I use mine as a hobbyist and camping/hiking. Mine get thrown around quite a bit (you can buy a nice belt pouch for them at about $4.99) that will keep them nice and safe.
I am not an Astolux fanboy, just a consumer sharing his honest experience with a product.
As far as issues go, I have seen the posts regarding Astrolux qa issues. But that goes for many manufacturers. I saw posts of the blf gt, fw3a, LT1, and more all with issues. In other groupbuys, not near as many units get sold as with the Astrolux. One version of the ft03 by itself is over 4000 units sold I believe. Simple math will tell you with more units sold there are more chances for issues. At just 1% of 4000 that’s 40 issues, that is to say if only 1% had a problem.
My best advice is to YouTube the ft03 or whatever light you are thinking of choosing so you can get a good idea of the beam pattern.
How much as i share your standpoint, it seems he is quite reluctant. Lets talk about flashlights again.
Wisdom comes with the ages, and by experience, he will learn (someday)
I fully agree they will most likely get dropped with heavy use. Even minimal use. Accidents happen. My response is simple. Is the warranty of an Astrolux the same as an Olight? Imalent? Or many other brands? Of course not. But neither is the price. If you want a light with a great warranty get an Imalent. Just know that you are paying for that warranty. If you don’t mind not having a warranty and understand that you can buy 3 Astrolux for the price of a comparable Imalent, then do that.
The way I look at it is if I go cheap and it breaks after 6 months, for $35 I still got my moneys worth. You could buy a $300 name brand and still be screwed in a year when the warranty is over.
Expecting a budget brand like Astrolux to have the same warranty as bigger brands when they have far less the profit margin just doesn’t make sense.
That’s why you pay with PayPal or a major credit card and file a dispute if something like that happens. Credit card terms of service state that you have to be 100% satisfied with a transaction. If you are 99% satisfied, that is grounds to dispute the charge.
Anyway, back to flashlights. Buy lots of them and test them all. Sell or give away the ones you don’t like and keep and use the ones you do. It’s all part of the fun.
For your SAR work, I agree with lightbringer (I usually do) to buy or build a simple 1 mode light that gives you a good balance of flood and throw and always have that with you. Then rotate out another more “fancy” light to test them all. Hell, it’s only money and you can’t take it with you when you die.
