4sevens series, any serious malfunction? Good enough for roughing it?

To date I have one Quark Turbo 2 x 123A, one Quark Tactical 1 x 123A and two Preon`s 2 x AAA. In my opinion they work just as good as any flashlight I have had (mostly SF). Thinking about roughing it during travel, do you ladies and gentlemen think I could make some of 4sevens products my primary? So far I have traveled with the SF Kroma, E1B and Lumamax L2. But since 4sevens are somewhat more versitile, you think I can trust it, replacing my SF`s? Kind of just only carrying the SF E1B in the luggage as backup?

In other words, when you are away from home in warmth and cold. Would you grab a 4sevens or something older and more proven? Are 4sevens reliable enough for harsh conditions? You know when things must work.

Best regards

lovecpf

Patrik said:

In other words, when you are away from home in warmth and cold. Would you grab a 4sevens or something older and more proven? Are 4sevens reliable enough for harsh conditions? You know when things must work.

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I can't answer your question regarding the quality of the Quarks but I can tell you this: Everything man-made can and will break.

If you want reliability, you need backup, e.g. that's why cave divers carry 3 lights or more.

-Connor

If you are going into harsh conditions, make sure you have at least 3 lights, at least one of which is a long runtime, emergency light or such a mode.

If you want max durability, a well made direct drive twisty light should be pretty good. If you need regulation and/or multimode, a well potted twistie light should be good too.

Patrik said:

In other words, when you are away from home in warmth and cold. Would you grab a 4sevens or something older and more proven? Are 4sevens reliable enough for harsh conditions? You know when things must work.

Click to expand...

I am a huge fan of the Quarks. I own three and I have another coming. With that said, the fact is that they just haven't been around long enough for us to know how reliable they will be in the long term.

Because any object can break, and any flashlight can be lost, you need a minimum of two. Three is better. For myself, I would carry two Quarks and my IlluminaTi and feel like I was in good shape. I have a Prism coming too, so if that works the way I expect I'd have a headlight option. The E01 is teeny and easy to carry, so I might stash one of those too.

The consensus of CPF, as far as I can tell, is that the Ra Twisty is the most reliable and bombproof flashlight ever made by Man. The Fenix E01 is also highly regarded for reliability, and it has awesome runtime.

Personally I think I can trust them and there is only one one way to gain confidence and thats to give them a shot.

Cheers!

Thanks for the input, of some strange reason the Ra lights has not come to my attention really until know, did a search and they seem interesting (especially their custom built lights!). Concering 4sevens I am well aware that anything from high to low can break, eventually. I agree that carrying 2-3 lights is much preffered in any case.

Thanks again, I appreciate it. :wave:

my opinion has always been "the simpler it is, the harder it is to break, and when it does, its cheaper and easier to fix" my truck has manual windows/locks/tranny for this reason, its hard to find a light simpler than a surefire...i love my quarks, but i fear the intense gadgetry and circuitry that goes into all those modes, i have had mine weird out once or twice and jump modes or turn itself off entirely...my SF either works, or has dead batteries. That being said, my EDC is still a quark for its sheer brightness and compact size.

I don't really know how much roughness you would put your lights through but I always believed in the CPF motto. Two is one, and one is none.

Carry a backup or two. You never know when you would need it. Personally for me, I would have 2 to 4 lights when I go on a camping trip. Not exactly rough usage but you would not want to be left in the dark would you?

I would now have a Surefire LX2 for reliability but would carry along my next favorite, the Quark 123^2 Tactical with neutral warm LED. Any of these could be my main light. I love the LX2 for it's reliability and throw but I love the Quark for it's warm tint and nice flood pattern as compared to LX2.

As my habit, I would carry along another one or two pocket lights that runs on a single cell. I would have the Nitecore D10 in my pocket and maybe another Nitecore Infinity. I am still currently awaiting for 4sevens to complete their production of the Quark AA MiNi with neutral tint Q3-5A so I could replace my Nitecore with the Quark for the warmer tint which is good in the outdoors.

I do also hope that 4sevens would consider building a series of XP-G Quarks on neutral tints soon since Cree has made announcements of the release of neutral white XP-G.

The Quark lights have not been out long enough to judge their long-term and extreme-environment reliability. You cannot really trust a light until it has been out at least a year, all bugs have been removed from the current production runs and it's durability has been tested both by simulations and real use in harsh environments.

Now, on the other hand, the quarks are great lights and the tactical quarks have the perfect UI for most extreme situations (imo, some might like the regular UI better). So, you can be one of the people to test the quarks in an extreme environment. Bring a sturdy, proven backup or two (for example your E1B and a Fenix E01 with a lithium cell) and you can test and judge the quarks yourself while staying safe.

Connor said:

I can't answer your question regarding the quality of the Quarks but I can tell you this: Everything man-made can and will break.

If you want reliability, you need backup, e.g. that's why cave divers carry 3 lights or more.

-Connor

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+1

My Preon Ti 2xAAA has successfully passed the concrete drop and kick test a couple of times. It is no longer a possible shelf queen, it shows considerable scratching but nothing dented or broke. Now I can carry it when I want without worry, kind of like getting the first door ding in a new car.

John F