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



## Chicken Drumstick (Aug 28, 2012)

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?


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## Pinoypogiman (Aug 28, 2012)

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


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## HotWire (Aug 29, 2012)

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.


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## Korgath (Aug 29, 2012)

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


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## yellow (Aug 29, 2012)

the only light I did regret purchasing was an eternalight


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## GeorgeOceanDavid (Aug 29, 2012)

Chicken Drumstick said:


> 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.
> 
> ...



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!


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## Empire (Aug 29, 2012)

FourSevens Quark
Foursevens Maelstrom


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## speedsix (Sep 1, 2012)

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.


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## harro (Sep 15, 2012)

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.


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## vpr5703 (Sep 15, 2012)

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


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## mccririck (Sep 15, 2012)

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.


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## KirthGersen (Sep 15, 2012)

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.


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## Newuser01 (Sep 15, 2012)

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


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## Rod911 (Sep 16, 2012)

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...).


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## nofearek9 (Sep 16, 2012)

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


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## Hercanstein (Sep 16, 2012)

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


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## biglights (Sep 19, 2012)

Hercanstein said:


> 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:


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## gcbryan (Sep 23, 2012)

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".


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## Freeze_XJ (Sep 23, 2012)

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.


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## LightCrazy (Sep 26, 2012)

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.


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## moldyoldy (Sep 26, 2012)

For the most part, budget lights have a lower output than the higher-priced lights as well as more variability between copies of the same model. ie: The Fenix E series vs their LD and PD series. An exception are the Lighthound branded lights. The 1x 18650 Lighthound light is eyebrow-raising for it's output (500 lumens listed - is close to that) and UI. No AR coating on the lens though. It remembers the last level used. The low-battery indicator is not flickering, but fairly fast ramping from low to high and back. The most interesting aspect is that the reflector can be unscrewed leaving a bare XML LED for area lighting. Rather nice for $35.


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## snofrog (Oct 21, 2012)

I have purchased 20 Saik sa-7`s and have only had a few duds out of them . I find them the perfect size for me and they are cheap , like me


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## Sinke (Oct 22, 2012)

I recently purchased the Varta (Rayovac) Indestructible 3x AAA flashlight. It was around $15.
As I owned a 2xaa Maglite till now, boy was I surprised how bright it was! :huh:
I am very happy with it, and considering purchasing them for Christmas presents.


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## Changchung (Oct 28, 2012)

I am very happy with all my lights, from cheap ones from 1$ to the no cheap to 100$ 

I have trustfire, ultrafire, zebras, spark and others cree light that I mod, all work perfect.

I have more carefull buying batteries than flashlights...

No XXXXfire batteries for me...


SFMI4UT


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## jamesbeat (Oct 30, 2012)

HotWire said:


> 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.



Couldn't have said it better myself.

I have quite a few budget lights, a couple stock, but most modded/tweaked.
The biggest problem that I have is finding a driver that does what I like. Most of my cheaper lights came with too many 'disco modes', which are all very well as long as you can hide them so you don't have to cycle through them.
I found a driver that I really like for around $3, so every time I order a CR123A size flashlight, I order one of those drivers to go in it. 
I also like to upgrade the led. 
While I do like to upgrade the emitter to have the most efficient type, the main reason is to get a neutral color temp. I just can't stand angry blue light, even if it means taking a small drop in lumens.

I have bought a lot of budget lights, and on the whole I have been pleased with them.
For the same price as a higher-end light, I can buy perhaps three budget lights and the parts to upgrade them to my favorite UI, power level etc and have the latest emitter with my preferred color bin.
Reliability is not an issue because, so long as the machining is ok, all of the soldered joints, heatsink bond etc is done by me, so I know it's done right 
I also like to add extra touches such as potted electronics, glow epoxy around the emitter etc.

Having said all that, even if I didn't use my budget lights as mod-fodder, I would still be very pleased with what I have got for my money. 
I've never received a light that I had to use a soldering iron on just to make it work, and the couple that I have had that were unreliable out of the box only needed to have their contacts cleaned or some such trivial work.

In a nutshell, I have only received one budget light that was absolute garbage (badly cut threads made it unusable*) but even then, I only wasted a comparatively small amount of money, about $8 if I recall correctly.


*I apologize, but I can't remember the make or model of the bad light, but it had many excellent reviews so I can only assume I was just unlucky to have got a defective one.


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## jamesbeat (Oct 30, 2012)

speedsix said:


> .... I have had bad luck with anything that was made by Trustfire.



See now, I've had really good luck with Trustfires, I own several (I have one in my pocket right now in fact )
I don't have them to hand, but I think the models that I have are the TR-801 and TR-803. The build quality on these two is awesome, they have a separate pill made of solid brass, and the machining is great on all parts.
The one I have on me right now is the SA-2, which is a 1xAA model that I had sitting in a drawer for ages until I 'rediscovered' it while preparing for the hurricane.

These lights have all been dropped, played with by my kids, rolled off surfaces onto hard floors and generally been abused without failing, and I think they are great.

Now, does this mean that I am calling into question speedsix's testimony?

Not a bit of it.

In my experience, the biggest problems with budget lights are quality control and brand consistency.
Quality control issues can often be corrected or ignored (I don't care about an anodizing blemish on a $12 light) but brand consistency is a real issue.

I have had great luck with Trustfire, but there's absolutely no guarantee that my Trustfires were made in the same factory as speedsix's Trustfires, or even by the same company. 
Brands are almost meaningless amongst some of the budget names, so you can't go by just the name when buying.
All you can really do is read as many reviews as you can (including weeding out the genuine reviews from the questionable ones) and try not to latch onto brand names as a sign of quality or lack thereof.
I find that this inconsistency seems to be greatest amongst the various *fire brands. Some are awesome hidden gems, some are junk.
It's because of this that I am hesitant to offer recommendations based soley upon a brand name.
I've even heard of different batches of the exact same light having enormous differences in quality, to the extent that reviewers have questioned whether they were even made at the same factory.

So far, the two most consistent brands that I have experienced have been 'Hugsby' and 'Tank007'. I have bought a few of each brand for myself and friends/family and the quality has always been high, but even so, I read some reviews on one flashlight yesterday where they were discussing manufacturing dates as an indicator of whether it was a 'good' one or a 'bad' one.

I have a 1xAAA made by 'Black Cat' which I really love. It is of similar quality and shares some manufacturing 'tells' my Tank007 lights.
Sure enough, there was a Tank007 lanyard in the package!

I'd say that there's just no way of knowing what you're going to get when you buy a light from China, all you can do is read as many reviews as possible on the EXACT model that you are buying, and keep your fingers crossed until it arrives 
It's also best to try to shrug your shoulders and remember how little you paid if you do get a bad one (which honestly is pretty rare).


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## Southpaw1925 (Nov 1, 2012)

GeorgeOceanDavid said:


> 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!



How many meters/yards does your ultrafire Cree XML t6 throw?


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