I'm looking around for my first EDC. I think that my choice is going to be a Quark AA and a couple of AW 14500s, but I'd really like to put my hands one one before I take the plung so that I can get a better idea of what it really is, but as near as I can tell if you want a 4sevens light, you buy it directly from them. I can't drive to Indianapolis and find a dealer/distributor to take a better look at them. Any suggestions?
Here's what I own, or have owned. Older Scorpions, an older Pelican, and an Ultra Stinger that I use around the house, as well as a TL2 mounted on my AR for keeping varmits out of the yard at night (I love living in the country) and a TL3 in the truck.
Here's a little about me: I work as a manufactuing engineer in a molding/assembly plant. I work with maintenace a lot. At home I work on my vehicles, work on the house, hunt, fish, and on occation I work as a firearms instructor at a local firing range.
Here's what I'd like a light to do: I'm looking for a light that is bright enough to penetrate and allow me (or my wife) to see inside a vehicle with tented windows in a parking lot at night (wife is a night shift nurse). I want the light to be able to put out a beam wide enough to light up a 4' area at my feet like it was noon so that I can use it when I'm traking my neighbors wounded deer. After 15 years, I've given up on teaching them how to shoot. I'd also like to be able to shine the light 25 feet up onto a robot to get a better look at something that's in a shadow. I'm usually looking up at mercury lighting wich makes a person squint pretty bad, and consequently anything that's in a shadow might as well be painted flat black.
Here's what I've seen so far and NOT liked. I've seen a couple of fenix lights, and I didn't care for the beam. LIke my Ultra Stinger with the aftermarket LED upgrade, it puts out an amazingly bright center beam, but that beam is so small that it only lights up a spot about 1' across at my feet. The beam is so bright that it makes anything in the over spill area look dark. I like that a lot for a weapons light for shooting coyotes at night, but not so much for a hand held flash light. Currently I use my Ultrastinger when I let the dogs out at night. I check the yard for eyes (coons, opossums, deer, and if I were really lucky a coyote) before I let the dogs out. With the deer, I just make sure the dogs go to another part of the yard rather than spend the next hour yelling for them to come back. The rest are killed on sight. This light works well for that, but that's about the only use I have for it.
I like the beam shape of my old Scorpion, TL2, and TL3 lights (spot to flood adjustment), but I don't care for the short life span that results from a lack of multiple output modes, and I don't care for the CR123 batteries due to availabiltity and cost. I generally take the TL3 out of the truck to track wounded game, but burning through three CR123 batteries in an hour sucks. The Scorpions, Pelecans, and TL2 work okay, but they still burn through two CR123s in an hour, and they really don't put out enough light. I'd rather go fill the lantern up at that point because if the deer didn't go down in the first 150 yards, we've got a long night a head of us. I use tracking as an example because it's probably the most demanding job I can think of for my needs.
At the end of the day, if the Quark AA puts out enough light to do what I want with a 14500 battery, then I don't mind having to have 2 or 3 of them on hand. I don't even mind the idea of getting the AA^2 body and possibly even a second type of head to throw in my hunting back pack or glove box. Maybe the light normally has a turbo head on it, and I throw a standard head in my back pack to use for tracking? Either way I'm mostly worried about putting enough light on the ground in a usable pattern, and so I'd like to use one for about 5 minutes before I make my final decision. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Mark
Here's what I own, or have owned. Older Scorpions, an older Pelican, and an Ultra Stinger that I use around the house, as well as a TL2 mounted on my AR for keeping varmits out of the yard at night (I love living in the country) and a TL3 in the truck.
Here's a little about me: I work as a manufactuing engineer in a molding/assembly plant. I work with maintenace a lot. At home I work on my vehicles, work on the house, hunt, fish, and on occation I work as a firearms instructor at a local firing range.
Here's what I'd like a light to do: I'm looking for a light that is bright enough to penetrate and allow me (or my wife) to see inside a vehicle with tented windows in a parking lot at night (wife is a night shift nurse). I want the light to be able to put out a beam wide enough to light up a 4' area at my feet like it was noon so that I can use it when I'm traking my neighbors wounded deer. After 15 years, I've given up on teaching them how to shoot. I'd also like to be able to shine the light 25 feet up onto a robot to get a better look at something that's in a shadow. I'm usually looking up at mercury lighting wich makes a person squint pretty bad, and consequently anything that's in a shadow might as well be painted flat black.
Here's what I've seen so far and NOT liked. I've seen a couple of fenix lights, and I didn't care for the beam. LIke my Ultra Stinger with the aftermarket LED upgrade, it puts out an amazingly bright center beam, but that beam is so small that it only lights up a spot about 1' across at my feet. The beam is so bright that it makes anything in the over spill area look dark. I like that a lot for a weapons light for shooting coyotes at night, but not so much for a hand held flash light. Currently I use my Ultrastinger when I let the dogs out at night. I check the yard for eyes (coons, opossums, deer, and if I were really lucky a coyote) before I let the dogs out. With the deer, I just make sure the dogs go to another part of the yard rather than spend the next hour yelling for them to come back. The rest are killed on sight. This light works well for that, but that's about the only use I have for it.
I like the beam shape of my old Scorpion, TL2, and TL3 lights (spot to flood adjustment), but I don't care for the short life span that results from a lack of multiple output modes, and I don't care for the CR123 batteries due to availabiltity and cost. I generally take the TL3 out of the truck to track wounded game, but burning through three CR123 batteries in an hour sucks. The Scorpions, Pelecans, and TL2 work okay, but they still burn through two CR123s in an hour, and they really don't put out enough light. I'd rather go fill the lantern up at that point because if the deer didn't go down in the first 150 yards, we've got a long night a head of us. I use tracking as an example because it's probably the most demanding job I can think of for my needs.
At the end of the day, if the Quark AA puts out enough light to do what I want with a 14500 battery, then I don't mind having to have 2 or 3 of them on hand. I don't even mind the idea of getting the AA^2 body and possibly even a second type of head to throw in my hunting back pack or glove box. Maybe the light normally has a turbo head on it, and I throw a standard head in my back pack to use for tracking? Either way I'm mostly worried about putting enough light on the ground in a usable pattern, and so I'd like to use one for about 5 minutes before I make my final decision. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Mark
