Not a real brand?!

[Shsesc]

I was at the police supply store looking for a holster for my TK11 and when I handed it to the shop keeper he said, this is an oddball light and no belt holster or pouch would fit it because it's not a real brand. He tried a few and found one, but I didn't want to spend that much. So I ended up just buying a new wallet and leaving without a new holster for my light.

SO my question is... is Fenix a "real" brand? Am I out of line for thinking the shop keeper is just ignorant and doesn't know any better? Maybe he thought Fenix should be spelled Phoenix.

[rockz4532]

Fenix is most definetely a real brand. I and probably more than half of CPF members own their lights.
As the shop is a police supply shop, it is most likely that they only have Surefire lights and accesories, probably not Fenix
I own 4 of their lights, and they all work flawlessly.
I thought the TK11 came with a holster, as my TK10 does...

[Cosmo7809]

Well I guess since he does not know any better but still in my book hes an anus, may sound harsh but still. Alot of people think they know everything and you can not convince them of anything.

The other day I pulled out a E1b and some moron goes "o I have a light like that, but mines bigger"(with a cocky attitude) so I said "o really? do you know the name of it"
Replies "No but its better than yours"

Seriously? WTF?

So I proceed to say "well do you know this is a 130$ plus flashlight?"
and I get a face and nothing followed
I usually do not like to discuss prices with non flashaholics but this guy hada be put in his place

I just walked away


I really wanted to blind the SOB and say yours is brighter huh?

But thats not a good thing to do.


Sorry, did not mean to highjack your thread.

[Marduke]

Typical ignorant consumer who only knows half a dozen brand names.

[Oddjob]

People in sales always seem to talk as if whatever they are selling is all that is out there. There are way to many products and the world is becoming increasingly smaller that you cannot assume something new or unfamiliar is not reputable or "real". Experiences like this serve to remind me to stay open minded.

[Moonshadow]

". . . I have a light like that, but mines bigger"

Brilliant. Contradicts himself in fewer than ten words.

Usually, I'd say calling someone a moron was a bit harsh, but some people just do most of the work for you . . .

[GPB]

A shopkeeper considers himself a vital part of the retail process. Its human nature to think what you do is important. Therefore, in his mind, a light company that exists without a brick and mortar/shopkeeper link in their supply chain can't be any good. To acknowledge Fenix's legitimacy would invalidate his own existence.

[Crenshaw]

lol, he probably isnt a "real" flashaholic...
(okay in know you didnt say he was, but my joke doesnt work otherwise)

any flashaholic worth his/her lumens should know fenix, whether or not they like the brand. and didnt your Tk11 come with a holster anyway?


Crenshaw

[Shsesc]

My TK11 came with a holster but it's wearing out at the bottom in a way that I can't sew it up. It's also really tight, to get the light in and out is hard.


I'll probably repair it and remove a few stitches at the top opening so it's easier to use. Gaffers tape may work for the hole at the bottom.


Also thanks for validating my feelings that the guy was just either ignorant or trying to validate his own existence in a changing world like GPB said.

[John_Galt]

Hmmm... Let's see...
It must be a real brand if you can:
-touch it
-see it
-smell it
-taste it

and

-hear it (darn that high pitched whine, tho)
Well, that covers the 5 senses, and it's still here.
They also have a quality website, several online retailers, and an entire forum talking about them... Seems real enough to me.

[Black Rose]

The thing with this particular issue is that since you can't walk into a B&M store and buy a Fenix flashlight (there are a few exceptions) no one other than the flashlight savvy really know about them.

[NonSenCe]

not an problem in my book if normal person dont recognize my lights.. (it would be too much to ask..we are so much on the edge of the newest and coolest anyways, so much ahead the normal people)

i can tell them if they are interested.. i do tell the ones that arent too.

not even a problem if some certain salesperson dont recognize it.. (unless its one that they sell also).. tons of items for sale these days. i can say good bue and wander off or tell them too what it is if they are interested.

it would be ok as long as the sales person who sells them holsters is ready to go and look for their shelves if they have some thing that might fit mine.

if they dismiss it just because they dont sell them or dont know what brand it is (it says pretty clearly on the tk11 what it is!) and dont bother to look for one of similar shape and size.. then hell with them.

i do take my business elsewhere in an instant.. wrong attitude bad service and im off the door. but im a small devil by nature, so i might make them run for hoops anyway if they piss me off and then eventually decide not to buy it. (im not an nice customer if crossed)

[qip]

shoulda showed him the powa of the fenix

[houtex]

I try to educate as many people I can to flashlights,some people only see Mag or Surefire no matter what.( I am a fan of both ).
For my Tk I use ths holster

Except I wear it upside downso that the light holds closer to my waist.

[alphazeta]

...should have followed up by asking him to point you out to a real shop.

But seriously, regardless of how unknown Fenix lights are at B&Ms, there's no reason why anyone should come across as talking down to you.

"...real light..." phew, I would have laughed in his face.
-AZ

[kramer5150]

Not "real"??

that guy deserves a with a TK40.

I guess this was all faked and staged...
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...d.php?t=233856

[NonSenCe]

yeah. asking him to show a light from their stock that is about same size and as bright.. and then telling them that this tk11 runs 10-12 hours at this setting.. how long will yours run with same brightness? should we test them side by side if it really can run that long? i have time.

*most lights sold in general store just cant match that, heck there aint that many lights that can beat that in general*

i am soooo waiting meeting my friends az*hole cousin this summer..

my friend told me of this to me as he returned my solarforce he loaned.. claimed it beeing too bright. hah.

and i had asked him.." how much output you need?"
he said: "all of it ofcourse". i got the 5mode in high for him and said just click it on and its bright. when he came back, he complained that its too bright.. so i showed him how to get the other modes..

then he said "and this is your glovebox beater light? the cheap one that is not as nice as the others? sheeshh, you remember my cousin, right....."

he said that, the moron, thinks and boasts that the ledlenser he has, the hocus pokus (3aaa) is the best available pocket size light. -the one he got from his firm as gift.

i hope him saying that outloud when im around..
i gladly take out something like nitecore d10 and ask him if i can have one or 2 spare batteries as mine only uses one and his has 3. and then am allowed to change when 1st one runs down when they are set next to eachother at about same brightness/high. and as his light dims, if mine is brighter i can dim mine too.

i am willing to bet that, when the d10s 1st battery is out his light is also dim like candle. and then i pop the second lithium in, and set it on similar output as his.. and walk away smiling few hours later still able to blast full output into his eyes as the ledlenser is dead for good.. beaten silly by some "unknown" chinese light.

[AusKipper]

we have an LE gear website for Aus/NZ and if you go to the "flashlights" section at the moment they will ram Fenix down your throat

Below the big Fenix ad, they have all the usual suspects, Pelican, Surefire, Inova, led lenser, Mag.

I guess the owner of that website brought a Fenix once, tried it out and went "oh heck, lets get this to every cop in Australia.."

So yes, Fenix is a real brand.

[StandardBattery]

You should have blasted him with it (purely by accident of course), he may have offered to buy it from you. Pretty crazy since Fenix is now known to more police forces I think, so I'm sure many of his customers would not think it was 'not a real brand' .

As for the guy with the 'just like that but bigger' and '... "No but its better than yours" '. I probably would have said something like 'you have no idea what your talking about do you?' . Actually reminds me of just last week when I was using my SAK for something or other and they wanted to borrow it for some reason, but then they decided it would not work... because they had 'the exact same knife'. Well they don't because this is a red Alox custom, and they know nothing about the various models let alone custom ones. They didn't even recognize it was Alox I'm sure. I was very nice though "I said nothing", they are just not someone I wanted to talk about swiss army knives with.

Just carry on... and light up his shop the next time your in there. Just be sure to bring an EagleTac M2CX4 in case he really wants to talk brands.

I think you can order the Fenix Holster separately if you want another one. I've not used mine yet, maybe others out there like me try a WTB ad on MP I might even answer it. The Maxpedition and SpecOps generic holsters might work, but I've not tried them. They might be a bit on the small side. Anything for a SureFire C2 should work I think.

[KiwiMark]

At a local store one of the guys working there told me that he would only ever consider 2 brands of torch - Surefire & Maglite

My guess is that he only knew of a few brands - Surefire, Maglite, Eveready, some cheap plastic junk brand, another cheapo brand and maybe yet another cheap and nasty brand. Of the torches he knew it is easy to see that Maglite and Surefire are the only ones with quality you could rely on. Obviously he was rather ignorant of the other fantastic brands available (Nitecore, Olight, Jetbeam, Fenix, Eagletac, Wolf-eyes, Tiablo, etc).

[RGB_LED]

Shsesc, don't sweat it, I would bet that you know more about flashlights than they do. Seriously.

I visited a local LEO supply shop and I was talking to the sales rep about their products: Surefire, Streamlight and Maglights and, in our conversation, I mentioned Li-ion RCR123's / 18650's, Cree, SSC, Q5 and R2 emitters and so forth. While the rep was very friendly and helpful, they had no clue what I was talking about and I realized that they specialize in outfitting their clients only with the products they stock.

Unless it is a hobby of theirs or its their business model, or they received a shipment with new equipment or if one of the clients asked specifically about it, they would not be aware of the latest lights or emitters or holsters, etc. This is not a criticism of their services, rather, it's human nature. In his mind, they don't stock Fenix, he's never heard of it so it's an 'oddball' or unknown brand that is not recognized (by him). It is, afterall, his job to sell what they have in the shop and I'm sure he does a decent job at it.

Here on CPF, we are seeing the forefront of LED and flashlight technology that 99.99% of the population would not know, or care, about. Nowadays, I enter LEO supply shops, camping and outdoors stores with this thought in mind.

[dano]

Maybe he meant that there are no duty holsters for the off-brand lights.

Outside of this forum, Fenix and all the other off-shore brands are not known to a vast majority of those who use a light professionally.

On another note, some of the replies in this thread are embarassing.

[seaside]

Ignorance is bliss.

[mmajunkie]

Typical KoolAid drinker.

[Cosmo7809]

Delete

[deKatt]

The other day I pulled out a E1b and some moron goes "o I have a light like that, but mines bigger"(with a cocky attitude) so I said "o really? do you know the name of it"
Replies "No but its better than yours"

But his has to be better... it's got 9 led's and runs on 3 AAA batteries.

[Cosmo7809]

But his has to be better... it's got 9 led's and runs on 3 AAA batteries.

Haha, I actually got from my BOSS nun the less

"buts its too small, and only uses one battery"


Ofcourse being my boss, could not really say nothing.

[hyperloop]

Perhaps that store owner is an old fashioned type who needs physical premises in order to classify as a 'real' brand. That is so outmoded in today's internet based world where communications between buyer and supplier take place over email and text messages (at times) and doesnt take into account that a brand owner may be in one country with manufacturing facilities in another.

Micro views like that guy will only stunt his own growth, if he opened his eyes and surfed the net more (especially in the line he is in) he would have a vast opportunity to increase his business.

My own story: pulled out my Jet I in a bar to check the visa bill and the menu etc, (1st mode was set on minimum) the bartender whips out his light (some 9 LED showerhead running on 3xAAAs) and says to me, your light is so dim, how much did you pay for it?

When i told him 75 Singapore dollars (could be more i forget) he was like, 'you got cheated man, i got this for SGD$20.'

Calmly i asked him for a tall glass of water, no ice please which he brought me. Dropped the Jet I in and asked him, "why don't you send your light in there as well to see if it likes swimming with mine?"

After fishing the light out, switched modes (2nd mode max and i was running a 14500) and shut him up completely, then showed him programming and he was floored.

Flashaholics 1 - Smart A** bartender 0

[strinq]

Haha hyperloop that's a good story. Can't wait to go for my next clubbing session and do something like that.

[Monocrom]

Fenix is as fake as the sunrise you see each morning.