pocket rocket thrower on 14500

jasonsmaglites

Enlightened
Joined
Feb 15, 2007
Messages
980
just got a quark mini aa and am afraid to run 14500 without cpf's blessing. are people running them fine? has anyone ever blown one?

this seems to be a good combo of throw and flood but the hotspot is very big. can anyone recommend a 14500 thrower that fits in pocket with good form (read: no large head)? my ezaa throws like a beast. i dont suppose that would work?
 
Consider it blessed. Go ahead and use it. :)
But it tends to get hot faster.

For a pocket thrower, try Jetbeam Jet 1 Pro V3.
 
The Nitecore EZ AA will run fine on 14500 cells, but without much increase in output. Runtime is increased with 14500, but I'm sticking with Nihm in the EZ AA.

Now the Jetbeam mentioned is a screamer with 14500, but it's an entirely different beast compared to the diminutive EZ series. For me, it's almost the perfect light - if it could "truly" tailstand it would have everything. Of course, while easily pocketable, the Jet I pro is by no means a keychain light.

As for the Quark Mini, I don't know how long you can run it with Li-ion. If I get another Quark, it will be a Quark AA run on 14500 Li-ion.
 
Last edited:
I have both the Mini AA and JET-1 Pro V3.0. Both are great lights but are different little light cannons. I run my Mini AA on AW protect 14500's with no problem and it's definitely a bright one, but not what I would call a thrower. More of a wall of light with a beautiful big hotspot that smoothly transitions to nice bright useful spill. Now the JET-1 on 14500's is not only bright, but a heck of a thrower for a pocket sized light. I have the op reflector in mine and it still has good throw. It is bigger than the Mini AA, but still very pocketable. It even has a nice pocket clip that lets you carry it bezel down.

BTW....My JET-1 is a very solid tail stander.

JET1ProV30-1.jpg


JET-1 and RRT-0 at 25ft.
Jet1Pro-RRT-0at25ft.jpg


No problem standing
SAM_0608.jpg


SAM_0605.jpg
 
Do the Quark AA's have any increased output with the 14500's? I was thinking they had some kind of buck circuit that reduced the voltage...
 
Quark Mini AA has a large increase in output on a 14500, but they do get hot quick, and I have already killed one on 14500's
 
Do the Quark AA's have any increased output with the 14500's? I was thinking they had some kind of buck circuit that reduced the voltage...

They do indeed have increased output and should have similar output to the 1xCR123 version.
 
Is the Jet I the same size as a Quark AA?

I have both the Mini AA and JET-1 Pro V3.0. Both are great lights but are different little light cannons. I run my Mini AA on AW protect 14500's with no problem and it's definitely a bright one, but not what I would call a thrower. More of a wall of light with a beautiful big hotspot that smoothly transitions to nice bright useful spill. Now the JET-1 on 14500's is not only bright, but a heck of a thrower for a pocket sized light. I have the op reflector in mine and it still has good throw. It is bigger than the Mini AA, but still very pocketable. It even has a nice pocket clip that lets you carry it bezel down.

BTW....My JET-1 is a very solid tail stander.

JET1ProV30-1.jpg
 
Is the Jet I the same size as a Quark AA?

If you mean the regular Quark AA, it is 3.8 inches. The JET-1 is 4 inches. The Quark Mini AA is 3 inches. Both the regular Quark AA and JET-1 are clickies while the Mini AA is a twisty. The Quark AA and JET-1 are made to take 14500's. While you can use a 14500 in the Mini AA, and it does significantly increase the output....it does get hot rather quickly and 4Sevens does not support the use of 14500's in them.
 
Here are a few comparison shots to give you an idea of the output of the Mini AA and the JET-1. The lights are 1 meter from the white background, and all are on max output.

First is the Eagletac putting 300 lumen out the front
EagleTacP20C2Markll.jpg


Next is the JET-1 with a max of 240 lumen
JETBeamJET-1PROV3.jpg


And the Mini AA with a 14500
QuarkMiniAA.jpg
 
Last edited:
How does the NDI compare to the Jet 1 Pro v3 on 14500, if anyone knows?

I'm thinking of either a Q3 XR-E (which would probably behave similarly to the older Q5 version of the NDI) or an R2 XP-E (brighter, but less throwy) version, to compliment my Jet 1 Pro with its Q3. I'm thinking the NDI in either form would be a bit less of a throw light, and probably not quie as bright. Does either version of the NDI give a significant output bosst on 14500s, or is the runtime increased, instead?
 
How does the NDI compare to the Jet 1 Pro v3 on 14500, if anyone knows?

I'm thinking of either a Q3 XR-E (which would probably behave similarly to the older Q5 version of the NDI) or an R2 XP-E (brighter, but less throwy) version, to compliment my Jet 1 Pro with its Q3. I'm thinking the NDI in either form would be a bit less of a throw light, and probably not quie as bright. Does either version of the NDI give a significant output bosst on 14500s, or is the runtime increased, instead?

I've had 3 or 4 of the Q5 NDI (all Silver's) and can tell you there is a hell of a difference on 14500's vs the other AA's (nimh, alkaline etc). The NDI is also very bright even on alkalines if you need to run those. It is not as throwy as the Jet 1 Pro I had (Q5 ist gen), but had better run time & a more useful beam.

Both were great lights, but I kept the NDI.
I'd say get the Jet 1 Pro with the R2 in it if you want a throwy light to run on 14500's & like the UI & design of it.

Have not owned the newer R2's in either model, but the R2 should outthrow the older Q5 (which was very good) lights in both brands.
 
Last edited:
Rob,

Can't tell from the pics but between the Jet 1 and RRT-0, is there a discernable difference in output, the beam shots look identical.

Thx,
Tim
 
I got a another Jet-I today this time the Q3 and I have been outside testing it against the R2 Jet-I and the RRT0. In regards to the Jet-I r2 and RRT0 if you run them both on 14500 the output looks identical at all distances but with the RRT0 on cr123 the Jet-I looks slightly brighter.

This is with fresh battery's I notice the Jet-I stays regulated all the way to the end but the RRT0 on primary begins to get dimmer with use. Both beams are close to identical with the Jet-I having slightly less of a dark cree ring outside the hotspot while both running OP reflectors.

I will see what Rob says he got me into the Jet-I thanks to his great pics and kind answers so he has had longer to observe the difference in his RRT0 and Jet-I.
 
sold. i wanna get the jet-1 pro v3. can i get a link or at least a name of the best vendor to get it from?
 
Sorry to take so long to answer Tim. Both my JET-1 and RRT-0 have the op reflector, and I can see no real difference between the two on high when using lithium rechargeables.

Rob,

Can't tell from the pics but between the Jet 1 and RRT-0, is there a discernable difference in output, the beam shots look identical.

Thx,
Tim
 
Top