Quick Question: Brightest, Smallest 1xCR123A?

As customary, I've been out of the small end of the market just long enough to lose my bearings. This should be an easy question:

What is the smallest, brightest 1xCR123a out there right now? Maximum is ~$100, so budget shouldn't be an issue. Ti is appreciated but by no means a requirement. Thanks!

Solarforce L2p with any P60 drop-in is propably the most versatile one. And a drop-in with SST-50, MC-E + P7 or XP-G R4 from Nailbender...Or have a look for a 4Sevens Quark with 123, they also come with XP-G R5. XP-G is propably your best choice for a 1x123 light.

Quark mini 123 running a Li-Ion cell is pretty bright and very small.

Oddjob said:

Quark mini 123 running a Li-Ion cell is pretty bright and very small.

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This.

Take a look at the nitecore extreme very bright on high, $90.00 mark and single 123 battery format. Great all around EDC light. The jetbeam rrt-0 running on a single 123 battery is also very good but the hot spot is small but throws very well.

Chef

The quark mini is really all the rage right now.
I have to keep telling myself that I'm broke. lol

Peak Rainier P7 direct-drive.

post tenebras said:

Peak Rainier P7 direct-drive.

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For around $100 (I think they are just north) I have to think this is the answer...

strinq said:

The quark mini is really all the rage right now.
I have to keep telling myself that I'm broke. lol

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It really is. I can't get over the output. ~190 lumens with a great spot, very useable spill, and a UI I've grown to really like from something shorter than my chapstick. It's remarkeable!
...and even crazier, it's less than $40.

Here's a beamshot on high:


Here's it bigger brother which is rated at 230 OTF lumens:

I don't know about the brightest but the Quark Mini 123 is a great value at great performance.

Alright, so it looks like I have two very good answers for my split question:
Brightest--Peak Rainier P7 direct-drive
Smallest--Quark MiNi 123

I'm probably going to throw in with the Quark first. As much as I love the idea of the baby-flamethrower Ranier, it's direct-drive which means no low. And the Quark being 1/3 the cost makes the decision easy for now--I get more flexibility, smaller size, and what is still a great output level.

One more question--has anyone tried running the Quark MiNi 123 on one of the Ultrafire 3.6V 880MAHs? I wouldn't run the thing on high for more than 30 seconds at a time anyway, wondering if I would kill it.

Phyltre said:

One more question--has anyone tried running the Quark MiNi 123 on one of the Ultrafire 3.6V 880MAHs? I wouldn't run the thing on high for more than 30 seconds at a time anyway, wondering if I would kill it.

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It will run fine on Li-Ions. As you mention, it will get warm quickly. There's not much body there to sink the heat.

Since I own a Nitecore EZ123 (which I was thinking of selling but since the clearance sale they are not worth selling at realistic marketplace prices) I can say that I wish I'd had a Mini - as the high on the EZ123 is impressive but really is a burst mode only. It does not have the mass to run for any appreciable time at that level. Consequently, a mid level would be very useful. I wish in fact that the EZ has a much lower high - more like the Nautilus - which would make it usable and I generally have a bigger and more powerful flashlight available if I believe I'll need more oomph.

But I'm not crazy about the twisty/flupic style interfaces (one reason I've not bought a BitZ) - however in a tiny package you're pretty much limited to that interface for size reasons if you have more than two levels.