depaulhifi
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2012
- Messages
- 4
sup d00ds.... as you can see I am new to CPF and flashlights in general. I discovered this place from none other than good ol' nutnfancy ... and I doubt I am alone in this lol... after seeing his reviews of awesome lights from Fenix, NiteCore, and 4sevens, I've decided I must have one of my own! After learning about all the features available in a good/tactical flashlight, I would like the light to meet the following criteria:
1. compact enough for EDC, but powerful enough to be a primary light
2. very bright, 180+ lumens, see item #1
3. forward clicky switch, allowing momentary on
4. must use readily available cells, so they are not hard to find in the event of SHTF.
After a good few weeks of searching/reading/learning... I had settled on a 4sevens Quark X AA² Tactical. It meets or exceeds all of my set criteria. Then I became torn between the Tactical and non-Tactical version. I like that the non-Tactical version is not "limited" to 2 modes like the Tactical version is. I don't like that I have to reprogram the flashlight to access a mode outside the two currently programmed. So I started to consider the non-Tactical version, but I don't like the reverse clicky switch and that I can't do a half press/momentary on with it.
(I understand that this is EXTREMELY trivial... but I think its soooooo cool that there are so many different lights to choose from and minutiae like this is considered)
So Quark non-Tactical is out again, back to Tactical version, but that UI is still a bummer. I began to look at JetBeam. I see they get excellent reviews here as well as other places. Yesterday I thought I had settled (again) on the PA20. It's plenty bright at 230 ANSI (although not explicitly defined as OTF lumens, this seems like a more realistic measurement than from the emitter) lumens, the right size, the right price... blah blah blah... I can use rechargeable eneloop's in it, and it has a forward clicky switch that allows me to run it full blast with the head in one position, *and* cycle through the rest of the available modes with the head in another position. Color me "sold."
Or am I? Then I started looking at the PC20 and its OMG!!! 410 lumens. For four bucks more I can get nearly double the lumens and an extra 30 minutes run time on max brightness. I'd be crazy not to, right? My hangup here is that it uses CR123 cells. I understand they're stronger than AAs and I also understand they're not super hard to find, but they're by no means as prolific as AAs or AAAs. I think there are rechargeable CR123s out there, called RCR123s if I'm not mistaken. These would likely require a separate/proprietary charger which is a bummer. I'm now trying to work out the cost/benefit analysis and the total cost of ownership of each. I have a few questions that will help me finalise this decision:
1. how long will a 2xCR123 light last in "real world" terms? By "real world" I mean using it a few times a day when you're like "what is that?" *flashlight on* ... looking around... eh, just a rat... *flashlight off* there's like what... 15 seconds of usage? ... I've never had a flashlight worth a chizz so I don't yet know how much I will use it.
2. the same scenario for a 2xAA light?
3. is there really a night and day difference between 230 lumens and 410? To the point where it looks almost 2x brighter to the naked/untrained eye?
The extra upfront and long-term costs of a CR123 based light are not going to make or break me, but there is something to be said for a device that runs on plain ol, run of the mill, can find 'em freakin' anywhere, AAs. If it turns out that I'm only gonna need to buy CR123s once a year or so, and have a light that's visibly brighter, then the PC20 will be it. If it turns out that dudes are buying CR123's every month or two, that could be a whole different sitch.
Your input will be greatly appreciated!
1. compact enough for EDC, but powerful enough to be a primary light
2. very bright, 180+ lumens, see item #1
3. forward clicky switch, allowing momentary on
4. must use readily available cells, so they are not hard to find in the event of SHTF.
After a good few weeks of searching/reading/learning... I had settled on a 4sevens Quark X AA² Tactical. It meets or exceeds all of my set criteria. Then I became torn between the Tactical and non-Tactical version. I like that the non-Tactical version is not "limited" to 2 modes like the Tactical version is. I don't like that I have to reprogram the flashlight to access a mode outside the two currently programmed. So I started to consider the non-Tactical version, but I don't like the reverse clicky switch and that I can't do a half press/momentary on with it.
(I understand that this is EXTREMELY trivial... but I think its soooooo cool that there are so many different lights to choose from and minutiae like this is considered)
So Quark non-Tactical is out again, back to Tactical version, but that UI is still a bummer. I began to look at JetBeam. I see they get excellent reviews here as well as other places. Yesterday I thought I had settled (again) on the PA20. It's plenty bright at 230 ANSI (although not explicitly defined as OTF lumens, this seems like a more realistic measurement than from the emitter) lumens, the right size, the right price... blah blah blah... I can use rechargeable eneloop's in it, and it has a forward clicky switch that allows me to run it full blast with the head in one position, *and* cycle through the rest of the available modes with the head in another position. Color me "sold."
Or am I? Then I started looking at the PC20 and its OMG!!! 410 lumens. For four bucks more I can get nearly double the lumens and an extra 30 minutes run time on max brightness. I'd be crazy not to, right? My hangup here is that it uses CR123 cells. I understand they're stronger than AAs and I also understand they're not super hard to find, but they're by no means as prolific as AAs or AAAs. I think there are rechargeable CR123s out there, called RCR123s if I'm not mistaken. These would likely require a separate/proprietary charger which is a bummer. I'm now trying to work out the cost/benefit analysis and the total cost of ownership of each. I have a few questions that will help me finalise this decision:
1. how long will a 2xCR123 light last in "real world" terms? By "real world" I mean using it a few times a day when you're like "what is that?" *flashlight on* ... looking around... eh, just a rat... *flashlight off* there's like what... 15 seconds of usage? ... I've never had a flashlight worth a chizz so I don't yet know how much I will use it.
2. the same scenario for a 2xAA light?
3. is there really a night and day difference between 230 lumens and 410? To the point where it looks almost 2x brighter to the naked/untrained eye?
The extra upfront and long-term costs of a CR123 based light are not going to make or break me, but there is something to be said for a device that runs on plain ol, run of the mill, can find 'em freakin' anywhere, AAs. If it turns out that I'm only gonna need to buy CR123s once a year or so, and have a light that's visibly brighter, then the PC20 will be it. If it turns out that dudes are buying CR123's every month or two, that could be a whole different sitch.
Your input will be greatly appreciated!
