A flashlight enthusiast was having the same problems that I was having with the factory clicky tailcap, only he decided to do something about it. I love the speed and access that a good clicky tailcap can provide, but I had pretty much given up on it until I read about a small machine shop in CA that was doing modifications to the tailcap. I really tried to work with it, but my frustrations eventually led me back to using the regular Preon twist interface. Unfortunately, I had a number of issues with the factory tailcap sticking, not working, or accidentally discharging. For the clicky tailcap, you keep the head tightened all the way and use the tailcap to activate the light and switch through modes. To help this, I purchased the optional clicky tailcap for the Preon to check it out. In other words, you cannot quickly and easily turn on the highest light output. Also, to get to the highest output, you have to cycle through the two lower settings first. It’s difficult to do this with one hand and not recommended for a “tactical” situation. The light is activated by twisting/tightening the head. The 4Sevens Preon P1 is not a tactical light and is not intended for stunning people with sudden, blinding light. Spotlighting wandering cows from the roof of our 3 story home.Looking for something under my scooter seat. Examining something more closely in a dark corner.Looking for mosquitos on a window screen.Reading in the dark without waking the wife.Looking for a dropped screw in the dark.The P1 lumen settings (Low-1.8 lumens, Med-2.5 lumens, High-70 lumens) are very useful for: This light handles more than 99% of the tasks I encounter that require a flashlight. I say all that so that you don’t immediately dismiss the light after seeing the max lumen count. A 70 lumen light will appear to be ~1/2 of the brightness of a 250 lumen light. That means that the 70 lumen light sounds much dimmer than it actually is. Most people agree that, depending on your eyes, 200%-300% increase in lumens (tripling or quadrupling) is necessary before the light appears to be twice as bright. I have other, much more powerful lights close at hand in my EDC bag and in my vehicle, but they are almost never used. This is a small and light, always-with-you EDC light. This light isn’t a weapon light, a camping light, or a high-performance light. I can honestly say that I have never missed those lumens. That’s a high compliment for an EDC light.īut what did I lose in performance? The Quark Mini AA(2) puts out 180 lumens maximum vs. In real life, when I clip it in my pocket I don’t feel it or think about it. When I place a AAA battery in one hand and the empty Preon P1 in the other, I can’t decide which is lighter. There are smaller AAA lights, but the 4Sevens Preon P1 is still a miniscule light. These are noticeable, real-world differences and I loved it. By moving to the P1, my EDC light became 2 inches shorter, 21% thinner, and more than 50% lighter. The Quark Mini AA(2) is definitely not a huge flashlight, but it dwarfed the Preon P1. I decided on the 4Sevens Preon P1 and it turned out to be exactly what I was hoping for. I wanted something with a good pocket clip as I despise bulky keyrings filled with gadgets and gizmos (there are only 2 keys and a clip on my current keyring). If I had been ignorant of the current generation of LED lights for this long, who knew what else I was missing out on? Pretty soon, I started to wonder what kind of performance I could get out of an even smaller form factor. Unfortunately, I couldn’t leave well enough alone. I began to find out how useful a small, pocketable flashlight could be and started to EDC the flashlight. It was my first real introduction to modern LED flashlights and I was blown away at how much light was coming from such a small package. I picked one up right away and was amazed by the performance. In 2010, I was first introduced to 4Sevens by way of an ITS Tactical article about the Quark Mini AA(2).
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