Saw the light in todays sale paper.....had to go look. Bought it, went out to my jeep and opened it. Looked it over, took in back within a couple of minutes. WHAT A PIECE OF JUNK. MADE BY KOBALT.COST IS 50.00, WAY OVER PRICED. USES CR123. RATED AT 90 LUMENS. TWO STAGE FORWARD CLICKY, HIGH LOW. DOES HAVE A TWO WAY CLIP LIKE THE E1B. IT EVEN ATTACHES JUST LIKE SUREFIRE CLIPS. CREE LED, OP REFLECTOR,PLASTIC LENS. THREADS WERE EXTREMELY ROUGH, BODY VERY THIN. STAY AWAY FROM IT, NOT WORTH YOUR TIME OR MONEY.
New Tactical Light at Lowe's- DONT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY.
- Thread starter mhubble
- Start date
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NotSoBrightBob
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2008
- Messages
- 182
Wow 50 skins for a Lowe's light, that seems kind of on the high side of where they usually go unless it's an SF. I'm sure some overseas company is making it for Lowes to market under their Kobalt brand. Just curious what attracted you to it in the first place. I see you didn't like the threads and the thin body, was the beam lousy as well?
streetmaster
Enlightened
I'm curious to know too. Was it just the quality?
fieldops
Flashlight Enthusiast
Sorry you didn't like the build quality. What was the beam like? good flood? tint?
Beam wasnt bad, but wasnt worth 50.00 either. Typical cree beam. Doubt if it was a true 90 lumens. Look more like 60. What attracted me too it was the picture in the sale paper. Looked like the end of a surefire. And like all flashaholic's you see a new light and you just HAVE to go try it.
It was the quality versus the price that made me take it back. This light would be a fair buy at 15.00 -20.00.
Sounds like a China made $18 type of light that you could buy at places like DX/KD/QCG rebadged and overpriced for the US retail market. Dorcy has done it for years (albeit with mostly 3AAA format flashlights), so it's not too surprising that you'd see these kind of lights show up at Lowes. Don't get me wrong as I don't mind and often like these kinds of cheap lights, but not for $50!
choaticwhisper
Enlightened
Yeah seen the paper this morning and went to lowes as soon as I got off work, Couldnt find that light anywhere.
Thanks for the heads up, I will not be checking back for it.
Thanks for the heads up, I will not be checking back for it.
Backpacker
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2007
- Messages
- 43
Photo from Lowes Ad
Kobalt High Intesity LED Tactical Flashlight $48.97
sku # 300030
Could not find it in any of the Lowes within 50mi. It isn't even on their website?
(I guess their TaskForce 2C Cree is still the one to beat)
Sgt. LED
Flashaholic
Thank you for the warning! :twothumbs
I made a similar mistake with the Gerber "Tactical Trio." 
S'why I don't look twice at anything branded "tactical" and costs under $80 without a good, solid review on CP.
And then my C2 wants to know why I'm being unfaithful.
-Trevor
S'why I don't look twice at anything branded "tactical" and costs under $80 without a good, solid review on CP.
And then my C2 wants to know why I'm being unfaithful.
-Trevor
matrixshaman
Flashlight Enthusiast
I got a Kobalt tape measure at Lowe's. It's now sitting in a corner all pulled out because it won't retract. I tried returning it and they would not take it back - it was only a week old - KOBALT is cheap junk Lowe's is selling at prices that make it look like it must be quality but it obviously is not - AVOID KOBALT anything.
A little off topic but I thought all the Kobalt stuff was Lifetime Warranty. Supposedly doesn't apply to saw blades, but I took back a hand saw with a dull blade... no questions. YMMV
Thanks for the warning on the light, I usually check out the Lowes flashlight section.
Thanks for the warning on the light, I usually check out the Lowes flashlight section.
Shag
Newly Enlightened
This is a new item to Lowe's. I run the hardware and tool departments at the store I work at and hadn't seen one until today. I didn't even know about this flashlight until last tuesday. We get new items in all the time and don't always have a spot on the shelf for them, then upper management sometimes gets upset when we get creative.
As to this, I apologize that this happened. The store should have taken it back. No reason not to. Not all Kobalt tools are the same. The mechanics tools are made by the same people that make Craftsman mechanics tools.
I've bought several Kobalt tools and felt they were a good value. If I used them every day I would probably buy a more expensive and higher quality tool but for my needs they work out pretty well for the price. I saw the ad in the paper and was wondering about the light, but I will probably avoid it at that price since you can get pretty darn nice lights nowadays for 50 bucks.
kobalt socket sets rock , i actually prefer them over craftsman, they are built more like macs imo ,, tighter tolerances ,, and there gear wrenches are nice to , i bought just one because of something i needed it for and it was smooth as silk , i may go back and buy the set hmmmm
madi05
madi05
Photo from Lowes Ad
Kobalt High Intesity LED Tactical Flashlight $48.97
sku # 300030
Could not find it in any of the Lowes within 50mi. It isn't even on their website?
(I guess their TaskForce 2C Cree is still the one to beat)
It's on the website now, just search for either:
Item #: 300030 Model: TAD3V3W
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=300030-50584-TAD3V3W&lpage=none
