pellgarlic
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2011
- Messages
- 59
Hi. I've been a "lurker" for a little while, first-time poster. I'm in the market for a new single-cell EDC torch (I'm from Scotland, forgive my uncouth language - "flashlight" if you prefer...) and I'm settled on the 4sevens Quark mini 123. (I already have the mini AA, which is awesome, but am lusting after the higher power output of the CR123s =) ). My quandary though, is whether to go for the "standard" aluminium version, or splash out for the titanium version, which is very appealing to me, although I'm finding it difficult to separate my aesthetic response from my self-justifications that "if there's an apocalypse, it'll be more likely to stay intact" (neglecting to account for whether or not _I_ would still be about to use it =P).
I know there have been several threads already discussing the relative merits of titanium vs aluminium, and I don't want to create another such thread - I have read through the existing ones, and they've been most informative (some more informative than I can grasp, with detailed scientific specs of each metal), and some suggesting the point of titanium is purely aesthetic. I've also gathered that titanium is a worse heatsink than aluminium, and is stronger and lighter than steel, but heavier than aluminium (good, concise overview in post 3 of this thread: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?303482-Aluminium-vs.-Titanium), and is obviously more expensive than aluminium (in the UK, it will cost about twice as much for the ti version of the qmini 123 as opposed to the alu version), and I've considered all of these things, and am just hovering on the brink between feeling that it's worth the extra to get the titanium, and feeling that it's not.
What I'm left with, is trying to decide on the practical implications of titanium over aluminium, and there seems to be a dearth of examples where it has (or hasn't) made a difference in "real life" in the threads I've read through. So, specific discussions about the specifications of each metal or aesthetics aside, I wanted to know if anyone had any real-life anecdotes (first person preferably, but "I heard about someone who..." would also be interesting, assuming there is good reason to believe it) about either:
(a) having a titanium light, and the fact that it was titanium actually making a positive difference in a situation.
I can certainly imagine plenty of scenarios, but they're mostly reminiscent of preposterous scenes in action movies, e.g. wedging it in a large metal cog to stop a door from closing and trapping you (seems I'm not the first - see post 22 in this thread: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?248442-EDC-the-Titanium-Quark) but "real-life" scenarios would be great to hear about.
or:
(b) having an aluminium light, and believing that if it had been titanium, a negative outcome of a particular situation could have been a positive outcome instead.
Or indeed, if anyone has any anecdotes that would prove the opposite, I would welcome hearing about that too. I don't expect there to be many accounts of life-and-death scenarios, but more day-to-day situations would be more relevant to my question anyway =)
So, has your titanium light ever saved the day? =)
I know there have been several threads already discussing the relative merits of titanium vs aluminium, and I don't want to create another such thread - I have read through the existing ones, and they've been most informative (some more informative than I can grasp, with detailed scientific specs of each metal), and some suggesting the point of titanium is purely aesthetic. I've also gathered that titanium is a worse heatsink than aluminium, and is stronger and lighter than steel, but heavier than aluminium (good, concise overview in post 3 of this thread: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?303482-Aluminium-vs.-Titanium), and is obviously more expensive than aluminium (in the UK, it will cost about twice as much for the ti version of the qmini 123 as opposed to the alu version), and I've considered all of these things, and am just hovering on the brink between feeling that it's worth the extra to get the titanium, and feeling that it's not.
What I'm left with, is trying to decide on the practical implications of titanium over aluminium, and there seems to be a dearth of examples where it has (or hasn't) made a difference in "real life" in the threads I've read through. So, specific discussions about the specifications of each metal or aesthetics aside, I wanted to know if anyone had any real-life anecdotes (first person preferably, but "I heard about someone who..." would also be interesting, assuming there is good reason to believe it) about either:
(a) having a titanium light, and the fact that it was titanium actually making a positive difference in a situation.
I can certainly imagine plenty of scenarios, but they're mostly reminiscent of preposterous scenes in action movies, e.g. wedging it in a large metal cog to stop a door from closing and trapping you (seems I'm not the first - see post 22 in this thread: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?248442-EDC-the-Titanium-Quark) but "real-life" scenarios would be great to hear about.
or:
(b) having an aluminium light, and believing that if it had been titanium, a negative outcome of a particular situation could have been a positive outcome instead.
Or indeed, if anyone has any anecdotes that would prove the opposite, I would welcome hearing about that too. I don't expect there to be many accounts of life-and-death scenarios, but more day-to-day situations would be more relevant to my question anyway =)
So, has your titanium light ever saved the day? =)