My lights are JUST like my guns: ALL are clean, accurate and always ready for use despite the “condition” they are in. Some in the safe rarely see light, a few are around for varmint use, and some are standby’s for REALLY bad, wet, cold hunts. AND… I ALWAYS modify them.
I’m not a gunsmith, but I build quasi-custom rifles (flip barrels, tweak triggers, reload for accuracy, etc.). That said, a $600 rifle in the hands of a “shooter” WILL outperform a $10,000 rifle in the hands of (most) “collectors”. And so I AM a fan of the good $600 rifle (and hint… BLF member)
With my guns, I have a few “safe queens” which only go out on “blind” hunts (or the occasion range day out at the ranch to check the “zero”). They may be 45 years old (like my Browning 2000 20g), but near mint because I do my level best to keep them clean— BUT when I USE a gun, it’s going to get dinged eventually.
Then I have a few guns that have been thrown across the ditch, hit the ground falling down the side of shale rock mountains on elk hunts, dropped in the lake goose/duck hunting, and generally they are WELL used. But, I will (every year) always CHECK them out completely, oil them up, re-blue (and sometimes refinish) them and keep them in good repair.
My lights are the same. There are a few “shelf queens” for sure, but they are thinned occasionally when a good gift is needed (usually to another hunter). Then there are the ones that live MORE inside the house in about every room (* and my wife expects them always working as she LOVES them and gets pissed when they aren’t “where they’re supposed to be!”) There are a few cheap ones when it comes to lights though (usually old first “deals” bought years back with laptop pulls in them) that I typically keep in the garage, barns, and cars for back-ups. And finally there are the true “workhorse” lights I use for hunting, fishing, and general outdoor use.
So condition is something I try to keep up, but a GOOD old light is worth 20 new ones that stop working the first time they are dropped; and it’s not about cost as much as it is about accuracy and reliability. That said you don’t need to spend a lot to get this, just enough to know what you have (for whatever the use my be) can be counted on and is always READY for use.
So it’s NICE to know the JUNK from the GOOD stuff BEFORE buying it. With lights… that’s why I like you guys here at BLF… because Amazon reviews can’t do it like BLF can when it comes to calling it ALL out on any particular model.