After the Lumintop Worm with twisty, the Tool AAA with clicky (mechanic and electronic switch), now the new Lumintop Ant with a sideswitch like the UltraTac K18.
The clip is the same like the one that is used at the Tool AAA and the size is the same like the brass and Ti Lumintop.
I was absolutely courios about the tailcap with the Trit but…….there was no Trit insinde! WTF……on their homepage its written: “What is worth mentioning is the end of tail cap is a tritium tube,which allows you to easily identify the location of the flashlight in the dark” Thats poor because I thought there is a trit inside…… :person_facepalming:
The switch on the Tool Ti works with one klick for on and then doubleclick for the next step, on the Ant there is no doubleclick. You click once for low (yes its starts with low!), next singleclick is mid and next singleclick is high……that is really great! On low mode press long and you have the strobe mode.
The bad thing is……no Lego with the Tool or Worm because the thread on the Ant head is a little bit bigger now
I did a short runtime test and the Ant runs 22 min. on high without any dim but the whole flashlight is getting really hot in this time. After 22min. it starts dim but my Eneloop wasn`t fully charged so I will do a better test in the next days.
To be honest, since there is the Lumintop Tool AAA and the Maratac AAA in Copper with Nichia LED, I am a huge fan of the small single AAA flashlights of Lumintop.
I like the design, the details like the knurling, the whole craftsmanship and it is already rare for a niche market like single aaa flashlights, a manufacturer gives such different lamps in different”exotic” materials like copper or brass with Nichia and Cree Option at all.
I think that the New Lumintop Ant has the preconditions to become a competition for their own products and the other brands, in my opinion, a version in copper with Nichia option (and maybe a 10440 option for the “Lumenheads”) could be a license to print money.
It does seem that more and more lights are going e-switch. I can see the appeal, it does make mode switching easier for beginners, and things like ramping are possible.
My favorite implementation of e-switch is the convoy L6 with a MTN or TA driver, I like having the simplicity of mode selection e-switch allows combined with the ability to lock out with the tail switch to avoid draining batteries when not in use.
For a keychain light like this I don’t think e-switch is ideal, as I rarely use my keychain light, and don’t want to have to always check if the battery is still good. I use a Worm on my keys currently.
Some thoughts about the Ant switch, its not like the e-switch from the Tool Ti or brass version because it has no battery/capacitor inside.
The second is the way the switch works, because there is no on-off clicking between the modes, you need, after turning on the light a full cycly to turn it off again. Means after you click it on on low you need to click to mid and to high and then once again to turn it off, I think I have getting used to it. The strobe is hidden, when you turn the light on on low hold the switch for a few seconds and you have strobe mode.
A bad thing about the switch on the side is that the light accidentally switches on in the pocket because of the big knob on the side. I now loosen the head a little bit when the light rides in my pocket to prevent that.
All in all I really like the Ant and it fits well into my collection, hoping for a copper
Thanks for the review. If it took 10440s I’d be all over it. I was replying to your thread to ask what happened with the tritium tube, but I just checked Gearbest and I see there are several options for this light…some with trit and others without.
I received a brass Ant today and i love it! :heart_eyes:
Beautiful design, nice weight and material, tritium in the tail, SS side switch and clip… Yet an other Lumintop jewel light!
I managed to get this one for $23 with a coupon from one of those ‘best deals around’ threads here… and i’m more then happy with the bargain.
Thanks for the lock out tip. I did not even bother to try unscrewing the head because on SS, copper and brass lights it usually does not work. Why it works on this light i don’t know.
I too would have appreciated 10440 support - like the Ultratac K18 for instance, but it’s only good for short bursts because it drains the cell very fast. Keep in mind Li-Ion and Ni-MH have pretty much the same energy density per volume unit so in the end they’ll provide as much light (boost driver efficiency may be favorable to Li-Ion though) - the higher Li-Ion voltage allowing to access higher modes but at the expense of runtime.
The looks are decent, but I’d like a “non-jewel” variant in regular old anodized aluminium and a smaller rubber switch like the Ultratac’s - and no tritium insert. Also a UI like Olight’s (click for on and off, hold to ramp up, mode memory) would go a long way, because I’m not liking this “cycle to the finish” one. Also a Nichia option for dimmer moonlight and low modes. Also I say “also” a lot
As it is, I’m good with my Tool CRI for now. Excellent little torch with no complications.
