Parts availability issues.. even flashlights for that matter!

[DArklite]

I hope I won't come off as sounding paranoid here... but recently there were a few lights that interested me: the Tiablo A8 (for it's regulation with 18650 cells) and the RaidFire Spear.
Try finding a Tiablo A8 with both reflectors today. For that matter, try FINDING a Tiablo A8... and no, I don't mean "in theory" (the DX wait-and-wait scenario). And this light came out what... a year ago? Let me get this right: People who fork out their hard-earned dough and it's gone a year later. It gets worse - if not many lights were produced, you can bet the availability of parts another year or three down the road won't be a satisfying experience if you need them.
Let's move on the the Spear: the only place I see it sold anymore is 4sevens, and now it only comes with a textured reflector. Hello!? Not much of a "Spear" now, is it? 4sevens tried getting me a smooth reflector from the manufacturer with no results, so I crossed the "Smear" off my buying list... and the Spear came out... what... has it even BEEN a year? Where does this leave the proud owners of the Spear that need parts down the road? I'd hate to think that it was destined to be a disposable item if you need parts later on, especially at the price point they sell for.
People, I'm not talking custom-made lights here. But even if I was, I'd be willing to bet that the builders of those lights would have a few parts handy or make them if needed; maybe or maybe not (if they even would be needed).
I realize that technology marches forward; new lights are always being produced, etc. Hell, I've been working in I.T. since the early 90s so no surprises there since technology is now a part of LED lights.
This is, unfortunately, why most of my recent purchases are with producers who I know will have what I need: Surefire, Dereelight and Fenix (their L1&2 and P2 lego's). Sure, I'll stick my neck (and wallet) out and try new things (iTP C9 with it's lego-ing possibilities) from time to time, but what do you think? AM I being paranoid? :candle:

 

[Closet_Flashaholic]

I fear we may be victims of our own success.. By constantly demanding products that are on the cutting (dare I say "bleeding"?) edge from manufacturers, in order to provide this, the manufacturers have given their lights very short life-cycles and most probably don't have the financial means to maintain supplies/parts of every light that they supply. Here today. gone tomorrow.

If you purchase a light for $50, you can't really expect a manufacturer to stock parts for that light ad-infinitum. Parts inventories represent overhead for storage and those costs take away money that needs to be spent in R&D / pre-production for the next generation. It's tough to have it both ways...

If this is the primary criteria for your flashlight purchases, you might want to consider Surefire or another major supplier of lights to government agencies where they have long-term support/parts in their contracts and civilians will benefit from the availability as well, albeit at a relatively high cost. But hey, if you want to play, you have to pay. The other consequence of this is that you won't be getting a light on the cutting edge. This is because of the extra development time it takes for products for the military. So typically lights from these manufacturers will always be 1 or 2 generations "behind" what you could get from a much smaller/nimbler manufacturer. Compromises are exactly that.

I would say, pretty much any light that costs under $200, is basically a throw-away after the warranty is expired. That's why I only deal with one or two suppliers here that have very good replacement/return policies, as long as you are honest and don't abuse them (the policies).

Flashlights, in some respects are very much like the Personal Computer industry. Parts/CPUs/Memory/Hard disks are constantly being obsoleted. The only reason that this is tolerated is because of part interchangeability. Unfortunately, flashlight manufacturer's have no such incentive.

 

[kramer5150]

I am positive you are not alone. Thats why I think Surefire is such an outstanding company, and personally the only brand of flashlight I would spend over $50-60 on.