Bushman5
Enlightened
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2007
- Messages
- 977
So, after about six months or so of dabbling in this hobby i have the following to say:
- its expensive, especially if your Canadian. I bought a total of 7 lights, at a high cost of approx $800. Plus what I spent over $300 CDN on shipping costs, return shipping costs and duties alone for the various lights i bought.
- batteries, Specifically the Cr123 and RCR123's . :shakehead Pricey, finicky, prone to explode or vent, short lifespan, health hazard, cant get them damp or wet, you have to have a gazzilion chargers for every type, apparently the voltages in the battery are higher than whats marked on the battery (see ** below for more on this), After spending about $60 for RCR123's i discovered they were not good enough and that they were exploders if you had one that was slightly run down with a newly charged one. Apparently only protected batteires are good enough. So off i went, yet again, spent another $100 for protected batteries, and new chargers to match.
- -** LED drop ins and replacement lamps. Uable to find locally, hads to buy online. Spent $200 on veyr bright and white Cree drop ins, only to have them blow out as a result of above mentioned battery issues. Cant afford to replace them. Stuck with useless $200 lights. ended up selling them for 75% less than what i just paid for them, due to market used pricing.
Custom lights. They are nice and all, very bright, no arguement here. except the battery carriers chew the hell out of the battery wrappers, causing shorts circuiting, blown batteries and once again, i have to buy more batteries.
I looked at the enjoyment i got from the lights, it was very minimal compared the cash outlay and subsequent debt as a result. Lights i have'nt even poaid for yet are either dead, needing new expensive drop ins, or have been sold off for 5 cents on the dollar, due to market pricing for said used lights.
I'm done. I'm tired of the hassles. Tired of paying shipping costs, Tired of battery bullcrap and finicky cells that can only be used for ten minutes before you have to recharge them. Tired , broke, pissed off.
Its been a slice. I'm going to stick with my Pelican 2020 LED and common "C" batteries. It has NEVER let me down, and if it ever does i get a free replacement. Same with my Malkoff 4 C - it has never let me down and uses common "C" batteries. Same with my Mag 6D with Terralux 140 lumen drop in and common D cells.
The above has been my experience and my experience only. Your milage might vary, but to be quite honest as i stated above, i'm tired of the hassles. I'm done.
I'll be hanging around, I do enjoy everyones contributions and reviews, but i wont be buying lights anymore.
Have a Safe Merry Christmas everyone.
- its expensive, especially if your Canadian. I bought a total of 7 lights, at a high cost of approx $800. Plus what I spent over $300 CDN on shipping costs, return shipping costs and duties alone for the various lights i bought.
- batteries, Specifically the Cr123 and RCR123's . :shakehead Pricey, finicky, prone to explode or vent, short lifespan, health hazard, cant get them damp or wet, you have to have a gazzilion chargers for every type, apparently the voltages in the battery are higher than whats marked on the battery (see ** below for more on this), After spending about $60 for RCR123's i discovered they were not good enough and that they were exploders if you had one that was slightly run down with a newly charged one. Apparently only protected batteires are good enough. So off i went, yet again, spent another $100 for protected batteries, and new chargers to match.
- -** LED drop ins and replacement lamps. Uable to find locally, hads to buy online. Spent $200 on veyr bright and white Cree drop ins, only to have them blow out as a result of above mentioned battery issues. Cant afford to replace them. Stuck with useless $200 lights. ended up selling them for 75% less than what i just paid for them, due to market used pricing.
Custom lights. They are nice and all, very bright, no arguement here. except the battery carriers chew the hell out of the battery wrappers, causing shorts circuiting, blown batteries and once again, i have to buy more batteries.
I looked at the enjoyment i got from the lights, it was very minimal compared the cash outlay and subsequent debt as a result. Lights i have'nt even poaid for yet are either dead, needing new expensive drop ins, or have been sold off for 5 cents on the dollar, due to market pricing for said used lights.
I'm done. I'm tired of the hassles. Tired of paying shipping costs, Tired of battery bullcrap and finicky cells that can only be used for ten minutes before you have to recharge them. Tired , broke, pissed off.
Its been a slice. I'm going to stick with my Pelican 2020 LED and common "C" batteries. It has NEVER let me down, and if it ever does i get a free replacement. Same with my Malkoff 4 C - it has never let me down and uses common "C" batteries. Same with my Mag 6D with Terralux 140 lumen drop in and common D cells.
The above has been my experience and my experience only. Your milage might vary, but to be quite honest as i stated above, i'm tired of the hassles. I'm done.
I'll be hanging around, I do enjoy everyones contributions and reviews, but i wont be buying lights anymore.
Have a Safe Merry Christmas everyone.