So Is Anybody Besides Me Decided To Concentrate On Buying Better Quality Flashlights From Here On?

Not that I am against good deals on budget flashlights out there and I will probably buy them from time to time when they do pop up, and I have bought some what I would call decent Trustfire flashlights, but I am now to the point that I want better quality. I seem to be getting that by stepping up the price to the better quality flashlights like ThruNite, Olight, and Jetbeam. I have bought some cheap Ultrafire flashlights like the 501B and have to admit that the threads on the tailcap aren't very good or long enough. Sort of on the cheap side. And not all cheap lights are this way. The Trustfire flashlights I feel are pretty nice when it comes to the threads and the finish is pretty nice as well. But these better lights I now have come to the way of thinking that you get what you pay for and for and in my opinion they are worth the extra money vs buying the cheap route. The threads are not only cut better but so is the overall machining of the whole flashlight and the fit and finish are just extremely nicer. Anybody else feel the same way?

Yes, better quality for cheap ;)

Actually my best quality (looking) light is the Ultrafire UF H2 headlamp.. And that was only $16..
Next in line is the Solarforce L2i... (from which I dont like the bezel, and it ate the O-ring)

I would like to have some higher quality lights in stead of the ones I have now..

I think when people come to this forum, with the question which light they should buy, we should advice them to get the high quality light, the ones that they like from top to bottom, buy it.. And never come back to this Forum!

they will spend a lot of money on lower budget lights, which ends up 10s of dollars more than the one they wanted in the first place..

I guess thats what Im doing here.. Spending more money (and TIME) on budget lights, while I should have bought 1 or 2 more expensive lights and never come back here! ;)

From now on I’m not going to buy a flashlight unless it comes in an aluminum case! Anyone else with me :slight_smile:

And I see your point there. And that's good advice to most out there. I know a lot of folks will look for the cheaper deals as I first did. But like I said I feel after buying for example the ThruNite Catapult V3 and the Olight SR51 lately that I got my moneys worth and more so vs what I get going with the cheaper lights. I guess my point is since I have held these 2 lights in my hand that I have seen what a good quality light truly is. It sort of spoils a guy. But that is not to knock cheaper made flashlights that others here are going to buy.

Hey buddy I'm trying to be serious here. LOL! But that is a good one.

ILF, may I ask how many lights you have purchased in the last 2 months?

Probably around 8 or so.

:slight_smile:



I feel that way about headlamps and I’m not totally indiscriminate when it comes to buying the cheap stuff (flashlights) since there is so much junk out there.

Now that you've tasted caviar you're not going back to fish-paste.

I know I have bought 5 in the last say 4 weeks or so.

I'm with you, ILF.

I like to read up and try to find the real deals where you can get a great light for a great deal. I agree that it is important to have good quality lights that you can rely on, however I already have those covered. Budget lights let me get new shiny things that I don't really need, without feeling guilty about spending a lot=)

I did this backwards. I already did the quality thing. Now I am over here doing the quantity thing. Really the only thing that I miss is the anodized threads to allow easy lock-out when I pack a light in my bugout bag.

I'm in the middle. I'm looking for the "budget" manufacturer that's trying to break the mold and put out a unique product that satisfies the missing pieces. So far I like what Balder is trying to do, although they're not entirely budget. The fact they offer the SE-1 and at that price point gives me hope they still want to address a variety of price categories. What I don't want is a manufacturer that only gives you an XP-E or XP-G in the light you can afford so they can merely up sell you to a more expensive light that actually has the XM-L when they could have easily included it in the less expensive models. It reminds me of Apple and how they intentionally offer you less so you feel compelled to pay more a few months down the road. The big boys have more to spend on persuading, *cough* I mean, marketing

Me too. been into getting fls with diff. UIs/features. ZL sc600/ olight m20xs. looking into m3c4/dry/v60c.

I love those more expensive lights but I can’t have any fun with them. More expensive lights can be hard as hell to mod and most times you wouldn’t want to risk tearing it up. People are in it for their own reasons. I like to have lots of lights and batteries everywhere around me and I like messing with them. Tear into that Olight and see what you can do with it.

I will say I am all done experimenting with buying random cheap crap in hope I can mod it to perfection. I have been much more picky with what I order recently and sold most of the ones I did not like or will not use. From this point on it's going to take a decent review and a good vendor before I spend. I made enough mistakes and have enough lights to make it difficult for me to justify something, unless I really want it and will use it regardless of the deal.

I am begining just to reduce the size of the ones I am purchasing,it took time, but I found out the big ones are normally stauing on a shelf waiting for someone, while the mid and small size are normally coming with me.

I haven't any top brand but a Led Lenser P7 if it is a top brand, and till today I don't feel buying any, but I normally check and compara a lot before getting one making sure at least threads are good enough.

So, the only thing I would like to have are better and more efficient drivers, for the rest the quality I can find on more or less cheap ones is enough for me.

Yea I'm getting to that point, but on a different level, I mean heck, I'm pleased as punch with the Trustfire X9 I got the other day over all of the lower end Ultrafire and knockoffs I've bought, so I decided to just stick with the larger torches of medium quality, and dick around with some solarforce p60 stuff.

Here’s the way it works for me. If it’s something I really have a need/use for and I know that I will like a light I’ll pay more for it.



There’s only going to be so many lights in that category however. Otherwise I’ll buy less expensive lights but still ones that I know something about. I never have bought random lights off eBay.



The biggest problem to me with having too many expensive lights is that in several years you will have a substantial amount of money tired up in something that will more than likely have little value.



Especially if you have a “collection” rather than just one or two that you really use a lot. That collection isn’t going to seem interesting anymore as it will be yesterdays news.



I have a $1,000 hi8 video camera that I used a few times and put it away. Now it’s old technology and has very little value. It’s like buying multiple computers today thinking that you are buying “quality”. They will be worthless in several years.



My main rule for DX and others like it is that I don’t buy cheap big lights. The smaller ones seem to be OK but with the bigger ones it just seems like it’s expecting too much. Once the dollar amount gets beyond $30 or so I’m not going to be spending it anywhere other than the U.S. where I’ll get more service and less hassles.