lights you regret buying? why?

[Chrontius]

No regrets.
Well, a statistically insignificant percentage of regrets.

My Pelican M3 LED is awful dim by modern standards and has a side-mounted reverse clicky... but it introduced me to Luxeon Star power LEDs. So I guess I still don't regret it, may yet put a Seoul high-CRI thing in there.

Do regret the 4xAA thing I was going to use as a cheap incan mod host.
Do regret the Underwater Kinetics 2xAAA side-by-side 'penlight'. It was fine for a while, but the lexan bezel disintegrated and the reflector blackened in my underwear drawer, with no batteries in place to provide acid. :scowl: I called them, and it wasn't covered under warranty (even though I'd call it a straight material defect).

One of my first lights--the SureFire 9AN. I was clueless about rechargeable lights and just trusted the raving reviews of SF on this forum. I justified the steep price (for me) of the 9AN by thinking that I would save tons of money on CR123s in the long run. After a short while, the B90s started crapping out on me big time and the run time was poor to begin with. Even after I got 2 replacement B90s at 2 different periods, the problem resumed after some time.

Hard lesson learned, but I still feel like it wasn't my fault. How should one expect a BMW--SureFire to have constant problems. The 9AN collects dust for years now and by that time I discovered rechargeable lithiums.

How much do you want for it?

6D Mag. I want to mod it into something super to justify the size, but I have/can do it to smaller lights. Any tips on what to do will be appreciated. :devil:

D-ROP. Six 10 Ah D-Nimh cells, high-temperature optics, and a Pelican 3854 bulb. Math says three hours at 1000 lumens, how's that for you? Alternately, six and a half hours at 400 lumens. This sir, is a hotwire for hurricanes (or zombie apocalypses). You can also throw in a stock Mag 6D Xenon for ... I'm not going to calc runtime, it's long. Also, a bi-pin adapter can be used along with some crazy Welch-Allyn bulb, I'm sure, but I like my potted ROP bulbs.

 

[MarNav1]

I guess the only light I "regret" buying was a LED Lenser 3 "chip" light that takes 3 "N" cells. After I found CPF it quickly became unused and I junked it. It was just an uninspiring light. Also the AAA Solitare, totally worthless IMO. It went in the trash quickly too.

 

[Per Arne]

For the moment;
- SureFire M3 (------)
- SureFire C3 (after I got the LeefGear 2x 18500/3x 123A)
- JetBeam III Titanium (18650 only... )
- Princeton Tec Surge (lamps going )
-

 

[mon90ey]

I don't really have regrets, just minor annoyances, best summed up as the price I've paid to go through the learning curve with these lights. You know, like you can see the mud in front of you, but you really don't know how deep it is until you step off in in. I love my Fenix lights for the most part. My L1D's and L2D's get the most use for the heavy lifting, and My E01 gets the most overall use. My LD01 is pretty good, too, but the UI has me quite annoyed. Got too used to my E01 twisty single level, now the LD01 seems to be a bit of a hassle. I guess I'll keep it, though, and run rechargeables in it. The real love/hate relationship is with my 2 P2D's. I have two of them and love the tint and the output on both, but the hassle of having to order the batteries to keep from paying out the yingyang for them is a real PITB. Thought about getting a P3D. Lots and lots of light, but that would just double the problem. Couple that with the fact that you really can't run a rechargeable with any kind of capacity in either one of them safely relegates them to a backup to the LxD's as spares in my extra LxD battery tubes, which really negates the advantage of running the CR123 batteries in the first place. Bummer. But that's OK. I'll get out of the mud eventually. Can't wait to see what 4Sevens will come out with.

 

[defloyd77]

Oh how can I forget all of the 3aaa lights without resistors? I don't really hate 3aaa too much, but these guys fry their leds, although they were kind of impressive, esecially one with the triple .5 watt ground down 5mm.

 

[Monocrom]

Several regrets...

Fenix TK10 ~
This light received a lot of praise when it first came out. (Especially by those CPFers lucky enough to get their hands on one early).

That huge amount of praise, and the several reviews on CPF that followed, caused a policy change. It's why we can no longer post reviews directly onto the Reviews sub-forum.

The light itself was supposed to address many of the short comings of the Fenix T1. It was supposed to be the light from China that could finally compete on even footing with all the features that make Surefire lights so great... Didn't quite turn out that way. The pocket clip is an absolute joke, and clearly nothing but an after-thought. While the overall build-quality was very good, it wasn't better than what I've gotten with my four other Fenix lights.

Any coin-cell light costing more than .99 cent ~
The $12 and $20 coin-cell lights are not brighter than the .99 cent versions. They're not more water-proof. Other than multi-modes, they offer no advantages.

Solarforce L600 ~
P*ss poor build-quality. That's what I got for wanting a bright as Hell inca at a low price. Cheap & Bright... And that's exactly what I got, with nothing else. Quality issues include shaped cork being used as a vital internal component and, a rock-hard momentary tailcap that works reliably on other lights.

I ended up getting a more expensive, but better quality version of the L600. I bought a Leef C-M 2x18650 body, and then bought a slightly used Surefire M4 off of the MarketPlace. (Well, I bought every part except the stock M4 body). I ended up with a rechargeable, Leef-bodied, M4. Then got the highest output Lumens Factory 9volt lamp I could find.

My M4 set-up cost far more, but now I have a bright as Hell inca that I can actually rely on.

Cabela's LED flashlights ~
Rebadged G&P models. Didn't know that when I bought them. Bought two. One fell apart literally a few minutes after leaving the store, the other one is functional; but build-quality on both is lacking.

 

[ZMZ67]

Not too many regrets but there are a couple that come to mind.Wish I had not purchased so many multi 5MM LED lights.All powered by three AAAs and of low quality.Seemed like good cheap utility lights when I first found cpf but I quickly found they were unreliable and offered poor performance.
Biggest dissapointment was a 2CR123 Xenon/LED combo light from Browning.The light seemed to be well made but the two red leds didn't work all the time and it has a horrible incan beam that is ruined by the way the 6 LEDs are placed in the reflector.The main Xenon bulb never seemed all that bright either.$50 at the time(before I found CPF)it is easily the light I regret buying the most.

 

[Juggernaut]

You can also throw in a stock Mag 6D Xenon for ... I'm not going to calc runtime, it's long.

14 hours:thumbsup:.

 

[Raytech]

negs: too loose twisty so it turns on too easily. (and it should be a "reverse" twist.. twist tight to OFF and not the otherway around.)QUOTE]

What? reverse twist? It's lefty loose righty tighty. :thinking:

 

[DHart]

And DHart, at least you didn't mention the MicroStream, I was thinking about that while reading your post.

Hey.. I don't regret buying the MS... it is a nice little light. And the body makes a great accessory for the L0D/LD01! :thumbsup:

 

[NonSenCe]

heh raytech..there are screws and threads that work the other way too.

(didnt some old american cars have them too.. dodge? and bicycle pedal) the "wronghanded threads" or "russian threads" as i call them.

but i meant that the twisty switch should work differently that it does aka change it to: turning it loose to turn it on. and tighten it to turn it off.

most twisties i have tried, work "wrong" way.. you are supposed to carry it with loose "nut" and when it goes beyond the small thresh hold to when it is "tight" the light turns on (without intent).

to me it would make more sence to be: tight->OFF, loose-> ON.

 

[jefft]

Regalight EDC. Crappy UI, poorly designed, complete absence of customer support and followup from the parent company.

 

[TECENG]

I bought one of the original Rexlights on my first pre-order. I got caught up in all the hype. Wow, what a joke. HORRIBLE UI and I was not impressed with the beam at all. It has been relegated to the backup of my backup in my BOB.

 

[Illum]

new E2L:shakehead

• its considerably cheaper than what I had in mind
• the beam profile was way too useful for my needs and had a good balance between spill and reach
• Runtime is ridiculous, I can barely finish a box of CR123as at years end, eliminating need of rechargeables from my inventory all together.
• Single stage proved more usable than multimode
• The design is not tactical, very adaptable for any gathering or casual EDC.
• the tint on mine just happened to be creamy white, which eliminated a couple "secondary" lights off the table after a little comparison

If I hadn't bought it I might have acquired much more lights by now...but no...my journey for the perfect light pretty much ends here

 

[savumaki]

Wolfeyes Explorer- weighs twice my SF E2e, is much bigger, uses same bats, has only 3/4 of the output- but in the heat of the moment it sounded good; but now it makes for an unusual paperweight/dust collector.

 

[Gothmog]

Surefire L7 Kit for 260 Euros.The Light was a nice Workhorse but the B90 Batteries :shakehead were the biggest Crap ever that crossed my Way

 

[Illum]

Surefire L7 Kit for 260 Euros.The Light was a nice Workhorse but the B90 Batteries :shakehead were the biggest Crap ever that crossed my Way

its odd to know there's numerous cases of B90s literally bought in the beginning of the year not being able to hold a charge near the end of ther year

 

[DimeRazorback]

I regret buying a second 2AA Mini Mag :thumbsdow

Thought they were the bees knees... I was wrong!

 

[AusKipper]

Gerber Tracer Headlamp.

1. Not very bright
2. Extremely uncomfortable to wear for more than 3 minutes
3. Not waterproof in any way, and feels as if its going to break at any minute
4. The most disappointing thing was, i brought it to replace a cheap (Winchester) headlamp, that i paid 1/3 of that amount of money for, and soon found that the cheap headlamp was twice as good!!
5. I made this purchase AFTER i had found CPF, and had i done a little searching i would never have brought it

Anyway, I now have a Zebralight H501 on the way, and I think i have done my research properly this time...

I wrote more about it here:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/231060

Regards,
Kipper

 

[Zatoichi]

The two big Mags I bought just before I became really interested in flashlights. I bought LED dropins for both of them to make them more useable, but they're just too big. I know there's some impressive upgrades/mods I can do, but I'm not willing to as they'll still be too big to carry. The 4xD Mag is now a toilet roll holder.