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(More customer reviews)My first experience with the Fenix brand was with the PD20 I had given as a gift. And after having a chance to play with all the modes and seeing just how much light they actually put out, I decided to purchase one of my own. I definitely wanted the strobe feature & cigar ring so I went with the TK 12, and I'm very pleased so far:
Dual outputs stored in separate modes. It seems complicated at first, but its actually very simple to switch between them; loosen, tighten, loosen, tighten in rapid succession to cycle to next mode. Once you're in the mode you desire, its a simple matter of keeping the bezel tightened for mode B or loosened for mode A. The manual states that mode order is Outdoor, Camping, Hunting, but it seems to actually be Camping (5/90), Outdoor (50/225), Hunting (225/strobe).
Output memory is also a nice touch. Once you turn the flashlight on again, it will still be in the last mode you selected. It also has a temporary on feature.
It is also built like a tank. This thing has a solid, weighty feel to it (but barely noticeable while worn on the belt) and could easily survive hard knocks and drops. The cigar ring is also removable if you don't need or want it, however removing it leaves a portion of threading on the tube bare. Fenix offers a replacement smooth ring to protect the threading if you desire that style more.
While not mentioned on the list of contents/features the TK12 comes with a spare rubber click cap (orange. The one installed is black), two spare O-rings, one for the battery cap and the other for the bezel, a carrying pouch & a lanyard. The belt clip shown is included, but does not come installed on the flashlight (you have to unscrew the battery cap & cigar ring to slide it on). And although appearing flimsy and thin in the pictures, the clip is actually very robust and extremely taut, I have to give it a good force just to clip it onto my pants pocket. You could clip your TK12 to your belt with little worry of it slipping off.
I was, however, somewhat speculative of the 200 meter range claim and thought maybe they mean 200 feet? So this was one of the first things I decided to test; there is a school building where the street ends a couple blocks away from my home, which is easily 200m away and at night you can only see the silhouette of the school in the horizon, but the iron gate in front of it is completely invisible in the dark. So I went outside, stood in the middle of the street and turned on the TK12 in 225 lumen mode and completely lit up the street corridor, the tree lines were flooded with spill ring light, every single street sign and other shiny surface reflected light back and the iron gate and school building became visible. Enough so that if someone were standing in front of it, you could easily spot them. Just awesome. Granted, a building is a pretty large object to shine light at, but the fact remains that the beam was strong enough to cut through the dark blotch at that distance and present something identifiable.
One thing so far that I do not like is that it cannot stand on its end due to the rubber click cap extending beyond the recess of the battery cap. In 5 lumen mode, the TK12 can light up a room adequately and it would have been nice to be able to use it on its end as a mood lamp. But for all this light does fantastic its only a tiny con.
Other than that, I love the versatility of having different output modes. Its like a jack of all trades flashlight, with the exception of doing each trade perfectly. 5 Lumen mode is great for navigating in the home at night, 50 lumen is about as bright as you'll want get without ruining your night vision too much, and 225 lumen indoors will obliterate your night vision as the intense brightness reflects off the walls, worse so if reflected off a mirror or other shiny surface. If the beam were directed into an intruders eyes, it would easily cause temporary blindness. Perfect for mounting on a Shotgun/Rifle or using in conjunction with a Pistol (hence the cigar ring).
One other thing about the TK12... Fenix is now selling a replacement body (about 15 dollars at some online retailers) which allows the use of rechargeable 18650 batteries. You can now have your cake and eat it too if you were having trouble deciding between the mode features of the TK12 or the versatility of using rechargeable 18650 batteries of the TK11.
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