Quark aa^2 durability?

Grmnracing

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Apr 26, 2012
Messages
193
Location
CT USA
I just received my Quark X AA^2. So far it feels like a great light. Does anyone have any experience with EDC'ing the Quarks? How does the lens hold up?
 

Outdoorsman5

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Mar 10, 2011
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1,310
Location
North GA Mountains
I own 10 Quarks, and have given away as many or more as gifts. I love em, and have been edc'ing a Quark AA since 2010. I haven't had any issues with any of mine worth mentioning, and have never been left in the dark by one of em. My edc Quark AA is quite beaten up, and has never misfired. They don't have the same reputation as a Surefire or a HDS (which I love both), but for the money & versatility I really love the quarks.
 

AnAppleSnail

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Joined
Aug 21, 2009
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4,200
Location
South Hill, VA
I have one from the first Neutral run (2009) and it still runs well with regular use.

Note: If you put any flashlight in a tupperware container it will pass most "torture test" abuses with flying colors. Being able to bounce a light off a wall measures one aspect of durability, and not necessarily the most important one.
 

Outdoorsman5

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Mar 10, 2011
Messages
1,310
Location
North GA Mountains
10 quarks! Dang!

Yesssss I have a problem....it's not my fault they keep making better ones....ha. I have 3 kids & a wife, and we go camping, hiking, fishing, & hunting regularly. These lights get some good use, but maybe I should consider selling the older ones that don't get used anymore. We have other lights we like a lot as well, but it's hard to beat a quark - two great User Interfaces to choose from, light weight, small, lego-able, runs on four different types of batteries (alkaline, lithium, NiMH, & Li-ion - my favorite), has 5 great output options with a true moonlight mode, the max is among the very brightest in it's class, 10 year warranty, and quarks are offered with Neutral tint LED's. There's just not anyone else out there that offers ALL of these features to the superb degree that quarks do. There are better quality lights out there, and better lights for different uses as well. But, for the money quarks are among my favorites.
 

Cataract

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Joined
Apr 24, 2009
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4,095
Location
Montreal
I EDC a Quark 123 tactical for work. It was dropped on concrete many times from 3-4-5 feet high, fell into film fixer (strong vinegar) and I also have a Quark AA that once fell on ceramic tiled floor after jumping 6 feet ahead from my hand. There's a small flat where it fell on the ceramic tiles. That's it. They both work like new even though they don't quite look it anymore. Good flashlights, man...
 

reppans

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Joined
Mar 25, 2007
Messages
4,873
I have half a dozen in different flavors, and bought at least that many more as gifts in the recent rebranding sales. I've dropped my EDC AAX more than I care to admit and it works perfectly. Of all those purchased, I've only had one DoA, but it was immediately replaced by Goinggear's great service.

Quarks have their issues.... some have greenish tints/loose threads/pre-flash, but I consider them relatively minor for what you get and will echo Outdoorsman's comments. For me, it's a small, lightweight, pocketable single cell that will run from 300 lumens to 300 hours depending upon your choice of four different battery chemistries in the world's most common battery size. Adding the long warranty, and excellent customer service (w/ US HQ), and Lego-ability/parts redundancy made it my core flashlight platform.
 

ikeyballz

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Joined
Mar 29, 2012
Messages
117
dropped my quark AA on my tiled floor in my office. Its not true tiles, sort of a plasticy tile? not sure what you call those - anyway, they're fairly tough and hard. Quark fell lens down, hit the tiles, BROKE the tiles and bounced away. No damage on the quark, not even the anodizing. I did manage to put a scratch on the tough anodizing with pliers when I needed to crank the clip screw down :(
 

Jash

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
1,649
Location
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
I EDC'd a Quark AA2 Tactical for two years, only replaced recently by a Fenix PD20. It got dropped onto concrete more times than I can remember, and it looks well beat up, but it works as well as the day I bought it. One thing, the threads on the head are quite worn and a little sloppy now from setting the modes so many times, and with regular cleaning and lubing.

Top lights that are well worth the money you pay for them.
 

enomosiki

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 13, 2011
Messages
1,109
quark_no_ano.jpg


This Quark has been;

- dropped
- thrown
- crushed
- drowned

...and it refuses to die.
 

LightWalker

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 4, 2007
Messages
1,631
Location
USA
I've been pocket carrying my Quark 2x123 for about 2 years and have dropped it onto asphalt a couple of times and it is still going strong. I have been carrying a Quark mini on my keychain for about a year and it is still going strong as well.
 

shelm

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 8, 2011
Messages
2,047
a great generic protection for Quarks is: i picked up an idea from another website you can slip a deflated party air balloon over the torch's head and tail and then thereupon apply a layer of heat shrink tubing (e.g. 25.0mm unshrunk original diameter). Those lengthy party balloons (tube form!) are best for this purpose because of their unflated tube diameter.

shoot and ask if you dont know what the REAL reason for the rubber layer is (party balloons are made of latex or rubber-like material).

;)
 
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