Not just flashlights, almost every manufactured item is now from China, even known US name brands. I don't have a problem with that per se, but quality is hit or miss and that is what I find frustrating. I am just old enough to remember when 'Made in Japan' had a negative connotation here in the US. It seems that is coming around again (replace Japan with China), but it is becoming increasingly hard to find an alternative.
I am a dedicated cyclist and have been for over 20 years. The same thing is true with bikes. My last one was a made in USA titanium frame. I have almost 30,000 miles on it and it is like new. Now almost every manufactured frame is carbon fiber and comes from China. US custom frames are now becoming niche items.
I love Maglites as much or more than the next guy but when you are talking about their outstanding quality are you referring to the only "Maglite" I know of with the plastic reflectors and the "guaranteed to scratch if you just look at them" plastic lenses? Or is there another "Maglite" that I am unaware of?
My "CCC" ***fires all have state-of-the-art emitters, pretty nice threading and great aluminum reflectors and glass lenses. My Apex GT01 has outstanding build quality and machining and a nicer finish than any Mag I own (lots).
I pretty much agree with the OP. Here in the UK "Made In China" is almost a byword for crap, and has been for more years than I can remember. There was a school joke when I was a kid. "Q: How do you know Santa Claus is Chinese? A: Because all my presents have "Made In Hong Kong" written on them!"
The trouble is, these days we have so little choice. Sure, Maglites and a few other marque products are still made in the west but for the past decade or longer, I've watched in frustration as one top brand after another transfer production to China, and the quality threshold just doesn't seem capable of surviving the relocation. Everything, from clothing to powertools, is now just so obviously built down to price rather than up to spec, and what really angers me is that even if you're happy to pay more for quality, you so often just can't buy it anywhere.
I'm not bashing the Chinese here, or being jingoistic, just speaking from personal experience. But.. All that said, I've been pleasantly surprised by most of the torches (all budget, all Chinese) that I've bought so far. Longevity of working life has yet to be proven, but I can honestly say that the better one's don't seem noticeably inferior to my Maglites.
BetweenRides said above that "Made In Japan" used to have bad connotations in the US. Maybe the same was true here in the UK also, but I don't remember this (too young ). What I do know is that for a very long time over here, Japanese made products have had the very highest reputation for quality, from cars to camera gear, and I can't help wondering if, slowly but surely, the Chinese might not also be gradually raising their game. I hope so anyway, because almost everything seems to be made there, and no-one is sicker of cheaply made junk that I am..
well there are a ton of Chinese light manufacturers that produce amazing lights..fenix, sunwayman, solarforce, etc etc..yes some cheap lights are of bad quality, but so are the 10$ lights at walmart and home depot..like it has been said in this thread my maglight has a plastic lens and reflector..so the quality is not very good IMO..that and they just don't push technology like other companies do..evolve or die man..and they're not evolving fast enough..
I like the Chinese made lights that I have, sure, but..... the reason I have them is because you can't get a Maglite with the latest brightest Led in it. I would pay $49.95 for a 3D cell Maglite with a Cree XM-L Led in it. They just are not in existence, so to China I go.
@ pounder (re Maglites): "..that and they just don't push technology like other companies do..evolve or die man..and they're not evolving fast enough.."
Agreed, and I for one can't understand why they're not doing so. With so many guys here at BLF able to "mod-a-mag" you'd think it would be comparitively straightforward for Mag Instruments to do the same thing on industrial scale. Maglites no doubt still have a loyal following, but I wonder how much of that is due to the fact that so many people still don't seem to have discovered high output LED lights. I read somewhere that the company are struggling to survive; they need to raise the bar, it's a mystery why they haven't. Surely it can't be production costs?
I get the frustration of the OP but I disagree with some of the points. I do get tired of the frustrating aspects of dealing with the current Chinese dealers but it is more or less expected given the prices.
When I buy from China my mindset and expectations are not the same as when I buy from a U.S. dealer.
If you want to spend $60 for a flashlight you will get a good one where ever it’s made (including China).
If you like to mod flashlights you aren’t likely to mod a $60 flashlight. The whole hobby of modding lights is because of the Chinese lights.
I don’t get the attraction for Maglite however. Who buys 2D flashlights these days. Maglite makes nothing that I want. It’s a dinosaur of a company as far as I can tell.
I basically use Zebralight headlamps, P60 type lights and bright single AAA lights with one or two single AAs thrown in for good measure. Maglite isn’t even in the running for anything I’m interested in. I’ve never even owned one.
I’m old enough to remember when “Made In Japan” was mainly seen on cheap products. Now my car is made in Japan and it’s the one the I’ve had the least problems with by far.
It’s a manufacturing learning or “life experience” curve as far as I can tell. First you make T-shirt and eventually you are making high quality products.
Japan can’t make flashlights that are any better than those made in China if you keep the price the same.
It’s frustrating but that’s the “price” we pay for having the option of purchasing inexpensive products.
All countries sign postal service agreements so the U.S. has nothing to do with the low postal prices in China. Chinese manufacturers do pay for shipping but those prices are low in China.
You’ll notice there are more and more companies in the U.S. that offer “free” shipping and sometimes there’s no threshold dollar limit to be met first.
It’s just included in the price directly or most of that companies advertising budget is just used to subsidize shipping.
A ton of other, better lights can be bought with this amount of money, if you happen to have Visa / Paypal and you are able to do search with Google and read at least something in english.
Maglite, love them or hate them. China, love it or hate it. I'm probably the worst when it comes to buying from overseas. I've lost 3 good jobs in the last 15 years, to closures due to China. I don't like to buy from China, but sometimes I feel forced to because the US does not make anything. Well we can't compete any more, just like many nations. We fail as a nation, because we got too expensive and besides you can't compete with slave labor, no way to win against that. Just like Mexico, can't beat the labor costs. + No regulations about pollution, chemicals, etc. Hell most plating has left the US because we regulated it to where there is no reason to try. Cheaper to do it in China and ship it back. I would love to see the US get some guts and slap tarrifs on all incoming goods, so that they were $1 more than anything we make here. It would hurt, but in the end, it just might save us.It's all another Rant.
I haven't bought more than 3 or 4 chinese made lights and so far every one was poorly made and looked strange. I like the sleek Maglite style. I don't like the funky shapes on most of the Chinese stuff. Looks medieval, like a knight of the round table should be wearing one.
Everyone has an opinion and it's good to see what people think. It's something to give an opinion on, although it's just talk really. Just a way to pass the time and stir up the pot...
my xeno e03 and xtar d06 are much higher quality than any maglite I've seen...
and they should be at 2 - 4x the cost.
(edit) in fact, so are my ultrafires and trustfires, and they didn't cost more. the only junky lights I've have that were made in china were purchased locally.
the only reason they make junky stuff in china is because 'we' buy it.
i think you bought the wrong 3 or 4 Chinese lights. there are many <$20 Chinese lights that are made well and look nice and sleek. i know it's just a rant, but please be careful about making a blanket statement about all cheap Chinese lights based on such a small sample of experiences.
and regarding China, it's true that their government subsidizes many of their manufacturing industries, as well as their overseas shipping, and that allows them to compete unfairly on the global market. it's also true that the US government subsidizes the corn industry, as well as many others, allowing it to compete unfairly on the global market as well. so there's a give and take on that stuff.
There is a lot of Chinese junk but the sweeping statement "all Chinese flashlights are junk" is only true as far as junk Chinese flashlights are concerned.
I have a Surefire 6P LED I bought at Fry's two years ago for $89 plus tax. It was rated by Surefire at 120 lumens. I also have a Solarforce L2 with an UF XM-L drop-in. L2s are $12.50 right now so let's call it $30 total. Put aside the fact that a Solarforce so equipped, stomps a mudhole in the 6P's behind in terms of brightness, on medium . . . I defy any thinking person to show me where the L2 falls short when compared to a 6P. In terms of machine work, threads, fit and finish, anodization or whatever happens to matter to you, even a bad L2 is at least as good as a 6P. Aside from a warranty, the L2 is simply superior product.
A higher quality flashlight that is at least three times as bright . . . you could own three for the price of an inferior 6P.
Anybody that thinks Chinese lights are junk, owns too many 502Bs. (or, in my case, one too many Sky Rays)
Have I been reading too much CPF / too little BLF since this is the first time I hear anyone actually saying, that Surefire lacks quality compared to Solarforce?
I have always thought, the Surefires are even better made than Solarforces High quality products and thus cost 3-4x more?
I completely agree with this. If you haven't tried a Solarforce, you don't know what you are missing. I have two solarforce lights, one L2P with an XML drop-in. You can get this setup for $30 and will blow the doors off a $60 maglite LED in terms of output in a much much smaller form factor. The quality is there too, I would take the Solarforce L2P over my maglite in terms of quality. I also have a solarforce L2 with the solarforce MPP-1 turbohead. This setup costs $52 shipped and will out-throw by far any light that maglite sells. And again, the quality is outstanding. I am not going to pay more for a lesser product? If Maglite made anything even remotely like this in terms of output and quality, I would probably buy it and even pay a bit more. But they don't. American companies need to step up, and not just in the flashlight world.
). What I do know is that for a very long time over here, Japanese made products have had the very highest reputation for quality, from cars to camera gear, and I can't help wondering if, slowly but surely, the Chinese might not also be gradually raising their game. I hope so anyway, because almost everything seems to be made there, and no-one is sicker of cheaply made junk that I am..
