good post, good thread.
You know that paying much money for a flashlight (or multitool or car or ..) doesnt relate directly to the quality of the products, dont you? This holds true in particular for all typical China-made flashlights. Brand name China-made flashlights are so much more expensive because of the retailer's huge margin, so it's wise to try to buy them at the dealer's cost price whenever possible on Black Friday, Clearance Sales, or similar.
Of course we want and expect better quality (longevity, ruggedness, higher build quality, manufacturing tolerances, lower failure rate, ..) when we pay higher prices; our feeling says so. But it's a subjective feeling only, nothing else.
It's healthier for my mind to pay less for exactly the identical product and then also expect less. And the problem of out-of-print parts exists with most other products. That's why companies often replace the broken product with the current model during extended warranty periods.
Well, paying more money for a product is usually decided upon for the express purpose of getting a better quality product, most of the time at least. But then there's also buying something expensive just for the name, even if it really isnt much better at performing a particular task than the cheaper model(see Seiko watch versus Rolex). I'm not really into paying more for a name, especially if that name brand is often of less quality than the cheaper options(see Surefire lights). I understand that there is a higher likelihood that you will be able to find parts for your Surefire light vs a Chinese light in 5-7 years, but that also brings us back to the obsolete argument, because there are many Surefire lights you can buy new right now that are already obsolete compared to many cheaper Chinese lights. I'd rather pay $100 for an up to date Chinese light with the chance that I may not be able to easily get parts for it in 5 years, vs. paying $200+ for a Surefire light with outdated LED and circuitry, even though i might have a "better" chance of being able to find parts for it in 5 years. Chances are, those SF parts will be no less overpriced than the flashlight was in the 1st place! AND, by then the SF light will be REALLY outdated......
I always search around to find sale prices on every light I buy, and I always use the 10% off coupon code. But aside from that, and aside from buying a used light, how can you get a light for less than MSRP or for dealer's cost(unless you are a dealer)?
To what Cataract said: Like you, even if I lost a light, or couldnt get parts for another light, I'd still have plenty of backup lights, so the idea of really needing to be able to find parts in 5 years doesnt really apply to me in a significant way, but like you mentioned, you dont want your favorite light to go down, but Murphy's law dictates that will probably be the very light that DOES break down, so it would be nice to know you can still get parts. I'm sure some of the Chinese companies, especially the ones that design their lights in America or have gone to the trouble to open US customer service centers, might very well keep a stock of parts for older lights, or even continue producing parts for them.
