Budget and non budget lights have you been happy with your purchases?

[Chicken Drumstick]

Being quite new to the wonderful World that is flashlights. I'm curious how many of you guys with 'budget lights' are happy with them, even more so if you have 'premium lights' to compare too.

I know the old adage 'you get what you pay for' is often true. But being that there are so many different flashlights out there I simply can't try them all.

My intent was to stick with the more premium end lights, so I bought an EagleTac and a Klarus. Both of which I'm very happy with and have exceeded expectations.

However on a whim I also bought a couple of SK68's and some Tesco CREE flashlights. These too are very good and offer great VFM, but you can tell they are cheaper.

Today I've ordered a Solaforce and XM-L, but I wanted to buy a Niteye, JetBeam or Klarus. Have I done wrong?

I also keep going back to the Trustfire Z8, looks like I could get it for £10-11 which seems great value, but would I regret it instead of buying a Nitecore EC1 or Niteye EYE15?


I'm not against spending the money on the premium lights (when I have it), but it looks all too easy to get sidelined by budget lights. Will it end in disaster?

Over the coming months I want to buy a bigger lumen thrower ready for winter. I know many of the budget lights have laughable lumen claims. But even so, would a $70 2000-3000 lumen budget flashlight really out perform a premium $150+ 800 Lumen one?

 

[Pinoypogiman]

as a Kid, i WAS interested in flashlights but not enough, i suppose its a normal Man thing to be naturally so attracted to Handlights
That is, because Darkness is Man's #1 Fear no matter what person He is.

But I've gone thru like, 2 Budget lights so far.
my first was a 7$ Minimag in silver.. which broke while messing around with it
my Second was a cheapo 2$ 5LED small Light made of aluminum.. the Battery holders broke.

I now own 2 lights that currently work.
A Black Minimag
and a Eveready LED Floating Lantern(not the Incandescent one)

and so far, im really liking my Eveready lantern flashlight since i bought it yesterday and it works fine to my needs.
I feel its very well priced, said to last over 65hrs!
The quality is fine.

but compared to the cheapo Rayovac Floating Lantern being sold for 3.50 in my Walmart feels really.. cheap..
The Eveready LED Floating Lantern is def something well worth the 5$

No home should be without one! something That'd be really useful in my Disaster kit

 

[HotWire]

With budget lights you have to be ready to clean, adjust, and resolder things. If you like that kind of thing you can get a "good" light cheap. On the other end of the scale, I just bought a custom Torch Lab 26650 triple Nichia 219 light. Superior build. No soldering or cleaning necessary. Wonderful intuitive UI. I have lights at both ends of the spectrum and enjoy them all.

 

[Korgath]

A budget light with little use and no abuse will last for long!

 

[yellow]

the only light I did regret purchasing was an eternalight

 

[GeorgeOceanDavid]

Being quite new to the wonderful World that is flashlights. I'm curious how many of you guys with 'budget lights' are happy with them, even more so if you have 'premium lights' to compare too.

I know the old adage 'you get what you pay for' is often true. But being that there are so many different flashlights out there I simply can't try them all.

My intent was to stick with the more premium end lights, so I bought an EagleTac and a Klarus. Both of which I'm very happy with and have exceeded expectations.

However on a whim I also bought a couple of SK68's and some Tesco CREE flashlights. These too are very good and offer great VFM, but you can tell they are cheaper.

Today I've ordered a Solaforce and XM-L, but I wanted to buy a Niteye, JetBeam or Klarus. Have I done wrong?

I also keep going back to the Trustfire Z8, looks like I could get it for £10-11 which seems great value, but would I regret it instead of buying a Nitecore EC1 or Niteye EYE15?


I'm not against spending the money on the premium lights (when I have it), but it looks all too easy to get sidelined by budget lights. Will it end in disaster?

Over the coming months I want to buy a bigger lumen thrower ready for winter. I know many of the budget lights have laughable lumen claims. But even so, would a $70 2000-3000 lumen budget flashlight really out perform a premium $150+ 800 Lumen one?

I love my Ultrafire C8 Cree XML-T6, its the brightest light I have owned so far and has the furthest throw too. I have, a Surefire Z2 Combat, modded, with a Cree R5 high voltage LED installed and running off lithium ion batteries, Coast LED 3 watt luxeon (cool back in the day), Luxeon 3 watt Drop in a Mag 3 C cell, 6 Cell Mag, Nite Rider 600lmn Bike light (Cree XML T6. awesome mountain bike lite), Streamlite Stinger incandecent, Minimaglite LED just to name a few. Its construction and anodizing is no where close to my surefire, but that thing cost me $110 ten years ago, and with only 60 lms today, in my opinion, worthless until I upgraded it. If your not planning on using it as a hammer you should be fine. Yes I've used my surefire as a hammer, EDC gets a lot of abuse!

 

[Empire]

FourSevens Quark
Foursevens Maelstrom

 

[speedsix]

The only lights I regret buying were my expensive Surfires $100+, $200+ and a few crappy budget lights. There are good and bad budget lights. Solarforce, Kalarus, Jetbeam, SkyRay, and some Ultrafires are really nice for the money. I have had bad luck with anything that was made by Trustfire.

 

[harro]

I normally try to stick with the better known brands, but did buy a Skyray Black King a while ago. I wanted a reasonably powerful, floody light. This thing was advertised at 2500 Lumens (!?) cool white. I bought a NW version, so that'd immediately drop it to about 2000 Lumens, then after figuring in a bit of optimism, i reckon 1400-1500 Lumens is about right. After repairing a broken switchwire, cleaning fingerprints off glass and reflector, cleaning aluminium swarf from threads, fixing rattle in head ( loose heatsink ), light lube of threads and o ring and re-assembly, its actually not a bad torch. Gives me loads of light to about 100 Meters on high, and low is well spaced with some PWM, but not hugely noticeable. Its a great light for walking etc and its about the size of a softdrink can. Only time will tell with longevity.

 

[vpr5703]

I had a OLight T10 for years. Bought it for $30, and beat the tar out of it. Loved every minute of it. Never malfunctioned or let me down. I lost it 2 months ago and might order another to keep in my car.

Asus TF300T w/ Tapatalk

 

[mccririck]

I have several budget lights and a not budget LED Lenser. The Lenser is really nicely made and powerful but I prefer using my cheaper lights at work as they are easier to use and I'm less worried about damaging them. The Lenser's build is great but I find the button is a bit too flush with the tail cap so you cant switch it as quickly, and you cant feel your way to the button as fast.

 

[KirthGersen]

I've been pretty satisfied with my budget lights so far (I don't have a ton yet, though). I bought a pack of three SK68s in red/green/blue anodized finish, and those are perhaps my only regret-- they are fine little lights as usual for brightness on a single AA, but they'd be much better as three-mode lights. All my SK68s and clones here on in will be three-mode lights.

 

[Newuser01]

Budget:

Trustfire R5-A3 (2) appx: $12~15
Great lights. Will buy more.
SK68 one mode (I think its from Tomtop) about $7
Also great lights. Will buy more.
SF L2T with 2.8amp 3 modes no blinkies[Vin's dropin]. Love this for the great flood work area light. And bright.
RongLi (XXXfire) C8 5 mode About $10 bucks from focalprice. Bright and throws a great deal. But pill is floater and I need to put some thermal glue in there.

non budget:

2x SC51's My FAV for pocket carry with the clip. Will buy if I should loose them. But kind of expensive to have more than 2. :-(

No regrets what so ever for any of these lights above.


Now I have bought some other budget lights "H8480 Cree Q5 Zoom Water proof, 3 mode" and "CREE LED 7W Q5 Bulb High Power Flashlight Zoom Adjustable Torch SA-9 SA9 400 LM" Which I regretted. Such stupid lights. I wish I never saw them.

Have fun folks and don't buy the 2 lights above. Decline even if someone offered it for free...:scowl:

Heehe.
Noob

 

[Rod911]

I regret buying an Eagletac M3C4 and some sort of Yezl zoomie model. The former's allen screws are easily stripped, so maintenance is out of the question and its waterproof rating is highly questionable after I found water in it after a submersion test. The latter was purchased for its zoom novelty and there can be a slight flicker at times that I can't seem to fix.

I am going more budget these days though. I can no longer justify spending $150 on a single emitter light like I was able to a couple of years ago. The old saying used here of "you get what you paid for" is, IMHO, only valid if you don't back it up with good research of your own.

My recent purchases of a Big Head K8 along with an Apex 5T6 were a very pleasant surprise. The K8 throws just as far as my Catapult v1 whereas the 5T6 is simply a wall of light to behold (has very low PWM though in med and low modes...).

 

[nofearek9]

shining beam Romisen RC-T601 II XM-L U2 2-Mode LED Flashlight 750+ Lumens ,less than $30 you cant go wrong,excelent thrower.

 

[Hercanstein]

I recently purchased a Nebo 5519 for 7.49 at a local farm store. For the price, I am pleased. It had one led and uses one AA battery. I just purchased another little led flashlight online today, so that innocent seeming farm store purchase may have started something the better half will not be to happy with. At least they are just little budget lights, right? : )B

 

[biglights]

I just purchased another little led flashlight online today, so that innocent seeming farm store purchase may have started something the better half will not be to happy with. At least they are just little budget lights, right? : )B

This is how it starts :laughing:

 

[gcbryan]

You have to know which budget lights to purchase just as you have to know which more expensive lights to purchase. If you do your homework you'll probably be satisfied with the results.

I would personally be more unhappy if I bought an expensive light and didn't end up liking it than if the same thing happened with a budget light.

Certainly (using your example) a $70 light can perform just as well as a $150 light just as a Honda Civic can perform just as well as a BMW sedan but only you know if you want leather heated seats. It's the same with lights.

My 3 favorite and most used lights are Thrunite TI, Zebralight H51f, and Ultrafire T50. It has nothing to do with "budget" vs "non-budget".

 

[Freeze_XJ]

I've had a few crappy budget lights, and a few very good ones. My Keygos M10 is still my to-go thrower, and its build quality is up to what I expect from lights several times its price. I've also had some other cheapies (trustfire, ultrafire and the likes) that failed me after a night out. Not a big problem, because I then have a reliable mid/high end to back them up. One major gripe with budget lights I have is that their UI is horrible. I do not desire 4 mid modes, 2 strobe modes and an SOS, and a beacon, all after another. In most cases a mod (swapping out the $0.10 cent driver for something I like better) is required, and if you don't like to do that, or can't do that, then paying a lot more is generally the way to go.

I would say do your research and buy all the cheapies you want, as long as you have 1 or 2 solid lights from a reputable manufacturer, which a. can get you out of a pickle if your cheapie fails, and b. gives you some reference by which to judge the others. Just don't forget that you can get 10+ nice cheap lights for the price of 1 Surefire.

 

[LightCrazy]

As a kid (I'm 50 now), I really liked lights and knives. I think many Christmas' my grandmother got me some kind of new light. Some were three packs of these rectangular disposable lights with this rotating on/off switch on the top of one side. I am guessing back then they were Eveready lights. I also had a few lanterns over the years. None of the lights lasted into adulthood, and I took care of them. I don't think I ever had a light where the batteries leaked. I have found some of my kids' lights that are only a few years old that the batteries leaked in them. Now I like the expensive lights that are bright and well built. BUT... The other day in WMart i saw some $3-4 dollar LED single AA light in the battery section. Looked ok, and they had it in pink. I got it for my 9 year old daughter. She loes it, the light puts out a nice beam, and when the NiMH AA battery gets low, I'll just recharge it. There are good budget lights out there for anyone. You just have to look at what you are buying, and take care of it.