Titanium Quark MiNi user impressions

It seems these are starting to flow into people's hands now. What are your impressions of the Ti Quark MiNis?

How is it compared to the regular Quark MiNis?, feel, weight and usability?

I haven't received mine yet, should be getting mine next week. Titanium seems to be a good choice for a small twisty light. No worries with a clicky switch made from silicon, and it should wear well in the pocket with other items.

I hate it when I start a thread and no one answers, so here's my answer. I've had about 15 MiNi's, both Al and Ti, AA and CR2, and my absolute favorite of all is the Ti CR2, which I'm hoping to change the emitter in soon.

The Ti AA's have a bit rougher feel to the knurling which is not there with the CR2, due to it's having been polished overall, making it an absolute joy to hold.

If you don't have one of the MiNi CR2's in either Al or Ti, get one!

I love my mini Ti cr2, I didnt have plans on it being a edc but its been with me everyday.

kaichu dento said:

I hate it when I start a thread and no one answers, so here's my answer. I've had about 15 MiNi's, both Al and Ti, AA and CR2, and my absolute favorite of all is the Ti CR2, which I'm hoping to change the emitter in soon.
The Ti AA's have a bit rougher feel to the knurling which is not there with the CR2, due to it's having been polished overall, making it an absolute joy to hold.
If you don't have one of the MiNi CR2's in either Al or Ti, get one!

Click to expand...

OK here's my experience:

When they were first introduced I bought a Quark mini titanium CR123 as a replacement for my Fenix P1D CE. Nothing's wrong with the P1D CE, I thought the Quark mini would be a little smaller, lighter and brighter. It did not come with an attachment ring(4 Sevens immediately sent me one when I asked:welcome
Nonetheless I began EDCing the MINI in a Fenix P1D holster on my strong side, behind cell phone holster. The first thing I noticed was how convient it was to accesss the light without getting my keys out of front pocket!
It's amazing how much easier it was to produce the light when it was needed!!! I guess I'm getting spoiled after 7+years of EDC LED carry as if always having a light when needed wasn't good enough anymore.

I have been constantly WOWING folks on almost a daily basis ever since.
The light fits so snug and well in the P1D holster it won't fall out when I hang my pants upside down. This is the light I always have with me in casual, or even when wearing a fine tapered Italian suit! It is discreetly hidden next to cell phone on my belt. I have been running on rCR23 with no issues at all. I have had none of the occasional "finnicky" issues associated with other lights like my Jetbeam Jet I v.3 (currently on it's second return to the good folks at Bug Out Gear).

The Quark MINI CR123 is one of the best LED EDC experiences I have ever known!!!

My Ti 123 is a joy to carry and use. Tremendous bang for the buck in such a small light.

tsask said:

OK here's my experience:

...Nonetheless I began EDCing the MINI in a Fenix P1D holster on my strong side, behind cell phone holster. The first thing I noticed was how convient it was to accesss the light without getting my keys out of front pocket!
It's amazing how much easier it was to produce the light when it was needed!!! I guess I'm getting spoiled after 7+years of EDC LED carry as if always having a light when needed wasn't good enough anymore.
...

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That's exactly how I like to carry my lights. They're always right there when I need them. I, generally, can't carry a light in my pocket because of other things that I have, they just don't wear right.
I was thinking of getting one of these lights, a MINI, but I need a holster. I don't have a P1D holster. So I will be looking around for a small holster I guess.

By the way, if anybody knows of a good holster, besides the P1D (not so sure I can still get one of those holster) let me know.
Please.

Haz said:

It seems these are starting to flow into people's hands now. What are your impressions of the Ti Quark MiNis?

How is it compared to the regular Quark MiNis?, feel, weight and usability?

I haven't received mine yet, should be getting mine next week. Titanium seems to be a good choice for a small twisty light. No worries with a clicky switch made from silicon, and it should wear well in the pocket with other items.

Click to expand...

Other than the threads on my Mini CR2 Ti being a little bit gritty despite cleaning and lubing, it's a great little light. I don't baby it at all. On my keychain getting banged around everyday.

Output is great on the mini 123 or using 14500 in the AA model, size and weight are great, look is great when it develops a patina of scratches in your pocket.

Threads, however, are not so great. Very gritty. As another titanium Mini owner put it, "like fingernails on a chalkboard". When I received it, the light had metal shavings in the threads already. Titanium filings continue to build up in the threads over time from use. The metal seems to have galling problems. It gives the impression that the threads are wearing and will eventually wear out. Maybe titanium is not the best material for a twisty.

Also, the fit of the threads is very loose. To give you an idea, I also have a Maratac Stainless AA which is almost an identical design. On the Maratac, if you loosen the head 90 degrees, that is enough that if you push on the head or fiddle with it, the light will not turn on.

The Quark Mini Titanium AA, on the other hand, has to be loosened AT LEAST 180 degrees to keep it from turning off. If you loosen it only 90 degrees, the light can be turned on either by pressing in on the head, or even pressing sideways on the head. I have had the light flash on in my pocket many times. 180 degrees feels like a long way to turn the head if you are trying to use the light 1-handed.

I generally can't operate this light reliably with 1 hand due to the loose sloppy threads, the gritty friction turning the head, and the fact that the head has to be tightened pretty hard to get a good connection (if you don't tighten it enough it flickers on and off sometimes).

The Maratac in comparison can be operated with 1 hand.

I have the quark mini titanium in both cr123 and AA versions, and the cr123 version seem to have less issues with the threads, but everything I said applies to both, just to a lesser degree on the 123 version.

That has been my after EDC-ing the titanium Minis for a month and a half (so far).

Mine has been a good keychain light for several months. The finish has held up well and the size is great. The threads are gritty and no amount of cleaning, lubing, or breaking in has changed that. One handed operation isn't really possible, unlike my aluminum Mini 123 which is silky smooth and easily used one handed. I was expecting the same when I first ordered the Ti CR2 and at first I was disappointed and going to return it, but then I decided that maybe stiff and gritty threads would prevent accidental turn on in my pocket on the keychain. I've been ok with it so far and it does get a decent amount of use.

Stingray said:

Mine has been a good keychain light for several months. The finish has held up well and the size is great. The threads are gritty and no amount of cleaning, lubing, or breaking in has changed that. One handed operation isn't really possible, unlike my aluminum Mini 123 which is silky smooth and easily used one handed. I was expecting the same when I first ordered the Ti CR2 and at first I was disappointed and going to return it, but then I decided that maybe stiff and gritty threads would prevent accidental turn on in my pocket on the keychain. I've been ok with it so far and it does get a decent amount of use.

Click to expand...

Well if yours has been gritty for months but still works fine, that is encouraging. I can live with gritty, sloppy, loose threads. As long as the light keeps working

The fact that it is titanium gives it a certain "cool" factor.

P.S. - I just checked again, and my Maratac stainless AA actually only needs the head loosened 45 degrees for secure lock-out (not 90 degrees like I said before). Both lights work well though.

I made a quick video of my Ti MiNI CR2 and 123 showing that one handed operation is easy and listen closely....there is little noise (no gritty sound) when twisting because I use loctite krytox grease.

http://yfrog.com/7fminiz

Beamhead said:

I made a quick video of my Ti MiNI CR2 and 123 showing that one handed operation is easy and listen closely....there is little noise (no gritty sound) when twisting because I use loctite krytox grease.

http://yfrog.com/7fminiz

Click to expand...

Do you think the grease helps a lot? Is it available in a brick-and-mortar store or would it need to be ordered? I'd like to try the stuff if it helps.

Also, it looks like Krytox is a line of lubricants, and there are several types, which specific one do you use?

I have been using the DeoxIt that came with the lights but it doesn't help much.

Hellbore, deoxit isn't a lube, and as I stated in my post here.
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3500395&postcount=21 I use loctite krytox grease on my lights and it helps immensely.

I posted the link mainly so people can compare his youtube vid to mine, he obviously didn't have proper lube on the threads.
EDIT: He removed his video. :thinking:

I found the loctite krytox through a local fastener distributor, it can easily be found on line if that doesn't pan out. It isn't cheap but the 2 oz you get will do a lot of lights for a very long time.

Loctite only has one krytox grease, this is a good online price.
http://www.allsafetysupplies.com/Loctite-Krytox-RFE-PFPE-Lubricant_p_4466.html

After watching that video I checked mine out some more. If I remove the o-ring I can use it one handed like in that video, but with the o-ring in place it's tight and skips levels. With no battery or o-ring the threads are easy enough to use one handed pretty well, although still no where near the aluminum minis even with their battery and o-ring in place. The pressure of the battery spring creating more tension and thus friction on the not so smooth threads combined with the friction from the o-ring is what impacts my Ti mini so much.

jimmybrown2 said:

By the way, if anybody knows of a good holster, besides the P1D (not so sure I can still get one of those holster) let me know.
Please.

Click to expand...

You can get them here about half way down the page.

http://eliteled.com/products/accessory/fenix-accessories.html

What lube are you using on the o-ring Stingray?

Since I don't have any Krytox right now I experimented a little with a couple different lubes I do have.

Dow 33 silicone-based grease did not seem to help the rough threads at all.

Bicycle bearing grease also didn't seem to help.

After doing some reading about galling and lubricants, I decided to try mixing in some graphite powder with bicycle bearing grease. This lube actually DID make the threads operate much smoother. Unfortunately it's black and kind of messy.

Another thing I'd like to try later is clean the threads really well, and apply Tetra gun grease. It is supposed to penetrate into the metal and deposit lubrication or something. I know it works well on my guns.

Be careful using many different lubes, it may cause the o-ring to swell and then things get real hard.

I learned a lot about lubing Ti lights when I owned a Ti McGizmo and can't find the old great thread but this one has some info including that McGizmo uses Krytox 50/50 from the sandwich shoppe, I have and it works good but the loctite krytox grease is thicker and has worked better for me.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/238387

Yeah I had read that the 50/50 was preferred but... since you have this light, and you have tried both, if you think the straight grease works better then I'll probably try it. It's just a little hard to convince me to spend $40 on a tiny tube of grease

The graphite-enriched grease is a no-go though, after a few minutes it started causing flickering and mode-skipping. I think this is because graphite is somewhat electrically conductive. It probably started getting into the contacts. I'll have to clean it out. It was an interesting experiment anyway.

By the way, I'm not worried about any of the lubes I tried causing the orings to swell, because my stash of lubes is all from my paintball days, and with paintball guns you always have to be careful not to use lubricants than cause oring swelling For example, petroleum-based lubes have caused this, among others, so I don't have those in my kit...