Haha ok so the newbie is asking a pretty blasphemous question, but just hear me out. Given all of us use our torches differently: urban, wild, work, emergency (work), recreation and some just as DIY hobby. Would you really trust your budget light for life or death situations without a thought?
Granted most of us will never face it, would you take the best of your budget lights with you into the wilderness when you can expect the worst to happen and the nearest help is days away. Personally I am fine with what I have if it was in an urban setting or even wilderness if help is fairly near (less then 3 hours away). But even I sometimes worry when will these lights quit half way.
So other then my sometimes ridiculously long tests (dunk, freeze and run time) I do not mod (electronically) my lights but extensively check all connections, seal, etc before bring them for my excursions.
Sure, I just bring more than 1. My lights don't have to be tougher than I am.
In reality if I'm going into a tougher environment I'm not going to take new equipment (of any kind). If you check out lights (budget or otherwise) for a few days before a trip and then take several rather than one "good one" you won't have any problems.
I actually dive at night with two budget lights. My older lights weren't budget. However after I check everything out on a few benign dives I'm ready to go into less forgiving environment. It's really not a budget vs expensive situation.
Given these cheap light have almost non-existent R&D or QC, probably not. If you really need such a thing, just spend a bit extra for well-known name brand stuff for that purpose. For example a Fenix E21 is only like $30. However two Romisen/Tank007 lights which each cost half that are probably just as reliable if not more so in conjunction, and probably more useful overall.
I had a bicycle accident few days back and my ultrafire c2 with xp-g and 1.4A driver which I built together by myself was scratched pretty badly, but it kept on going
oh and I got scratched up badly as well:)
so yes, I do trust that my lights (most of them moded) will survive worse things than me
Had an xml 502b. It went through everything. I used to let my friends throw in up in the air as high as they could just to see it drop. It was pretty cool seeing a little light spin around at night. Only broke a few lenses. Even survived a bad lawnmower incident. The only thing that stopped the 502 was me leaving it on the ground at a gas station.
In a life and death situation, I would choose a quality light. I like budget lights, but the QC on the connections and reliability of the switches would worry me. I would carry a budget backup though.
That said, I am never in those situations and have only really been left in the dark once...with a 2AA LED Maglight. Batteries got weak and it just shuts off.
I can't help but inspect (always) and modify (usually) the lights I own. I trust my engineering and construction modifications more than what was in the light originally. In the cases where I don't see room for improvement (Innova lights), I leave things alone. I don't modify just to modify, - there (usually) has to be a sensible reason. (There are exceptions to that rule too)
I guess I don't ever think of being in a life or death situation where a flashlight could make a pivotal difference.
For what I need/use them for, absolutely. If I were a LEO that was regularly in situations where my life may depend on it working, I would ante up for something like an HDS or a surefire with a malkoff dropin.
any flashlight can fail..you just need to be prepared for it to fail and carry a backup or 2..being an expensive brand does not make you exempt from failure..
and yes I trust my solarforces and ultrafires on the job daily..they've never let me down..
My EDC UltraFire F-20 accidentally went through the washing machine once, including being spin-dried at 1400 RPM. It worked flawlessly the moment I discovered it afterwards and hasn't given me any trouble since. So, yes, I think I can trust this one.
My other lights are mostly SolarForce hosts with drop-ins I built myself. I have absolutely no concerns about the quality of the former and as for the latter... well, I try my best ;)
Anything can fail; even the more expensive name-brand-fire lights. I had a driver fail in my 501b, I replaced the driver and it works perfectly again. Most of my flashlight use is around the house/casual use so I always have a spare handy, but whenever I travel, I always care an extra light or two. I'm less concerned about my light failing than I am my battery though. I have been stranded when rechargeable cells went flat or failed outright many more times than I have had lamps fail on me...
Yes.. provisionally. I carry 2 lights (1 pocket, 1 bag), & spare batts. At least one of my EDC's have been opened, checked, & potted, tested (drop and submerge), the other light... I can't open the damn head of the E07!
I love to mod lights (and pretty much everything else :) ), but in direct support to my safety I prefer products with a little more QA/QC and a company that values their reputation as a back stop. That’s not to say their products are perfect, only that they put more rigor into getting them close.
I trust them nearly as much as I trust my more expensive lights and the ones that I have modded I tend to trust more than any 'stock' lights. If there is a situation where lighting is super important I just carry two or more lights, regardless of their price. I currently alternate between a modded quark 123-2 and a modded skyray G6, of the two I'd put more trust in the skyray due to its simpler (linear) drive circuit.
Hehehe , well , if you knew you were going to walk into a situation where some ones life may hang on the ballance of your flashlight working , especially your own !!!
Just because something like a Malkoff is expensive and popular on CPF don't mean much.
In the absence of any real industrial eng./env. testing it's often up the individual to vet them out as some members above. Since this isn't free, it's built into the price of items made by larger companies who hire professionals to do it.
But it's a rather good point which was made that wishful thinking about "life and death" scenarios is exactly that. It's far wiser to prepare for common incidents (power outage, etc) than what are completely unpredictable events.