AAA Prometheus or SF Titan

Just as the title states Prometheus AAA or Surefire Titan which one ?

I'm looking for the most robust AAA money can buy for my Grabbag.
I don't need the brightest but I do need reliability or would it be worth going down the custom road ! And getting something build , I read there a tiny AAA MCGIZMO would that be with considering.




Also while I'm here ... Does anyone know if Surefire will be releasing a - AA - in the near future .





Any comments would be appreciated as you can tell my knowledge of flashlights is poor.
So thanks in advance.

From my experience I find the Titan Plus to be considerably more robust than the Beta QR. I have had a Titan Plus for several years and I like it a lot. The brass body gives the feeling of quality and the beam is quite nice. I then bought an aluminum Beta QR, carried it a few times, and sold it. There wasn't anything inherently wrong with it, and I did like the Nichia in it, but the thin walls and light weight didn't inspire a lot of confidence. I also found the slippery nickel plating made it very hard to cycle the modes. The matte finish on the Titan is grippy. Its possible that the Beta in the other materials like brass or copper it feels different in hand but I didn't feel the connection to it I was hoping for. So I bought a second Titan Plus just in case.

Also, the McGizmo Sapphire is an awesome light in it's own right and I love mine. But only about 10 lumens and triple-ish the cost of the others so it's kinda apples and screwdrivers comparison. I would think carefully about your intended usage patterns.

I'm going to agree with nbp. I had the opportunity to try the Beta QR in both brass and aluminum in a pass-around. The Beta QR's saving grace is definitely its Nichia 219b and moonlight mode. The aluminum one, however, lacks a moonlight mode and feels far too light to be substantial. As opposed to the Beta QRs, the nickel-plated brass of the Titan Plus gives it a nice heft and additional heat sink for the high.

If you want Hi-Cri and moonlight mode ===> Beta QR in brass or copper
If you want reliability and max lumens ===> Titan Plus

I highly recommend checking out TnC products or the Peak Eiger. Both cater to a variety of metals and the Peak Eiger even has potted electronics. There's also always the Fenix E01 which has a potted head too. Many torture tests done on that light...IIRC it's the "cockroach" of the flashlight world.

As has already been mentioned ... Peak Eiger :thumbsup:

Peak El Capitan for AA.

Or, you can just get the Peak Logan 17500 and the adapter set, to run whatever you might have handy (AA, AAA, CR123A, etc) :devil:

nbp said:

From my experience I find the Titan Plus to be considerably more robust than the Beta QR. I have had a Titan Plus for several years and I like it a lot. The brass body gives the feeling of quality and the beam is quite nice. I then bought an aluminum Beta QR, carried it a few times, and sold it. There wasn't anything inherently wrong with it, and I did like the Nichia in it, but the thin walls and light weight didn't inspire a lot of confidence. I also found the slippery nickel plating made it very hard to cycle the modes. The matte finish on the Titan is grippy. Its possible that the Beta in the other materials like brass or copper it feels different in hand but I didn't feel the connection to it I was hoping for. So I bought a second Titan Plus just in case.

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I've been carrying a HAIII Beta QRV1 full time on my keychain for several years now, and beyond the anodizing wearing from rubbing against other stuff on the keychain and the occasional drop, the light is as good today as it was the day I got it in the mail.

You said the Titan is more robust than the Beta, but it sounds like much of that is based on the heavier weight of the brass the Titan is made from giving it a nice quality feel.

I feel that's an unfair assessment considering that A) The Beta will of course be lighter weight because it is made of aluminum. Depending on how you look at it, that's an advantage for the Beta, since I don't need my keys to be extra heavy, and the light doesn't produce much heat considering its powered by a AAA and not driven all that hard... And B) The Beta is available in Brass. So it is entirely possible to compare a Brass Beta to the brass Titan Plus...

I feel you chose an aluminum Beta instead of a brass Beta, and then held the choice of material against the light as a flaw.

Sorry, I'm obviously a HUGE cheerleader for the Betas and Prometheus Lights in general, so here I am trying to defend their legitimacy as a keychain light... LOL

Fair enough, we can throw out the weight of the light. I still liked the thicker walls and meatier bezel protecting the lens of the Titan over the Beta. The grippy texture of their nickel plating coupled with the flats on the head of the Titan also makes it much easier to actuate, especially one handed, than the slippery nickel finish on the Beta. Also, the Titan comes with a pocket clip, while the clip for the Beta (which is a great clip and probably my favorite part of the light) is sold separately and cost 42% of the price of the light. If you compare prices of the brass Beta with an added clip and the Titan Plus the Beta is actually more expensive and it's essentially a Lumintop Worm while the the Surefire is USA made if that's important to a person. I really wanted to love the Beta and have a light to match my Prometheus pen, but I was underwhelmed. I loved my Prometheus Alpha - I only sold it because the large size made it difficult to carry in a pocket like I prefer. I'm just sharing my personal experience but I respect everyone's right to pick the light that fits their needs best! A person doesn't have to like the Titan on my account. [emoji106]🏻

If you don't mind, I'm curious to know what the Titan Plus does as the battery depletes. Does the light level step down or does it just turn off/refuse to turn on? I love the Microstream (completely different light, of course) but the fact it just goes POOF is annoying. Thanks.

elzilcho said:

If you don't mind, I'm curious to know what the Titan Plus does as the battery depletes....

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http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...9-TITAN-PLUS&p=4766846&viewfull=1#post4766846

archimedes said:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...9-TITAN-PLUS&p=4766846&viewfull=1#post4766846

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Thanks for that, tells me just what I need to know. I had found the thread but hadn't made my way through it yet.

elzilcho said:

Thanks for that, tells me just what I need to know. I had found the thread but hadn't made my way through it yet.

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Certainly, cheers !

That is an important post, but indeed difficult to find, unless already very familiar with the thread

I all too often see people associating mass with durability, but I can't help but think that's purely psychological and counterintuitive. If you think about it, the most vulnerable parts of lights are inside the metal, not the metal itself. If you were to take 2 nearly identical lights, only differing in body materials, say 1 steel, 1 aluminum and dropped them from the same height, the aluminum light would take more external cosmetic damage, but the steel one will hit with a much harder impact due to it's increased mass would more likely damage the internals.

Something to think about, especially if the head isn't potted.

Sadly, not as simple as all that ... as it depends on the specifics. Forces involved in drop from a height are very different than crushing forces on a tube, or, say, shearing forces on machined threads.

I have had threaded two-piece aluminum tubes snap clean in half when subjected to relatively limited lateral stress.

And lightweight aluminum tubes dented beyond practical repair under minimal pressure.

Sure, steel can be stronger, but you trade off heat handling and other features of aluminum :shrug:

The harder the material used to make the body of the light, the more impact force will be transferred to the components inside the light when the light is dropped. A softer material will absorb some of the impact energy and therefore transfer a bit less impact energy into the components inside the light.

To exaggerate the effect I'm talking about, imagine a rubber bodied flashlight. As the rubber deforms under impact it absorbs much of the impact energy, and the components inside have a less jarring experience.

archimedes said:

Sadly, not as simple as all that ... as it depends on the specifics. Forces involved in drop from a height are very different than crushing forces on a tube, or, say, shearing forces on machined threads.

I have had threaded two-piece aluminum tubes snap clean in half when subjected to relatively limited lateral stress.

And lightweight aluminum tubes dented beyond practical repair under minimal pressure.

Sure, steel can be stronger, but you trade off heat handling and other features of aluminum :shrug:

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Let's think about this more realistically and how it would apply to flashlights. What kind of drop is a flashlight going to endure that would shear aluminum, but not cause damage to a heavier hitting steel bodied light's internals?

The stories that have been told about the Arc AAA's durability are legendary and I'm pretty sure the Arc's body isn't that thick.

defloyd77 said:

Let's think about this more realistically and how it would apply to flashlights. What kind of drop is a flashlight going to endure that would shear aluminum, but not cause damage to a heavier hitting steel bodied light's internals?The stories that have been told about the Arc AAA's durability are legendary and I'm pretty sure the Arc's body isn't that thick.

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Not sure what exactly you mean by "more realistically" above, but when I accidentally dropped an aluminum NiteCore D10 from a height of about 3 - 4 feet onto a wooden floor, once, several years ago, it broke. In half.

I have also dropped a Peak El Capitan, of similar size and shape but made of steel, from approximately the same height, probably dozens of times by now, onto many different surfaces (including wood, asphalt, metal, and concrete) , yet it continues to remain structurally sound and functional too.

archimedes said:

Not sure what exactly you mean by "more realistically" above, but when I accidentally dropped an aluminum NiteCore D10 from a height of about 3 - 4 feet onto a wooden floor, once, several years ago, it broke. In half.

I have also dropped a Peak El Capitan, of similar size and shape but made of steel, from approximately the same height, probably dozens of times by now, onto many different surfaces (including wood, asphalt, metal, and concrete) , yet it continues to remain structurally sound and functional too.

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I've dropped plenty of aluminum lights of varying sizes on concrete, not a single one of them broke in half, just cosmetic damage. One user many years back dropped an Arc AAA and a Fenix E01 off of a 5 story balcony onto concrete and both survived.

Not sure what was up with your D10, but that should not have happened, especially onto a wood floor

defloyd77 said:

I've dropped plenty of aluminum lights of varying sizes on concrete, not a single one of them broke in half, just cosmetic damage. One user many years back dropped an Arc AAA and a Fenix E01 off of a 5 story balcony onto concrete and both survived.

Not sure what was up with your D10, but that should not have happened, especially onto a wood floor

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I didn't say anything about an Arc, nor an E01

archimedes said:

.... it depends on the specifics....

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Yep, guess so.

archimedes said:

I didn't say anything about an Arc, nor an E01

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Just 2 examples of aluminum lights that have endured more of an impact than the average light will. Never owned an Arc, but the E01 isn't that thick behind the threads.......

I think the potting of the electronics is the common factor ... moreso than the choice of metal for the tubes.