Budget and non budget lights have you been happy with your purchases?

[moldyoldy]

For the most part, budget lights have a lower output than the higher-priced lights as well as more variability between copies of the same model. ie: The Fenix E series vs their LD and PD series. An exception are the Lighthound branded lights. The 1x 18650 Lighthound light is eyebrow-raising for it's output (500 lumens listed - is close to that) and UI. No AR coating on the lens though. It remembers the last level used. The low-battery indicator is not flickering, but fairly fast ramping from low to high and back. The most interesting aspect is that the reflector can be unscrewed leaving a bare XML LED for area lighting. Rather nice for $35.

 

[snofrog]

I have purchased 20 Saik sa-7`s and have only had a few duds out of them . I find them the perfect size for me and they are cheap , like me

 

[Sinke]

I recently purchased the Varta (Rayovac) Indestructible 3x AAA flashlight. It was around $15.
As I owned a 2xaa Maglite till now, boy was I surprised how bright it was! :huh:
I am very happy with it, and considering purchasing them for Christmas presents.

 

[Changchung]

I am very happy with all my lights, from cheap ones from 1$ to the no cheap to 100$

I have trustfire, ultrafire, zebras, spark and others cree light that I mod, all work perfect.

I have more carefull buying batteries than flashlights...

No XXXXfire batteries for me...


SFMI4UT

 

[jamesbeat]

With budget lights you have to be ready to clean, adjust, and resolder things. If you like that kind of thing you can get a "good" light cheap.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

I have quite a few budget lights, a couple stock, but most modded/tweaked.
The biggest problem that I have is finding a driver that does what I like. Most of my cheaper lights came with too many 'disco modes', which are all very well as long as you can hide them so you don't have to cycle through them.
I found a driver that I really like for around $3, so every time I order a CR123A size flashlight, I order one of those drivers to go in it.
I also like to upgrade the led.
While I do like to upgrade the emitter to have the most efficient type, the main reason is to get a neutral color temp. I just can't stand angry blue light, even if it means taking a small drop in lumens.

I have bought a lot of budget lights, and on the whole I have been pleased with them.
For the same price as a higher-end light, I can buy perhaps three budget lights and the parts to upgrade them to my favorite UI, power level etc and have the latest emitter with my preferred color bin.
Reliability is not an issue because, so long as the machining is ok, all of the soldered joints, heatsink bond etc is done by me, so I know it's done right
I also like to add extra touches such as potted electronics, glow epoxy around the emitter etc.

Having said all that, even if I didn't use my budget lights as mod-fodder, I would still be very pleased with what I have got for my money.
I've never received a light that I had to use a soldering iron on just to make it work, and the couple that I have had that were unreliable out of the box only needed to have their contacts cleaned or some such trivial work.

In a nutshell, I have only received one budget light that was absolute garbage (badly cut threads made it unusable*) but even then, I only wasted a comparatively small amount of money, about $8 if I recall correctly.


*I apologize, but I can't remember the make or model of the bad light, but it had many excellent reviews so I can only assume I was just unlucky to have got a defective one.

 

[jamesbeat]

.... I have had bad luck with anything that was made by Trustfire.

See now, I've had really good luck with Trustfires, I own several (I have one in my pocket right now in fact )
I don't have them to hand, but I think the models that I have are the TR-801 and TR-803. The build quality on these two is awesome, they have a separate pill made of solid brass, and the machining is great on all parts.
The one I have on me right now is the SA-2, which is a 1xAA model that I had sitting in a drawer for ages until I 'rediscovered' it while preparing for the hurricane.

These lights have all been dropped, played with by my kids, rolled off surfaces onto hard floors and generally been abused without failing, and I think they are great.

Now, does this mean that I am calling into question speedsix's testimony?

Not a bit of it.

In my experience, the biggest problems with budget lights are quality control and brand consistency.
Quality control issues can often be corrected or ignored (I don't care about an anodizing blemish on a $12 light) but brand consistency is a real issue.

I have had great luck with Trustfire, but there's absolutely no guarantee that my Trustfires were made in the same factory as speedsix's Trustfires, or even by the same company.
Brands are almost meaningless amongst some of the budget names, so you can't go by just the name when buying.
All you can really do is read as many reviews as you can (including weeding out the genuine reviews from the questionable ones) and try not to latch onto brand names as a sign of quality or lack thereof.
I find that this inconsistency seems to be greatest amongst the various *fire brands. Some are awesome hidden gems, some are junk.
It's because of this that I am hesitant to offer recommendations based soley upon a brand name.
I've even heard of different batches of the exact same light having enormous differences in quality, to the extent that reviewers have questioned whether they were even made at the same factory.

So far, the two most consistent brands that I have experienced have been 'Hugsby' and 'Tank007'. I have bought a few of each brand for myself and friends/family and the quality has always been high, but even so, I read some reviews on one flashlight yesterday where they were discussing manufacturing dates as an indicator of whether it was a 'good' one or a 'bad' one.

I have a 1xAAA made by 'Black Cat' which I really love. It is of similar quality and shares some manufacturing 'tells' my Tank007 lights.
Sure enough, there was a Tank007 lanyard in the package!

I'd say that there's just no way of knowing what you're going to get when you buy a light from China, all you can do is read as many reviews as possible on the EXACT model that you are buying, and keep your fingers crossed until it arrives
It's also best to try to shrug your shoulders and remember how little you paid if you do get a bad one (which honestly is pretty rare).

 

[Southpaw1925]

I love my Ultrafire C8 Cree XML-T6, its the brightest light I have owned so far and has the furthest throw too. I have, a Surefire Z2 Combat, modded, with a Cree R5 high voltage LED installed and running off lithium ion batteries, Coast LED 3 watt luxeon (cool back in the day), Luxeon 3 watt Drop in a Mag 3 C cell, 6 Cell Mag, Nite Rider 600lmn Bike light (Cree XML T6. awesome mountain bike lite), Streamlite Stinger incandecent, Minimaglite LED just to name a few. Its construction and anodizing is no where close to my surefire, but that thing cost me $110 ten years ago, and with only 60 lms today, in my opinion, worthless until I upgraded it. If your not planning on using it as a hammer you should be fine. Yes I've used my surefire as a hammer, EDC gets a lot of abuse!

How many meters/yards does your ultrafire Cree XML t6 throw?