If you had to do it all over again and now that you know better, what one or two lights would you not have bought?
My least favorite light I have bought is a Monster Light single 18650 light. Never came close to living up to my expectations.
Next is a Jetbeam BC 40. Not a bad light but there are so many choices in the same price range that surpass it. Smaller and brighter.
Coleman wide beam with leds on the side,looks like a big mouth fish.The yelloW and blacka d cell one with a snap hook on the end YUCH.About 20 lumens . :bigsmile:
Believe it or not, I would have skipped the Sipik clone. Was pretty unimpressed with it even for $6. Got one with a hollow pill so I couldn't really use a 14500 in it which put a big dent in it's appeal. Also couldn't replace the switch when it started to crap out.
I would rather have put the money toward another Trustfire F20 which are more compact, more versatile, and better made (the switch sucks, but at least it's easy to replace).
Roche M170. It’s a great light, but I bought an EYE40 three days later. Now it sits forgotten.
Have so many solid lights now I wish I never bought my really cheap beaters. Have a few sub-$10 ebay lights that never get use now.
All have: crappy output, horrible tint, atrocious build quality. Never should have bothered with them… Even for less than $10. For $15 you can actually get some decent budget lights. For $25 you can really find some gems.
I guess backups never hurt, but every time I see them sitting around it kinda chaps my arse.
I keep the cheap crappy lights I picked up for almost nothing for when some of my non flashaholic family and friends come by and need a light for something. I don’t really care if they give them back to me or not. I never use them anymore and these newbees think they are great.
The only one I regret is a zoomy, die images do not make me happy at all. Couple in crap fires and two cell, I cant even bring myself to mod it tbh.
Well, I definitely wouldn't have gotten the monster flashlights. I got two, and both crapped out.... logo aside I'm not sure there is anything different in them vs the stock cheap chinese version.
I also would have passed on the Jetbeam M2S - it's a nice light, but seeing good XML lights at a lower price beat it was disappointing.
I would have stayed away from ANY twisty only lights with modes - Palight V60 for example.
I would have stayed away from cheap batteries and chargers. Hard to bring yourself to spend $15+ on a battery when you never spent anywhere near that before. I definitely wouldn't buy any cheap, cheap lights - like the $2.00 or $.99 ones. Have too many of them, and I know I will never use them.
Instead of an Apex 5T6, three Skyray Kings, and a Big Bruiser, I should have just gone for a TK75 - I originally thought it looked UGLY, but it's now by far my favorite larger light.
Lenslight Mini with XPG neutral tint. This is an extremely expensive non-budget zoomable light (over $160).
1. Huge thick aluminum sidewalls. Might be good for durability, but made the light really heavy and inefficient. It’s bigger and heavier than a Zebralight SC600 with 18650 installed, even though the Lenslight runs on 1xCR123
2. Relatively dim output compared to its size.
3. Only 2 modes (20 lumen and 200 lumen). and if run on RCR123 it drops down to 1 mode).
4. Can’t tailstand and has a protruding foward clicky guaranteed to turn on in your pocket if you every pocket EDC it.
5. Huge thick plastic delrin pocket clip. Far larger and far inferior to a standard metal clip.
6. Too much grease in the focusing mechanism. Every time the light is cycled to spot mode grease is deposited onto the portion of the body right under your hand. You can wipe it away, but the next time you cycle it fresh grease is deposited.
Anything made by Thrunite. 6 out of 7 were either dead or needed work.
I wouldn’t have bought my son a SAIK SA-9 with it’s horrible useless floating pill with laughable heatsinking.
Should have gone with my first instincts and bought him a Sipik Sk68
I was thinking the same thing, and I thought it was amazing when I first got it! Now I feel like it sits awkwardly in between my Preon P0 and my Nitecore EA4W, not quite sure of its purpose in life. I might stick some magnets to it and keep it in the tool box.
I have enjoyed the educational experience. I do wish I had bought the EA4 sooner so I could have used it during the dark winter. Now I will have to wait. >.<
Hands down trustfire Z8
Heavy , bad tint ,bad mode spacing , 14500 only , hard to work , unsalable ,unusable.
generally I don't make bad flashlight decisions...... If I do they disappear pretty fast...
Arcmania X6
It was a good light while the battery lasted.
Replacement battery costs $100.00. Never again I’m buying a light with a proprietary battery.
Even if I was to buy a replacement now, I think that would be the last time it’s available.
Still have the light though. Hoping something could be figured out later.
that thing looks pretty nice for a ftt. is the pack dead, or just not up to spec anymore? if its dead, open it up and see what makes it tick
Uh oh. Hope the BLF Saber edition works ok but the odds don’t sound good.