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From the ultimate pocket trinket gearwhore site now comes a new and laughably more expensive version of their 2-stage anodized aluminum Maratac flashlight.

Check that shit out. It's like a penny. With knurls and clips and all kinds of SHINY!! I originally decided to choose the copper alloy for its antimicrobial properties because I work in a hospital in direct patient care (That is complete bullshit. It was shiny and cool and I'm a total sucker when it comes to EDC trinkets like this.) It's packed in air-tight foil so it's so shiny when it gets to you.

And very small and lightweight.

It's 2.6" long, weighs 40 grams with the AAA battery, and it has a dual-mode switch where the low setting is rated at 1.8 lumens for 55 hours, or a surprisingly bright 115 lumens for 60 minutes. Originally I thought the low setting was too low and the high setting was too high, but I've adjusted to it. The low setting is for stuff like reading a map deep behind enemy lines on a recon mission (or finding the "subtitles" button on your remote in the dark when watching The Hobbit. Same deal), and the high setting gets shit all lit up for nighttime suspect identification and interrogation (or finding that tiny Lego piece that he dropped somewhere in this damn room, and he's having a complete meltdown about it, and it's already 10:30 at night. Jesus! Why isn't he asleep?). I've learned to treat it like a much larger flashlight when I kick the high setting on. Don't have it pointing anywhere in the general direction of your face when you engage high, which is done by twisting it on, then off, then on, and the little smart chip somewhere in it turns on the high beam.
These were taken at the same distance on low and on high:


So, after 6 months of using this thing clipped to my left pocket every day, even through power outages at work, I can say it's pretty awesome. There's no finish to wear off, and as you can see, it has not only not been consumed by multi-drug resistant bacteria, but it's developed a wonderful patina that makes me all happy. Sometimes I get it out in meetings and play with it because it's just so damn cool. Still going strong on one battery, but it may be fading a bit at the 6-month mark.

Problems:
1. That tiny lanyard clip isn't big enough to thread through CounyComm's awesome A&P Key Rings, which I also own and recommend to anyone.
2. The second stage sometimes flickers off, and you have to cycle through the on-off-on again to get it to catch. It almost always lights up the high beam the second time, and this is happening with much less frequency as I use it.
3. It's not really a con, but the tiny size and the 2-stage twist-on switch means this is not a weapon or fighting light to be used with a gun. It's bright enough, but it's not purpose built for that.
OVERALL
I mean seriously, look how COOL this thing looks!!! Also, it's a very good and durable small light for EDC. I'm giving it 4.5 out of 5 stars. The extra .5 is because Copper Pretty Ooooh.
