Bought, reviewed, modified, free, etc... As long as you got it this year.
If you had any lights that failed this year, but was bought earlier then I think we can make an exception.
You choose the definition of "worst". Dead on arrival, stopped working, badly made, not anything like you expected, horrible value, not mod worthy. etc etc..
Make a list if you want, but there can only be one winner.. of worst.. :D
As always, links and pictures are highly appreciated. :)
My worst flashlight 2014 is the Warsun H003. I got that as a review light. It was supposed to be aluminium, use li-ion cell and have good throw.. It had none of those things, just a whole lot of really inflated claims..
Lights that did not make it to the "top":
-HD2010 looking light with three emitters. It was just not well built in terms of thermal path, current path, reflector quality or anything. A normal single emitter HD2010 would have been a better starting point for making an HD2010 with a triple emitter if you wanted a well built light.
-Some SRK without a pill, but with a fairly powerful driver. Not the best combination. It had other flaws too.
Thankfully this year I did not purchase a flashlight in that category, and it’s all because of this great forum and its members who make very good reviews and recommendations.
My Yezl Y3. Its retaining rings did not want to let go at all and as a result, I was only able to do an emitter swap to an MT-G2. That also meant I had to use the stock driver which also meant visible PWM for me at the medium and low settings. The only saving grace for me was that I could do the emitter swap. Other than that, at stock or even modded, I’ve got other lights that can do the job better than it. Half tempted to sell it…
I bought one almost as bad for $6, so now I have tough race for last place: UltraFire AT-008 Black 1000 lm lumens 1 x CREE XM-L XML T6 LED Flashlight Torch. Cheapo quality, not XML, thin walls, hollow pill…all around quality just like the light you mentioned, except it produces a little more light and isn’t as purple beamed, but its 2x as much $. I think I’d still have to give the loser title to that purple beamed light with a sharp flaky bezel that feels like plastic from your thread though, only 1 of 3 worked out of the box, and it claimed XML when I bought it.
TN12 arrived from illumination supply dead on arrival and there is no uk support or services, and not into send a light back to china when shipping will cost more than the light
these
even after i sent him pics of why they are junk they are still for sale.
seller is masamall.
both of these died with about 5 minutes of use.they went up in smoke.
I include all lights of this style with fluted sliding bezels. I have a similar light with spiral grooves on the head that I consider acceptable.
These are very useful lights. They are about the only really compact zoomies around, so they are ideal as every day carries for those who like zoomies. Because the beam of a zoomy is better controlled than that of a reflector light, they can be used in crowded places without disturbing others. I hope to see these appear in huge numbers, replacing those multiple 5 mm. LED lights that have been so common and cheap. The designers were the first to realize that LEDs are now so good that maximum light output is not essential.
What makes it the worst is that it has a cheap mass produced look to it. It looks as though it is made on a much faster moving line. I even suspect that the fluting on the head is extruded. It is very interesting historically, but I can’t actually bring myself to use such a slick thing.