thanks - you saved me a trip - i was going to stop there on the way home from work
Did you try to verify the price? Sometimes the markdown labels are not put out, intentionally and unintentionally.
For example that 4AA 51led light that is a great mod host, is marked $9 both on the floor and online (for the Harbison Blvd store in Columbia). But when I had it rung up, it was $3.98.
I’m planning to pickup a couple of $4 Defiant 4C Spotlights at lunch. Looks like there are ~10 in stock, but I’m only picking up 2 for me unless someone here is desperate for one.
While many of us load up on these tremendous clearance bargains, it saddens me to know the reason why prices have dropped so low. The general public has very little use for an extraordinary flashlight, even at these near give-away prices. I had hoped that with their introduction last year, support would have been strong and spurned additional development. The Defiant large flashlights are a complete steal, even at $30. 
So true. We have to be fast, to pick up these huge bargains — I we definitely see the value. That New 3D XM-L2 is such a tank, and has endless possibilties for all sorts of builds. It could even became a Single 32650 Stubby, or a 3 Lithium Monster. All of you should buy these, if you have a chance and even a reserve fund. I really doubt that we will ever again see such a bargain in our lifetimes. And FlashPilot is correct, the general public really doesn’t have a clue yet, what our hobby world has to offer. We will relish these times in the future: the day will come when these little cheapies, will be cheapies no more … 
A friend called me last night to tell me that he had just bought a bunch of the RayoVac indestructibles for $3.98 at his HD. This is the Springfield, Missouri store. They were originally $19.99 and have only gone down to $10 at my store.
Just something more to look out for.
I wouldn’t go that far, the next generation will come out and get discounted too, there is nothing unique about the current stuff that will make it better then anything that can be made and discounted in the future
I think this will be the last time we see something like this in US store bought high performance flashlights for a very long time. If you’re aware of any massive clearance of other flashlights of this caliber at such low prices in any national US chain, please do tell. AFAIK, this is a first and will very likely be the last for a very long time. Defiant was a new player that easily should have trounced extremely outdated lights (such as Maglite) but failed miserably. All large retailers view the lessons learned from others in this foray… and this one stands out as a national blunder. Especially given the specific category of product and its intended use.
Thanks for the heads up on these. I just put in an order for 5 @ $4 here. There were 15 in stock on the website.
I picked up the $9 650lm fellow. Pretty cool light! I wonder what the voltage tolerance is. I put 5V from my power supply through it and it was eating over 3.5amps, so I think there is some potential. I wonder if it could take 2 LifePo4 cells without exploding. Is that covered under the lifetime warranty?
Interesting! Current drops down a bit to around 3.8a after about a minute
I picked up 2 of the $9 650lm 3D at the Dixwell Ave, Hamden store tonight. Thanks for the heads up!!
Considering high performance flashlights are just starting out i can see other companies coming out with them and not catching on as well, another chain can easily source a china manufacturer to make lights, they don’t catch on and get sold at super cheap pricing.
For example Tek4 products at Home depot did very poorly, and were on for super cheap i think it was 3 or 4 years ago, if i had known what an 18650 battery was and that they are commodity items i would have bought IR readers, flashlights, radios and other tools for pennies on the dollar, most of them were well under $25 and for cordless power tools thats amazing. A battery and charger was under $10 but i thought it was a proprietary battery and once it died i would have heavy paperweights.
Same thing at a chain we have in called Canadian tire, items can go on sale for 50-95% off if they get discontinued or you happen to hit the right sale (staying on top of flyer and in store sales). I bought a $25 thermos set for $3 (not boxing day or any holiday sale), or $50 spotlights (halogen/lead acid) a long time ago for $8. Recently they had name brand spotlights for $10-15 which was not a great sale but not a bad one (i have graduated from halogen/lead acid, but they seemed to be selling like hotcakes)
Hey guys the 1000 lumen is dropped to $16.98
Forgive me for my ignorance, never seen a DST around here… which three LED’s does the 1000 lumen edition have? XP-G2’s or XM-L2’s?
Here is a link I found to a review
Awesome, thanks for that!
No problem here is one more!
https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/22192#node-25678
I am up in the air about it now since both reviews aren’t really praising the light… but for $18 after taxes what do you think
I’d say that the Defiant 650 is a better deal, unless you want the extra couple % increase in visual brightness.
But I guess $18 isn’t too bad; if you don’t like it, you can always return it after giving it a try. 
I am going to just stick with my 650’s and if this happens to drop near $10 then i’ll grab it