The more I think I will actually need my light for whatever task I'm undertaking, the more I gravitate towards my higher end lights. I find that if you spend 100+ on a light, it will be very reliable and effective, and more often than not, an expensive light will have a good warranty. So, more expensive lights make better user lights in my opinion. My pretty little brass and copper cheaper lights are usually my shelf queens. For instance, my malkoff sees a lot more hard use than my lumintop cu tool, despite just the head on my malkoff being triple the price of the toolCU.