and price) still working after you put it through that kind of (ab)use. Then again, if I ever have to beat someone into unconsciousness with a flashlight, whether the light still works once I've accomplished the deed is not going to be my main concern.

If self-defense is that much of a priority though, I think there are better options out there than a tactical light. And if it absolutely has to be a "fighting" flashlight I'd personally go for the biggest, heaviest Maglite out there. YMMV.

A friend of mine once took a hard wack in the face with a big maglite, may have been a 4D... anyway, he reports it was VERY effective. Not sure if the maglite worked afterwards...

...for a 2-AA LED flashlight, I have a Mini-Maglite 2-AA LED, widely available & 1/3 the cost of Fenix LD20.
Maglite has SOS strobe mode, dunno if Fenix does.
Fenix has the turbo/hi/med/lo settings, Minimag has only 2.

Still looking for a reasonably priced single AA or single AAA LED light to replace the single AAA minimag on the keychain.

fenix EO1 - about 13 bucks. a single basic AAA light. Check candlelight forums, a flashlight nerd's delight.

A tactical flashlight with aggressive bezzle.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.23997

Stainless Steel Assault Crown Bezzle with a 400+ Lumen SSC P7 quad LED and 2x CR123. Only $40.

Power it with Soshine rechargeables RCR123's for economy.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13811

Of course you'll also need a tactical pen as well as a backup for your flashlight.

i.e. the Benchmade Tactical Stainless Steel Pen

http://www.lighthound.com/Benchmade-Tactical-Combat-Pen-Stainless-Steel-Body-Black-Ink_p_3103.html

ROFL LED Flashlight with Assault Crown! Doesn't get more tactical than that, huh?

Seriously though, should you ever be forced to use that light for self-defense it might become a liability. That Assault Crown (TM) thing might not be received well in court. In fact, it could get you into a lot of trouble.

For the same reason it might not be a good idea to EDC a folding knife with something like X-Terminator or Street Fighter written all over the blade... Again, YMMV.

In reference to earlier comments ... I do carry these tough flashlights overseas. I am responsible for peoples' safety in foreign countries, including trips into some pretty rough areas of third world countries. The tactical flashlight functions as a very effective backup weapon - if needed. It's convenient because it serves a double function ... you need a light anyway, and it's got extra defense purposes.

But your first choice for self-defense should be some other (more effective) weapon. The flashlight is a last resort if it comes to physical force.

Breaking the windows of cars is an important rescue technique. It is potentially necessary any time you're responding to a bad auto crash and the driver/passengers are knocked unconscious (or helpless). See, for example, one of the other threads on this forum right now - where someone talks about a woman passenger who died while being trapped in a burning vehicle. These tough flashlights are a very effective tool for breaking a window if you need to.

However as I said - there are many different kinds of lights. Lots of them function really well for survival or rescue purposes. Not all of them are intended for tactical purposes, and that's fine. These days there are a very wide variety of choices ... there should be something to suit just about anybody.

It still would be quite helpful if people published photo's here of the lightbeams from their flashlights. Just do a simple comparison ... side-by-side photo of the new flashlight and a standard mag light would be quite good.

Pete

Here are some comparisons with the $15 TANK007 TK-566 with some other flashlights. The TK-566 is always on the left of the photo. All outputs are maximum outputs.


TK-566 versus a Mini Maglite 2AA with Nite Ize 3 LED bulb and IQ switch.


TK-566 versus a Ultrafire WF-502B with a Cree MCE LED drop in.



TK-566 versus Fenix P3D Premium 100


TK-566 versus Fenix L2D CE

If a bad guy is close enough for the flashlight's crenelations to be useful, you don't have time be get the flashlight out of your pocket or holster.

I like a crenelated head in order to have an "alternate candle" mode: put the flashlight muzzle-down on a table and use it as an emergency candle if tail-standing isn't a good idea (outdoors, for example).

I do care about beam aesthetics but usually consider other characteristics more important so if it projects a donut then so be it. However, a donut usually means a cheap & sloppy design, and if the manufacturer can't even be bothered to use optics that match the emitter there's not much likely to be done right.

Thanks for posting the beam shots - quite nice.
The TK-566 looks pretty good. I'll check it out.

The main problem with the tactical flashlights is cost. They cost serious $$. I always hate losing expensive equipment. I try not to ... but stuff happens.

If you get hit in the face (or other vital points) with any solid metal object - it's really hurts. If you find yourself in a threatening situation on the streeet at night, make sure you already have your flashlight (or knife) in your hand. Awareness is very important. Never let the bad guys get the jump on you. I have never seen any law cases about people n the USA using tactical flashlights in self-defense. But I'd certainly guess that in the USA it could potentially be a problem - you can't smash people with a crenulated flashlight without a very good reason. So, you need to adapt your level of force to the real situation you are in.

In the old days a Mag light was fine - and was often carried by security guards and police. The Mag lights are just heavy, that's all. The new tactical lights are much brighter, and a bit less bulky.

OK, I didn't mean to hijack this thread with discussions about self-defense. This is a survival forum.

I do like the strobe light function on the Fenix light - it would be nice as an emergency signalling device for outdoors use.

Pete

You must not have read John G. Peters Jr. book "Defensive Tactics with Flashlights" book then. The entire second half of the book is dedicated to analysis of legal cases brought against those who used flashlights for defensive purposes. This is an older book from back in the days when larger MagLights ruled the world, but there are plenty of legal cases regarding flashlights used for non-light-providing purposes (i.e., "defensive" use).

You are right - I have not heard of that older book. I'll get a copy. I do review the modern info. Thanks!

Pete