I think the Stanley HID still holds its own in terms of Lumens and Lux per dollar. I paid $75 for mine, but I have since heard of others getting them on sale for the $30 ball-park. Its around 3200 bulb lumens (over 2500 OTF), includes battery, charging system (a good one too I might add), 12V vehicle connectivity and a long running LED array good for ~20 lumens.
its not only a lot of lumens and lux per $... its also LOT of features overall.
I think it's also good to recommend the XinTD C8. I'm very happy with mine. There's already a version 3 with a deeper reflector, I think this would have more throw than the previous model.
I'm new to budget lights, so I was curious to know if this is how it works. A reputable Chinese company, such as Nitecore, is copied by another Chinese company with lesser quality control, such as SkyRay, which in turn is copied by another Chinese company of even lesser quality, such as FandyFire, with the price decreasing with each knock off version.
Not hijacking, but could somebody define “budget light”???
The reason I ask, is because I see some lights listed here as the brightest budgetlight, costing almost $100…
In my book, dat ain’t no budget light!! However, I know senility is sinking in on my side, so that is why I like to have a definition of a “budget light”…
If that budget-brand light (LED) is going to give off 5000 lumens OTF and costs 160 bucks shipped, then hell yes am i going to buy it! Eg 12 XM-L with 2 drivers.
Like the above-mentioned TF X100 @ $82, there are like only 2 branded lights at that high a lumens level and they cost 399 and 549.
I don’t think you’re off base . . I would say that a high end light can be a good or great Value Light, but that doesn’t make it a Budget Light. I would propose that Budget Lights are lights the masses include in their budgets.
Might be some reasonable discussion about how much, but I’d say the amount is probably limited by what we see for pricing on the wal-mart shelf . . . last time I looked, that was probably close to whatever the LED 2 or 3 D maglites are going for. By that standard, $45 is more than I’d probably spend, but $30-something seems reasonable.
That above is exactly what I figured was “budget lights”. I have aquired about 13 lights. The highest price one is the one I mentioned for $37.75… However, it is not the brightest!!
You have reaffirmed my belief, that I do follow the “budgeteer’s code”…
This is CPF mentality. A $30 AAA light is what they suggest when you mention budget lights. A “budget” anything is just a lower cost version of that product, right?
Eg 12 XM-L with 2 drivers.