Top 5 Brands

Since I'm still trying to get a feel for the different brands, in your opinion, which brands are the best built flashlights in descending order. I thought about doing a poll but I think this method may be easier even though polls are fun. If you only have 3 brands you like or 10, that's fine. I'm interested in seeing who people consistently list. Thanks!

Budget brands yes? I have many from ultrafire and like them. Romisens were very nicely made but driven a bit conservatively, trustfires were a bit less enjoyable than the other two. I own 1 uniquefire i can't say anything foul.

I'm not sure that I can generalise on the basis of my lights - even though I own rather a lot of them.

The single best-built light I own is the Aurora SH-034. The Aurora stainless steel lights are nice (Except the SH-035), but the aluminium ones are typical fare.

The Eastward YJ J06 is very nicely put together. As is the J09

Ultrafires vary a lot and most aren't all that great. The stainless steel C3 is one of the best. I own a lot of Ultrafires.

Mr.Lite builds a nice light. They tend to be quite large. I own 4 of them.

Most stainless steel lights I own (Bar one) are pretty good.

All three of the Romisens I own are good.

The only Zebralight I own is good.

The only Yezl light I own is good - but so is the Trustfire light whose body it uses - in fact the Trustfire is better as a package, though not as bright.

Solarforce lights are very consistently good but cost a bit more.

But I'd not as much go by brands as models. They vary a lot.

I won't even address the good brands, but among budget brands it depends on where you make the cutoff of what is "budget". Solarforce is good, as is iTP. To me those are just slightly less expensive good lights, not true budget lights. Romisen, Yezl, and Mr.Lite are probably above the Ultrafires, Trustfires, and Uniquefires. The *fires are spotty: some are good and some are duds. AKOray is probably in with the *fires as well. The bottom of the heap might have Small Sun lights and some other off-brands.

I have to say, my solarforce L2i surpassed all expectations for level of quality, and from what i've heard, I can only assume that the rest of the line of solarforce lights is the same way. And the bonus is the quality seems consistent. I have ordered 4 tank007 E07 and 2 were no good. I've had a bad ultrafire, a flickering (apparently fake) MTE, a failed switch on a skyray Sr5, and a nightmare of a Akoray k106, and my Yezl Z1 r5 was a real let down. So consistency is hard to find in the brands.

I would have to say every Romisen I have purchased has been top notch quality, my solarforce has been fantastic and I await my L2x body :)

Actually, my two aurora's are very impressive in quality as well!! I have the AK-P7 2 mode and just recieved the SH-033 stainless CR2. Both are VERY well made.

In terms of budget brands, my top 5 would be:

1. Tank007

2. Solarforce

3. ITP

4. Romisen

5. Mr Lite

I own some rather nice lights and the Tanks I own have the most consistent F+F out of all of them. I would've rated the Mr. Lites ahead of the Romisens but the standard Mr Lite UI is just stupid complicated unless you get the custom-programmed ones.

the Match Mods

Indeed!

Glad to hear that New Caledonia didn't get hit by the tsunami. Speaking as someone who lives in Old Caledonia.

Price range ? [ Bellow $30 ]

Solarforce L2P / L2X

ITP/Maratac

Solarforce L2

Akoray [ the good ones ]

Then the rest ,

Anything over $30 should be good , I say should as I have seen *.*fire brands in this price range , and there not always good .

Most cheap lights , trouble or issues can be traced back to the clicky switch , poor assembly or soldering , or faulty driver [ cheap ] .

So if you become a budget enthusiast , you will learn DIY skills [ invaluable ] , and put together a collection of spare parts ...

Just last night I had to rebuild a AA light , Emitter was bad [ solder point came lose on star - how that happen ? ] + the driver was faulty ...

So a emitter swap , a 16mode 3 level driver swap , and now I have a nice 14500 light ... [ I need some buck boost drivers for AA ]

I have 3 small boxes of spare parts now , about 1 box for every year Ive been a budget enthusiast .

I like Solarforce becuse they are cheap enough for me to indulge yet have the look and performance of a pricier light. The last four orders I've gotten, the lights arrived in perfect condition. (lens had lots of fingerprints) The rest of my lights are either Mags (collect dust/never used) or slightly more expensive (4Sevens, Surefire - also not much action)

The real fun of this hobby for me is putting together cheap lights that blow the doors off more expensive torches. My L2 ($10 host; $19 XM-L) lays waste to my $89 6P with its paltry 120 lumens.

I'm waiting on an order from Manafont so, we'll see how good a "Palight" is. Sorry if I veered off topic.

Fpy

You guys are doing great. I figured I would see Solarforce, Romisen, Tank because I see these mentioned often. It gives me an idea of which are the "better budget" brands. Keep the responses coming guys.

Flashlight Foy, do you have any more XM-L lights that you could compare it to?

Right now, I only have two XM-L powered lights: a Solarforce L2P and a Solarforce L2. I prefer the matte finish on the L2P, it seems more resistant to scratches. (also, I think it is better looking)

Foy

I forgot about my 4Sevens Mini123 XML edition so, I have three XM-L lights.

On a side note, I have a Fenix35 on the way. I will use that ANSI rated 820 lumen xm-l light to compare to my 2 xm-l lights: The KD C8 xm-l, and my manafont 3 mode P60 xm-l (high-med-lo).

mizjif, do you like your Palight WF1200L?

Foy

If ypur budget branding this and solarforce are way up there ..'ve said it before tank doesn't make a bad light.. They don't make a high dollar or super lights but budgetwise they are a solid brand .Maybe eastward ,edi-t and hugsby .

And I agree with the general statement that you can't buy brands either but a few may break that rule ..romison maybe but i've never owned one I think they look fuggly .

the ***fires are the harder ones for me .some I hate others I think are ok ...i can't tell you a ***fire light I think is great.. they are to hot or cold to say brand wise

any jhanko kuku mcgizmos,mrbulkspy under 30$

I just take a look from solarfoce-sales.com for Solarforce L2P with forward clicky. It is about USD$25 + US$2 shipping, so total is about US$27. For this cost, I really consider CL1H V4 from Dereelight, it is about US$32 + shipping.

I do, however, it is underdriven. If I could find a driver to use with this, I'd be ver excited. (anyone know of anything?)

Romisen

Tank007

Solarforce

EDI-T

Mrlite

My top 6 would be:

1. Solarforce ( most likely where you get the most for money, sadly they don't make smaller lights, full LEGO)

2. Tank007 (build quality on E07 and 703 are great )

3. Hugsby (10+ P31/P32 not one was disappointing)

4. Skyray (SA-1 (OK), S-R5 body (better than SFs), SKYRAY 1JC8 (insane throw) ... high value)

5. ITP/Maratac (not higher due to off-centred emitters on all my AAA lights, on the expensive side)

6. Romisen (I would rate them higher just for build quality, but they mostly use old emitters)