Many replies
I expect no warranty on a Chinese light. So i guess that is a big difference.
The build quality is an interesting thought, i seem to recall Omten switches being used which is good. The circuitry has been torn down for most lights.
That said i tend to buy well reviewed lights so perhaps i am getting the best of the Chinese lights and not the average or below average stuff.
Nicer packaging is nice but not worth much money to Bort.
Local retailers is a good point.
Drivers is an interesting one, until the XHP chips all drivers were simply linear but had to be upgraded to run a 6V chip off a 3.7V battery
Surefire having contracts is great but that doesn’t mean they have to raise the price for individual sales.
More R&D costs - If they are spending lots on R&D thats strange, there are BLFers doing stupendous work for next to nothing. They should hire those members and pay them big bucks.
Higher production costs - Most are made in China
Quality checks - This is some labour cost.
More marketing costs - Probably though i am not interested in paying for it.
I have wondered if our lights are made of a good metal and if they are using the same anodizing as the big boys. I am reminded of an old BLF post from many years ago saying that the metal our lights are made of is not the high end stuff used in other applications. I can’t remember the exact post.
As for member participation in light design that is supremely awesome, though i am interested in the light itself, not whether a BLFer contributed to it. Not to say contributions are not good, we have some amazingly talented members who have improved this hobby immensely, from feature suggestions to pushiness the envelope mods to software programming.
Interesting. My sample size is small so your perspective is very appreciated.
Yikes. So the quality control is poor, they are just building whatever then shipping it out the door.
I wonder what a GCMS would say about the black substance
Glad to hear they are incredible about it and that your not stuck holding the bag.
Thats much better quality control, though one would wish it was zero.