toughen up chinese flashlights!

Edi

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There is no doubt the Chinese manufacturers have met and exceeded the top manufacturers in regards to power output, regulation, ui's and aesthetics. I think now they have to take a step back and toughen up there torches. HDS torches, elzetta torches, surefire torches.... we want to see how much punishment torches can take like the 3 mentioned above! I even remember as a kid maglights commercial where they ran it over with a truck... and it still works. Am I the only one that wants the Chinese manufacturers to toughen up or are there others out there?
 

Kevinkw1

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I think they are decent in terms of toughness, especially for the price! Sure the hds are in class of their own in terms toughness, but they are $200 for a cr123 size 200 lumen light. Maybe if they expand their product line for premium toughness is an option?
 

Edi

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ye i know what your saying but just last week i bought a zebralight sc600... it was that or the hds 170. I chose the ZL because it was half the price yes. But i also thought when will ever need the toughness of the HDS?. Within a week i dropped my ZL from my pant pocket and smashed the lens on tiles! (ZEBRALIGHT have sent me a replacement glass as soon as i told them.) I was so happy with the SC600 and is probably my favorite most functional torch. But i couldn't help but be a little dissapointed with the break.

All im saying is that instead of trying to get that extra 50 lumens on the last model or the competition, make it tougher and show us what it will do. If the sc6oo was as tough as the HDS and kept all the features it had i will pay whatever they ask!
 

ValeTudoGuy

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IMO Chinese manufacturers ARE the top manufacturers now. With the exception of a couple of brands like the ones you mentioned all the "top" cutting edge flashlights come from china and many are very tough and are also sometime driven over by vehicles to prove it.

BTW I don't buy into the whole if a truck can roll over it then it's a tough light, most lights are cylinders of metal and the cylinder happens to be quite a strong structure by it's nature. A better reflection of toughness is shock and fast deceleration impact resistance which will mess with the inherantly weak parts of a light... The electronics and glass.

Now had mag in those days had an advert of a guy throwing it at a wall, then not many people would have purchased the light as the end result would have been broken bulbs/reflectors and lenses.

In LED's we have a more resilient component than a bulb and the trend for most EDC flashlights is for a much smaller lens than on a mag, making it structurally more solid and harder to break.

This leaves us with the assembly the LED sits on and the switch. China is one of the worlds largest production centres for electronic components and assembled electronic goods, china build some of the cheapest stuff all the way up to cost no object best in the world products. Simply put china are on more than a level playing field with any German, American, Japanese, British, Swiss, (Enter name of a country historically considered producers of quality product.)


I simply dont agree with the thought (all chinese goods are low quality.)


P.S if you want HDS "Quality" lens, just install a UCL lens in a Chinese light and put a rubber O ring in front and behind, as that's pretty much all HDS do.

 
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Edi

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I dont agree with that statement either. (all chinese goods are low quality.) What I am saying is that maybe they should focus on making there products tougher. they are all trying to out do each other in terms of lumen out put. If one manufacturer made a super tough torch i bet alot of competition would follow suit. As you can see in my sig line all my torches are Chinese except for the old 6d mag. I think they are all great torches but they are all doing the same thing. they all have the same features and ratings (the top manufacturers). Do you understand what I m trying to say? If one of the Chinese manufacturers does it, they will all follow suit and we will have some amazing BUT tough torches that the german, american, japanese, british torches will have no reason to be twice as expensive.
 

Swede74

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I don't have much to add. I just thought my avatar would fit so nicely among the others in this thread. :laughing:
 
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Edi

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I don't have much to add besides that Zebralights are manufactured in China. I just thought my avatar would fit so nicely among the others in this thread. :laughing:

Thread killer! Lol
 

davyro

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Ive got a dereelight CL1H & its really well built & very tough.i own hds & mcgizmo lights so i know what a really well made light is like.To be honest though i havent bought many chinese made lights in the past 2 yrs & i'm not looking to buy anymore in the near future as the best lights i own are U.S made.So ill probably stick to them manufactures that i know & love
 

TEEJ

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Not all American made lights are tough, and not all Chinese lights are not tough.

Its all a question of degree.

For example, THOUSANDS of Surefires suffered broken lenses when dropped...its not limited to Chinese lights by any stretch of the imagination.

ANY light, if it lands wrong, can break a glass lens...its just the involved physics.

Substitute a tougher and less brittle polycarbonate lens, and a lot of breaks are prevented though.


Isolating the lens between two O-rings, making the glass thicker and tempered better, etc, can help to cushion it/protect it on drops, but not always against direct and shock impact, etc. So, just because one guy had a dozen broken SF lens doesn't mean a SF light is not tough...it just means that GLASS is not tough, and, that its a weak link in most lights to start with.
 

JWRitchie76

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I don't think it's a matter of toughness. I do sometimes feel like flashlights are overengineered, meaning they have too many unnecessary parts to comprise their builds. Less moving parts, the less there is to break the tougher the light becomes.
 

Overclocker

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first people complain they're too heavy. then when they're made lightweight, people complain they're not tough enough. so when they toughen them up, people complain they're too heavy. the cycle continues LOL
 

TEEJ

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first people complain they're too heavy. then when they're made lightweight, people complain they're not tough enough. so when they toughen them up, people complain they're too heavy. the cycle continues LOL

LOL

Very true!


Its really about who uses it for what.

Some people are willing to edc a heavy light, and some are not.

Some people will carry a 10" 1 lb light in a pant pocket, and some think a 4" long light is way too big.

Some people can't even UNDERSTAND why OTHER people prefer a particular form factor or UI, and yet, there are people who swear by lights that others simply wouldn't consider.

Its why they make more than one flavor of ice cream.

:D


If you want a heavy 120 lumen light in your pocket, because its more important that it can take a direct hit with a 9mm than be bright, you choose one flavor.

If you want a 750 lumen light in your pocket because its more important to see things in the dark than to take a direct hit with a 9mm, you choose a different flavor.

Other people draw the line at surviving a .22 rim fire, or falling off its shelf (Where its a queen) onto a plush carpet, or 3' onto concrete, or whatever is meaningful in THEIR lives.


There is no WRONG answer, as everyone's needs and priorities, as well as what floats their boat, is different.
 
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CarpentryHero

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If you want your Lights tougher, give em a nice bubble wrap holster ;)

All kidding aside, it doesn't matter where it's from, I'd like to see more sturdy lights on the market. I think the thread title is a poor choice of words as it doesn't matter where it's built to most, and it's offensive to others.
Ask more builders to step up there durability, pot the electronics and make them emp proof :)
 

Colonel Sanders

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All of the Chinese lights in my sig seem pretty darn sturdy to me...though I don't plan on driving nails with any of them....I have a hammer for that.

And a glass lens is apt to break no matter who's flashlight it's installed in.
 

srfreddy

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When you drop a light bezel down onto tile, glass lens are pretty much totaled, unless you're lucky. Its why I switched all my lens on LED's to the slightly diffused Acrylite stuff that Flashlightlens.com, nicer beam and no shatters. I lose light, but w/e.
 

Cataract

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If you need sturdier than current good quality lights can you:


1 - Tell us what you use them for exactly? carpentry? demolition? Fighting lions / large animals? I drop mine on concrete, have corrosive chemical drops on them (or drop them IN the chemicals) regularily and they still look better than most worn lights I've seen on here and keep working flawlessly. (And yes, they are made in China and I never broke a lens)

2 - How solid does it need to be? 10 gauge stainless? bullet-proof Titanium an inch thick? or plain ol' 2 inch cast iron?

All exagerations aside, I think that current lights are sturdy enough for a lot of abuse. If you need a light that can survive a land mine, please keep in mind that a light that can survive longer than its owner is definitely overkill (pun somewhat intended)
 
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