kramer5150
Flashaholic
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American (USA) made flashlights
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kramer5150
Flashaholic
I have been exchanging emails from a SuperFire USA representative. He has been very polite and completely courteous in his replies. Here is our last communication..
"I wasn't suggesting you did anything wrong. I think you did a great job on the review.
In fact SuperFire is a Internationally recognized US brand, more popular in Europe perhaps, but still a US brand. It supports a staff entirely US citizens(about 1/20th the size of Surefire…But still an important number of families to me.
We don't comply with the Barry Amendment as most flashlight companies don't either, so some parts and products are made abroad.
When one of our lights is sold from abroad it is being sold illegally."
He then explains how Surefire and many other flashlight companies do business overseas, which I have intentionally deleted because its out of context for this thread. He continues here...
"We support the US families which work in the US in each detail of our business.
We humbly admire what Surefire has done and do nothing to defame them. We sell mostly to consumers and police here and in Europe, and to the British Royal Forces personnel as well as directly to the troops in Iraq, because we have friends there locally.
The SuperFire name and company is owned and controlled by us, but please do not blame us because we are too small to fight the endless fakes, replicas, knock-offs that are out there. We don't know where it all comes from, but we fight everyone we can afford to, to protect our name.
I am sorry if you felt I was criticizing you, but when you say you can buy our light for less than $10 online, you must understand that it hurts the real company and the American families that work hard and are supported buy it.
Enough American families have been hurt by what's going on in our economy.
That's why we and I myself especially, get just a little defensive.
Every light sold illegally is hurting the US company and its sales teams, assemblers, shipping personel..etc (and we don't hire Southern illegals…we hire Americans)
PS your review was great, and you do in-fact do a great job.
Sorry if I sounded in any way critical of you or your good work."
So In the end, at least they appear to be a small run USA based company, that outsources parts too. Unfortunately the brand name has been targeted by unauthorized copiers, and those products make up the majority of what we are familiar with. The individual I have cooresponded with seems very friendly, professional and courteous.
I don't know how much of all this is true or not, but still I hope others may find this useful.
Peace... out...:twothumbs
"I wasn't suggesting you did anything wrong. I think you did a great job on the review.
In fact SuperFire is a Internationally recognized US brand, more popular in Europe perhaps, but still a US brand. It supports a staff entirely US citizens(about 1/20th the size of Surefire…But still an important number of families to me.
We don't comply with the Barry Amendment as most flashlight companies don't either, so some parts and products are made abroad.
When one of our lights is sold from abroad it is being sold illegally."
He then explains how Surefire and many other flashlight companies do business overseas, which I have intentionally deleted because its out of context for this thread. He continues here...
"We support the US families which work in the US in each detail of our business.
We humbly admire what Surefire has done and do nothing to defame them. We sell mostly to consumers and police here and in Europe, and to the British Royal Forces personnel as well as directly to the troops in Iraq, because we have friends there locally.
The SuperFire name and company is owned and controlled by us, but please do not blame us because we are too small to fight the endless fakes, replicas, knock-offs that are out there. We don't know where it all comes from, but we fight everyone we can afford to, to protect our name.
I am sorry if you felt I was criticizing you, but when you say you can buy our light for less than $10 online, you must understand that it hurts the real company and the American families that work hard and are supported buy it.
Enough American families have been hurt by what's going on in our economy.
That's why we and I myself especially, get just a little defensive.
Every light sold illegally is hurting the US company and its sales teams, assemblers, shipping personel..etc (and we don't hire Southern illegals…we hire Americans)
PS your review was great, and you do in-fact do a great job.
Sorry if I sounded in any way critical of you or your good work."
So In the end, at least they appear to be a small run USA based company, that outsources parts too. Unfortunately the brand name has been targeted by unauthorized copiers, and those products make up the majority of what we are familiar with. The individual I have cooresponded with seems very friendly, professional and courteous.
I don't know how much of all this is true or not, but still I hope others may find this useful.
Peace... out...:twothumbs
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Ever notice how the tiny flame logo in Superfire lights is the exact same one used by Made-In-China Ultrafire.... Or how some Superfire lights look like clones of Made-In-China models sold by DX or KD. (And I mean lights shown on Superfire's own official site).
The company is as American as chopsticks.
The company is as American as chopsticks.
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I've been following this thread and the 'Superfire mystery' posts... I thought I'd look into this, and here's what I've found from public records information. I don't claim conclusive knowledge of what this all means, but there are significant signs of a China connection, and I thought the results of this convoluted maze might be of interest.
The guy posts Superfire videos on Youtube as "TheBigCowboy": http://www.youtube.com/user/TheBigCowboy . The cowboy theme recurs elsewhere too.
"Superfire USA" has only had the superfireusa.com website since March 2008, which is also when the much-vaunted US trademark was registered.
So superfireusa.com was registered with all of the identity/contact info intentionally hidden. I tend to view that as a reason to be more suspicious about a business, particularly when the impression they try to put out is that they are a "recognized" American business.
US Trademark Electronic Search System:
Okay, so the Superfire name has been being used since November 2006, and the trademark is owned by a business called "FullColors LLC" which was incorporated in Nevada, and they say their address is "90 West Apple Ln, Glendale, Utah 84729". Slight problem, though - USPS says that address doesn't exist, not even as undeliverable.
Then, I checked the registration info for www.prolightsuperstore.com , which is an alternate url for the same content as superfireusa.com . The product images towards the bottom of the superfireusa.com homepage (right under the "3300 LUX!" text) link to prolightsuperstore.com/products.html , instead of superfireusa.com/products.html , with the same content. Superfireusa.com also mentions "ProLightSuperStore.com" in the title of each page (except the homepage), and the 'Limited Lifetime Warranty' page (superfireusa.com/warranty.html) says "For Warranty and shipping info, contact us at [email protected]". (Other pages mention another email address, "[email protected]".) Also, the 'official seller' on Ebay is 'prolightsuper' ("We are The OFFICIAL SuperFire USA Factory Outlet! Don't Buy a Fake from Hong Kong/China - Buy from Superfire USA - SuperFire is a Registered US trademark").
There we go, they didn't bother to hide the contact info on this one. Phone number is missing the area code, but this street address does actually exist.
Now let's look up the Nevada incorporation records for that company that owns the 'Superfire' trademark.
That matches up with the same contact info as the registrant of prolightsuperstore.com .
Searching for more info about "FullColors LLC" turned up a press release at www.prweb.com/releases/2006/2/prweb343824.htm , which says "FullColorsTM 5760 DPI Premium High Glossy Photo Paper and Professional Premium High Glossy Photo Papers are available for immediate delivery through www.overstockphotopaper.com. For more information, contact David Wilson, FullColorTM LLC Company Director, U.S. Sales & Marketing at (626) 643-1363." (There's the area code for that phone number.)
Related domains found:
FullColors is listed on global trade site tradekey.com/profile_view/uid/486595/FullColors-Tech-Corp-LTD.htm :
Looks like their paper is manufactured in China by a company called Fantac.
So this indicates that David Wilson's "FullColors LLC" (company that owns the "Superfire" trademark in the US) is a distributor of China-manufactured paper.
David was actually in China for some period of time, during which he jointly ran a restaurant called "Cowboy's Coffee and Buffalo Grill" located in the Shenzhen area of China.
Now to return to superfireusa.com and prolightsuperstore.com, in the sourcecode of every page, this is what they use for the meta description and keywords: "SuperFire,UltraFire,Military Combat Lights, Tactical Weaponry, Tactical Lighting, Gun Light, Rifle Light"
And this is what they use as the title on the homepage:
"SuperFire And UltraFire. Your Source for Military Combat Lights (MCL's) Where Brightness Needs Are Extreeme!"
So by their own admission, they indeed are closely related to Ultrafire flashlights, which we know come from China.
From an April 2008 CPF thread at www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=195979 :
And from a January 2008 CPF thread at www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=186661 :
So there are multiple Chinese factories copying each other, but the 'original' Superfire comes from one of the Chinese manufacturers too, it's just a matter of which one.
The manufacturer might be Shenzhen Zhangyang Technology Co Ltd. They manufacture lights offered as both Ultrafire and Superfire.
jch79
**Do Not Feed The Vegan**,
Wow, an incredible amount of research. I'd love to see their response to this! 
Thanks for all of your work, Aluminous. :thumbsup:
Thanks for all of your work, Aluminous. :thumbsup:
You're welcome.Wow, an incredible amount of research. I'd love to see their response to this!
Thanks for all of your work, Aluminous. :thumbsup:
(PS: nice 'location' you've got )
jch79
**Do Not Feed The Vegan**,
:buddies: :wave:Looks like the Wilsons are starting a family business at 90 West Apple Ln. Though there doesn't appear to be an Apple Ln in Glendale, yet, there is one in nearby Hurricane, UT. Coincidence?
http://www.kellysearch.com/us-company-317536739.html
And 214 E Brisbane St turns out, predictably enough, to be a residential address. Look it up on Google maps then turn on Street View. I'm guessing David drives the silver SUV and Missy drives one or both of the red cars.
KuoH
http://www.kellysearch.com/us-company-317536739.html
And 214 E Brisbane St turns out, predictably enough, to be a residential address. Look it up on Google maps then turn on Street View. I'm guessing David drives the silver SUV and Missy drives one or both of the red cars.
KuoH
kramer5150
Flashaholic
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
This is why this forum is one of my favorites... thanks!!!
**edit**
dam youtube, argh... not allowing me to post comments to my videos:scowl::scowl:, I want to post this URL and re-direct people.
This is why this forum is one of my favorites... thanks!!!
**edit**
dam youtube, argh... not allowing me to post comments to my videos:scowl::scowl:, I want to post this URL and re-direct people.
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Lunal_Tic
Flashlight Enthusiast
american lockpicker
Enlightened
Greenlee and Adva-Lite are Made in USA.
jch79
**Do Not Feed The Vegan**,
Can you provide a source saying they're Made in USA? I couldn't find anything, and their prices certainly don't suggest "Made in USA"... it'd be cool if they were!
Thanks! :wave:
john
kramer5150
Flashaholic
You can add Duracell to the list...
http://electrical.hardwarestore.com/15-60-led-flashlights/aluminum-daylite-flashlight-639430.aspx
http://electrical.hardwarestore.com/15-60-led-flashlights/aluminum-daylite-flashlight-639430.aspx
american lockpicker
Enlightened
Well my Greenlee Pocket-Light says Made in USA on it and my "Prestige Medical" Adva-Lite says USA on the clip. Heres a link http://www.prestigemed.com/ProductDetail.aspx?sku=260
kramer5150
Flashaholic
Is the Gerber infinity ultra a USA made product? They have a version with less side-flood designed for military ops. I'm wondering if either it or its civy-cousin are USA made?
Juggernaut
Flashlight Enthusiast
Big Beam :twothumbs
american lockpicker
Enlightened
Fulton flashlights( http://www.fultonindoh.com/ )are still made in the USA but the bulbs are Chinese.
FWIW, although Princeton Tec produces some products in the USA, a good portion of their production has been moved overseas - headlamps especially. This list is misleading if caveats like that are not noted.
Not sure if you missed a comma, but Arc and HDS (now called Ra Lights) are different companies, and have been for a while. Although Arc and HDS had a history of making lights together as Arc, that has long since passed. But both companies are US-made lights (Arc & HDS/Ra Lights).
I've noticed the same thing. Some of their lights now boast "Assembled in USA". :shrug:
EDIT: While some companies use "some" parts that are made overseas, perhaps we should ALL AGREE that the products listed here as "Made in USA" comply with the official definition set by the Federal Trade Commission here:
Fresnorich, I hope you can keep up this list! :thumbsup: It could serve as a valuable tool for people interested in buying US-made lights - however, accuracy is key, as well as updating to reflect any production changes a company previously listed as US-made may make.
Containing ".....no or negligible....." foreign parts is no more informative than "....all or virtually all...." made in the USA.
Either it's "all" or it's not; either it's "none" or it's not. Anything else is weasel-wording and can be construed to mean whatever the writer wants. If they want to define what they mean by "virtually all", such as " all except fasteners" or "all except electronic components", I suppose it would be an adequate definition, otherwise it's too subjective to be useful in my opinion.
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