Manufacturer: 4Sevens

Item: Quark Tactical - 123, 123², AA, AA²
Price: $57.00-$69.00

Many of you have heard of 4Sevens before.  I fall into the category of those that have not.  A manufacturer had told me about them and highly recommended that I check them out.  After I checked out their offerings I decided to get my hands on a few of their "house" lights.

When I opened the box, I was blown away.  Yeah, again, I know that packing doesn't mean jack if the product isn't good but it impresses me when a company puts detail into their product.  This has detail.  I mean, the damn cover is held closed by 2 magnets.  Well, the inside cover tells about the beginnings of 4Sevens with the founder, David Chow, as well as going into detail about the lights features.  It's very nicely done.

The models denote the type and size of lights available.  The 123 models are powered by CR123 lithium cells and the AA run on AA cells.  The models with "²" are the lights that use 2 cells. With a $57.00-$69.00 price point, you'd expect a very stripped down product.  As you can see here, that's hardly the case with 4Sevens lights. With each light, you get obviously the light, holster that can be belt mounted or attached to the included neck lanyard, set of replacement o-rings, users manual, retention device (handstrap or finger ring) and batteries.  CR123 batteries are 4Sevens house cells and AA batteries aren't some odd off brand batteries, but Duracell.

To give you an idea of their physical sizes, I've put the Quarks nest to a SureFire E2D.

I'm not going to kill you guys with specifically reviewing all 4 lights.  They're all similar but sized differently.  All 4 utilize the CREE XP-E R2 emitter.

123

Length: 3.2 inches
Diameter: 0.86 inches

Moonlight: 0.2 lumens for 15 days, (1ma)
Low: 3.5 lumens for 2.5 days (10ma)
Medium: 18 lumens for 13 hours (50ma)
High: 70 lumens for 2.7 hours (250ma)
Max: 170 lumens for 0.8 hours (700ma)
Strobe: 170 lumens for 1.6 hours
Beacon: 0-170 lumens pulse for 12 hours

123²

Length: 4.5 inches
Diameter: 0.86 inches

Moonlight: 0.2 lumens for 30 days, (1ma)
Low: 3.5 lumens for 5 days (10ma)
Medium: 18 lumens for 20 hours (50ma)
High: 70 lumens for 4.5 hours (250ma)
Max: 190 lumens for 1.8 hours (990ma)
Strobe: 190 lumens for 3 hours
Beacon: 0-190 lumens pulse for 23 hours

AA

Length: 3.8 inches
Diameter: 0.86 inches

Moonlight: 0.2 lumens for 10 days (1ma)
Low: 3.5 lumens for 2 days (10ma)
Medium: 18 lumens for 6 hours (50ma)
High: 70 lumens for 1.5 hours (250ma)
Max: 90 lumens for 1.2 hours (350ma)
Strobe: 90 lumens for 2.5 hours
Beacon: 0-90 lumens pulse for 18 hours

AA²

Length: 5.8 inches
Diameter: 0.86 inches

Moonlight: 0.2 lumens for 30 days (1ma)
Low: 3.5 lumens for 5 days (10ma)
Medium: 18 lumens for 24 hours (50ma)
High: 70 lumens for 5 hours (250ma)
Max: 170 lumens for 1.3 hours (700ma)
Strobe: 170 lumens for 2.5 hours
Beacon: 0-170 lumens pulse for 18 hours

The hard coat anodized T-6061construction of these lights are very good.  They feel very sturdy in the hands.  As you can see, the tube has a good amount of thickness to it.

All lights have a generous amount of texturing on it for enhanced grip.

The switch is the usual type of forward clicky ones you see on these type of lights. One thing that can vary a bit is the cover.  Right off the bat, this felt rubbery (in a good way) to where you don't fee like your thumb would slip off with or without gloved hands.

The side of the tailcap have machined lanyard holes. To install the batteries, you screw off the tailcap.

Unscrewing the tailcap reveals the o-rings for waterproofing.  This light is rated for IPX-8 which should make it water-tight under immersion for 30 minutes under 8 feet of water.

The head (left) and tailcap (right) look to be very well made.

The carry clips hold well.  If you don't like them, you can remove them *with the exception of the 123).  The clip has a pretty good bend at the tip.  For me, it served double duty.  1) makes it easier to guide onto the edge of your pocket. 2) if you're really conscious about putting wear on your clothing, the bend make it easier for you to lift the clip, slide them light on your pockets edge then drop the clip back down.

Now, what makes this damn light so special to where I've been blurbing about it all over the place? This light is user programmable for 2 modes of your choice of 7 functions.

Here's a vid link for programming the lights:

[youtube]Qtrg1ivqJtg[/youtube]

Programming it is cake once you do it a few times.  The moonlight mode is particularly excellent. 0.2 lumens is pretty low.  It doesn't mess with your low light adjusted eyes too much.  Don't discount the strobe feature.  It's not the type of strobe you're shaking it to at the club.  This is the debilitating type of strobe.  It seriously messes with you after awhile.

The included accessories are nice adds.  The retention devices feel like they're made of rubber.  Grippy rubber.  The bigger light on the left includes a handstrap with rings at each end which slip onto each end of the light.  The smaller lights like the one on the right uses the smaller finger grip.

These 4Sevens lights are damn good lights, and at the price, even better.  You want versatility of .2 lumens to 190 luens on tap?  This is it.  These lights come with a 10 year warranty.  Be sure to check their site for details.  You know, these are features that many of us have been hoping for, but didn't have the extra body parts to give up.  They've a very cool group out of Atlanta and I heard a lot of good things from consumers about them.  They're certainly upping the ante for light manufacturers.  Damn it, it's going to be hard to let these lights go.

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