Is it common to hit a run of bad luck?

Because I think I've started one. I bought my first LED torch back in the summer and I think this must have been the start of a run of beginner's luck, aided in no small measure by help and advice received here at BLF. That first purchase was the Saintfire K25, and I went on to buy Sipik 68 clones, green and yellow angle lights and 'Ultrapire' 18650 zoomies, all good, all outstanding value for £, all arriving safely. Even the bargain priced 504b from DD turned out to be one of the better ones.

Well, all that seems to be coming to an end. I'm sure it's common to hit a sticky patch, and I can't say I've had any major disasters with expensive mishaps, but something's gone wrong with most of my last 9 or 10 orders.

It began with a faulty Xtar charger (WP2 MK ii) from HKE which Stanley promised to replace back in early December. It may of course still arrive, but no sign so far. Likewise a Sipik 68 clone from TomTop, paid for on December 7th. Their emails about it seem genuine, rather than the usual auto blahblah, but I'm still without my torch. I ordered a FandyFire branded G10 from DX along with a cheap AA/14500 zoom. The zoomy arrived within three weeks, but no sign of the G10 six weeks after purchase. Then yesterday two different three mode Sipik clones arrived. One of them I like much more than the other, but I can't order more of the preferred ones because they came from two different Ebay sites and I don't know which torch came from which seller (yes, I did ask each to identify themselves in the packets).

There have also been other small items gone astray, TBH I probably don't even remember all that I've ordered which hasn't arrived. Like I said, none of this is exactly the stuff of nightmares or anything, and I know many others have been through far worse. And sure, some or even all of these issues may yet end up with happy resolutions but my hopes are dwindling and in the meantime it just wears you down. I really wish I could just get myself set up and then leave it for a good, long while..

I don't think it is common if you buy from good sellers. But I sympathize with you. I have been very lucky with most sellers (apart from DD). I even got a good skyray 3xml.

ordering from DX is like pouring molasses in your coffee, at the north pole, on christmas

i sympathize with you too. we cant do anything about the waiting (and tracking numbers paid extra for are quite lousy .. no much good info coming from them!). so what we can do is waiting together (feels like community ggg) and share our woes. meanwhile, one or the other of us would use the waiting time to do some measurements, write a little product review, etc. to pass the time.

Once i got myself up, i'll continue with life and leave the ordering game (DD, DX,..) behind me. 's my plan. Drastically reduce my time on forums and DD product pages haha. Btw, dont forget, spring's coming up. More light, more sun, the urge to go outdoors and explore the beauty of nature and women. Sun way woman happiness!! ( now i sound like Ch*nese gg )

Yep, in order not to lose track of my shipments of *any* pending orders, i've printed out an Excel-sheet (it has some 35+ orders, since October 2011) and check off the ones i have received. Today nothing in the mail box. I had expected Eneloop AAA's, but nothing. Strange.

And i also update my BLF signature.

You're right of course guys, but I think it's not so much the waiting as the uncertainty. So many variables to pull the rug out from under you're carefully planned purchases. Has it been sent? If so, is it the correct item? Has it got lost in transit? Will I get one of the better samples, or a more mediocre one? Or a DOA? If there was, say, even a 95% certainty that all would be well eventually I wouldn't mind waiting twice as long; in fact, I think at first the wait added to the anticipation when things were going well. But after a few disappointments, the novelty is definitely wearing off.

I've still got a siver 504b from DD to look forward to, ordered a week ago. Last time, they came up trumps with a black one that turned out to be a gem of a bargain. With all the flak they've been getting lately it'd be kind of ironic if Dino were the ones to revive my enthusiasm. but you never know. Fingers crossed..

yeah, fingers crossed! ;)

so true. it certainly does. it's a pleasant buildup of anticipation, and in our language we would call it Vorfreude (lit. transl. "pre-joy") meaning it's part of the deal, part of the joy, and quite important psychologically and emotionally.

I will place a few more DD orders tonight. I need A MULTIMETER. well, i wouldnt mind owning one. So many(?) eneloops and LiIon's flying around of questionable quality, protected ones, unprotected ones. I better have an accurate tool (75€ value in Germany/amazon, sold 25€ (fake?) on DD) to determine voltages.

It's part of the Chinese vendor game it has it's ups and downs. It makes you appreciate the really good scores so much more.

probably game over already by now. during the afternoon price for the multimeter has rocketed from 56$ to 99$.

Chi*ese vendor's games. have to disapprove that!

Kreisler, why do you want such an expensive one? I bought this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000L0RINQ Obviously not top of the range, but seems to work fine for checking battery charges. Heck, at this price you could get two as a double check safety valve.

if i end up paying 25€ for a top-quality product, then we cant call it expensive.

Fenix is top-quality stuff. If we can buy a Fenix LD20 for 25€, nobody would think that it's expensive.

paying an acceptable price for a top-quality product is ..erh.. acceptable!

i surely like to buy quality stuff. Xeno, Romisen, Lumintop, Tank007, Eneloop, Powerex, Kellogg's, Heinz, Pepsi, .. all high quality stuff!! :D

Fair enough. If I get fried alive by overcharged batteries my last words will be .."kreisler tried to warn me..."

Actually I misunderstood your post. It looked like you were thinking of paying €56 or €99 for one. Seemed a lot to check batteries. I agree that quality is money well spent, but it's also nice when cheap does the job

Voltages are easy to measure and even cheap multimeter can be precise in that regard. High current readings is where you have to spend serious money to get quality.

what does a cheap multimeter display when i measure a Liion cell?

4.2V

4.20V

4.201V

4.2011V

??

The one that i was/am interested in displays 4.2011V. High accuracy. Made in Taiwan :D

You mean high current in flashlight terms? Or household A/C type levels?

@ kreisler: Mine displays voltage to two decimal points, e.g. 4.16, 4.18 etc.

I got this from DD a few days ago:

Used the $5 off $30 coupon and some dirty dino points...

HAHA. I like budgetlightforum way better than candlepower. But I still just order above average torches. Luckily, I haven't been thrown into the sprirals of chinese ordering except for a solarforce host. I just enjoy my lights like the Lumintop td15x, Dereelight DBS aspheric, some nitecores, etc..I enjoy the quality.

i wanted to get the UT61E, which is the flagship model (released 2009 to market) of the famed 61-series. was 56$ until 1.5 days ago.

Nice one you got!!

i dont mind putting the UT61E purchase off until next year hehe. By that time, we wont be interested in my own amperage measurements of the few silly little torches i own anymore. And me either. DD missed out on me doing an impulse purchase ha!

2 decimals are more than enough and even the cheapest MM have 2 digits. I am talking of the 1-5 amps range. The resistance is too high on cheap MMs and especially high quality measuring cables are needed, because there the resistance really adds up per inch length. I have had misleading amp reading difference of over 1 amp on budget vs. high-quality and only seen 0.01 Volt differences yet on the same devices. ate. My measurements were done with a METEX M-3630D (very old , but high quality) and with a sub 15 $ "Voltcraft 91".

wtf. today the price is back!! actually the old price is still there at the bottom of the product webpage but once you click on the item, the price is reverted. so i pulled the trigger. the usual dinopoints, the usual 10$ off coupon code for $50+ orders, and some giftcard, and i my paypal checkout amount was reduced to 31.xx$.

Yesterday 98.99$, and today got it for 31.xx$ (=24.49€). Amazon Germany sells at 75-85€. Not a cheap DMM at all!

I BELIEVE I MADE THE DEAL OF MY CAREER!!! -- THANKS YOU DD, I LOVE DINOS!!

( all i can say is 4Sevens and its new AAA-keychain light has lost. my January money is now already invested in DD stuff, the DMM. )

How did you manage to get $31.xx? You must have loads of gift cards or dino points?