ThruNite BSS Saber

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ThruNite BSS Saber Specifications & measurements

Brand & Model	ThruNite BSS Saber
Flashlight category	EDC flashlight
LED	High Performance LED
Max. output	1015 lumens
Max. beam distance	137 meters
Max. beam intensity	4700 cd
Battery config.	14500 / AA
Onboard charging	No, but included 14500 battery has USB-C port
Main modes	2
Blinkies	None
Waterproof	IPx-8
Review publication date	June 2024

The ThruNite flashlight brand has been around since 2009 and has always been known for affordable quality products. ThruNite has previous versions of the Saber in black, grey and even the orange, but they were reported to have an output of around 650 lumens. This new BSS version is said to have more output and of course I was eager to try it out. The new Thrunite BSS Saber reported some specs that stated the output as just over 1000 lumens. Is that even possible from a light this size or was it more inflated output numbers?

Come take a look at the new version of the ThruNite BSS Saber with me and see if it comes anywhere close to the ThruNite supplied numbers. Let’s get into the review! 

The light arrives with the battery inside and an instructions tab telling you to twist it down all the way to engage the battery for use. All lithium batteries shipped must have a state-of-charge (SoC) of 30 percent so you will have to run a full charge on this included 14500 cell to get the most out of your BSS Saber.

What’s in the package

Showing some modern flair, everything is packed well, taking up minimal space in the retail packaging. The ThruNite BSS Saber comes inside a sleek, all white box, nestled in a conformed plastic holder. An outlined drawing of the BSS Saber is shown on the front of the box and there is specific version info checked on the side under the QR code. This QR code takes you straight to thrunite.com. 

Included in the box:

• ThruNite BSS Sabor in Orange! 
• ThruNite 920mAH rechargeable 14500 battery (inside)
• USB Type-C charging cable
• Instructions

Picking up the BSS Saber you instantly notice how small and lightweight the flashlight is. The same diameter of a thick highlighter marker and one inch shorter, it just feels super compact and convenient to carry. The body feels slick and comes in a beautiful orange anodized aluminum. The BSS Saber has a few rows of shallow milling in the center of the host with a couple deeper grooves towards the fun end. These help grasp the light when using, being below the head end of the light, more towards the center. 

All these lines in the body are for looks and to give it some texture with a little more prominent vertical milling at the tailcap end to aid in battery removal. Removing the tailcap for battery access isn’t really even that. You are unscrewing the head from the back-end of the light. The threads for this body are just in front of the aforementioned grooves, 1” from the bezel end. My brain thinks I am going to unscrew the tailcap every time like normal. It’s not normal! Check out the review photos and notice where the body separates. It gets me everytime! It does have smooth threads, although angled and not in abundance, so the unscrewing is quick but solidly satisfying and there is an o-ring that keeps it together tightly and also helps keep the water out.

Speaking of the tailcap, the BSS Saber has an interesting feature for a flashlight of this type. It is the switch on this bad-boy! The best way to describe the tail switch is that it is very springy and has a heavy push to it. You really have to press it to activate it. I like this quality for a flashlight this size as it generally would ride at the bottom of a front pocket for me. The button being a heavy-press type will help keep it from any kind of accidental activation. This is, (as is everything in this review) completely verified by yours truly: it has never been accidentally turned on in my pocket!

The other side of that coin is that the switch works every single time I click it. A very positive click to say the least and still usable enough that my young daughter can easily manipulate the modes. The tailcap switch is a “forward clicky“. This means the light will shine as you press the button and then will click as you complete the press with the light staying on.

There is no place for a lanyard with this simplistic design. The switch end is all button. Included and already installed is a nice, solid, double directional pocket clip. Not easily removed, it clips well and does not move around or come off without some effort. Double directional clips give the ability to place the flashlight on the brim of a hat for hands-free use.

With the clip installed, the Saber will not roll away from you. Otherwise, it most definitely will roll since the light is the same diameter from end to end, head to switch. And since it is all button on the end, there will be no easy tail standing with this light. You might be able to balance it with patience, and a nice flat, still surface, but the button does have a slightly rounded end making it a bit more difficult.

The size of the BSS Saber lends itself to being used daily since it is so lightweight and easy to carry. Slide it in a pocket or clip it in your purse and easily be prepared for darkness without concern. There are plenty of use-cases for a flashlight this size and ThruNite has proved that they can provide an easy-to-use, dependable version with the BSS Saber.

A very cool white 6000k emitter hides behind the clear TIR (total internal reflection) optic. TIR optics provide an extremely efficient method for collecting LED light and generally produces a tight, defined spot with a hard edge. There is a flat end with no crenulations on the The BSS Saber that houses the TIR optic.

This little thing shines really well, throwing a majority of its light into a good tight circle, with minimal spill just outside the hotspot. There isn’t a hard-line edge of light from the outside edge to the hotspot, but more of a quick transition from one to the other. Still, a very useful beam profile for any everyday carry flashlight application.

Spectral measurements: 

Measurements were taken using an Opple Light Master IV at a distance of 5 meters in complete darkness.

Mode:	CCT:	CRI Ra:	duv
Low	5963 K	n/a	0.0059
High	5794 K	n/a	0.0031

Dimensions: 

ThruNite BSS Saber	Millimeters	Inches
Length	96 mm	3.8 in
Head diameter	19 mm	.7 in
Body diameter	19 mm	.7 in

Dimensions are rounded to the nearest millimeter and the nearest tenth of an Inch.

Weight: 

ThruNite BSS Saber	Weight in grams	Weight in oz
Without battery:	35 g	1.2 oz
With battery	55 g	2 oz

Weight is rounded to the nearest gram and tenth of an Oz.

Super lightweight and even short enough for pocket carry! (Small carry flashlights always end up side-ways in the bottom of the pocket and this one is short enough to not be annoying!)

Flashlight size comparison with its competition:

Left to right: Olight i3T, Olight M1T Raider, ThruNite BSS Saber, and Olight i5T

This one is pretty simple in operation. There is only a high mode and a low mode to manipulate with this forward clicky tailswich. Click once to turn on the flashlight on and it starts in low. Click again to turn it off. Click a 2nd time (within a few seconds) and you’re in high mode. Click once again to turn it off. That is all there is to it!

Available modes: 

• Low, High

Available blinky modes:

• N/A

From OFF:

• Single click: Turns on light 

From ON:

• Single click: Turns of the light

Mode memory:

• No memory mode with the two levels here.The BSS Saber will come on in low mode everytime, unless you have just turned it off. (then it will come on in high)

Shortcuts: 

• To Low: single click
• To High: triple click (this is funny from ThruNite) 

(3 clicks is the same as turning it on, then off and then back on again) But they list it as a shortcut.

Low voltage warning/protection:

• Flashes when battery gets below 3 volts

Strobe/blinkies

•  None

Lock-out mode: 

• No electronic lock-out 
• Unscrew tailcap for mechanical lock-out

PWM

All measurements taken at 5m 

• High – 42010 Hz*
• Low – 2993 Hz*

*These frequencies present no risk to the user

Additional/summary info on the UI: 

• I find the UI pleasant and simple to use. It does the job with no frills and gives you 2 usable outputs at the touch of a button. Anyone can use this light and that is a plus for sure!

Charging up the included 920mAh 14500 cell, it goes from empty (2.9v) to full (4.2v) in just over 2 hours typically with the included USB-C cable. For curiosity’s sake, I charged the cell with my B6 V3 Smart Charger @.5a and the 940mAh battery took 142 mins to fill up right at 895 mAh of juice. This is a quality cell from ThruNite and the BSS Saber works well with it. 

There are so many available USB-C charging devices around, from all kinds of electronics to cell phones, it’s so easy to find one close by, thus making it convenient to keep your BSS Saber charged and ready! 

Charge type	Fits	No fit	Avg. charge time
Battery with onboard USB-C	14500s and AA’s	everything else	3 hours

Lumen measurements

How Lumens are Measured: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards How Lumens are Measured: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards: The ANSI FL1 standards specify that output in lumens should be measured 30 seconds after turning on, as this is the standardized time for measuring brightness according to the industry standard. This is why we focus on this part in our measurements. The ANSI FL1 standards require an ambient temperature of 22 ± 3°C. We record the ambient the ambient temperature to identify potential reasons for any observed discrepancies.

Lumen measurements were taken using my 33cm homemade integrating sphere (IS) and a Dr. Meter LX1330B Digital Illuminance Light Meter, with a 0-200,000 measurement range. The IS has been calibrated using an Olight Warrior X pro and 1lumen.com’s testing as comparable reference sources. The Olight runs for 7 hours at 300 lumens and data gathered was translated into a calibration offset of .067 and then applied to the measured lux from the BSS Saber.

 All measurements were taken with a fully charged, ThruNite 920mAH rechargeable 14500 battery (included) and the light was allowed to cool in between measurements, For the sake of this review, AA Alkaline and rechargeable AA NiMH and Duracell “copper top” Alkaline batteries were also tested. ThruNite boasts this light to be able to use a common “off-the-shelf” battery in time of need. Output and runtimes are noticeably different with the much less powered AA cell. But a nice feature if you only have common batteries available.

Mode	Specified	Turn on	30 sec.	10 min.
14500 Battery
Low	87 lm	103 lm	99 lm	97 lm
High	1015 lm	1087 lm	987 lm	436 lm
AA Energizer/ Duracell Rechargeables
Low	N/A	36 lm	35 lm	32 lm
High	N/A	376 lm	345 lm	319 lm
AA Duracell Copper Top Alkaline
Low	N/A	36 lm	35 lm	34 lm
High	N/A	412 lm	357 lm	329 lm

Ambient temperature during testing:

•  21°C 

Parasitic drain:

• None, mechanical switch should eliminate this possibility

Battery Life: Runtime graphs

How Runtimes are Measured: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards About ANSI FL1 runtime standards: The runtime is measured until the light drops to 10% of its initial output (30 seconds after turning on). This does not mean that the flashlight is not usable anymore. The last column shows how long the light actually works till it shuts off. If there is a + symbol, it means that the test was stopped at that particular point, but the light was actually still running. This happens on certain occasions, with certain drivers, firmware, or batteries.

Runtimes were measured using the CeillingBounce Android app and the included fully charged ThruNite 920mAH rechargeable 14500 battery. Energizer rechargeable AA NiMH batteries and Duracell AA “copper top” Alkaline batteries were also tested and shown for comparison. Max output at 30 seconds for the BSS Saber measured right at 1000 lumens with the ThruNite 920mAH rechargeable 14500 battery. . This is very close to the rated lumen output for this light by the manufacturer. Good stuff!

Mode	Specified	Runtime (ANSI FL1)	Time till shut off
14500 High	1h 20min	1h 26min	1h 48min
14500 Low	2h 15min*	2h 4min	5h+
AA NiMH Low	n/a	1h 22min	5h+
AA NiMH High	n/a	0h 57min	1h 00min
AA Alkaline Low	xx	1h 55 min	5h +
AA Alkaline High	xx	46 min	59 min

Runtimes were actually pretty good for the size of this flashlight and the output achieved. There were even some decent runtimes for the AA cells as well. Knowing you can run on low for more than 5 hours with a regular AA battery should help you feel confident with your carry choice should you bring along the ThruNite BSS Saber.

The high mode with the included 14500 920mAh battery runs right at the 1000 lumen mark for more than a minute then drops to just under 500 lumens and starts in a slow, even decline until the battery is drained. On all the runtime tests, with both battery types, the Saber would drop to zero output, (I considered this the end of the runtime graph for testing purposes), but the flashlight would kind-of flicker its way back into existence, turning off and on, showing a tiny amount of output on the meter.

Peak beam intensity and beam distance measurements

About Peak beam intensity: Understanding ANSI FL1 Standards About peak beam intensity The calculated value of distance in meters at which the flashlight produces a light intensity of 0.25 lux. (0.25 lux is about the brightness of a full moon shining on an object). This means that the intensity has decreased so much, it becomes difficult to see darker objects, or objects that don’t reflect light. The columns ‘Meters’ and ‘Yards’ use rounded numbers.

Throw measurements were taken outdoors at night in complete darkness at 10 meters using the Dr. Meter LX1330B Digital Illuminance Light Meter. All measurements were taken at 30 seconds with a fully charged ThruNite 920mAH rechargeable 14500 battery (included) and the light was allowed to cool in between measurements.

Mode	Specified	Candela measured	Meters	Yards
14500 Battery
Low	n/a	728 cd	54 m	59 yd
High	4700cd	7225 cd	170 m	186 yd
AA NiMH Battery
Low	n/a	350 cd	34 m	37 yd
High	n/s	1760 cd	87 m	84 yd
AA alkaline
Low	n/a	420 cd	38 m	41 yd
High	n/a	2090 cd	83 m	91 yd

Ambient temperature during testing:

• 21°C .

The ThruNite BSS Saber did much better in testing than I expected. It was generally over its mark with the ThruNite 920mAH rechargeable 14500 battery as the power source. Not so much with the AA but still having that ability in a crunch could prove very helpful! My measurements have the BSS shining further than spec, about 20% more than actually, as that TIR optic is certainly doing its job. The output was close enough to be considered accurate by ThruNite’s specification description.

Beamshots were taken using a Samsung Galaxy S23+ with the camera in “Pro” mode. Settings as follows: ISO 200, 0.5sec, WB 5000k. Distance to fence is 11m in first set, and 28m in second set.

Beamshots of the following flashlights compared:

• ThruNite BSS Saber, 
• Olight i3T
• Olight i5T
• Olight M1T Raider

Please note that the following beamshots are mainly intended to showcase the beam pattern and beam quality, rather than overall performance. These images are typically taken directly after activation, and in different seasons or weather conditions, and therefore do not fully represent its overall performance. In few cases the camera settings are even different and therefore not meant for performance comparisons. For accurate performance metrics, such as output, beam distance, and runtimes, you need to look at the performance section of this review.

Disclaimer: This flashlight was sent to us for review at no cost by ThruNite. We have not been paid to review, nor have we been holding back on problems or defects.

Buy your ThruNite BSS Saber here

1lumen selects and reviews products personally. We may earn affiliate commissions through our links, which help support our testing.