budget is a funny word

[raggie33]

to some of budget means under 50 bucks to me its under 20 bucks

 

[Vemice]

Depends on your level of addiction.

 

[ChrisGarrett]

Depends on your level of addiction.

For me, I kind of compare what I bought 8 years ago to what I can buy now.

Zebralight SC600: $95 shipped

Sunwayman V10R/V11R: $75-$80

EagleTac D25C Ti. Clicky: $78, et al..

To Convoys and Emisars, at between $13-$45.

Chris

 

[Kestrel]

The flashlights I purchase (mostly used or closeout) do tend to be on the spendy side, but the fact that I only buy one every four years or so, spreads out the mathematics quite a bit.

Might work out to $5 per month ? Buying the opposite of budget lights, but I'm still spending very little overall lol - I have a very restrictive flashlight budget.
A different sort of 'budget' - which was one aspect I thought of when I saw your thread title raggie.

 

[novice]

This may be off-topic - and it is - but every year the BudgetWatchForum publishes a list of "the best budget watches under $1000". I did not accidentally add an extra zero, so yes, the word budget is a funny word. I like watches, but that is why I don't even try to collect them.

 

[RetroTechie]

"Budget" is a number (+ indication of what currency). For some people that number is very different than for other people.

 

[Timothybil]

I remember when this forum started the concensus was about $50. Today, I think it would probably be between $20-$30.

 

[ledbetter]

Another perspective is value over budget. I mean if you buy a malkoff, Surefire, or even a mcgizmo, and you use it but don't abuse it, it's probably going to keep its value and it's easily upgradable. On the other hand, losing a convoy won't break your heart or the bank. Personally I like stuff I can sell or give to my kids, and made in the USA

 

[JerryM]

20 bucks is the limit.
Jerry

 

[flatline]

It's a sliding scale for me. Budget for me is 50% or less of what the serious contenders in that class go for. So if the "quality" lights of a particular configuration sell for around $80, then if I find something decent in the same configuration for $40 or less, I would consider it a budget contender.

 

[TILL-22]

IMO the word "budget" gets misused, making it sound funny, like calling a 900$ watch a "budget watch" as another user said.

Budget = the amount of money you have foreseen to spend on something. So a "budget" can be anything between a $20 budget for a flashlight and $200.000 for a new house.

 

[Kestrel]

The thing is, budget can be either a noun or an adjective - so they certainly can be used differently.

 

[richbuff]

The cost spectrum that flashlights occur on is getting wider. It used to be that budget makers made budget lights, but now we have budget makers quickly jumping into larger lights that are not budget price class. Imalent, Lumentop, Astrolux/Mateminco and suchlike come to mind. In the past, Fenix, Nitecore and Olight were the large light leaders. Then Acebeam, and then Imalent and others entered this area. Overnight, a newish budgetish name enters the non-budget price tag market. Haikelite, a newish, budgetish name, is coming out with a 3 x SBT90.2 non-small size 3 x 21700 non-budget priced light. What word in the English language can adequately describe the position that this maker and this item occupy on the flashlight price tag spectrum?

 

[Katherine Alicia]

I weigh the term "Budget" by how likely my bank manager will want to have a word with me

 

[cratz2]

To me, a 'budget light' is one that isn't too pricey, that sees quite a bit of real use.

A $50 or $60 light that gets regular use is more budget friendly than two or three $20 lights that usually get left at home.

 

[ledbetter]

Budget is just a euphemism for cheap! But there are many useful cheap lights available in this golden age of led lighting. My new favorite cheap light is a aaa sofirn with a high cri led. Great for attaching to a ball cap while at the Bobby Q checking the steaks.

 

[bykfixer]

When I was a kid the word "cheap" was a way to describe things in a negative tone. Lousy tippers were called cheap. Shoes that fell apart the first few days, or other such non reliable objects were labeled cheap. It was another work for junk. Another was disposable.

The word budget was used to describe items of similar value to name brand items but at lower cost. House brand coffee for example was referred as "budget brand" coffee. To this day I see budget brand flashlights as ones like Eveready, Rayovac, Ozark Trail or Dorcey. Those aren't the only budget brands though. Once upon a time Rayovac and Eveready were the undisputed best but competition forced them to become makers of "cheap" products. Yes, junk. They also had premium models like Sportsman and Captains. Often those were used by police and other first responders until the alluminum sprinkler pipe was used for flashlight bodies.

One day the definition of cheap became a way of describing the price of something. I remember my parents correcting anybody who used that word to describe something inexpensive. But times had changed. The meaning of words tend to evolve over time. Example is #. To me it means pound. To my kids it means hashtag. Cheap tv's for example are typically just as good as higher priced ones made in the same factory of the same parts where cheap ones go left to be stamped brand X, and the premium ones go right to be stamped brand Y. Same goes for many flashlights these days. A CREE is a CREE in a Streamlight or a Dorcey.

Now take the flashlight for example. In the beginning it meant the electric candle that ran for a few seconds before the carbon bulb filament gave out. When tungston was used the weak link in the chain was the batteries but the word flashlight remained. Now we have budget lights and premium lights called flashlights. $5,$50 or $500, insert battery, push button, out comes light.

 

[325addict]

Yes, as others stated with other goodies than flashlights, I also have one: jackets! And especially good down jackets to keep me warm. Some people regard anything above $100,- for a jacket "too expensive", I regard anything BELOW $200,- a budget jacket. For me, a good one starts at $400,- to $500,-. Topping off at $6000+ (!) for my most expensive one (Bally nappa down coat).

 

[Olumin]

Topping off at $6000+ (!) for my most expensive one (Bally nappa down coat).

Imagine the amount of lights you could have gotten for that!

Best you don't think about it, or you won't be able to sleep next night.

 

[dmattaponi]

Without going into all of the nuances and definitions of the word, I'll bring it down into the dollars and cents of it for me when it comes to actually opening my pocketbook...a budget flashlight to me will range up to around $30.


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