When the subject of EDC arises I never see the Tank 007 e09 recommended. However it is truly a budget light, $13.26 at FT.
https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10002363/1173305-tank007-e09-1-led-120lm-3-mode-memory-edc-led
I am curious as to why, considering it is rugged and inexpensive? I realize that many want a tail switch, but that makes the EDC larger when carrying in the pants pocket or shirt pocket.
Jerry
Pay attention and you’ll notice how some brands simply don’t get any exposure at all; it’s not just Tank007. It’s an interesting phenomenon.
Edit:
I did some additional thinking, and these are my thoughts:
- I think there is a lot less emphasis on true budget lights like Tank007 compared to a couple of years ago.
- Two vendors, Banggood and Gearbest offer amazing discounts on their products, and Tank007 is not included. Therefore this brand is automatically less known.
- Lot of people do modding; perhaps Tank007 is not so mod friendly?
- A new player in the budget light world is Sofirn. A representative is present here, and also hands out samples for review. These reviews are again advertising Sofirn. There is no representative for Tank007 here, and I’m also not aware Tank007 has new models out.
What do you think?
I never really cared much for the XP-E. Its less efficient (lumens per watt) than other Cree emitters, and it always seems there’s a brighter die-surface emitter for throw applications. I have some fenix and eagletac lights that use it… they are alright, but nothing to get excited over.
it could work for you
it is like the lumintop tool, with some of its disadvantages
a. starts on medium (rather have low)
b. AAA doesn’t really have a lot of energy
c. i think the low mode is not a moonlight, which would be nice on a limited AAA battery
d. mode memory, i don’t like it.
e. unlike the lumintop tool, it has twisty switch (hate the twisty, though it can/should make the light shorter)
but on the plus side: VERY small, cheap, good quality, at least it has modes, many AAA lights do not
wle
Regarding modes. It seems like a good idea, and is for long hiking and camping trips for longer batterty life. However, I never miss the various modes in an EDC. Even for walking to the car in the dark I use the brightest mode and forget the rest.
I just prefer the small light AAA’s to larger EDC’s. I have been using a cheap clone of the Singfire. I bought severaql of the clones off eBay and found most not usable. The threads were too shallow and when the battery was inserted the tail switch could not be screwed on.
I am guilty of buying cheap clones of lights and often I get what I pay for—or even less. I do get my money back with PayPal. 
From what I’ve seen, Tank007 has been known to spam threads, forums, and wherever they can reach and post. That doesn’t make me very partial to their wares.
I have a Tank007 E09 and it’s a great light for when I’m wearing shorts or don’t want to carry an AA or larger size light. It provides plenty of light and the run-time is more than sufficient for what I use it for.
I’ve carried a EO9 for years, now I usually carry a Tool Ti.
I bought about 10 Tank EO9s and sold most of them to employees at
the local gun shop (Surefire dealer).
The Tank007 E09 is a very old model and has had quite a following on BLF (see as an example Review: Tank007 E09 3-mode 1x AAA/10440), even long after more advanced (smaller, or better output, or no low freq.PWM) AAA lights came on the market. Because it is robust and works.
If you have one and are attached to it I can imagine sticking to it because it gets the job done.
But if you are currently in for buying a new AAA light, I’d go for smaller without visible PWM (i.e. DQG tiny AAA 4th gen.) or one of those nice Manker E02 lights that has 4 times the output on an Eneloop, an advanced user interface with fully adjustable low, and some great led choices.
PWM
I love my old E09 colour “gun grey”, with smooth reflector and 10440 efest. Is very old light, I not recomend now for NiMH, but is interesting for Efest 10440 use.
Looks like a nice light, but it seems horribly overpriced for an AAA light! I got a few Glaree lights at 5bux a pop, also twisty. No Jet-µs, but doubt I’d get one. AAAs are nice for small size, but have horrible energy density.
About the only one I’d consider for >5bux would be a Zanflare F3(?), and I got one on the way, but only because it looks as solid and well-built as the F1.
Hell, even the BLF348-219 has a Nichia under the hood, and I got that for, what was it?, 7bux?
As nice as the ’007 might be, I’m not about to spend twice as much for it as I did for the ’348.
If it would drop to maybe the 5-7buk price-point, I’d snag a few.
Of course the 007 is 3 modes as opposed to single mode.
If you check some of the threads put out by the Tank rep, it usually goes along the lines of:
— initial announcement from the rep
— people point out that it’s a bit pricey for a light using a non-Cree, non-Nichia emitter
— rep says that’s true, but using a Cree/Nichia would bring up the price even more
— generic grexing, no more commentary
and that’s it.
Truth be told, how much exposure does Manker get? Nice lights, I’m sure (don’t have any myself, though), but the MAP policy bugs people, there are no coupons or discount codes for Manker lights, no sales even around the Big Holidays, etc. I haven’t seen many reviews, I don’t know if Manker gives out lights for review, so I don’t recall very much exposure. That’s their choice. If they’re making enough of a profit adhering to those policies, hey, more power to them, but I haven’t exactly seen a slew of new reviews for the latest Manker lights to come out.
In contrast, and I’m trying really hard to not sound like a fanboy, but Sofirn does a lot of the above, engages the community, gives out samples for review, LISTENS to feedback and comes out with new/improved models incorporating the suggestions given, and has had some pretty kick-ass lights. To the point where people here were P&Ming about reviews being “advertising” instead of reviews. And for the holidays, I bought (yeah, on my dime, not samples) 3 SP10Bs and 4 SF32Ws. They’re just nice lights, and at what I think is a great price-point.
So, dunno what to say. If Tank comes out with lower prices, uses more popular emitters, keeps quality up, and puts their lights at a more appropriate price-point, they’d likely clean up. I got nothing against their lights or brand, but they just seem to be a little too spendy for the features.
So’s the Jet-µ, and even the Glaree has L/M/H/strobe (ugh).
Only the 348s are 1-mode, that I know of.
Holy God, that’s a long review! 
My preferred in quality / price / perfomance 1xAAA one mode for NiMH, is the Olight I3E Eos, black colour, when there are coupon active is less than 10USD in Fasttech
I just bought a couple of Cree XP - G2 R5 Lumintop Tool lights. Cost was $9.99 which will be good gifts.
Regrding emitters, I preferred the 348 Singfire with the Cree to the BLF with nichea.
The Tank007 E09 was my first AAA, going back a few years ago. It’s a decent light, but overpriced and sub-par by today’s standards. Oh, and no-so-great PWM. And cool-white tint, which I’ve come to dislike. I still have it, but it never sees any use.
There are a lot of good AAA twisties in the $10-$15 range these days, and some of them are really good. I’ve been carrying a Jetbeam JET-µ for about a year and love it. Great regulation. And while the emitter was pretty good, I swapped it for a neutral Nichia 219C. Real easy mod.
I purchased three Lumintop Tools for US$9.99 on Banggood in two separate occasions. Two of those were the Nichia CRI variant. Haven’t felt the need to use any other AAA minitorch, really, even my old Ti3 is now just a (battered and discolored) shelf queen.