Quark regular vs tactical?

[ToNIX]

High and Max there is hardly any difference. Only use between the two is to conserve battery life. Although I would probably opt for the max 109 lumen mode for investigating bumps in the night. The max 109 lumen mode is convenient and quick to access with just a turn of the headlamp. I think High and Max on other models would be alot more useful because they go from 85 lumens and jump to 230 instead of 85-109 on the AA model

That's why I ordered 2 14500 Li-ion batteries for my Quark AA Tactical

 

[soli]

I own both regular AA and a tactical AA2. My preference is to go for the regular. For my needs, I like the option of being able to quickly select the output I want, full click on and then quickly half click to more I want.

The tactical on the other hand, unless I know in advance what modes I will need, is a bit limiting. I do use it, or at least did, prior to the recent time change, for walking about in urban area, it was very handy to have a strobe to make sure i'm seen by traffic when crossing the road. The one feature I wish the regular had that the tactical does, is 'momentary on'. Other than that, regular all the way.

 

[jabe1]

I use the regular with a tactical switch. Soft press 'till you get the mode you want, then click.

 

[soli]

I use the regular with a tactical switch. Soft press 'till you get the mode you want, then click.

I did have that set up briefly, but for some reason it never really 'clicked' (pun intended) with me.

 

[bodhran]

For my camping needs, I mostly use a low and high. Low for reading at night and going to the bathroom and not waking everyone up. High for running off the bears, so my wife will stop waking me up in the middle of the friggin night to chase off the bears. The regular UI offers easy access to both by lossening and thightening the head, and easy access to other modes if needed. :huh:

 

[Xenogy]

That's why I ordered 2 14500 Li-ion batteries for my Quark AA Tactical

Are the 14500 batteries just rechargeable AA batteries? Or are they they same size but totally different? Also do the 14500 batteries serve some other purpose like higher lumens and longer run times?

 

[ti-force]

Are the 14500 batteries just rechargeable AA batteries? Or are they they same size but totally different? Also do the 14500 batteries serve some other purpose like higher lumens and longer run times?

They are rechargeable Lithium-Ion cells, and a 14500 is the same size, but completely different chemistry. BTW, 14500 is the size of the cell. E.G. 14 = 14mm diameter, 50 = 50mm length and I believe the last 0 = cylindrical. They are 4.2v vs standard alkalines 1.5v.

Li-Ion cells can't be used in all lights, so you need to make sure of that before you use them.

Click here and read, read, read. Be sure you're aware of the risks involved with mishandling Li-Ion cells before you use them.

 

[Xenogy]

They are rechargeable Lithium-Ion cells, and a 14500 is the same size, but completely different chemistry. BTW, 14500 is the size of the cell. E.G. 14 = 14mm diameter, 50 = 50mm length and I believe the last 0 = cylindrical. They are 4.2v vs standard alkalines 1.5v.

Li-Ion cells can't be used in all lights, so you need to make sure of that before you use them.

Click here and read, read, read. Be sure you're aware of the risks involved with mishandling Li-Ion cells before you use them.

Awesome, thanks alot!

 

[ti-force]

Awesome, thanks alot!

You're quite welcome.

BTW, :welcome:

 

[JaguarDave-in-Oz]

The tactical on the other hand, unless I know in advance what modes I will need, is a bit limiting. I do use it, or at least did, prior to the recent time change, for walking about in urban area, it was very handy to have a strobe to make sure i'm seen by traffic when crossing the road. The one feature I wish the regular had that the tactical does, is 'momentary on'. Other than that, regular all the way.

I have a number of quark tacticals and a number of quark regulars and I ended up deciding that the Tactical was best of them because it offers momentary and one doesn't have to scroll through multiple levels to get to where you want. I was happy enough with the Tactical UI except for the fact that I felt I needed a third mode sometimes.

Then I discovered the P20c2/A2 MKII eagletacs and their versatile UI and now I've been seriously spolied and no longer really like the Quark tactical UI at all.

The eagletac gives you momentary, tight head for bright, loose head for medium and you can access a third really low mode by a twist-untwist. It even has some blinking modes hidden away with some extra twist-untwisting. Wonderful tactical style momentary multi mode UI torch and never a mistake about what mode you're going into.

 

[nathan225]

I would get the tactical because you program it

 

[Wiggle]

Tactical for me. I run a Quark AA-Tactical on 14500 with modes set to med and max. For me, that is an ideal combination. I love that I always know what mode it will come on in and that I can use the momentary function intermittently without worrying about accidental mode change. It's also much easier to explain to a flashlight noob if someone wants to borrow it. Its also not a huge deal to reprogram. If I want moonlight for some situation I'll just turn the light on with the bezel aiming right into my hand so my night vision isn't spoiled, twist back and forth few times and let it sit there till programmed. However, if you use those other modes for than rarely, it might be too much of an inconvenience.

 

[funkymonkey1111]

For my camping needs, I mostly use a low and high. Low for reading at night and going to the bathroom and not waking everyone up. High for running off the bears, so my wife will stop waking me up in the middle of the friggin night to chase off the bears. The regular UI offers easy access to both by lossening and thightening the head, and easy access to other modes if needed. :huh:

is the quark an effective bear repellant?

 

[carrot]

is the quark an effective bear repellant?

If nothing else, it'll help you see better when you're running from one!

 

[Chevy-SS]

I have a number of quark tacticals and a number of quark regulars and I ended up deciding that the Tactical was best of them because it offers momentary and one doesn't have to scroll through multiple levels to get to where you want. I was happy enough with the Tactical UI except for the fact that I felt I needed a third mode sometimes.

Then I discovered the P20c2/A2 MKII eagletacs and their versatile UI and now I've been seriously spolied and no longer really like the Quark tactical UI at all.

The eagletac gives you momentary, tight head for bright, loose head for medium and you can access a third really low mode by a twist-untwist. It even has some blinking modes hidden away with some extra twist-untwisting. Wonderful tactical style momentary multi mode UI torch and never a mistake about what mode you're going into.

I also have both lights mentioned: Quark tactical (123*2 XP-G R5) and EagleTac P20C2 MkII (123*2), and I must say, I prefer the Quark tactical interface - it allows you to select two default modes, either of which is available at the first press of the forward clicky.

The EagleTac P20C2 forces you to make two presses to get to tactical strobe, which might be difficult under high-stress situation.

Both of these are nice EDC tactical lights, both with momentary on feature too.

My vote for best tactical UI goes to Quark.

-

 

[JaguarDave-in-Oz]

I also have both lights mentioned: Quark tactical (123*2 XP-G R5) and EagleTac P20C2 MkII (123*2), and I must say, I prefer the Quark tactical interface - it allows you to select two default modes, either of which is available at the first press of the forward clicky.

The EagleTac P20C2 forces you to make two presses to get to tactical strobe, which might be difficult under high-stress situation.

yep, different strokes for different folks.

I don't even get to strobe wiht two presses on my eagletac. That's actually a good feature to me. I have the torch programmed so that I have to do two twist-untwist to get strobe because I have strobe turned off from the pushbutton because strobe's of no use to me, especially if I were ever to "go tactical" (which would all be a bit silly anyway since I live a nice relaxed life and frankly none of these torches are really suitable for real genuine "tactical use", just for pretending).

The biggest stress situation I ever get into with a torch is when I'm shining it into the eyes of a Tiger Snake at night as I creep up on it and frankly I do it so often during summer here that it no longer makes my heart rate rise. I have the quark turbo sitting on my gun safe but find that I don't bother grabbing it anymore, the P20C2 in my pocket can do all that it can and more.

 

[John_Galt]

I voted tactical. Having a Quark AA, I've found that I do not really like/use the extra flashing modes (as compared to a Fenix light). They just seem like a pain to switch through. I now wish that I had purchased the tactical instead, and would definitely recommend it, if you have found that you really only use one or two of a lights outputs.

 

[Roger999]

I only have a regular quark 123, and I absolutely recommend the tactical, 70% of the time I'm using high, 25% of the time I'm using low, the other 5% is playing with the disco mode .

 

[Charles L.]

This is a minority view, but I prefer the regular Quark. 2 modes at any time feels limiting, and I prefer my lights to tail stand. I have no need for my few tactical lights, and in fact I rarely use them.

Different strokes...

 

[Hobbs]

Thanx for all the input. Just ordered the regular version.
Another question for those that have or have used both, how does the beam pattern of the Quark AA/2 compare to the Surefire LX2? Just tried to order a LX2 also, but REI is out of stock.