Maratac AAA Review

[old4570]

Im certainly impressed with the quality of this little light ..

Modes = 3 / Medium - Lo - High

I like this mode order very much , Threads are clean , and the twisty action is about right , not to tight and not lose at all . I think the pictures tell all there is to tell about this lights quality , top notch .

Led is not XR-E , but rather XP-E .. [ The little card sais XR-E ]

Now for some performance figures with a Alkaline AAA battery .

Medium = 0.21A / 1120Lux
Lo = 0.03A / 110Lux
High = 0.78A / 4100Lux

In comparison / Ultrafire 602C 1 x RCR123A
Medium = 2700Lux
Lo = 1480Lux
High = 9600Lux

Now I dont have a 10440 battery , but from what Ive seen it just may double the output , but then I did buy this light for AAA use only . And it is recommended to keep to AAA batteries .

Im very happy with medium and high , low does seem just a little too Low , but will wait till tonight when I take some beamshots and play with the light in the dark , Lo may turn out to be ok .

 

[old4570]

There is an old saying , to walk a mile in some ones shoes , with flashlights that might be , to walk a mile with one in your pocket .

So I did , walk a mile with the Maratac .

Front pocket carry Jeans, after 100 meters or so it vanished , I had to tap the pocket to make sure it was still there , it was .

Jeans coin pocket , about 20 meters and I could no longer feel it , so to the back pocket , as soon as it went in there it was gone to me .

Breast pocket of polo shirt , 100 meters and I could no longer notice it , this light has the ability to just vanish and go completely un-noticed on ones person .
And I did like the clip , very nice .
1 mile walk , and it was like ?? what light ...
After some play , I did notice a very slight hum on Lo and Medium , but only when bringing the light next to ones ear , if that matters .. I would expect louder humming with a 10440 due to greater power .

So far this little light has not failed to impress , as near as I can figure on high with an Alkaline , it could be producing close to 80Lumen , 20Lumen on Medium and possibly 2 Lumen on Lo .
About 3 hours to beamshots :

 

[old4570]

Beamshots

Lo setting - Maratac



Medium -



High -



Mini Maglite - Fact LED 2 x AA

 

[Biginboca]

This looks like a great little light, and a real bargain to boot. One thing I notice in your beamshot's is that the Maratac looks fairly greenish in tint compared with the Minimag.

How is the tint on the Maratac? Is it really green? Not knowing what the tint is like is the last thing keeping me from giving this little guy a shot...

 

[old4570]

1/ Q5 Cree XR-E
2/ Mini Mag 2 x AA Fact LED
3/ Maratac

I dont know why it looks so green in the picture , might be the way my camera deals with the tint [ White Balance ]
Ive looked at the picture and the real deal , and I just dont see green , its a warmer tint , but not green per/say .

Hope this helps ~

 

[ugrey]

Thanks! I have been interested in these lights as gifts due to the price. I had wondered about the performance, now I know. Countycomm has good stuff and are great to do business with.

 

[flasherByNight]

Beamshots

very helpful pictures, but at what distance?

 

[Schuey2002]

very helpful pictures, but at what distance?

Yeah, I was wondering the exact same thing. What is the distance to that wall in your beamshots?

 

[old4570]

Yeah, I was wondering the exact same thing. What is the distance to that wall in your beamshots?

About 1 meter ... 3 feet ...

 

[Haz]

The low is actually quite useful, if you need more light you can always use medium or high, but with the low being as low as it is. It gives you exceptation runtime. If you adapt yourself to a dark room for a while, the low is more than adequate to handle most navigational task. I think the low is just right. I think runtime is paramount on a keychain or small light, because it's always on you most of the time. You don't want it to run out too quickly if the run time is short. Given it has about 50 hours on low, you are less likely to be caught out with a flat battery.

I actually would like one to start from low-medium-high, so in case it doesn't fire up a battery on medium, i may have a chance to start it on low.

 

[greenlight]

Is is a twistie or a clickie?

 

[WadeF]

This looks like a great little light, and a real bargain to boot. One thing I notice in your beamshot's is that the Maratac looks fairly greenish in tint compared with the Minimag.

How is the tint on the Maratac? Is it really green? Not knowing what the tint is like is the last thing keeping me from giving this little guy a shot...

Never a good idea to judge tint based on digital pictures posted online. There are just way to many variables.

The tints will vary, like any other LED, but my Maratac is in line with my WC tinted XR-E's.

 

[old4570]

Is is a twistie or a clickie?

Twisty

 

[tbenedict]

The low is actually quite useful, if you need more light you can always use medium or high, but with the low being as low as it is. It gives you exceptation runtime. If you adapt yourself to a dark room for a while, the low is more than adequate to handle most navigational task. I think the low is just right. I think runtime is paramount on a keychain or small light, because it's always on you most of the time. You don't want it to run out too quickly if the run time is short. Given it has about 50 hours on low, you are less likely to be caught out with a flat battery.

I actually would like one to start from low-medium-high, so in case it doesn't fire up a battery on medium, i may have a chance to start it on low.

I agree. This is the most practical close range light I have. The beam on my natural one is perfect for indoor use and has a decent floody range outdoors. The color is more pleasing to the eye than the bright white ones.

 

[Flying Turtle]

Nice review and pics, old4570. It's a great little light.

Geoff