Thanks very much. My first thread gave me some confidence about what to buy to start experimenting with LEDs, temps, tints, features, etc. The challenge has been trying to actually acquire any of those items at the prices folks say are “bargains.” I’m gonna give up on the bargain part and just start buying some products that are known to be outstanding regardless of price. I’m headed to Bass Pro Shop later today and may just buy lights locally.
I appreciate the help.
Thanks. I’ve got a list. I think, for someone my age, I may simply return to Amazon or local brick-and-mortar stores to buy some stuff. This interest/hobby seems every bit as dependent on one’s ability to navigate these purchasing systems as on knowledge of electronics, batteries, LEDs, etc. I was initially interested in the hobby based on the technology. This week I’ve had my eyes opened to the skills required to actually buy bargain lights. That’s a different set of skills when compared to actually comparing lights, batteries, tints, etc.
Great advice. If I don’t have any success sending my list to one of the suppliers and getting an overall quote, I’ll just bail out. All of this got started with an attempt to replace a bunch of old incandescent Maglites that still work. I’ll just buy a few drop-in fusionlite mods for $13 each and call it a day. This old man probably has too many hobbies anyway.
Incredible help and advice here and I can’t thank everyone enough for the tips and suggestions they’ve provided. Y’all are the experts in all things flashlights!
If you are ordering from China, you are better off with a small orders.
if you really want this all in one big box, bail out now.
Anything ordered from China right now is going to be a real long wait time because of the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday.
There will be plenty of specials at this time listed but be ready and willing to wait for average of 5-6 weeks to actually get it delivered.
Amazon Prime is 2 days baby!
Get a flashlight with a battery included if you can on Amazon as well.
Following links are non affiliate for your pleasure.
Battery shipments have become a big problem when shipped form China in the last year.
This Thorfire C8 with battery kit is a good value @ $23.99 for buying stateside;
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DLXI6C6/ref=twister_B01DLXI69Y?\_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Would still buy a better charger for long term use but this will get you on your way and the battery is decent.
This is good set it and forget it model that charges most all batteries;
https://www.amazon.com/New-i4-2016-EdisonBright-BBX3/dp/B01LXI41GR/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1517588318&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=nitecore+i4&psc=1
For a nice comparable tube light to the convoy S2+ are these two;
First is the Atactical or Wowtac as they are now known;
https://www.amazon.com/Flashlight-Pocket-Sized-Resistant-Indoors-Outdoors/dp/B071HLXVZ8/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1517589108&sr=1-1&keywords=wowtac&dpID=51jcd2YeRbL&preST=*SY300_QL70*&dpSrc=srch&th=1
That one is in Neutral white tint, bright white is also available. Both come with a good battery.
Or the Sofirn line has been making a good name for themselves, most come from same factory as Thorfire.
SP 32A is hot for the money
https://www.amazon.com/Sofirn-Professional-Flashlight-Stepdown-Rechargeable/dp/B077BH9DZH/ref=sr_1_6?m=A2LRZV29F1JQ87&s=merchant-items&ie=UTF8&qid=1517588940&sr=1-6
The Sofirn SP36W is a great warm tint flashlight ;
https://www.amazon.com/Sofirn-Warm-White-Flashlight-Searchlight-Rechargeable/dp/B076J9S2PB/ref=sr_1_12?m=A2LRZV29F1JQ87&s=merchant-items&ie=UTF8&qid=1517588940&sr=1-12
You mentioned the Lumintop Tool, also check out the Worm, somethimes Amazon has them pretty cheap and they work well. Or just get the Tool from them.
Couple bucks more than China sometimes is worth the no hassle.
Hope these suggestions help.
Later,
Keith
In most cases, you do.
If you can’t deal with this, then buying small stuff from China is probably not for you.
Thanks. Done.
Thanks, Keith, for taking the time to put this together. I’ll look at each of them.
Thank you. It helps to understand this.
Man, don’t get me wrong, but the whole analysis you have made on the topic…not sure it can possibly be worth the effort & time spent. Far from that. Unless you enjoy the very process
Thanks for your thoughts. I agree completely. I thought ordering stuff in 2018 would be easy, but I haven’t had that experience trying to use these codes, flash sales, coupons, etc., with foreign sites. Looks like budget lights aren’t in my future. Will try some Maglite drop-ins and call it quits. Incredible group of extremely helpful and knowledgeable folks here! To a person they have been willing to answer questions and offer suggestions.
Well its ok to buy certain lights without major discounts, and if you happen to strike a deal or two on top of that…what’s wrong with that? 
I mean look at the ‘worst case scenario’ above, the future is still bright!
Or just take the flash sale price. Coupon might only save you a dollar or two.
It is stock at their USA warehouse too.
Huh? For your original $300 budget, or even less, you could order enough budget lights, today, without messing with discount codes, or obsessing over flash sales, to set you up for years.
In round numbers:
$10 for a good, basic charger, like a Lii-402 Gearbest
$10 for 4x yellow Soshine 14500 Gearbest, etc.
$25 for 4x Samsung 18650-30Q or similar from Illumn, or Liionwholesale
One or more of:
$25 for a BLF A6 from Banggood
$15 for a Convoy S2+ from Gearbest
$20 for a Convoy C9 or EagleEye X2R from Gearbest
One of:
$15 Sofirn SP10 a or b from Amazon
$25 Thorfire TK05 from Amazon
One of:
$20 Convoy C8
$30 Sofirn C8A, Amazon
$20 Thorfire C8, Amazon
$20 Sofirn C8A or T, AliExpress
One of:
$10 Astrolux A01 AAA, or similar.
Thats five lights plus batteries and charger for less than $150, shipped.
For another ~$75 you could add a floody Convoy L6 Clear or a throwy Convoy L2 from banggood + a couple 26650 batteries. Or, maybe a BLF Q8, or an Emisar, etc. Or maybe a handfull of $10-15 lights and some new drivers and emitters for some modding fun.
No need to buy everything at once, either.
Or you can mope off with a few mag-lite drop ins.
THIS^^though it never really seems specified, many have mentioned codes only work on single item and single quantity orders. If unsuccessful on an item…REMOVE it from your cart first, before trying another item.
It’s really counter-intuitive that generally, it’s cheaper to buy $x of y category of goods when you buy multiple small orders from various sellers in flash sales, with codes etc…
Compared to a quote from a single supplier, you will usually save a lot.
It sounds complicated, but it’s actually more fun seeing how cheap you can get some items for.
(As well as this forum, there are many other coupon sharing sites I have found things cheap on. Just google the product name “+code or +coupon”. There are also various browser plugins, but be careful with these if you use private codes a lot, as they share to the community.)
My best advice to get started is to just whip out the credit card and go for it - knowing you have multiple levels of protection if something goes wrong.
The first few purchases I made this way were < $20 a piece, and I went into it knowing that I really wouldn’t be that bothered if the items never came.
Of course, they all did.
(This was back when goodluckbuy, chinesedepartmentstore and and kaidomain had just opened for international sales)
You also learn things such as importance of reading the technical description and nor go purely off the product name and things like that. (Aliexpress!)
In saying all that, I can understand that all this effort for a couple of dollar savings will not be for everyone, but the more you buy, the more the discounts add up.
And, just ignore and accept that you can get things below manufactures wholesale cost in flash sales sometimes.
That was the hardest part form me, coming from the “negotiate with a supplier for the best price” way of thinking. . 
Thorfire sells on amazon, and their discount codes are set up to work there. I like that! The benefits are fast shipping (days not weeks) and easy returns.
For example this light: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0787Z97ZK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2R9O9RPRP4XXU&psc=1
Use this code: 3VSIRROL to lower the price to $23.04 (it’s working today I just tried it)
Review here: Thorfire TK 18 / Full Reveiw..20% off code just added
Thorfire sells the BLF Q8 on amazon and there’s a code that can be found for a good price.
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Another brand selling on amazon is Sofirn, they have many great lights, codes in this thread: Special code for BLF from Sofirn. New arrivals— C8A 2 light group and max up to 1747 lumens.
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I buy a lot of flashlights using the codes found on BLF for Gearbest and Banggood, sometimes the code is expired and then I keep looking elsewhere and find one that works or wait till a new code comes up again.
Here’s a few tips:
Banggood : 4BLF for a 9% discount (flashlights and batteries)
Gearbest: GB17LED for a 12% discount (flashlights and LED lighting)
Fasttech: BLF for 5% discount (flashlights and flashlight parts)
If you didn’t know about Fasttech here’s a link: https://www.fasttech.com/category/1601/led-flashlights/-/p/1?f=-
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I also buy lights on Aliexpress, no codes needed, prices are already low and they run sales a lot:
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale LED+flashlight
Sofirn lights are also on aliexpress for great prices - no code needed - prices are about the same as buying on amazon with the codes:
https://sofirn.aliexpress.com/store/2933049?spm=2114.10010108.0.0.679aed19rnxlOv
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Another good source for popular lights is Convoy store on aliexpress: https://convoy.aliexpress.com/store/330416?spm=2114.12010108.0.0.68d35d27MiCJEO
The owner (Simon) offers a 15% discount for BLF members, no code needed, just place the items to the cart then send him a message through the Aliexpress message system and ask to get the BLF discount, then wait till he adjusts the price before you checkout.
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I’m not affiliated with any of the sellers/online stores I listed and none of the links I posted are affiliate links. Just did this to help the OP and new BLF members.
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Some suggestions for the $300 spree:
Hope this helps, good luck and have fun!
It’s ok to struggle with coupons, sales, group buys and other means to get lower prices. When i started to buy from chinese sites (Fasttech) some five years ago i didn’t even know what a coupon was and was paying the “full” price - which was already quite a bargain compared to what i could get locally, and i was more then happy.
I also started with real cheap flashlights that i found impressive despite the cold blueish tint…
I only got better at buying after a couple years… but it was a fun journey.
Trying to get the perfect list of flashlights at the best price ever all at once the first time is like thinking you can become a kung fu master in a week.
Could maybe post a list of what you are looking to get. Im sure people here wouldnt mind pointing you in the right direction to find it for the best price
I recently got 8x 30q’s for under $30. I am currently looking to get a new charger, posted in one of the deal threads asking for a coupon and they managed to get $10 off the list price thats currently listed. Wanted an s41s, couldnt find no coupons, a few days later it went on sale and got it under $30 with “4blf” coupon.
Typically most of the items discussed here go on sale or have coupons fairly often if they sell good.