# Cheap store bought led lights.



## Jakeyb (Sep 22, 2013)

So yesterday I was helping my brother move with my hcri hds that I edc. I love this light it's built like a tank and beam is perfect. My brother pulls out some store bought plastic light and says " I bet this one is brighter than yours". Well guess what? It was!!! Now, my brother is not a flashoholic so in his mind his light is better than mine. It's brighter so that means its better right? Wrong! But it certainly would appear that way to almost everyone. The light he had got very hot quickly, horrible battery life, and a horrible beam profile riddled with artifacts but the point is most ppl don't care about that. They just want it as bright as they can get. Most ppl don't care about all the workmanship that goes into a quality light. Update: his light broke today after just buying it last week. My first hds is 5 years old, works like brand new.


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## aau007 (Sep 22, 2013)

Just for argument's sake.

Your HDS light is $200 and his is the $10 SomethingFire light. Last week was probably his unlucky week but if his lights go bad every 3 months. He has to buy 4 lights a year, then it will take him 5 years to spend the same amount of money on flashlight as you.

The argument is this. 
1. He has a brighter light. 
2. He can get a new light every 3 months, broken or not. 
3. He can be rough with his lights with scratches and dings etc, knowing he can get a new one after 3 months. 
4. His runtime is less, of course, he's got a brighter light. 
5. Don't care about beam profile cause he just needs to shower a hugh amount of light in front of him.
6. You have to spend the $200 now, he gets to spread it over 5 years.
7. You are very uptight about your light since anything happens to it, will cost you a lot to replace. His is a $10 loss in the worst case and he goes buy another one. Will you casually loan out your HDS and keep a smile on your face if they ding or scratch it up?

It is the same type of argument why people need to buy an expensive car.


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## Littlelantern (Sep 22, 2013)

fully agreed with what you said,deal extreme forever.


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## martinaee (Sep 22, 2013)

Wait so what kind of lumen output are we talking about here?

I literally was in pitch-black woods yesterday walking for several miles. >>Slender-man style darkness<< I used my Fenix E50 and it lit up the way brilliantly with a neutral white tone. I would never use a P.O.S. light in a situation like that because it's not that you can replace it every 3 months, but that you are sh&t out of luck if it breaks when you are in a zero light condition dark woods.


P.S. 
http://scarygame.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/flashlight2.png ( lol check out what it says on the flashlight in this image from a game)


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## braddy (Sep 22, 2013)

Anything that I EDC has to be tops, around the house I can use cheap flashlights, cheap knives, just like I can shoot cheap undependable guns at a range for fun, but for EDC I want it guaranteed to work and under all conditions.

I also want the options and versatility that are in high end EDC lights, for instance having a low setting to conserve battery life if an emergency calls for that.


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## the.Mtn.Man (Sep 22, 2013)

aau007 said:


> 7. You are very uptight about your light since anything happens to it, will cost you a lot to replace. His is a $10 loss in the worst case and he goes buy another one. Will you casually loan out your HDS and keep a smile on your face if they ding or scratch it up?


Have you ever owned an HDS? One of the things you buy when you get an HDS is peace of mind, because you know that it can take pretty much any abuse you can throw at it. You'd almost have to hit it with a sledgehammer to ding or scratch it, so it's one of the things you could confidently lend out knowing it will very likely come back to you in the same condition.


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## Streamer (Sep 22, 2013)

martinaee said:


> Wait so what kind of lumen output are we talking about here?
> 
> I literally was in pitch-black woods yesterday walking for several miles. >>Slender-man style darkness<< I used my Fenix E50 and it lit up the way brilliantly with a neutral white tone. I would never use a P.O.S. light in a situation like that because it's not that you can replace it every 3 months, but that you are sh&t out of luck if it breaks when you are in a zero light condition dark woods.
> 
> ...



OK, I give. All I see is dark woods and tree trunks in the above LINK.

Now, I put a little light on it so EVRYBODY can see it.


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## electrothump (Sep 22, 2013)

Personally, I carry three lights at all times, one headlight, two small AAA pocket lights, and one extra AAA cell. I work in dark places, and believe me any light can crap out on ya. Why risk it?


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## RyeBread (Sep 22, 2013)

Streamer said:


> OK, I give. All I see is dark woods and tree trunks.



The flashlight has 'DORKY' on it. Since it's yellow, I assume it's a Dorcy reference?


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## Jakeyb (Sep 22, 2013)

Both of my hds lights see severe use and my co workers always ask me for my light because they know no matter what they do to it they can't break it lol. My first hds is coming up on 6 years old with plenty of dings and scratches but it works perfectly. A quality light should be a one time investment unless use choose to mod it or upgrade. What happens after five years? Keep buying cheap lights forever? You will pass the 200 dollar mark very quickly, probably within five years. I like edc'ing my new light because I know what I've put my old one through and I can count on it to always work, no fear of failure. Of course if your expensive light becomes lost or stolen your argument is much more valid. Side note: i mean this with all due respect, I'm not arguing, just friendly conversation.


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## Jakeyb (Sep 22, 2013)

Both of my hds lights see severe use and my co workers always ask me for my light because they know no matter what they do to it they can't break it lol. My first hds is coming up on 6 years old with plenty of dings and scratches but it works perfectly. A quality light should be a one time investment unless use choose to mod it or upgrade. What happens after five years? Keep buying cheap lights forever? You will pass the 200 dollar mark very quickly, probably within five years. I like edc'ing my new light because I know what I've put my old one through and I can count on it to always work, no fear of failure. Of course if your expensive light becomes lost or stolen your argument is much more valid. Side note: i mean this with all due respect, I'm not arguing, just friendly conversation.


aau007 said:


> Just for argument's sake.
> 
> Your HDS light is $200 and his is the $10 SomethingFire light. Last week was probably his unlucky week but if his lights go bad every 3 months. He has to buy 4 lights a year, then it will take him 5 years to spend the same amount of money on flashlight as you.
> 
> ...


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## aau007 (Sep 22, 2013)

Jake, I was just giving some other views. I don't believe there is a right or wrong view. Some people buy expensive cars, some people don't see the needs.

BTW, how many sledgehammer hits did you put your HDS thru to get those dings and scratches. Personnaly, I have never had a HDS. I just cannot cost justify $1 per lumen plus waiting over a year for the light. I don't doubt its quality but afterall it is HA aluminum. I am really skeptical that it would take a sledgehammer hit to cause a ding or scratch on the light.


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## Jakeyb (Sep 23, 2013)

aau007 said:


> Jake, I was just giving some other views. I don't believe there is a right or wrong view. Some people buy expensive cars, some people don't see the needs.
> 
> BTW, how many sledgehammer hits did you put your HDS thru to get those dings and scratches. Personnaly, I have never had a HDS. I just cannot cost justify $1 per lumen plus waiting over a year for the light. I don't doubt its quality but afterall it is HA aluminum. I am really skeptical that it would take a sledgehammer hit to cause a ding or scratch on the light.


I never said anything about a sledge hammer lol. Not many electronic devices are going to take repeated hits by one of those no matter what the material. The worst thing I've ever done is accidentally run it over with a small track loader on loose concrete while my coworker was supposed to be holding it. You can break anything if you try hard enough. I do see your point. Your absolutely right about the price. Custom lights aren't for everybody which is one reason they are hard to get, not something you can pick up at wal-mart. But they certainly are better in quality than any other light one can buy at wal-mart. For most of us our custom lights are tools that help us with our daily tasks. It's far more than just something to produce some light. Ask a mechanic if he likes using cheap tools that fail and need replaced every few months.


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## TEEJ (Sep 23, 2013)

Its a balance of values and priorities.

A flashlight's PRIMARY duty is to produce light, with the secondary duty being the quality/character of the light it emits, which includes the beam pattern and it range, UI, and or other attributes needed to satisfy its user. 

If it doesn't go ON, it fails on both counts.

If it goes ON, but is too dim, or too floody, or too throwy, or unable to render the colors needed to be rendered, etc...then it passes the first criteria, but fails the second.

Some people add a third duty, and that is an aesthetic element. The desire for the flashlight ITSELF to be attractive to them, via whatever aesthetic or other wow factors that work for the user.

Some people (The vast majority of the human race actually...) ONLY look at the FIRST duty....and go by "Brightness" for the second, if they even worry about it....or even know what they mean by that.

The vast majority that DO consider the third duty, might be those that just want the light to look serious/tool-like, and not like a toy. (Tacti-Cool anyone?)



If you look at the best selling lights....they are cheap plastic things you bang on to make them light again, etc...IE: They barely pass the first duty, and forget the rest.


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## LEDninja (Sep 24, 2013)

Jakeyb said:


> My brother pulls out some *store bought plastic* light...





aau007 said:


> ... his is the $10 *SomethingFire* light...


Question #1 When do SomethingFire make plastic lights? (You need at least 100,000 units to justify the moulds required for every model.)
Question #2 What (brick and mortar) store sells SomethingFire? (SomethingFire tends to show up on DX and eBay.)

I bought a Defiant 3C XML 550 lumen from Home Depot for C$25. It holds its own against my $139 custom Electrolumens 3C SSC-P7.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?348448-Defiant-flashlights-from-Home-Depot

The light on the left is a Quark MiNi AA2 180 Lumen, the one on the right is a Dorcy 41-4750 180 Lumen LED flashlight 4AA, $27 at Dorcy Direct. I paid $25 at Sears Canada.





That bigger reflector concentrates the hotspot a lot.





So do not count out the store bought lights.


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## the.Mtn.Man (Sep 24, 2013)

aau007 said:


> Jake, I was just giving some other views. I don't believe there is a right or wrong view. Some people buy expensive cars, some people don't see the needs.
> 
> BTW, how many sledgehammer hits did you put your HDS thru to get those dings and scratches. Personnaly, I have never had a HDS. I just cannot cost justify $1 per lumen plus waiting over a year for the light. I don't doubt its quality but afterall it is HA aluminum. I am really skeptical that it would take a sledgehammer hit to cause a ding or scratch on the light.


The HDS Systems homepage has a picture of a flashlight that was subjected to "2 hours of serious abuse", being dropped from various heights and thrown with force against various surfaces. A cheap light would have shattered after the first drop.

The "$1 per lumen" cost justification comes from the fact that this is a light that you'll be using confidently for many, many years because it will easily survive anything you're likely to throw at it (or throw it at). I like to joke that whenever I drop my HDS light, I pick it up and check the ground for damage. My light has taken some pretty hard shots, for instance being dropped on concrete, and I never hold my breath hoping it still works afterwards. As for the year wait time, that's a temporary situation.

It comes down to this: do you want a light that you can use confidently because it always "just works", or one that you use with the expectation that you're going to be replacing it the first time you drop it? Make your choice and spend your money accordingly.


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## AnAppleSnail (Sep 24, 2013)

A flashlight can be bright.
A flashlight can have an appropriate beam pattern (Throwy, floody, 'just right,').
A flashlight can have nice tint.
A flashlight can have multiple outputs.
A flashlight can shine just as you want it to.
A flashlight can be reliable.

Each of these 'features' costs money. I happen to like having all of them. Not everyone does. Great! That's why there are lots of flashlights for sale.

If your buddy likes lights that are bright beyond any other consideration (Runtime, life span, options), great. And some people like their steak covered in peppercorns. If I like my lights with at least seven brightness levels, neutral or warm LED tint, minimum brightness below 0.5 lumens, and maximum over 100 lumens, great. Some people like their steaks grilled in tomato and basil. Now, which steak is better?

Is a Hyundai better than a Ferrari? It depends on what you're up to. Is stainless steel better than aluminum? It depends on if you're hammering metal, racing a bicycle, or building airplanes.


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## Jakeyb (Sep 24, 2013)

the.Mtn.Man said:


> The HDS Systems homepage has a picture of a flashlight that was subjected to "2 hours of serious abuse", being dropped from various heights and thrown with force against various surfaces. A cheap light would have shattered after the first drop.
> 
> The "$1 per lumen" cost justification comes from the fact that this is a light that you'll be using confidently for many, many years because it will easily survive anything you're likely to throw at it (or throw it at). I like to joke that whenever I drop my HDS light, I pick it up and check the ground for damage. My light has taken some pretty hard shots, for instance being dropped on concrete, and I never hold my breath hoping it still works afterwards. As for the year wait time, that's a temporary situation.
> 
> It comes down to this: do you want a light that you can use confidently because it always "just works", or one that you use with the expectation that you're going to be replacing it the first time you drop it? Make your choice and spend your money accordingly.


+1 :twothumbs


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## Jakeyb (Sep 24, 2013)

LEDninja said:


> Question #1 When do SomethingFire make plastic lights? (You need at least 100,000 units to justify the moulds required for every model.)
> Question #2 What (brick and mortar) store sells SomethingFire? (SomethingFire tends to show up on DX and eBay.)
> 
> I bought a Defiant 3C XML 550 lumen from Home Depot for C$25. It holds its own against my $139 custom Electrolumens 3C SSC-P7.
> ...


Aau007 assumed it was a something fire. I'm not sure what it was. I have a defiant 3c downstairs for if I hear something outside but I would never rely on it as my only light. It's big and made poorly, Threads are bad, the whole thing unscrews and falls apart. But IMO a great light for the money and better than plastic. Let me just clarify, after my expensive custom lights my standards are a little to high so that's why I instantly nitpick cheap lights. But they are just that, cheap! They are worth the 20 some dollars! Now, if they break all the time and your always buying more then I would consider buying something a little better, but if they get the job done for you then that's awesome! The whole reason I joined this site is because I was tired of my flashlights failing constantly and I knew there had to be something better.


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## Jakeyb (Sep 24, 2013)

It really all depends on how you use your light. If your not hard on it and you really don't mind if it fails then the cheap led lights will certainly do just fine. Buy ten of them and keep them in a drawer with batteries lol. Some of them are using pretty current LEDs and are definatly bright. High end flashlights are built for severe abuse with military and law enforcement in mind. Built to last so you know you can count on it to work through just about anything in any situation. I've never had to use my lights in a life or death situation but I do know that I could. In a situation like that you have to eliminate the possibility of a malfunction or failure as much as possible. That's where the high end stuff really plays a part. So sure, it's not going to make much of a difference if your just shining them at walls or trees but I have to have durability and quality because I'm very hard on my equipment and a little peace of mind because one never knows what he or she might encounter.


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## RoGuE_StreaK (Sep 24, 2013)

So you've posted this under Budget Lights because... you don't like budget lights?
http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/250x250/35690389.jpg

*Image tags removed see Rule #3 Do not Hot Link images. Please host on an image site, Imageshack or similar and repost – Thanks Norm*


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## the.Mtn.Man (Sep 25, 2013)

He originally posted it in the LED forum, but I assume a moderator moved it. Your accusation is without warrant.


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## markr6 (Sep 25, 2013)

I'm with Jakeyb on this one. While you don't have to spend $200 for a "good" light, something around $30-50 for a quality light just makes sense to me. Let's just say we're thankful this was about moving and not a life or death situation that could have went wrong.


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## Norm (Sep 25, 2013)

the.Mtn.Man said:


> He originally posted it in the LED forum, but I assume a moderator moved it. Your accusation is without warrant.


True, where else would you expect to find a thread titled "Cheap store bought led lights." 

Norm


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## Jakeyb (Sep 25, 2013)

Norm said:


> True, where else would you expect to find a thread titled "Cheap store bought led lights."
> 
> Norm


Well It wasn't intended to be about store bought lights but when you put it that way I see your point lol


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## travishu (Sep 30, 2013)

No all the store bought lights are the same like you said, I bought a good one which lasted nearly a whole year.


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## BryanFlowers (Oct 2, 2013)

Certainly some inexpensive lights can be very effective and worthy of carry. Never judge a light simply by its price tag.


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## El Camino (Oct 2, 2013)

I EDC a Fenix E11. It's small, doesn't jab into my leg (it's in my pocket) and it works. At work, I have a few cheap LED lights that I use. Sometimes the Fenix is too bright, but the cheap ones are fine for the task. If I drop the cheap one from a 12 foot ladder onto concrete and bust it, no problem. If I drop down a drain pipe, no problem. If it "walks away" when I set on a desk to do some work in the ceiling, no problem. My Fenix (or whatever other good light I carry - I rotate) is there.

My point: buy both. You can never have too many flashlights!


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## edpmis02 (Oct 9, 2013)

I tried to get my wife a good quality light who lost several Fenix lights, and an EagleTec T100C2 (neutral) was removed from my car. I still feel the loss. 

Now I am thinking about stocking up on the cheapies to for her to use and lose. All my walmart/Target lights still work. Heck.. even my old plastic 20 year old 2 D cell incandescent lights still "work".



Just saying..


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## Rosoku Chikara (Oct 10, 2013)

Try some Sipik SK68s... They are quite (very) bright little "modern" LED flashlights. Aluminum construction. Single AA with adequate runtime. Pretty much indestructible (but, maybe not waterproof? unless you check and add your own O-rings.) and available for around $3.60 at places like Amazon, etc.


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## mikekoz (Oct 10, 2013)

Most of my lights are what most would call cheap, or maybe a better word is inexpensive! I have only spent $200.00 plus on a light once, and I probbaly will not do it again. Over the last few weeks I have picked up some Ozark Trail lights at Walmart, and a 2 pack of Duracell 500 lumen lights at Costco. Bought 5 lights for about $80.00. Every now and then I treat myself to a quality light, but I spend about 50-90 dollars on them. I do not see much of an advantage on most lights I see that cost more than that. I keep a Nitecore D10 on me most of the time which probably cost around $50.00 and it is a great quality light. I do not have the money to buy a bunch of really good lights all the time, so I have to satisfy my flashaholism with more inexpensive ones! :devil:


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## the.Mtn.Man (Oct 10, 2013)

edpmis02 said:


> I tried to get my wife a good quality light who lost several Fenix lights, and an EagleTec T100C2 (neutral) was removed from my car. I still feel the loss.
> 
> Now I am thinking about stocking up on the cheapies to for her to use and lose. All my walmart/Target lights still work. Heck.. even my old plastic 20 year old 2 D cell incandescent lights still "work".
> 
> Just saying..


I had a cool white HDS Rotary and then bought a high CRI HDS Rotary, at which point my wife immediately snatched up the cool white Rotary and said, "You really don't need _two_ flashlights, do you?" Now it's her beloved everyday carry.


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## the.Mtn.Man (Oct 14, 2013)

mikekoz said:


> Most of my lights are what most would call cheap, or maybe a better word is inexpensive! I have only spent $200.00 plus on a light once, and I probbaly will not do it again. Over the last few weeks I have picked up some Ozark Trail lights at Walmart, and a 2 pack of Duracell 500 lumen lights at Costco. Bought 5 lights for about $80.00. Every now and then I treat myself to a quality light, but I spend about 50-90 dollars on them. I do not see much of an advantage on most lights I see that cost more than that. I keep a Nitecore D10 on me most of the time which probably cost around $50.00 and it is a great quality light. I do not have the money to buy a bunch of really good lights all the time, so I have to satisfy my flashaholism with more inexpensive ones! :devil:


Buying one, high-quality light actually saves you money in the long run, at least in theory. Besides, a high-quality flashlight isn't as expensive as you think. HDS flashlights cost between $100 and $200, so at the low-end, that's only $20 more than what you paid for a collection of mediocre flashlights from Costco and Walmart, and HDS flashlight is a vastly superior product. Where the savings come in is that once you hold something like an HDS flashlight in your hands, you won't be satisfied with anything of lesser quality, and so you will feel less compulsion to buy new lights.

But I guess, in the end, it depends on why you buy flashlights. Are you looking for a quality tool that you can carry everyday knowing that it will reliably provide illumination whenever you need it, or are you looking to fill your shelves with any light you can get your hands on? I'm in the former camp, so there's an end-game to my flashlight purchases. Once I found a good quality light with HDS, I've pretty much stopped buying flashlights except on very rare occasions.


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## mikekoz (Oct 14, 2013)

the.Mtn.Man said:


> Buying one, high-quality light actually saves you money in the long run, at least in theory. Besides, a high-quality flashlight isn't as expensive as you think. HDS flashlights cost between $100 and $200, so at the low-end, that's only $20 more than what you paid for a collection of mediocre flashlights from Costco and Walmart, and HDS flashlight is a vastly superior product. Where the savings come in is that once you hold something like an HDS flashlight in your hands, you won't be satisfied with anything of lesser quality, and so you will feel less compulsion to buy new lights.
> 
> But I guess, in the end, it depends on why you buy flashlights. Are you looking for a quality tool that you can carry everyday knowing that it will reliably provide illumination whenever you need it, or are you looking to fill your shelves with any light you can get your hands on? I'm in the former camp, so there's an end-game to my flashlight purchases. Once I found a good quality light with HDS, I've pretty much stopped buying flashlights except on very rare occasions.



I agree with you, but I buy more lights than I should and some of them are just for collecting, or more accurately, hording! I find my Fenix, Nitecore, Olights, Maglites, Sunwayman's to be the best for me as far as quality lights. I used to have a HDS, well, sort of, it was a Novatac 120P. It was made very solid, but ran on CR123's and had poor runtime on high. I sold it about a year or so ago. I would not pay $200.00 for one now. I would consider buying one if they made one that took AA's as I do not like CR123's. I have a vast collection of AA rechargeables and prefer to not use standard batteries in my lights, and do not want to invest in another type of rechargeable setup. HDS also seems to have production issues and I would not pay for one and wait a year to get it! I may still end up getting one of the lower end ones from a dealer if I happen to have a few extra dollars hanging around though!! :devil: I do not always buy these things because I need them! lol.


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## Poppy (Oct 15, 2013)

Jakeyb said:


> So yesterday I was helping my brother move with my hcri hds that I edc. I love this light it's built like a tank and beam is perfect. My brother pulls out some store bought plastic light and says " I bet this one is brighter than yours". Well guess what? It was!!! .



It's a shame that his light broke a week later, because, he's going to have a heck of a time, trying to wipe that sh#t eating grin off of your face!

I have a 2D Plastic Brinkman small die LED that has been dropped, and tossed; I don't know how many times. It is nicked and dinged, but still works as good as new. It has a built in charge indicator, and three output levels. It's probably 8-10 years old. Bought it at Target on close-out for about $5.

I have a store bought Mag-light (incandescent) about 30 years old. It still looks like new.

My point being... not all inexpensive lights will fail with the least amount of abuse, and that if they are used rarely, (as most are), then, they may give years and years of service.



Jakeyb said:


> Both of my hds lights see severe use and my co workers always ask me for my light because they know no matter what they do to it they can't break it lol. My first hds is coming up on 6 years old with plenty of dings and scratches but it works perfectly.



So, apparently, you use your light at work, as a tool. When buying tools, especially when you use them to make a living, it often makes sense to buy the best quality that you can afford. OTOH, does it make sense for a home owner to buy a complete set of Snap-on tools for his car, when a decent set of Stanley will fit his needs for the few times he uses them?

Honestly, I don't know whether you are complaining about your brother, complaining that advancing technology may out-date your favorite light, or if you boasting about your light.


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## the.Mtn.Man (Oct 15, 2013)

mikekoz said:


> I agree with you, but I buy more lights than I should and some of them are just for collecting, or more accurately, hording! I find my Fenix, Nitecore, Olights, Maglites, Sunwayman's to be the best for me as far as quality lights. I used to have a HDS, well, sort of, it was a Novatac 120P. It was made very solid, but ran on CR123's and had poor runtime on high. I sold it about a year or so ago. I would not pay $200.00 for one now. I would consider buying one if they made one that took AA's as I do not like CR123's. I have a vast collection of AA rechargeables and prefer to not use standard batteries in my lights, and do not want to invest in another type of rechargeable setup. HDS also seems to have production issues and I would not pay for one and wait a year to get it! I may still end up getting one of the lower end ones from a dealer if I happen to have a few extra dollars hanging around though!! :devil: I do not always buy these things because I need them! lol.


HDS is just the one "high-end" brand that I have actual experience with, but the logic works just as well for Surefire and others.


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## the.Mtn.Man (Oct 15, 2013)

Poppy said:


> I have a store bought Mag-light (incandescent) about 30 years old. It still looks like new.
> 
> My point being... not all inexpensive lights will fail with the least amount of abuse, and that if they are used rarely, (as most are), then, they may give years and years of service.


My very first flashlight purchase, a 3D Maglite, is still going strong after 25-years. Of course at the time I bought it, it was one of the more expensive lights on the market, so it doesn't really qualify as an inexpensive light, relatively speaking. But I suppose that makes my case. If I had bought a cheap, plastic light instead, I would have been lucky if it still worked after 25-weeks, let alone 25-years!


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## Poppy (Oct 15, 2013)

the.Mtn.Man said:


> My very first flashlight purchase, a 3D Maglite, is still going strong after 25-years. Of course at the time I bought it, it was one of the more expensive lights on the market, so it doesn't really qualify as an inexpensive light, relatively speaking. But I suppose that makes my case. If I had bought a *cheap, plastic light* instead, I would have been lucky if it still worked after 25-weeks, let alone 25-years!



I certainly am not an opponent to buying QUALITY tools. Mag-lights are quality. I hesitated to use it as an example, and I wasn't clear in the point I was trying to make. Regarding the Mag, 30 years later and it "still looked like new", was because it had very little use. Yes, it rode in my car, and laid next to my bed, but it didn't play in my tool box. I don't use a light for work. Actually I don't even carry a tool box at work. My Mag, led the life of many cheap plastic lights. It just hung around, hoping that the alkies didn't leak.

Let's get real. Unless you use a light every day at work, and it has to be super dependable, you don't need to spend $200 for a light. I saw the advertising video that you linked to, and was not particularly impressed. A couple of months ago, at night, I saw a beam of light lying on the ground, at a busy intersection. Thirty minutes later, I returned and picked it up. It was a $8 Rayovac single AA light that had obviously been run over a number of times. Yes still shining. Have you ever picked up a $14 3AAA rayovac indestructible? It is as rugged as a piece of black pipe with rubber cushions on both ends. I'd be willing to be that it will take the same amount of abuse as the OP's light.

In my tool box, I have primarily Craftsman, some S-K and Snap-on, some NAPA, gear-wrench, Stanley, and lesser name brands. I'm just a regular Joe, not a tradesman. What do you have in your tool chest? Are you a tradesman?

I'm sorry, I am picking on you. You just happen to be the most recent respondent.


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## the.Mtn.Man (Oct 16, 2013)

I never posted any advertising video, so I'm not sure what you're referring to.

You're right, most of us don't need a high-end flashlight on a daily basis, but if you're ever in a situation where you actually do need a flashlight, wouldn't you prefer something as sturdy and reliable as possible? Sure, you could probably make do with a budget torch, but would you really want to?

The reason I love my HDS Rotary is because I never have to concern myself with whether or not it's going to work, and I don't have to treat it with kid gloves. It's as reliable a tool as you could ask for, and I think that's worth paying a little extra for. The flexibility of a programmable interface is just a bonus.


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## Poppy (Oct 16, 2013)

the.Mtn.Man said:


> I never posted any advertising video, so I'm not sure what you're referring to.
> 
> <SNIP>





the.Mtn.Man said:


> The HDS Systems homepage has a picture of a flashlight that was subjected to "2 hours of serious abuse", being dropped from various heights and thrown with force against various surfaces. A cheap light would have shattered after the first drop.
> 
> <SNIP>.



Sorry, I followed the link to their homepage and saw the picture. Not long ago someone posted a link to a video of the "2 hours of abuse" IIRC that looks like the same light.

Again... like you, I appreciate quality, especially when it is needed.

MY SAR light, and back up SAR light with batteries, and spares, set me back about $450.

I was unclear of the purpose of the thread, I still don't know whether the OP was complaining about his brother, complaining that advancing technology may out-date his favorite light, or if he was just boasting about his light.


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## AMD64Blondie (Oct 19, 2013)

The waiting is killing me..(I have to wait until I get my paycheck..) but I'm planning on ordering a HDS Rotary 200 on Nov.1.

Should have it by Dec.15,if everything goes according to plan.

So excited..


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## eff (Oct 19, 2013)

the.Mtn.Man said:


> I had a cool white HDS Rotary and then bought a high CRI HDS Rotary, at which point my wife immediately snatched up the cool white Rotary and said, "You really don't need _two_ flashlights, do you?" Now it's her beloved everyday carry.



Lol she probably had her eyes on the rotary from the very first day


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## dc38 (Oct 19, 2013)

I personally don't mind people showing off their *cheap* store bought lights. I have quite a few myself, and they're quite useful for around the house or glove box stowage. Also, it doesn't bother me to lend them out; it's not like I'm giving out sure fires or anything. Stocked up on keychain lights to give to the trick or treaters this year. 

When people start having a pissing contest about how their comparatively dinky dollar store ray oval is better than mine, etc, I let them rant on and on and on. No point in arguing with the ignorant. If they don't want to learn, you can't teach them.


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