Looking for a 2-AA flashlight for my father's B-day

[somename]

Things I am looking for in this light.

- Simple UI that can have other features hidden for access only when needed. SOS and Beacon would be nice to have.
A programmable light may be difficult to remember the steps when the light has been sitting in a drawer 12 months.

- Uses 2-AA alkaline batteries and can use the Energizer Lithiums that do not leak. (my dad wouldn't use the light if he had to remember to charge batteries)

- Neutral white LED since 90% of use will be outdoors walking through the brush.

- Has the option for a red filter so animals are not spooked in the brush nearby. My dad uses one of those little clip on hat lights with 5mm LEDs from Walmart and this light needs to be able to replace that too.

- Needs to be able to see objects up to 60 yards with the light.


Can anyone give me some comparison information on these lights? These are my concerns.
- 2-AA Quark regular UI Neutral white
-Not sure how this non-turbo edition will throw compared to other lights?
-Not sure if light can run on AA-Lithium for extended periods on turbo?
-since light is either Turbo or moon light when twisting not sure if my dad will like the interface or if he will just always use turbo since its simpler to get to? (and therefore he will have less battery time).
-red filters are not made by 4sevens except with the prism.
-Not sure how much light will be output with the red filter on the prism?
-- on the red filters I have found the Fenix red filters let out more light but with the color appearing more orange. Streamlight filters are close to the Fenix filters but with slightly more of a red tint. The Eagletac filters let the least amount of light out, but the color is a darker red than the other 2 brand filters. -----> not sure how the 4sevens red filter will compare?

- Eagletac P20A2 MKII XP-E Neutral White
+ Filter kits are available +
-May not be as bright as Neutral Quark since P20A2 is a XP-E Q4 ?
-Should throw better than Quark, but not sure if better than TK20?
-Appears to be the longest of the lights?
-Not sure if can run on Energizer Lithium AA cells?

- Fenix LD20+ R4 2-AA
-Not neutral white?
-may not have any throw?
-Can run on Lithium AA cells on Turbo constanly if needed?
-Clip not arranged for bezel down carry.
-Output is not OTF rating, so may be over estimated.

- Fenix TK20
+Might throw the longest since using an XR-E?
-Output is not OTF rating, so may be over estimated?
-Read in CPF about inductor whine on the TK20 lights, fixed?
-Specs say can use Lithium AA cells, but can run on Turbo constantly?
-May have very little spill?
-Light lack features and only has high and medium..
-May seem very heavy compared to other light choices.

Can anyone give me their person experiences with some of these lights and maybe cover some of the concerns I had with each?

Thanks!

 

[sol-leks]

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=214890

personally I'd go with the quark neutral.

 

[Toaster]

The Quark and LD20 have much less throw than the other two options and are pretty inadequate at 60 yards. I would forget about those two. Between the remaining two choices I would go for the TK20 if your father has big hands. Otherwise get the P20A2 for the superior features.

 

[somename]

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=214890

personally I'd go with the quark neutral.

Have you by chance observed the quark red filters in use on the prism?
I'm curious how the output looks.

 

[somename]

The Quark and LD20 have much less throw than the other two options and are pretty inadequate at 60 yards. I would forget about those two. Between the remaining two choices I would go for the TK20 if your father has big hands. Otherwise get the P20A2 for the superior features.

I wasn't sure the Neutral P20A2 MKII would throw further than the Neutral Quark since the Quark is an XP-G R4 and the P20A2 MKII is an XP-E Q4.

It looks like the Quark would have beat the Neutral Eagletac since there is an OTF different of about 50 lums favoring the Quark.

 

[sol-leks]

Have you by chance observed the quark red filters in use on the prism?
I'm curious how the output looks.

Disclaimer: I don't even own a quark, but I like what I hear. Well I own a quark mini 123 but its an entirely different beast from what I hear.

 

[skyfire]

i would suggest the quark AA Turbo with warm tint XP-G. it is a tactical interface though, but so simple to use. just set his 2 desired settings and your done.

tk20 is another good option, different than the other options, with its more rugged frame

or a dereelight javelin, well made, and its a p60 host!

theres also a newer surefire E2L-AA i think its called.

 

[Ezeriel]

I have two if the lights.. LD20 TK20..

- Fenix LD20+ R4 2-AA
-Not neutral white?
-may not have any throw?
-Can run on Lithium AA cells on Turbo constanly if needed?
-Clip not arranged for bezel down carry.
-Output is not OTF rating, so may be over estimated.

It's plenty white, throw is solid for about 100 feet, usable light for 150 or so.
Grab a recharger at kmart with an led indicator that goes from red to green and save money on batteries.
I think this is the one I've seen there...
http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104_032W322529110001P?keyword=aa+battery+charger&prdNo=9

take the clip off.. use the lanyard..

MrGman tested the LD20, it's about 158 lumens.. but on turbo it gets hot...
I use it on high for the most part, it's plenty bright.



- Fenix TK20
+Might throw the longest since using an XR-E?
-Output is not OTF rating, so may be over estimated?
-Read in CPF about inductor whine on the TK20 lights, fixed?
-Specs say can use Lithium AA cells, but can run on Turbo constantly?
-May have very little spill?
-Light lack features and only has high and medium..
-May seem very heavy compared to other light choices.

The throw is very, very good... It's rated 150 lumens?.. if so, it's right.
It's just as bright at the LD20 just a different color light and more focused.

Mine whines, I don't mind it at all. It feels so damn fierce it should make some kind of noise. When I turn it on, I half expect it to knock things over when I shine light on 'em.

I only use mine in turbo... unless I'm doing something up close. In low, it is about the same as any 2C incan at the dollar store.

It has spill, and if you only look at where the spill is, you can see stuff... it's just the hot spot is very over-powering.

It's heavy in a good way.



I got the LD20 first.. it's throw is good, but I was left wanting more when outside. The TK20 has all the throw I could want, but leaves me wanting more spill inside. You just can't get a light that does everything...

On the bright side, pun intended, if you want a light for outdoor use, get the TK20. It's a no brainer, and after using mine for a year or so, I will never have an outdoor light that isn't warm white. It's just that good.


As for the other lights.. I can't say, don't own 'em.

 

[TORCH_BOY]

I would go for a Fenix

 

[yalskey]

- Eagletac P20A2 MKII XP-E Neutral White
+ Filter kits are available +
-May not be as bright as Neutral Quark since P20A2 is a XP-E Q4 ?
-Should throw better than Quark, but not sure if better than TK20?
-Appears to be the longest of the lights?
-Not sure if can run on Energizer Lithium AA cells?

Why yes, yes it can.

BTW:
And for the sake of Lord Xenu don't buy these at any box store. Never pay more than about $2 a cell for the "Advanced Lithium" ones. I always hit up Matt from Battery Junction. He's got a good price, especially if you buy in bulk. Don't worry, they can sit on a shelf for 10 years no problem.

 

[bfksc]

- Simple UI that can have other features hidden for access only when needed. SOS and Beacon would be nice to have.
A programmable light may be difficult to remember the steps when the light has been sitting in a drawer 12 months.

- 2-AA Quark regular UI Neutral white

I'd go with the Quark because I like them, but I'd look at the Turbo series as they throw the light more, if that is important. I use a Quark AAx2 Tactical with an XP-G R5 and it throws about 50 yards and lights up the side of a house instead of just a window area. So the Turbo models should throw a tighter beam further. But after getting the Quark, I found I liked the slightly wider beam as it lights up the surrounding more when walking in the bush, hiking, camping, etc.

As for regular or tactical, I definitely prefer the tactical. As someone else said, you can program the 2 modes for your dad and then let him just use the light with a twist for higher/lower setting. The light will run in Max output on Lithiums, and it does get warm from the high output, but never too hot (the aluminum body sinks the heat nicely). I keep mine set to Max when tight and Medium when loose for most situations, and reprogram to use Low for camping. Works great and the Quark replaced three other lights I had as it does the work of them all.
:twothumbs

 

[somename]

Wow thanks for all of the responses.
Ezeriel, thanks for the details about the TK20 and its spill and hot spots. I am just not sure about the noise from the whining, is it loud enough deer and other animals could hear it?

skyfire, I actually have a Quark AA Turbo in the XP-G Warm White and if the Quark Turbo had been offered in the XP-G Neutral none of this would be a question, since the new XP-G neutral is a R4 it is close to the Cool White in output. However, I also have a Quark 123^2 Tactical in Warm White and it is a VERY floody light so I wasn't sure if the Quark AA^2 XP-G Neutral would also be a very floody light.

I was sort of wanting to get him a different light than what I have so I could also look at what other light models or brands are out there.

yalskey, thanks for the info on the Eagletac P20A2 MKII being compatible with the Energizer Lithium AA cells. I really like the UI on my T20C2MKII and the P20A2MKII appears to have the same interface. The only thing I don't like about the Eagletac is that you have no place to keep up with the bezel ring if you have a filter in place. It would be nice if their light holster had a pouch that the filters and the bezel ring could go in. Would hate to loose the bezel ring since dirt could get in the threads if the light is dropped. I guess that is a trade off though since the Eagletac filters fit great and no white light leaks by.

sol-leks, thanks for the link to the AA-round up review. Unfortunately, I can't find several of the newer lights in the review, I'm assuming because they are so new they haven't been added yet.

bfksc, thanks for the distance information on your Quark AAx2 Tactical. I'm not sure the cool white XP-G R5 would be a good choice for outdoors since I had one in my TK20C2MKII and replaced it with a neutral XP-E Q4 for the better tint. The cool white just made the brush appear more 2 dimensional. But I will keep your distance info in mind because I was considering the AAx2 in Neutral.

 

[calipsoii]

TK20 is a gorgeous outdoor light. Can't recommend it enough. If you can get it from a local store, do so. Being able to listen to all the inductors whine and pick the quietest one is worth the extra money over shipping it. Once you get one, you won't regret it.

 

[tre]

I wasn't sure the Neutral P20A2 MKII would throw further than the Neutral Quark since the Quark is an XP-G R4 and the P20A2 MKII is an XP-E Q4.

It looks like the Quark would have beat the Neutral Eagletac since there is an OTF different of about 50 lums favoring the Quark.

The P20A2 MKII is not an XP-E. It uses an XP-G. EagleTac seems to have given up on their web page so pretty much everything is wrong and out of date. I just send them an email to verify things (and it takes 3 days for them to answer).

Anyway, the LD20 is useless at 60 yards. The TK20 is really the only one of them all that has any decent throw followed by the EagleTac. The LD20 is also a very blue tint nowhere near neutral. The Fenix numbers are OTF lumens now though - not emitter lumens so they should be accurate. I don't own a quark AA so I can't comment on that one.

I purchased my father a light that runs on CR123a batteries and just gave him a load of the batteries with it. When he runs out I will get him some more. They are much brighter/smaller/more throwy lights that run on Cr123a and I don't have to worry about leaks and weather the lights take lithium or not because they were designed to use lithium. You can get Titanium Innovations CR123a at a very reasonable price.

 

[somename]

The P20A2 MKII is not an XP-E. It uses an XP-G. EagleTac seems to have given up on their web page so pretty much everything is wrong and out of date. I just send them an email to verify things (and it takes 3 days for them to answer).

yes, the neutral tint is XP-E

"EagleTac - EagleTac P20A2 MKII XP-E Neutral White"
http://www.pts-flashlights.com/products/product.aspx?pid=152-153-6881

They state "utilizes the Cree XP-E Q4 in neutral white for better color rendition and great throw"

I know they do make the XP-G R5 version, but that is only in cool white which is why I was wondering about the Quark XP-G R4 Neutral versus the P20A2 MKII XP-E Q4 Neutral.

I think in terms of lumens, the Quark neutral XP-G is the winner.

Does anyone have an outdoor (short and long distance) beam shot with an AAx2 XP-G R4 Quark?

Maybe a beam shot would clear things up for me.

 

[Ezeriel]

Sorry for the late response, if you are still tracking this thread the whine on the TK20 varies greatly based on the person that hears it. Kinda like that eye of the beholder thing, and I'm fairly confident in saying that you can't hear that whine beyond 10 feet, even on the loudest one they ever sold.

if your tv has a picture tube, turn it on and press mute...
it's about that loud

 

[selfbuilt]

If the issue is the filter, the Olight T10/15/20/25 filter kit will fit the Eagletac P20A2, 4Sevens Quark AA-2, and Fenix LD20-R4. And while I no longer have the TK20 to compare, I suspect the Olight M20 filter kit would fit that light (e.g. it fits my Fenix TK-12 perfectly).

These are excellent quality filters. Note that the LD20 and QAA-2 would have some visible light blowing back toward the body of the light.

 

[hyperloop]

I have the TK20 and this red filter fits the TK20 perfectly.

Pictures may show the light through the filter as being orangey but its not, its red.

 

[fannin]

both my ld20 q5 versions are very warm/neutral i much prefer them to my r4 version

the eagletac is too big for pocket carry

 

[Foxx510]

My dad really loves the TK20 that I bought for him.