Your worst flashlight 2014?

Solarstorm SC02. Very defective.


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.

for me it was an Olight S20. TWO of them failed one replacement after another. Just a strike of bad luck with them i guess as the S20 Batons had a good reputation.

Cheap UV light, paid $0,1 for it so I don’t think I can actually complain, I just don’t think would be fair to say that it was the Lumintop Tool, as it is a great light. So all in all it was not my worst buy, but rather the least nice one.

I believe it was thi one: http://www.eachbuyer.com/uv-ultra-violet-blacklight-9-led-flashlight-torch-light-p3633.html

UltraFire 949. Cheap crap. I gave a bad rating for it but it was censored by store. Avoid.

Coincidence just being mentioned, this one (bought from WB).

a thing from the thread about AA/AAA under $10 that was described as
“$3.42 at ebay 1x AA A horrible light as is, but a very nice body!…Great as a host, fits 20mm TIRs incl their holder perfectly.”

Wouldn’t work on AA (requires li-ion); never did figure out how to put a pill/driver into the thing, with its 2 red wires and one black wire (laser and ring of 5mm LEDs).
But I just might change my mind some day …

Definitely this piece of junk that was posted in the Deal Alerts section. It is just awful and the tint is purple; not worth $3.49.

Also my choice in post #12, worst ever and some seasoned forum members were praising how good it was.

I forgot about the 1 cent police light, it sucked

I bought some of these, they are crap, there is a better version of it that I use for my EDC that you can find for about $8

DQG Tiny II 18650
So much frustration with the non working twisty, i took out the optics and sold it as a host for 15$ :smiley:

I’ve complained about it before, but… the EagleTac D25A Ti 219 2014 was my worst light of the year. Because…

  • In general, the product didn’t really resemble the spec sheet. It was like they were for two completely different products.
  • It arrived six months late.
  • Despite using the best high-CRI emitter on the market, it spits out an icky yellow low-CRI beam with a bright blue halo. (thanks, nasty AR lens! Gimme a plain piece of glass instead, please!)
  • Its modes were out of spec by a wide margin, so it had no moon mode (which is my 2nd-most-used mode).
  • Despite what the specs say, the bezel and lens are not removable.
  • PWM everywhere, even though the specs say it doesn’t do that. And not even fast PWM.
  • Li-Ion batteries turn most of its modes into turbo, even though the specs say it doesn’t do that.
  • The head must remain loose for most of the modes to work. Its loose/tight head UI is really obnoxious.
  • It came with a bunch of black grit in its knurling.

The plan was to get a nice, small, high-CRI, titanium light with a good clip for EDC use. Probably put some diffuser on the lens to spread out the beam. Use it mostly on moon and low mode, since that’s what I find most useful. But it ended up almost nothing like it was advertised.

I find it worrisome that a high-end brand would make a special edition for its most enthusiastic customers, then send them something totally different than what was promised. Great way to burn bridges. Apparently they were having issues and that’s why it was so late, but I would rather get a refund than get a poor imitation of what I ordered. The 2012 version of this same product was much better. Even then though, the spec sheet still contains outright lies (regardless of which version of the product is used).

I got a little worrysome with EagleTac after hearing all the problems you had with them. Did you end up returning for warranty or something?
My condolences by the way.

I got a zoomie from ali with a Plastic pill…

Cons:Gnd contact to the driver was perfectly Isolated: DOA

Pro: the battery never has to be replaced :wink:

Plastic pills are common in very cheap lights, such as my beloved SS-5039. Usually the body or battery tube contacts the rim of the driver, either directly or with a large diameter spring to take up any leftover space. Of course if you want much output, you start by making a metal pill somehow, or at least use a star that contacts the wall.

Sorry but Bort, but that is the only light you MADE money on, what can you expect for a cent, not even 1 cent for a stamp. And you can use many “police” light tubes to lego with other lights like sk68, so free parts for a cent cant be bad either… :wink:

I stand by my POS $3.49 cheap sharp plasticy bezel, micron thin tube, o-ring-less, uneven head telescoping, thin springed, plastic pill connector and scratched flat “reflector”, blue/purple ringy beam lovely king of the worst!

Same here. Ate up ALL O-rings no matter how much I smoothed out and lubed the threads and modes only work whenever they feel like it.

In 2nd place is the Olight S10 Baton light. Beam so green it provokes anger!

You can probably fix that by swapping the lens with the one that comes with a UF-602C host. The host is $4.58 from FastTech, and reasonably nice as an EDC if you later want to make it functional.

At least, I fixed the green tint on my S10 that way. I’m guessing it’d work on yours too.

Or of course, you could get some other similar-sized lens from other sources. Just try to avoid ones with AR coating, since that’s what causes the green-ness.

On the left is the stock Olight S10 lens… on the right is the cheap piece of glass which comes in a UF-602C. See the difference? Sometimes cheaper is actually better.

I did not make money, i am 1 cent poorer then i would have been if i never bought the light
I know your saying i got more then 1 cent worth of material, but junk is junk, and i can’t monetize it
Perhaps if i get into modding i can turn it into an acceptable light.