What are your least used/biggest let down lights of 2016

For me it was SingFire SF-348 - strange beam, pretty dim, feels chep. Tint is not great also.

PS. I love my Skilhunt H15 - agree that it’s a bit heavy and has annoying red blink, but…but besides that it’s really versatile and powerful (for AA) light. It has great balance between power/runtime.

Less used light is
Actually, it’s manker e14
Because the dome of leds flew out all the time
So it shows strange annoying blue tint

My biggest let down is Klarus G30.

It suddenly stopped operation while in turbo mode. The
flashlight was warm, but not hot. The battery voltage was about 3.9V per
each of the three protected cells. The flashlight did not reacted to
pressing of either of the switches. Upon releasing and tightening again
of the tail cap the light starts operation in some random mode, and it
does not react to the switches; the only way to shut it down is by
release of the tail cap. The mode it enters after tightening of the tail
cap is completely unpredictable.

I notified the Klarus customer service yesterday and awaiting their response (assuming that they will respond).

I think shipping will be double the price of the light :stuck_out_tongue:

My 2nd DQG Tiny 18650 IV - which died after 3 months - due to one drop from normal hand height to a wood [or concrete] floor - can’t remember the exact drop.
Became intermittent, then finally cannot be revived.
Took it apart, can not fix or find problem.

(The first one died when the switch failed 2 ways at once.)

Gearbest did give me half my money back, but still, I’m stuck now with the idea that 18650 lights just can’t be that small and cheap, and be reliable.

Now I’ve got a Manker U11, which is nice but way bigger than the Tiny, and an Astrolux S1, which is very nice, and the same tininess as the Tiny, but at the expense of smaller, uncommon battery (18350).

I’d rather just have 18650, 85mm long, plus durability/reliability for $30.

wle

Jetbeam Jet I MK, I only used it once. not pocket friendly light for being unintentionally power on when get stuck in your pants and when you need it battery drained out even the clip have a light grasp.

I don’t really have a letdown light of this year (unlike 2015 :confounded: ), thankfully, but I do have a minorly disappointing one that I’d nonetheless been using this year (on a ball cap brim when some lights at my workplace went poof), and that is the Olight S1. The runtimes are a joke on 16340; seriously, 63 hours on Moonlight is year-200X levels of inefficiency, and it only gets worse from there :person_facepalming:

Heh, I remember when the flashy on Low mode on my C8 used to drive me up a wall. I just got used to it, though – I don’t have any knowledge of torch modding, and have to practice a lot with a soldering iron before I trust myself to touch a flashlight with one. Also, parts are costly for me.

ADDENDUM: You can get it from Simon with ToyKeeper’s new non-blinky firmware for a very small price increase. Sounds like a killer to me!

For me it´s the Astrolux S41S XP-G3. Love the Manker made S41 Nichia which works flawlessly and has a great tint, but the XP-G3 tint is just … :confounded: PLUS all the hassle with the faulty head and now the problems with the driver (stepdown from turbo to moonlight). Host Looks nice, but get´s hardly used by me anymore.

Also, I retrospective I regret getting the ThorFire S70. Paid top dollar for it, and now after the much better L6 came out and with the S70S announced, the resale value has almost dropped to zero… might end up giving it away as a present, but with two 26650´s needed it´s not a “muggle light”…

K.

Fenix ld22

Has an outdoor and tactical mode and had the light switch between them in the pocket a few times.
Nothing like needing light and having to screw around switching modes around so you can get what you want. Shelf Queen!

Also the lumintop torpedo. Good light, just not practical for everyday use.

Not disappointing at all, but getting a lot less usage than I had in mind: Klarus Mi7. I was hoping it would be small enough for EDC in my jeans watch pocket, but it’s just a bit too long for that. And while the side clicky is nice, you’ve got to keep locking and unlocking it for pocket carry - annoying. Nice light overall, but just didn’t cut it for pocket carry. It’s too bad, an excellent light overall.

Biggest let down was my Haikelite MT03 by far! Got one of the duds that has less than 1/2 the claimed output and there is zero customer support. Other than that, I don’t regret any of my purchases.

My Astrolux S41 SS I preordered. DOA, contacted for a replacement head, and they claim shipped, but still haven’t received it. Meanwhile, I see all these people who have not only ordered the since revised S41s, but have actually received them.

Thorfire BD04.
What a hunk of crap! A Sipik SK68 zooms better, and the BD04 has the same output from an 18650/XM-L2!

Also the Haikelite MT03.
Did not live up to the promise at all, and the seller for the group buy screwed up many/most orders.

By the time you’ve bought 2 of them (currently $32 each on gearbest) you are almost to the cost of one Zebralight SC63 ($79) or SC62 ($69 on sale right now) which is a lot more durable and much brighter as well.

In a way, the Nitecore TIP was my biggest disappointment. Its waterproofing wasn’t as good as the AAA lights I had hoped to replace with it, and trying to get out of lockout with one hand full and the other hand fumbling between the buttons and my keys is difficult. Not to mention the lockout drain issue. In the end, I just kept using the same tail-clicky AAA lights I had been using instead of replacing them with the TIP as I had planned.

The Cometa. While I, like all the rest of you, occasionally purchase lights that are a let down in some way- performance, build quality, etc.- my real problem with the light is how we were all treated by the vender.

Naw, at this point I just roll my own for the most part. Way easier to build from scratch than strip down and rebuild.

No need to mess with desoldering then resoldering, no nightmares with glued heads, none of that.

And at least this way you know things are properly greased (lube and thermal), you can pot the pill/driver if you want, you can flash the living Hell out of the driver ’til you’re happy with it.

If you’re okay with an off-the-rack light, none of the above applies, but if you’re easily irritated and annoyed by stoopit little things like blinky modes, LMH/HML order, etc., like I am, you just roll yer own.

So… you modded a side-clicky into a twisty. :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

I think he means electronic lock-out.
I also have the Mi7, doesn’t get much use either, only if I need a light fast and it’s the first one in my reach. Had it in my pocket once and it also turned on…

Yeah, the electronic lockout… hold for like 5 seconds to lock it, triple click to unlock.