Jetbeam Pa20 or Quark aa2 Tactical?

Hello all. I need a flashlight for walking the dog, hiking,camping.I have an fenix ld01 but I need something a little more. I can't decide to get an jetbeam pa20 or a Quark r5 aa2 tactical. Does anybody own either one of these and which is more quality? Thanks! -Eric. Edit* also what battery's should I get for it?

I've always liked Jetbeam's build quality better. My vote is for Jetbeam.

Ec136 said:

...flashlight for walking the dog, hiking,camping...

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I use my light for the above activities, and I'd vote for the Quark for it's focus on the low levels.

Both have nice low lows for maintaining night vision, but the added 4 lumen level on the Quark tips it for me. Moonlight/1 lumen is simply not enough for many tasks and ~20 lumens will be blinding when your eyes are night adjusted (eg, camping). About 80% of my runtime is split equally between moonlight and 4 lumens. Having those two stealth levels also works great for dog walking, esp. when Fido wants to make a deposit on my neighbor's lawn (I pick-up #2s). Lastly, it can be somewhat comforting knowing that you can muster up 3x the runtime on the Quark, if you're camping off-grid and didn't bring enough batts. FWIW, I like the regular interface over tactical since I always like using the lowest lumen level to accomplish a given task. I also picked-up the 1xAA body for EDC, and my 2xAA body makes a fantastic spare batt container.

Can't compare the quality thing, but I've asking/researching an upgrade for my Quark... Jetbeam and Sunwayman keep coming up as somewhat higher quality lights. I'm kinda surprised their warranty doesn't reflect that. I've had no issues with my 4Seven's products and just keep seeing what I'll be losing from my Quark (mostly low-end lumen/runtime stuff) by going with those brands. But we all have different needs, and there's tons of choices out there...

Oh yeah, get Eneloop batts. and a good smart charger.

For whatever it is worth I love my JetBeam BA20. I have a very old Saint Bernard on her last legs and nearly blind. I use the BA20 to walk her up and down the drive at night because its the best thing I have for making it like daylight for the old gal so she can see to walk around. The beam is not very narrow or focused but what a light! You can see out 100 plus yards very easily with this light but if you want additional bells the PA20 is probably just as good. If this light I own is any indication I'd say get the JetBeam.

I have a Jetbeam BA20, a Quark AA2 Tactical and a Quark AA2 X Tactical in neutral. I don't have the Jetbeam PA20

All great lights, the Ba20 doesn't come with a holster or many accessories. The quarks are excellent as always. My dad works night shift and he uses my Quark AA2 everynight and the last set of batteries lasted him 6 months, and he's very happy with it. He also uses the 'handgrip' it came with. I keep my Quark X in my door pocket of my car for what i consider medium range distance lighting from the car for when i need more oomph than what my Preon2 or SC51 can offer. I have a TK41 for long range stuff.

You can't really go wrong with either brand and it seem these days that aesthetics are the only major difference. Excellent lights that keep on keeping on.

cheers

Thanks for all the great ideas! I think ill get the Jetbeam. If i do get one should i Do a little bit more 'Jo-Blow" review?I have not seen any of those. Back the the dilemma i don't see what i could need anything below 1 lumen for, Yet again this IS CPF :nana:. How much throw do they have? I need to see the skunks WAY far back from me and the dog. Flood would be very useful in the campsite. Reppans what did you mean about The warranties not being reflected? On a light this expensive i cant afford a lemon, you cant make lemonade with that kind of lemon.Thanks for helping me catch THE BUG. :devil: -Eric

These are the flashlights I have been going back and forth between for over a week. Which did you end up buying? and are you happy with your purchase??

The cool thing about getting a quark is that you can lego it. You can in fact purchase an AA tube and use it in a smaller form. Then if you want more punch, get a 14500 battery and really have impressive output!

Also, they have the best customer support and 10-year warranty.

Been using my Quark daily for almost 3 years now, no problems whatsoever!

Ec136 said:

Thanks for all the great ideas! I think ill get the Jetbeam. If i do get one should i Do a little bit more 'Jo-Blow" review?I have not seen any of those. Back the the dilemma i don't see what i could need anything below 1 lumen for, Yet again this IS CPF :nana:. How much throw do they have? I need to see the skunks WAY far back from me and the dog. Flood would be very useful in the campsite. Reppans what did you mean about The warranties not being reflected? On a light this expensive i cant afford a lemon, you cant make lemonade with that kind of lemon.Thanks for helping me catch THE BUG. :devil: -Eric

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If you get a lemon, the reseller would have to replace it with a functioning one. If you have a problem after 5 years, you are better off with the Quark as it would still be within the warranty period.

I have the PA20 and what I bought it I was undecided over the PA20 and the Quark 2AA too: I went for the PA20 for the following reasons.
I wanted a forward clicky and the Quark Tactical makes it complicated to change and store a new brightness level with the bezel loosened. With the PA20 makes it very easy but you can also cycle through accidentally when using the momentary on (unfortunately also when in turbo). It can be annoying, especially considering JetBeam did not bother to hide the flashing modes. Once you get the hang of the UI though, you don't accidentally cycle through the PA20 that often when using the momentary on.

I have the JetBeam is an excellent 2xAA light both in terms of output and runtimes.
The pros are: forward clicky, memory on the daily mode, good balance between runtime and output, crenelation, reverseble clip, good throw for a 2AA light of this size.
The downsides are non-impressive anodizing, non hidden flashing modes, can accidentally cycle through the daily mode (head loosened) even when in turbo (head tightened) - which is a major flaw.

Foursevens are high-quality light too and if you live in the US you have in-country customer service and a 10 year warranty which are always a plus.

Even though I carry the PA10 more and even the EagleTac D25Mini if I have a 14500 charged up but my favorite light is the JetBeam BA20 for what it does with regular ole batteries and you can't beat the run time in my experience, so I can't imagine the PA20 would be a disappointment.