# Where Are The Better Quality Torches Made????



## Witterings (Aug 5, 2016)

Just a thought but I was just wondering where most of the "better quality" torches are made and if anyone happened know.

Are LED Lensers made in Germany or farmed out to China and how about Zebra, Fenix, Coast, Nitecore, Maglite ... also really interested where Convoy comes from.

If anybody happens to know on any of them would be appreciated!!


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## kj2 (Aug 5, 2016)

Led Lenser, Fenix, Zebralight, Nitecore, Convoy are made in China.
Maglite, Surefire, Elzetta, HDS, Malkoff are made in the USA.

Don't know about Coast.

Quality lights can be made anywhere in the world. Just need to use the right components, people and craftsmanship.


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## Witterings (Aug 5, 2016)

I wasn't expecting a reply so quick ... let alone one with some much info ... thank you for that .... much appreciated  !!!!!!


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## HorizontalHunter (Aug 5, 2016)

kj2 said:


> Led Lenser, Fenix, Zebralight, Nitecore, Convoy are made in China.
> Maglite, Surefire, Elzetta, HDS, Malkoff are made in the USA.
> 
> Don't know about Coast.
> ...



I would agree with that. I have lights from all but one of the Chinese makers and not been disappointed.

My only addition would be DIY lights made at home and some of the modders here.:rock:

Bob


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## archimedes (Aug 5, 2016)

Just to add ...

Peak, USA
LensLight, USA

Lupine, Germany


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## bykfixer (Aug 5, 2016)

Coast are China made.

Many flashlights come from a city size complex with the good stuff going out one side and the not so good on the other. 
The one side has QC on the way out. The other lets the consumer do the QC

Some Streamlights are US built. Most these days though are China built.


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## Going_Supernova (Aug 5, 2016)

Princeton-Tec is made in the USA, and I believe Underwater Kinetics is made in USA, and Black Diamond appears to have locations in the US, Europe and Asia--I don't know if they are manufacturing or only sales offices.


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## fivemega (Aug 5, 2016)

*To reduce total cost, most of companies get different component of same flashlight from different countries.
For example majority of M*g parts are made in USA but bulbs are made in Mexico or China. So it's not likely all components of a flashlight made in one country.
This may apply for cars, cell phones, video/audio devices and....*


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## Witterings (Aug 5, 2016)

bykfixer said:


> Coast are China made.
> 
> Many flashlights come from a city size complex with the good stuff going out one side and the not so good on the other.
> The one side has QC on the way out. The other lets the consumer do the QC



This comment was quite interesting and I sort of expected to a degree ... one of my other addictions going back a few years was flying RC planes and you could either pay £160 for a plane by a well branded name or you could pay £35 for a plane that was an almost exact copy (imported from China and not available locally) but not as good quality and someone said out the large number of companies selling them they probably all come out of the one factory in China but different sellers will have different standards of quality control.

Shame more stuff can't be made locally to give people jobs but when it's a 1/3rd of the cost to produce abroad that can be the difference between a company doing well and able to make a profit or not being able to survive against the competition I guess.


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## CelticCross74 (Aug 7, 2016)

Coast and LED Lenser come out of China. Fenix, NC, Olight etc. the city of Shenzhen is like the worlds biggest flashlight factory. It does not mean all these lights are solely China sourced for parts. Zebralight is opening a factory in Texas for this side of the world while still running the Chinese factory. ZL truly do have the best mix of US/Japanese and Chinese parts. I love most my Coasts they are in my opinion better than the Lensers now. QC is critical. Carp can come from anywhere. Armytek has a big factory in Shenzhen that on one hand builds some of the best lights in the industry but their QC is usually a train wreck. As long as it is not on fire they will pass just about anything.

Streamlight. Streamlight has a big factory in Pennsylvania making their higher end lights. Almost all the cops in Pennsylvania use Streamlight cause they know if there is ever an issue with what they are carrying the factory itself is not far. Chinese made Streamlights in my opinion are horrendous. Had a couple thought they were US made and were not.

SureFire. The only US made part of a SF is the body. The rest of the light has just as many Chinese parts as a Nitecore. 

Maglite. Go Mag! Likely the most fully US sourced and built lights left(their big lights at least)and cheap!

There are a couple other small US light makers as mentioned above. Wow think about if Fenix opened a factory in North Carolina and sourced most their materials here. Most of the industry would go to the bathroom in their pants if that happened because the lights would likely still cost the same they do now.

My quest for the copper D Mag continues...


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## StarHalo (Aug 7, 2016)

There have been many threads over the years that have tried to connect build quality to country of origin, but none of them ever panned out; lots of great options from lots of countries, pretty much everyone here has bits and pieces from all over the world. 

I would argue that Zebralight is on a different level of engineering from the other brands mentioned, you should look into it..

The best lights come from our resident machinists, look up "Spy 007", "Lunasol", etc..


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