Brinyte PD03A Q5 (1xAAA) .... a post from the past

Since the Jayki.com site has been offline for some time now and it's still my brightest 1AAA light, despite all the ITP/Maratac/Olight, Tank007 703, Black Cats, Tank007 E09... that came and went .... a post from the past:

2010.05.05 07:45:04 (with updated 2012 links)

The Brinyte PD03A arrived today ... I guess I'm on a lucky streak with my budget lights. The Brinyte is very nice, it is a good deal shorter than the TANK007 TK-703 HA-III, but they wasted like 4mm in length, because there is a hollow part at the end of the light. This protrusion may have to do with the fact that there is a version with almost the same body but with a magnet at the end... the PD03B. The twisty is very smooth, almost as smooth as my Maratac AAA, very minimal lube on the threads .... could be more.... but better than none at all , mode switching is easy but I wish they left out these darn strobes. The memory works great..... ON-OFF-ON in under 2 secs = mode switch.... over 2 secs =memory. Finish is great.. might be HAIII, 2 O-rings that should seal the light pretty good, coil spring for better contact (just like the Maratac). The short smooth reflector is good for larger spill radius, the beam has less artefacts than the Tank007 or the Black Cat while maintaining a good hotspot for distance (about the same brightness and size as the Tank007), amazingly almost no Cree-Rings™ and a very well centered emitter that seems to be a 4 wire XR-E EZ900. The Brinyte has taken the crown of AAA-lights from the TANK007 TK-703 , if Brinyte shortened the light 4 mm and equipped it with a clip, it would come dangerously close to the Maratac AAA which cost twice as much and is not as bright. I like the warmer tint colour of my Maratac AAA better and the clip + lanyard hole make up for the higher price ... otherwise I would have regretted not buying 2 Brinyte instead. BTW there is a noticeable humming noise which might derive from the PWM on all modes (even on the highest)... PWM frequency seems to be way higher than the med-low modes of the Maratac... no strobe effects on hi-med-low... very good. All in all my new budget AAA recommendation, but the Tank007 is still good if you want a clicky switch.

Update 2012:

The Fenix LD01clip has brought this light back to my attention. The clip fits like a glove on the PD03A ...no wonder as it is a Fenix LD01 clone.

so maybe the Tank E09 is a clone of the Brynite (Brinyte).. *gg*

The E09 is slightly different in design and its shorter than the Brinyte.

I'm a bit baffled by KD having two listings for the Brinyte with different SKU's and prices.

There's this and this? Its the second more expensive one that has the same SKU as when Vectrex did his original review (i.e. that above).

Typical KD... what more can I say...

I think Brinyte did a better job at copying the LD01:





Yep the Brinyte is more like the Fenix and if you use a clip then that's anti-roll sorted. If no clip then the "hex nut" styling of the E09 has its uses and the low of the E09 is superbly low, I found that out today.

I had to get at a screw deeply set at the bottom of a deep tube. I wanted to check out the head type first (i.e. torx, cross or flat). Only the low of the E09 was low enough not to dazzle. Even my fauxton keychain light (a super bright 44000mcd version) was too bright that close up and as the plastic bodied item I was working on was white that only made matters worse. The neutral tint beam of the E09 on low proved ideal.

BTW I've been meaning to add the Brinyte to my collection since I first read your review on jayki. I think i'll be adding one real soon now that you've reminded me about it.

Let's hope that Brinyte is quality-consistent... looking forward to a second opinion. One warning though, the tint is rather cool on mine.

Thanks for reposting / updating. I've been wanting another AAA/10440 & strongly considering this one. Dx & other sites list it as AAA/10440 0.8-4.2v, 4.2v max. Have you tried a protected 10440 in yours?

Wish Fenix didn't want a $10 minimum order. I would love a couple LD01 clips just can't use $10 worth of them & not interested in any other Fenix stuff.


nice little torch!

let me try to get hold of the clip too. Fenix-Store.com does international FREE shipping but has run out of stock, 5bucks apiece, ouch.

i would want to ask Boaz too if all fails :)

According to some people there are issues with 10440 batteries. Some reported 150 Lumens brightness on this battery. (reviews on DX) I don't own this battery type...

Thanks Vectrex. I'm going to buy one of the above lights for my keychain, either the EO9 or the PD03B. They both look very good; I love the anti-roll and low mode of the Tank, and the magnet and strobe (sorry ) with the Brynite.

But what would decide me, as this will live with my keys, is the reluctance of either model to come on by accident in my pocket or - worse - to come apart. Back in the day I went through so many keychain lights that way; go to use it and find just a tailcap on a keyring Other times, if I was REALLY lucky, I might see it happen and then I'd only have to get down on my hands and knees in the rain and grope for the battery and body under my (or someone else's) car. Fun all the way!

Sorry to be long-winded, just had to get that off my chest. So my question is, does anyone happen to know if one or the other torch would be better in those respects? Maybe one requires more of a twist to turn on than the other, or is a bit tighter. Perhaps one has more tailcap threads.. I realize someone would probably need to own both to know this, but any opinions would be a big help. Btw, I'm sure you're all ahead of me here, but the Tank is at Manafont for $14.30 http://www.manafont.com/product_info.php/tank007-e09-cree-r5-3mode-led-flashlight-aaa-p-8040

Lensman, wait. Several of us have the Tank 9 on order. We will review it "in detail" then.

I have the E09 and its over eight extra full turns from OFF to fall-off. In fact it turns on and off or switches modes with just a quarter turn so there is a HUGE safety margin.

the Brinyte seems to have issues with 10440's (ouch!), and the Tank 9 not, VFMaddict?

No issues with 10440 unprotected cells. I only use unprotected so I can't say whether protected may be too long? Frankly I don't see the point in protected 10440's because you only use them singly and in an EDC the last thing you want in an emergency is protection turning a light off. I'd rather drain it dry and sacrifice the cell if needed, 10440's are cheap enough.

thanks for the info! i have 2x unprotected blue UF 10440's and 2x Protected grey UF 10440's on order (race between DX and DD hehe). wondering when the stuff (and the E09) reach my place.

waiting s*cks. DD is all scam!! (*joke*)

Although you can just rip the protection off if you need to.

Hm, well the first sentence is promising, but a quarter turn to switch on sounds like I'd be doing this by accident more often than deliberately. Wish one of these two came with a clicky..

@ kreisler: I'll read your Tank review with interest (although as you say, "waiting s*cks"!) but in the meantime I'll also look around for a suitable keychain clicky.

It's odd, but until I actually wrote the earlier post I'd forgotten just how badly me and keychain twisty's got on with each other. No doubt I'm clumsy and careless, but I remember now how I tried to get into the habit of constantly tightening my AAA Maglites. It didn't work, and often as not the battery would be dead when I needed it.

finding a short(!) 1x AAA clicky torch is an art. first of all, very few 1x AAA clickies exist, second, they arent as nicely short as the standard length. average twisty length is 70-72mm.

i think several threads on cpf and blf already exist regarding "Do you know any 1x AAA clicky?"..

My Brinyte takes 5 full turns to fall off, but whats more important imho the resistance caused by the o-ring is high... higher than any other twisty I own... DQG tiny II/Maratac/ITP etc. If you really intend to use it as a keychain, I would also look at the DQG (neutral) ... this is the only light that actually made it to my keychain. Granted it's a little dimmer than most of my AAA and it is quiet expensive... but the overall package, size, usability , machining makes it just perfect for keychain carry. I mainly use my other AAA lights in my 5th jeans pocket with a clip and a short lanyard through a belt loop. (measures to not loose them)

I assume you've not used a twistie before. We were all virgins at one time. A twistie turns on when you tighten the head. Untighten it a quarter turn in this case and its off - and you still have eight full turns before the head would fall off. So, if you want to make sure its off and stays off untighten it a quarter turn to turn off and then another full turn extra so it stays off. That still leaves you seven turns for safety before the head would drop off and get lost.