Budget Lights forum

[gradio]

Don't know if this counts but just got back from Home Depot and got 3 Rayovac Indestructible AA flashlights at $14.99 each.
Seems fairly well built, is inexpensive, came with..... Rayovac batteries (go figure).
2-level LED & rear clicky
Seems to be a value buy so thought I'd say here too. Each will go into vehicle glove box.

 

[avrilcory]

There are a lot of great budget lights out there to use for primary light or even just a backup. I am hoping you guys could recommend some constant lighting systems that are reasonably priced.


Thanks !!!
Riello-ups

 

[Alland9]

As a Newbie here, please tell me what makes a flashlight worth $100 or more, compared to a $10 light?

Regards, Alland9

 

[mvyrmnd]

As a Newbie here, please tell me what makes a flashlight worth $100 or more, compared to a $10 light?

Regards, Alland9

What makes a Ferrari $100,000 more than a Ford?

<sarcasm>They both do the same job, don't they?</sarcasm>

Edit: added sarcasm tags to make it easier for Norm

 

[Norm]

They both do the same job, don't they?

No

Norm

 

[mvyrmnd]

No

Norm

Well, fundamentally they do, but that's my point.

 

[Norm]

Well, fundamentally they do, but that's my point.

You're totally ignoring build quality, safety, technology, advanced styling, handling and performance. They will both go from point A to point B, there the comparison ends.

Norm

 

[mvyrmnd]

You're totally ignoring build quality, safety, technology, advanced styling, handling and performance. They will both go from point A to point B, there the comparison ends.

Norm

You're arguing my point for me, norm.

 

[JedSmith]

I like 'bargain' items rather than 'budget' items. The latter stresses limitations imo, while the former stresses getting the maximum for your money, no matter the cost. For me, 'bargain' items are those that do much of what their competition will do, but at a far better price. Or they offer more qualities/features I desire, but at the same price as the competition. I love bargains, and I imagine that some of the budget lights fit this category too. Some budget items I purchased didn't turn to be bargains because they didn't do the required job or broke down too soon.

 

[Fenix_Rising]

I certainly have owned my fair share of lower end, or cheaper flashlights. I consider my Pelican 2360 to be a budget flashlight. It is a $30 flashlight and performs like I would expect a light of that cost measure to perform. It has a maximum of 163 lumens and runs on a pair of AA batteries. It's kind of my backup light. It feels as if it is made well for what I paid for it, however, I have to address the one issue I have had with it: the power button sometimes doesn't work at all. This has happened to me 3 times total in the few months I've had the light. It seems as if for a few tries, you can hear the spring and click of the power button, but the light fails to power on.

 

[PCC]

I'd contact Pelican's tech support if I were you. I'm pretty sure you'll be a happy customer if you do.

 

[jetslipper]

My first LED flashlight is a budget light. It's $36.00 and uses a "Cree Q5". After a little research, I found out that it uses a Cree Xlamp XR-E Group Q5 LED. It has a 6V 2200mAh power source (5x1/2D NiCd cells). Construction is quite decent, and is supposedly made of "aircraft grade aluminum alloy". There is only one mode of operation, nothing fancy, just Hi mode all the time. Is $36.00 not expensive for those specs?

 

[ardvaark]

I'm guessing that maybe brands like, ultrafire, trustfire, skyray and the other cheapish flashlights could be defined as budget. I have a slightly modded skyray 4X that is extremely bright and fits very well into a budget. What do you gals/guys think?

 

[bladesmith3]

I also like the term bargain rather then budget. there are bargain lights out there like solarforce and skyray king. many others as well.

 

[bykfixer]

Re: Budget light goes beyond dollars

If it's at the impulse buy section of a checkout line in a big box store, it probably qualifies as a budget light imho.

A section like this here is the perfect place for us newbs to discover which budget lights are ok until we learn what even makes a good flashlight good by reading here at CPF.

Glad you guys decided to keep it.

 

[ven]

A Budget Light: "I know it when I see it." - Justice Stewart, 1964

Thought I might try to shed some light (pun intended) on the definition problem. Someone mentioned "wine" as an example early in this thread, and I think that is an excellent analogy. I also think "restaurants" are another good example.

>snip<

Sorry this got a bit long, but that's my "two cents worth."

Really enjoyed that read!

 

[Milw light]

Re: Budget light goes beyond dollars

I bought 2 Ebay 3000 lumin lights recently. They are the adjustable beam models. The artifacts are numerous to put it charitably. The output appears to be less than 100 lumins judging from a 160 lumin Streamlight. They do work & for $4.50 each I can't be too upset. They have high, strobe, low. They are all metal, so there is that.

 

[Drakemoore]

Re: Budget light goes beyond dollars

I bought 2 Ebay 3000 lumin lights recently. They are the adjustable beam models. The artifacts are numerous to put it charitably. The output appears to be less than 100 lumins judging from a 160 lumin Streamlight. They do work & for $4.50 each I can't be too upset. They have high, strobe, low. They are all metal, so there is that.

I've been doing a lot of research the last few days on the very cheap spectrum of lights, it seems like the ones you mention are no longer using actual Cree emitters anymore. From what I read, in the past they used to sometimes have actual Cree emitters, they may have been rejects or slightly less output units but they were Cree emitters. Now they're using some lattice something something knock off, sometimes just 'LB' when you take the light apart, or it doesn't show it at all on the emitter. An easy tell apparently is if the light tone is a very dull light blue instead of the white that you often see from real ones.

 

[Light Bringer]

Re: Budget light goes beyond dollars

If y'all don't mind me jumping in here...

I've gravitated to "budget" lights like the '501, '502, '98, and C8, mainly to customise them to my liking. At first it was buying complete drop-in modules, now I'm reflowing my emitters and putting together my own drop-ins from scratch. It's kinda nice.

Plus, if a tailcap switch goes flaky on a '502, I just grab another from the 3-pack of '502s and I'm done. No need for dealing with customer service at XYZLites. I just go on Amazon and buy another 3-pack from LuckySunMoonSky or HappyColorSmile888 or whoever.

And it's true, this past year (2015-2016) it's been a race to the bottom as far as quality, but I mainly buy these lights just as hosts. So the drop-in with a LatticeBright chip that's the size of an XP-E pumping out a whopping 70-80lm, and Generic Mystery Driver with more blinky modes than steady modes on a lightweight halfsize aluminum pill, is a throwaway (literally) part, to be replaced with a real Cree XP-L/XM-L2/whatever-you-want chip and NANJG driver on a nice solid pill that sucks away heat like a sponge.

Gawd, sometimes I think I'm singlehandedly keeping Fasttech and Amazon in business...

But for screwing around and trying all sorts of emitter/driver/reflector combinations, that's the only way to go. That's how I got (ie, made) a C8 with 365nm UV LED, which you won't find *anywhere* else online or in stores. Or if you want a green hog-light, or red "night-vision" light, or whatever. Or maybe I just want to compare 4500k with 5000K with 6500K emitters. It'd be nice to have all 3 lights complete, so I can view them all literally side-by-side.

Who's going to buy multiple $urefires and mod them? Hell, I spent <100bux on my Quark, but I'm not about to replace the emitter to get rid of the green tint, because there goes the warranty!

So definitely there's a place for "budget" lights.

Oh, and I confess not knowing if any "premium" light throws a nice floody beam from an aspheric lens, but short of a mule, there's nothing that beats a SK98 (genuine Sipik or clone) for a nice even blanket of light to, say, light up your path in winter to make sure there's no ice or snow.

Just don't cheap out on the batteries!!

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Budget light goes beyond dollars

When considering "budget" or 'bargain"/"value" lights and their place in the lighting world... also consider how many new enthusiasts they bring to the hobby as well. People can buy a half dozen 501/502b lights, explore the endless options of the p60 drop-in, then move on to something more advanced. Or they can buy a single 1AA Fenix, have a damn nice light... and nothing else.

There's a certain value to entry level price-point lights... they play the part of the gateway drug for many.