Not a real brand?!

Shsesc

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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.
 
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rockz4532

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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

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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 :faint: 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?:devil:

But thats not a good thing to do.


Sorry, did not mean to highjack your thread.
 

Oddjob

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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

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". . . I have a light like that, but mines bigger"
Brilliant. Contradicts himself in fewer than ten words. :ohgeez:

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

GPB

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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

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lol, he probably isnt a "real" flashaholic...:laughing:
(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

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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

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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:crackup:)
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

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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

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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 **** me off and then eventually decide not to buy it. (im not an nice customer if crossed)
 

qip

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shoulda showed him the powa of the fenix :nana:
 

houtex

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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
20070724120722_Photo1.jpg

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

alphazeta

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...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
 

NonSenCe

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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. :whistle:
 

AusKipper

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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

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:laughing: 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' :crackup:.

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. :faint:

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

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At a local store one of the guys working there told me that he would only ever consider 2 brands of torch - Surefire & Maglite :huh2:

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).
 
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