Maratac AAA Q5 (Part 3)

[iandh]

Well, my main gripe is the low mode, but fortunately I use mostly medium and sometimes high.

The keychain attachment does look like a possible miss, so we'll just have to see what happens. I work in a machine shop and am a pretty spiffy tig welder, so I may attach a tiny eyelet to the back of the light if I do end up getting one.

I like the LD01, it's just that this light is smaller, has some mean knurling, and has a superior low setting. If the LD01 has higher throw though, that is my preference.

 

[Vikas Sontakke]

Do they have constant current or only boost converter? Does Fenix LD01 come with constant current converter?

 

[Rexlion]

does the meratac have an attachment point for split ring or lanyard without using the clip?

The pocket clip, or the split-ring clip? The Maratac comes with two separate clips. Either or both can be removed, but some have commented that their split-ring clip broke upon removal, apparently it can't take much bending. (But if it isn't messed with, it seems plenty strong to support the light on a keychain or lanyard... as shown by someone early on who hung something like 40 pounds off of it.)

You don't find a low low useful? I think it's great for navigating around a dark house at night, especially for entering the bedroom without waking my wife. I even used it for illuminating the road ahead of me when walking in a dark campground... it was all the light I needed and I didn't want to totally spoil my night vision. It's odd, I spend all this money buying super bright LEDs and then I enjoy using LOW. Go figure... :ohgeez:

PS, if you want to come over and see mine, you can... PM for directions and stuff.

 

[zozo]

I've got a SS LD01 and a natural Maratac AAA. They're really different lights. The LD01 is definitely a better thrower, has a tight hotspot, and screams sturdy construction. However, the low is at best a misnomer, and overall battery life is surprisingly short (esp. with the low mode).

The natural Maratac is more floody, has a wider hotspot that blends more into the whatever you call the not hotspot part of the beam. It's got a terrific low and really nice battery life on the lower levels. The high on mine is a little less bright than the high on my LD01, but not much. The keychain attachment is really flimsy and generally unpleasant. It has little prongs that stick out and snag pockets (and lips when mouth-holding). I took my keychain ring off and am happier with it, but have no way to attach it to anything now.

The LD01 is a superior flashlight in terms of general construction and finish. But it's not that much better--certainly not $40 better.

I still haven't decided which is going to become the final EDC for me. I'm going back and forth. They really are different lights, and neither is an ideal replacement for the other.

 

[BRO]

ZOZO, for me the difference between the SS Maratac and the SS LD01 was only $14.00. I had to pay the 9.25% tax on the Maratac and for some reason they charged me 8.00 to ship it, coming out to $38.+. By the way, the shipping is only 150 miles or so from my house for the Maratac.

In contrast, I paid $23.42 from Battery Junction for an upgraded ITP EOS and that included a $3.95 shipping charge all the way across the country. I am hoping the ITP comes out in SS down the road and if it does I will order it for evaluation.

When I receive the SS Maratac if it cannot out do my LD01 it will become a good xmas present for someone in my family. My LD01 is a proven key chain performer and it's replacement has to be better than it's equal.

 

[zozo]

That's going to be a tough comparison. I can't speak for the SS Maratac, but my natural Maratac, much as I'm impressed by its value is not better than the SS LD01. My LD01 really is a thing of beauty.

Another thing I forgot to mention. The PWM in the Maratac is pretty pronounced. The higher frequency PWM in the LD01 is significantly better, but that may also account for some of the lower battery life.

 

[iandh]

I've got a SS LD01 and a natural Maratac AAA. They're really different lights. The LD01 is definitely a better thrower, has a tight hotspot, and screams sturdy construction. However, the low is at best a misnomer, and overall battery life is surprisingly short (esp. with the low mode).

The natural Maratac is more floody, has a wider hotspot that blends more into the whatever you call the not hotspot part of the beam. It's got a terrific low and really nice battery life on the lower levels. The high on mine is a little less bright than the high on my LD01, but not much. The keychain attachment is really flimsy and generally unpleasant. It has little prongs that stick out and snag pockets (and lips when mouth-holding). I took my keychain ring off and am happier with it, but have no way to attach it to anything now.

The LD01 is a superior flashlight in terms of general construction and finish. But it's not that much better--certainly not $40 better.

I still haven't decided which is going to become the final EDC for me. I'm going back and forth. They really are different lights, and neither is an ideal replacement for the other.

Thanks for the post.

I got the LD01 for $46 shipped from ebay BNIB, so it was actually only $10 more for the LD01 than for the stainless Maratec ($36 shipped).

I'll probably end up getting a Maratec anyways even though I don't need two EDC lights, I suppose my least favorite of the two goes to the GF (girlfriend), or the GB (glovebox). :cool:

 

[Patriot]

I've got a SS LD01 and a natural Maratac AAA. They're really different lights. The LD01 is definitely a better thrower, has a tight hotspot, and screams sturdy construction. However, the low is at best a misnomer, and overall battery life is surprisingly short (esp. with the low mode).

My SS with, which has the same reflector as the black Maratac, gives slightly higher readings on the light meter than the LDO1 despite the OP reflector. I this this is due to two reasons. First the XP-E emitter is smaller, and secondly because the Maratac's reflector is a bit larger, as least compared to the LOD Q4. I don't have the LDO1 since that got passed on to my brother.

Here are the figures I got while at about a yard.

Maratac SS 13,800
LDO1 13,200
LOD Q4 12,100
Maratac nat. 11,400

Additionally, I like the Maratac because of it's lower low, knurling and overall lower price. Many of us asked for the LOD to be knurled for quite a while with no response. It's great to finally have an option to the Fenix. Unless they do something to radically improve the LDO1 in the areas that matter to me most, I don't forsee purchasing another LDO1 in it's current design. Nevertheless, both are great lights depending on preferences.

 

[BRO]

Patriot, was your LD01 SS or aluminum? With the readings indicated, can the naked eye tell the difference in real world between those numbers?

 

[Patriot]

BRO, mine was black aluminum but same LED and reflector as the SS. No, it's really not that apparent to the naked eye at all. Actually, the natural HA light with its floody beam almost seems to be the brightest light of all while inside of the house. Outdoors the SS version and LDO1 seems a bit brighter.

 

[iandh]

Screw it, I'm just gonna buy the SS Maratac, tape it to my SS LD01, and EDC the whole ugly bunch! :crazy:

 

[applevision]

Screw it, I'm just gonna buy the SS Maratac, tape it to my SS LD01, and EDC the whole ugly bunch! :crazy:

:laughing:

Literally hundreds and hundreds of posts (396 in the first post, 409 in the second post, and so far 31 in here = 836, but who's counting!) on this little beauty, but I think iandh's post says it all! There is something magical about the little lights, the EDCs that become part of us; I am most interested in this aspect of flashaholism. I also am torn about which to carry... but I have to say, the Nat Aluminum is so light, so lovely... it really makes my keychain feel so much more manageable than when the SS LD01 was on there... so it kind of kills me to add weight with the SS... Ah, the joys!

 

[Robocop]

I am really not sure how strong the key chain part of this light is however I will say that I believe the design is really well done. It is not permanent and allows for both pocket clip carry and or keychain....or simply remove it all for a slimmer profile in the pocket.

I think it is one of the better qualities of the light that make it unique and different. I am curious why so many feel the design is weak as after owning 3 of these I really feel it is just fine for daily keychain carry. I never really put that much stress on my small keychain lights and in day to day usage would probably not come close to the failure point of the clip anyway.

I did give my 3rd one as a gift to a friend who manages an animal shelter and makes frequent trips outside at night. I made a break-away neck lanyard and gave her a few Lithium AAA cells and she says thus far the light has been perfect for her needs.

She did say during one of her trips a large dog in the shelter kept jumping up on her and his claws snagged the clip. She was advising me of this to say the lanyard did what it was designed to do and simply broke away. She picked it up and clipped it together and said the light and clip remained secure. Sure the keychain clip seems a little thin however they are really not designed to hold much weight anyway....and this little AAA light does not have much weight as is.

 

[oronocova]

I too like the keychain attachment. I don't use it but it came in handy the other day. I had to go through a metal detector and before I got there I put it on the ring with my keys. I figured that might make it a little more obvious or at least be less likely to raise any questions if it just looked like part of a keychain. I'm sure they looked at the items on a keychain too (I hope they did) but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

 

[f22shift]

i like the keychain attachment to. specifically because i'm assuming it's not made of aluminium(or is it?). the hole in the ld01 would just wear bigger and bigger til i assume it falls off.
there seems to be no wear but i guess time will tell.

 

[davidt1]

Isn't it liberating to break away from those big and heavy lights and carry something so light and small you hardly notice it's there? It's small and light enough to put in my wallet. How is that for small and light? Since I also use it as a headlamp, the tiny size and feather weigh make the light unnoticed on my head. I am going to buy the black version so I can keep one in my pocket and one in the wallet as a backup.

Still hoping they will make an aa version of this light.

 

[Neill_Currie]

Took the keyring nub off of my EOS today. See a side-by-side with the Maratac here: http://blogericious.blogspot.com/2009/08/maratac-and-itp-eos-aaa-flashlights.html

Sorry about the poor pic. My camera won't focus down close enough.

 

[Patriot]

Looks good. Did you just grind it off and then paint the exposed metal?

 

[Neill_Currie]

Looks good. Did you just grind it off and then paint the exposed metal?

It's highly polished. Doesn't show in the pic.
Used a dremel with an emery board arbor, then 2 different grades of emery paper, final polish with Mother's.

 

[MKLight]

I just received my 2 Maratac AAA SS' today. I took one out of the bag and polished it with a Dremel and some Simichrome. Before polishing, I took off the black pocket clip and key chain clip. I polished the light up to a nice shine. I even did the threads which didn't really need it, but made it smoother. This would happen over time anyway. Unfortunately, the key chain clip expanded. When I tried to gently unstretch it, it broke in half. I still have the clip...and the other light (which is still in its sealed, pink in-color, bag.

Other than that, other things I noticed were that it is very small for a AAA light. There is some haze under the AR coated lens (some sort of moisture) - it seems to have the coating on it, although it doesn't have a discernible tint (yellow, reddish, green or blue). The threads are good, but a little thinner in wall size versus the Fenix LD01 SS - shouldn't be a problem, but I did see a picture online here (http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2865756840103197293PmKrZN) that may say otherwise...I don't know. The knurling is very nice. It fits well in your hand and can easily be turned on and off with one hand. Kudos to County Comm, Maratac (is Maratac owned by County Comm?), and ITP! Very nice. :twothumbs

Pics here:
Trying to learn how to do close-ups better...

A little better close-up here...maybe...? :whistle:

Not so good here...especially with the broken clip...:shakehead:eek:

The unopened light with a few extra toys...

and the light by itself...more or less...

Take care,
MK