Review: Tank007 PA01 and PA02 1xAAA clicky

Tank007 PA01 and PA02 AAA lights

Manufacturer specs:

PA01 PA02
LED OSRAM OSRAM
Max Brightness 90 Lumens 90 Lumens
Throw Beam 80 Metres 80 Metres
Included Accessories Pocket Clip & Spare O-ring Pocket Clip & Spare O-ring
Length x Body Diameter x Head Diameter (cm) 8.7 x 1.38 x 1.5 12.7 x 1.38 x 1.5
Weight (g) 19.6 26.1
Switch end click switch end click switch
Material Aircraft grade aluminium T6061 Aircraft grade aluminium T6061
Lens Tempering optic lens Tempering optic lens
Waterproof IPX8 IPX8
Reflector Vacuum coated aluminium Vacuum coated aluminium
Treatment Anodization Anodization
Anti dropping heaight 1.5m 1.5m
Modes Single Or 3 Mode (H-M-L) ingle Or 3 Mode (H-M-L)
Input Voltage 0.8-3.0v 0.8-3.0v
Burn Time High 0.8hr/Med 3hr/Low 15hr High 1.2hr/Med 5hr/Low 25hr
Circuit Constant current with last mode memory Constant current with last mode memory

Additional Information:

Both of the lights are the 1 mode variant and were sourced from ebay. I have only run the lights on NiMh’s.

Thoughts:

+ Points - Points
Pocket Clip Ringy beam
Clicky Limited spill
Good throw Doesn’t tail stand

For some time I’ve been after a 1xAAA light with a pocket clip and a clicky switch. So when these new Tank007’s appear they were of immediate interest. Due to some keen pricing on ebay I also bought the 2xAAA PA02 also. The lights are identical and you can interchange the heads on them. Out put is also the same and they use the same driver. The only difference is physical length and runtime.

Personally I prefer the 1xAAA form factor, although the PA02 is hardly any bigger than your average pen.

And I must confess to being curious about the OSRAM led as all my led torches are CREE and a couple of Nichia.

The OSRAM led is tiny, it is physically much smaller than an XP-E. even an XP-C. It has an ok tint too and colour rendition seems better than many budget CREE lights manage.

Overall I really like the PA01 and 02. The clicky switch is a little mushy with the rubber section, although the switch itself is firm and almost feels old fashioned with a nice positive clunk on or off.

The pocket clip works very well too. Which is something I often find missing on these tiny lights. The design is sleek and fits in a pocket or in your hand very well. The threads were lubed well and the O-ring was installed. I’m not fully convinced about the IXP8 rating, but I don’t often have need to test such things.

The light is really quite bright for it’s size and is quite the mini pocket thrower. It’ll easily light up the fence at the end of my garden, were many of these smaller lights fail to do so.

Being single mode I can’t comment on PWM or mode memory. I will be honest, if you want one of these for close up work of reading a map, it is a little too bright in single mode and a 3 mode one would suit better. As a general purpose light it’s more than capable of lighting up a room and due to it’s throw ability it’s quite usable in larger spaces or outside.

The only real negatives I have are. The SMO reflector means the beam isn’t ring free, although as usual you only tell this when white wall hunting. Point it up the staircase or out in the garden and you can’t see any rings in the beam.

The most striking downside is a rather limited spill beam. It is very very narrow and while it is fairly bright, any Tank007 EO9 owners will know how useful the wide spill beam is on them. Well this PA01 is the complete opposite with regards to spill.


Review updated. I’ll add some outdoor beamshots later tonight.

You may want to keep an eye on your flashlights; they seem to be slowly spinning away to freedom. :wink:

Nice review!

I had one of the Tank single AAA lights once. The only things that I didn’t care for were the clicky didn’t stick out enough so it was harder to click.

Also, when changing the battery if you hit the clicky it would pop out of the light (it wasn’t fixed in with the light unscrewed).

Are either of those issues in this light?

Nope no issues like that. Honestly they are very nice lights that don’t look or feel like budget items at all.

There is one on ebay that claims to be 3 Modes. I wonder if that is true?
It looks like a dandy light for $10.99

Jerry

There is a 3 mode version as well. I have both versions.

How is the color rendition of the emitter and how mod-able do you feel the light is? This with a Nichia would be great at work.

Just received one of these today that I paid a little over $9 for on eBay. Tank007 PA02 with Osram LED. I am not impressed, even considering the price. I have two Tank007 E09s that I paid $12.99 each for and they are ten times better from a build and “fit and finish” perspective. The E09s are also MUCH brighter with one AAA battery than this PA02 is with two AAA.

I have the 3-mode version. There doesn’t seem to be very much visible difference between high and medium - just enough to tell that there is a difference. The low is a firefly mode on my example - thats actually about the only positive thing I have to say about this light, other than “at least it does work”. I like having a moonlight/firefly mode to save my night vision as well as increase the runtime on a set of batteries.

I completely agree with other’s assessment of the beam: very narrow with not much spill and lots of artifacts. I say “very narrow” and not ‘throwy’ because my example just isn’t very bright.

I was looking to find an inexpensive 2xAAA penlight (around $15 or less) and this meets the price criteria. Even at this price point, it’s still not what I’m looking for, nor do I consider it a good value. I hope I just got a poor example and that others experiences will be better.

The PA01 is better, the 02 has way too much resistance in the body tube and switch.
Try this, use the body tube from your E09 on the PA02 head and see if it doesn’t pick up the output.

Nice trick I learned from our friend Kreisler.
Also they run best on an Efest IMR10440, just use a dummy cell with the 10440 if you keep using the long 2 AAA tube.
HTH

Keith

Thanks for the info! You’re right, the PA02 head on an E09 body produces more light with 1xAAA than it does on the PA02 body with 2xAAA? WTH? Bummer! Thanks also for the tip on the 10440, however the only rechargeables I own/use are 18650.

Jay

Nice review. I get a new Tank007 PA01 (three modes version) recently, and find your review here. Nice flashlight!