Budget Lights vs. Pricier Lights

LED Flashlights – General Info
1

The biggest difference, in a word? Warranty. And customer service.

You may remember the story about my 4 year old Pelican M6 Lithium that had the tail switch go out on it. I called Pelican's customer service department, they told me yes, it's a known problem and two days later I had an entire new tailcap in my mailbox. Problem is, my light is old and it's silver; they sent me a black one. Seems that is the only color they make these days. Kinda fugly looking, but functional. I lived with that for a couple months.

Monday this week, I thought maybe I could send them the entire original silver tailcap, and maybe they know how to remove the switch and put in a new one. So I called, got an RMA number, and sent the tailcap on Monday 6/6. Today (6/10, Friday) I got a box in the mail from Pelican, along with this piece of paper.

Yes, they sent me an entire new host in black, including another black tailpiece, at no charge, in the same week I shipped it to them. That is pretty hard to beat customer service, so I wanted to toot their horn here, they deserve it.

I now have an ugly Pelican and a nice one, that I need to find a new drop-in for.

BTW, don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking budget lights, you guys know I have a lot of them, and have not had any real issues with them. But the service I received from Pelican is worth noting. Nice that they are here in California as well.

2

That is outstanding customer service, and Pelican should be commended. I could think of a few things to do with the "ugly" one, but I'm afraid it would definately void any warrenty

3

That's nice to hear. I have received support from US companies for my other hobbies in that they do improve their products and give support in the forums.

The thing about budget lights is that you can get multiple pieces for that price you can get the same one as backup or even backup's backup, or getting other models as an enjoyment to the hobby, is up to the user's choice. :) As you know, you can never have too many lights if you are into that part of the hobby. Some just enjoy 3 x really expensive lights/drop-ins and are done with it, that is also another avenue for some.

In Hifi, there are also some who get just ~ 100 CDs/LPs who play it on their 100k system. :D

4

Wow, that is excellent service. Definitely a huge difference between expensive and budget lights. Good for you troop.

5

So youve lost your silver tailcap! haha... Awesome replacement service regardless!!.

I must say that I have received good service from SUNWAYMAN too, a higher end chinese company. I had a V10R with problems with the driver board and after some short PMs, they had sent me a new driver for me to replace. Sent via relatively fast post too, it had arrived within a week to australia. Its not as awesome as replacing your whole torch body! but most companies wont send driver boards in the first place.

6

Alright I am new to this whole flashlight thing and the budget flashlight. Sow hat you are saying is that a budget light may lack quality control and a warranty, but also cost far less than a "high end" light? So the $20 budget light may be just as bright and be similar in looks to the $60 light, but may or may not have as nice of build quality/QC? :) This makes sense I guess. So in a way when you buy a $60 4Sevens light you are buying the warranty and the fact that the light will most likely work fine because it has been tested and such.

7

One other plus about budget lights is just about every one I've seen you could take apart the tail switch. And a lot of times you can get spare parts cheaply that will fit.

8

brted, good point. I don't think even Pelican Service could take that switch out of the tailpiece; they must have epoxied it in there.

Simpleman, with more expensive lights you typically get higher quality machining and electronics, and you get a warranty. Chinese lighte may have warranty, but shipping is so expensive you might as well just get a new light. And for the price of one really good light, you can buy 4 decent Chinese lights that as brted said, you can repair yourself.

9

The same is true with knives. The best knife I own is a Sanrenmu but if it ever breaks I will just have to get another one. When my leatherman knife broke I sent it to leatherman and they sent me a new and better knife even though my old one could have been easily repaired with a simple fastener.

10

Yep, it's like buying Craftman tools from Sears. You break one, they give you a new one.

But flashlights don't have that much that can go wrong, and if it does, most of it can be fixed pretty easily.

My wife freaked out when she saw the invoice from Pelican. "$85 for a flashlight???!!! People really pay that for a flashlight?" I didn't have the heart to tell her that was for the host only...

11

On another forum (britishblades.com) there is a member named Hatethatgiraffe with this relevant and amusing signature:

"My biggest fear in life is that when I die my wife sells all my stuff for what I told her I paid for it!!"

12

Good one rc!

13

Or you can say they are so expensive in the first place that if you have problems they can afford to toss you another light ..

Or maybe they can't get you parts because the warehouse is in china .. if they give you a tailcap , then they have half a flashlight they can't sell .. easier to just give you the whole thing

14

Ah Boaz, you are such an optimist...

15

Yup, some products have great warranties. I had prospector shoes once I think that had a lifetime warranty, same with those tilley hats. I've been sent a couple tilleys over quite a few years, either because mine had a tear in it, or I lost it. I think lifetime warranty is rather extreme but I wasn't going to complain. Harddrives - western digital caviar black = pricier than blue/green drives, yet slightly longer warranty periods. If anything, paying more for piece of mind /warranty helps some people sleep better at night. Of course, spending 10 or 20 bucks on a light, with little or no recourse action isn't a bad investment either. Especially if you pick the parts yourself and are aware of the risks. We save up front, and if something does happen to it years later it won't break the bank to get another.

16

Or I can afford to break / lose a Ultrafire UF-980L. One of the biggest fear of having expensive stuff is losing it, esp the small ones.

17

For sure, good points. I'd likely be paranoid and tap my side pocket every few seconds to make sure I wasn't robbed! ...lol, well could happen.

18

Good one!

I can buy a 20$ light and toss it and buy a new one if something goes wrong with it.

And then I´ll still be able to buy 2 more until I reach the 85$ Trooplewis paid for the

Pelican. The story also shows that buying an expensive light is no guaranty for no

breakdown, which often is the mantra at the other site!

19

At least you won't be alive to see it. I think the same thing will happen when I die.

20

Either way you're dead if she finds out , your dead .

and if you're dead and she finds out .. she's just glad your dead

putting little stickers on your stuff won't work either.she'll just wonder why she never killed you .

If she did kill you ,It will give her a reason to have done so .Even the jury will agree 85$ for a 18650 host is way too much .

She'll be out in 2 years .:)

either way ... your dead ... enjoy it while you can .