Well, I finally had some time and made a trip to my local HD but after asking around they didn’t have a clue where these flashlights were. They have them on hand but they didn’t know where.
I believe Maglite could do this type of flashlight but their price wouldn’t be close to compete against the chinese brands.
ChicagoX is probably attempting to corner the market on these :)
Count me in on one…
>>>>>>>>So I go there today, no one can find them. They show up on their little hand scanner things but no stock on floor.
Same exact thing. They turn up on the hand scanners, but NO ONE can find ’em.
Check this out. I had the MANAGER looking through the whole Huntington Beach store for them for maybe an hour. I just wanted to leave after 20 minutes and have him call me, when and if he found them, but he kept saying that he had seen them. He opened the box when they came in two weeks ago on Jan.10, but tonight — nada. He looked everywhere. Nothing. The poor guy was coming UNGLUED. He had like three peorple assigned to take the store apart box by box until they found them. He kept saying “heads will roll” when he finds out who is responsible for hiding them.
You’d think the manager of the store would know where they were. PLUS he said he opened the box and saw ’em. He remembers them because he said he rememberd thinking that they looked pretty good, and he was thinking of getting one himself.
I mentioned that some people online said that they might be saving them for some upcoming HD sale. He steadfastly said that wasn’t the way it works. If it was an upcoming sale, he would have paperwork on it and the lights would be with the other “wing boxes,” which is what they call the end cap displays. Apparently the wing boxes are bigger than other boxes and are kept in some special holding area at least in this HD because the boxesa re too big to fit in the normal stock area above the on-floor displays.
So where the heck are they? Are aliens going from HD to HD, scooping them up and taking them back through a time-warp black hole to Planet Flummo?
Can’t be… I destroyed that cess-planet weeks ago.
Did anyone else feel like a dork going into the store and asking about these, or was it just me?
Yep, it was just you… you’re the only dork around here 
We’re also geek and dweeb free.
The boxes definitely had a DONT put on floor until Feb something on them. I saw the box myself.
Wow, this place is exciting!Now we have the case of the disapearing flashlights!Is it aliens or some sort of goverment cover-up to stop us from getting cheap/bright flashlights?
If it helps any, it was in a displayable case that is designed to go on the floor, or at least it was in my Home Depot. I had to ask someone as well, JonnyC and it took them 10 minutes to locate. It doesn't surprise me that they lose things like this in a store the size of a Home Depot. My advice is check the cheap tool sale area that is usually in the front of the store, then the flashlight section, then it's walk every aisle of the store looking for floor displays.
Just like in my first photo in the O.P., right?
I tried this morning, really! I drug myself out of bed a little earlier, got ready for work, then grabbed the tripod, camera, and lights headed outside and it was already starting to get light outside! I figured oh well I'll still get some quick shots. So I walk up my yard to the location, turn and look at the house 750' away and they have their 500 watt halogen floodlight on (which is located just above the garage door I aim at)! Argh! So no beamshots!
-Garry
Thanks for the effort Garry, you are trooper!
1st time posting on the BLF! but long time viewer. 8)
I picked up two of these babies from HD with the hopes of juicing one up.
They were on a big display in the power tool isle…
Right out of the package the throw is pretty impressive.
MUCH better than the previous Defiant 500 (550 lumen on package) deal.
I know the C batteries included probably leave a good bit of room for improvement.
But will dropping in 2×26650 (with some spacer mods) make a big difference with this light?
edit: just saw kbark’s post. 26650’s dont fit…… 
Pretty much the only place I didn't check is the woman's bathroom. They are hiding these things well
Only if you swap out the driver, otherwise (I assume, without looking at the "driver") you will burn up the emitter quick. I'm thinking the 1 x 26650 route with a NANJG 105C is a good route. That would mean that the body would need to be bored out, cut down, and rethread though.
Welcome to the site!!
Well there you go! Get back there and look! :)
-Garry
(Aliens I tell you, Aliens!)
I took mine apart last night and took some Iphone pics. Stuffing a lflex in will require some heatsink mods.
Driver.
Cheap clicky switch.
20 mm star with a little dab of heatsink grease. Not Glued down. The mounting surface is solid but the screw in pill is hollow on the back side.
What am i missin here fellas?
Referring to the 26650 AND driver swap like JonnyC said…
I see the need to chop down the length and rethread, BUT,
why would the Defiant need to be bored out to fit a single 26650 (26mm), when a standard C is 26.2mm wide?
I tried fitting a TF Flame protected 26650 and it would not fit in the tube. It may not take much boring to make it fit.
-Garry