Drop.com $20 off - Lumintop Copper/Brass Tool for $10 - Discount not available as of 12/10/19

The brass Drop Tool AAA will ship on 03/06.

Tint is excellent. Output is anemic, though. Less than I was expecting on an Eneloop. This is really more like a close-quarters task light than an EDC, IMHO. I thought maybe it was the emitter, but my copper and titanium versions produce just about the same output. Kind of wishing I’d gotten the titanium in CREE.

aaa lights are just task lights… I edc them to read labels and to see things in a dark closet, but I dont use them to illuminate the sidewalk outdoors… I use 16340 lights for that role.

I only use AAA indoors and at close range. I find the medium mode of 20 lumens sufficient.

I dont use the maximum mode on any of my lights, I rely on Medium, and Low

when I want more lumens, and for outdoors, I step up to my RRT-01 loaded with 16340 or 18350. I still dont use maximum, as I seldom need more than 100 lumens

I have one of the XP-G3 Copper Tools. If you want to trade for one of the Nichia Cu Tools… PM me.

I’m not suggesting an EDC be a 1k thrower. But I have a couple AAA and smaller lights I use, with the Jetbeam Jet-U being the most carried. It’s more than twice as bright as my Lumintop Tool AAA, that seems like 80 lumens. Then there’s the Aurora A8 with proprietary 130mAh battery, Nichia 219C putting out 350 lumens. My Lumintop Geek also puts out 350 lumens from a CREE XP-L HD powered by a small 530mAh battery.

Been squirreling around, going nuts trying to find the hidden strobe mode on the Drop
Cu Tool. 6-quick clicks in rapid succession from off?

Takes a fool (not) to turn on his Tool.

TIA.

Geek and Aurora use LiPo, so it makes sense they are brighter than Eneloop.

It also makes sense that your Low CRI JetU is brighter than your High CRI Tool

High CRI makes less lumens, but more Red CRI (R9), and more Average CRI (Ra)

on my meter
My Cu Tool modded to High CRI sw45k makes 65 pink tinted lumens on an aaa Eneloop. Red things look Red

My RRT-01 w sw45k and 18350 LiIon reaches 400 lumens max. 6x brighter than aaa eneloop.

My Cu Tool w Low CRI 6000k xpg3 makes 120 green tinted lumens max on an aaa Eneloop. Red things look Brown

my Jet U modded to High CRI 6500k Optisolis makes 67 green tinted lumens max on an aaa Eneloop. Red things look Red

here is a simple intro to the topic of Red CRI (R9)

not gonna happen
aaa Tools do not have strobe

Well, color me strobed! Chasing my tail made me think otherwise.

Back to my EDC18

the “Drop” AAA light UI is actually pretty useable.

i hated it at first but really it isn;t bad.

usually [if it has been off more than about 10 sec] it starts on L.
press again is off.
press again soon [2 sec or less], it goes to M.
press again is off.
press again soon [2 sec or less], goes to H.
press again, off.

so if you press fast, it is L/off/M/off/H/off

it works a LOT better than it looks

plus the switch is very good, short travel, nice click, fast action

wle

that's pretty horrible.

It does sound that way but it’s really not bad at all.
The switch takes very little effort to operate with a very short travel.
To switch modes its no different than a UI were you have to double tap for turbo.
Tap for on and tap, tap to change modes, tap for off. Simple UI and tap, tap is easy to get.
The switch is a short stroke momentary, very little effort and travel that seperates it from other lights.
Dont knock it until you try it :wink: .

Is the nicchia version really not that bright compared to the cree version?

true
Low CRI produces low quality spectrum (specifically unable to correctly show red properly), high quantity

High CRI produces High quality, lower quantity

brightness is not the most important thing, to me
As a beginner, I spent time looking at brightness specs, as a starting point

as I became a more experienced flashoholic, I started to realize quality is more important than quantity, to me

I do not use maximum on my AAA lights… so maximum is not important to me

I do use my AAA lights to look at things with red content, food, skin, flowers, clothing, art… so for me cree Color Rendering, is unacceptably disappointing, by comparison to Nichia

here is an example of a typical Cree LED Red output, compared to a Nichia
focus your attention on the Red bar

the LED on the left is much brighter… but so what?
If it cannot show me Red things properly, I am not happy

I’m just wandering if it’s really unusable in certain emergency situation, like when you have to find your way in darkness when you’re not carrying other lights.

And I know that you don’t like pwm, tgis light dont have pwm right?

exactly
i just bought this light because it was very cheap

but now it is my 2nd choice EDC
just because it is tiny, it works, and i actually enjoy the UI

and i am an andruil fan
it is nothing like that
but it is still good

and simple

i use it mostly at night inside the house when i do not need a lot of light
but also appreciate the smaller size than my #1 EDC - FW3A - 1x18650 cell

wle

Likewise. It was only a few years ago that I dropped concern for maximum output & focused more on beam quality (smoothness, flood, throw, and tint) and UI.

Three main strikes against “highest” relative output:

  1. Something like a 30% difference is not very noticeable.
  2. Small EDC lights are not “search” lights—so they don’t need to have massive output.
  3. Most flashlight use is not on highest mode, and most flashlights step down shortly anyway.

If you need a flashlight for high priority searches in very dark zones, a massive flooder/thrower is ideal. Color rendering and ease of pocket carry won’t be important. My feeling is, if you want a tremendous thrower, go for a light dedicated for that purpose so a high mode can be sustained much longer.

On my AAA Tool, I have to wait at least 3 seconds to go back to “L”.

I’m a little disappointed in the output of the AAA Tool w/Nichia. IMHO, it’s quite low for what you get. Also wish there was a physical lockout, but at least the switch is nicely inset. The Jetbeam Jet-U seems to have double the output, while also being shorter & will deep pocket carry. It has a Cree XP-G2, which is on the cool side of neutral, but it’s not a bad beam. Serves it’s purpose for just quick use. I like the fact that it’s a twisty, so it’s totally locked out. I don’t employ it for longer tasks. But I’m going to try EDC’ing the AAA Tool again.

i don;t have to ‘wait to get back to low’ - i just press it a few times and it is less than a second

i mean i see what you mean, if it;s on medium or high, and you want it come back on low, without pressing buttons, yes it takes 3-4 sec to reset

but i never run into that, i didn;t even know it, i like it the way it is

it puzzled me at first, the ui but when i read the manual it was like ‘’oh this is actually good’’

the jet u would drive me nuts, memory mode - hate that, H-M-L- hate that, twisty - hate that

also even though it is a twisty it seems to be the same length, 2.77 in

wle

Have you tried unscrewing the head a 1/4 turn for lockout?

The major gripe I had with this light is how unbearably long it takes to start fully working after inserting a battery for the first time. It took mine something like 20 minutes, until it would do more than low mode! That is just bizarre. I’m expecting that won’t happen again, unless stowed away without a battery for a long time.

The version I have is L-M-H. I find the mode memory useful. Sometimes I want high to come on, if I’d used it last. I appreciate both twisty & switch. When you get the hang of it, you can easily operate a twisty single handed. The simplicity is nice (no switch to worry about going wrong, or accidental activation). It is shorter. I can see it, side-by-side, about 3~4mm. But it’s also more narrow. Really hides away nicely in the pocket corner, because of the deep carry & diameter.

Hah. I didn’t know that—thanks. :beer: Seems it’s not a complete lockout, as the switch still has power. If you lockout the head, press the switch, then tighten the head, it comes on. But at least it’ll prevent LED activation.

If the switch is on then the SuperCap is holding the FET gate open no matter if the light is on or off, which is draining the SuperCap.
Left on for long periods of time could completly drain the SuperCap. Then you’ll need to charge it for a few minutes again before it will work.
Just a tip, encase you screw the head back in and the light doesn’t come on, it’s not broken, it just needs charged again. :wink: