Hello Lensman, thanks so much for the high-quality photos!! Very helpful and appetizing. From your description and the pictures i get the impression that the torch has surprising high quality, the beam profile and tint look perfect, and i wouldnt mind the lopsidedness (How bad does it really show in RL? The perspective of the shot taken distorts reality) since the hotspot looks round and has no further corona. Actually this nice beam profile is to be expected because of the deep reflector which eliminates corona artifacts and produces a concentrated focused hotspot with natural spill. I would be happy if the Tank E09's beam looked like that!
The tail's keyring hole is similar to any other aluminum torch's keyring attachment point. The difference is *this time* you/we actually make use of it. Typically a mini split ring is engaged in the hole as you did it and then you let it ride for the rest of the torch's life; the torch would fail sooner than the thin sliver of aluminum retainer -- but we cant generalize this, of course. Nylon/cord is a recommended way to spare the aluminum (fishing cord, superb stuff!) and i will look into it too. I am even thinking of using heat-shrink wrap (tube) to protect the LD01's head against shocks/drops. That's a big advantage with my Tank E09's; i am keeping 3 copies, lots of spare parts. And if Tank007 Co. decides to release a V3 with prolonged body tube to support Protected Ultrafire 10440's, then i will get it too (from Dinodirect with dinopoints).
If the info of this thread is gathered in the OP, then you guys could turn it to an official review thread. Maybe a few pics more e.g. of the head parts, disassembly, the threads, insulator, contact disc, etc. and some Eneloop runtime data and done would be the review :) -- For comparison purposes i wouldnt mind testing the Brinyte. Vectrex, how much did *you* pay for it back then, can you remember? DX customers complain about the price ;=) The PD03 supports safe op on 10440's, the LD01 release 4 doesnt.
Realizing that AAA-lights, the good ones!, can compete with AA-lights regarding integral brightness (brightness x runtime) i am really fond of them. Especially Worm and LD01 have amazing proven performance data. The Klarus MiX6 has great runtimes, beam profile and tint but the light is too dim in comparison and has no throw at all; not a practical torch at all. Slippery, no tail-stand, etc.
I would pick the SS version over the lighter-weight Alu version; it’s possible to submit an ebay price suggestion (offer to HKE), 24.95$ would be my 1st try.
Lensman, interesting chargers are the new Intellicharger i4 V2 (~25$, on DD with dinopoints etc for much less), the generic BC-700 (~20$, rebranded), and the very robust C9000 (~40$, formerly 89.95$ list price). mfm has much experience with original Sanyo/original Eneloop chargers so he could tell which one's the best. Since Sanyo chargers cost about the same as the BC-700, i would go for the latter .. because it has a LCD display.