What makes you pay more for a flashlight?

[colin.p]

I certainly am no "flashaholic" by any stretch. However I like "cool" things, and flashlights are cool. I have a couple of Maglites that I bought decades ago, because they were cool and work very well. Then recently, I decided to buy a couple of modern lights that were a little more pricey, because, well they are cool. I don't have a lot of money tied up in them but I have pretty well all my bases covered as I now have one on my person everywhere I go.

 

[flatline]

Desire.

--flatline

 

[turkeydance]

simplicity.
on/off.
that's it.

 

[RichardWad]

Reliability performance ergonomics Surefire

 

[bykfixer]

My brother used to have a $10k+ bicycle and would stew over things like rubber compound for traction in dirt. Funny thing is once he learned air pressure matters he started cruising arorond on a $125 bike from Wal Mart on pavement and has abandoned his obsessive ways.

It's funny how that works sometimes. Me? I took a $59 clearance bike from Kmart and threw a thousand bucks away on it to replace stock items with upgrades to save grams, converting it from a hybrid to a 1911 style racer. Why? Because it's what I wanted to do and I work everyday to make money so I can do stuff like that.

Regarding flashlights, my brother always used a wack-a-palm number until I gave him Fenix E01 and PKDL PL2 one day. Soon after he went to a local box store and bought LED Maglite solitaires and lithium batteries for everybody in his house and stews because in less than a month they had all lost them and use their celphone for light.

I have lights that costed $2 and ones that costed over $100. I see the value in each one knowing the more expensive ones will probably be more reliable. I say probably because everything dies at some point. But seeking after reliability is more likely to create good fortune somewhere down the road when reliability matters.

 

[InvisibleFrodo]

simplicity.
on/off.
that's it.

Shouldn't that make the light cost less money?

 

[jorn]

trits, i pay extra if a light comes with pre installed trits :thumbsup:

 

[scout24]

Reputation of the company. Past experience with the company or their products. Reputation. Durability. Or if it's cool and I want it for some reason.

I am happy to say my last two purchases were both under $60 each, and an upcoming one is under $40. Parts purchases have been a bit pricier though...

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

Shouldn't that make the light cost less money?

That question made me smile.

 

[Tejasandre]

Price.

 

[InvisibleFrodo]

Price.

Indeed.

 

[Blast54]

After a brief discussion with a friend whose idea of a good flashlight is a chinese saturday night special with batteries from the same place and his unwillingness to ever pay more than $20 for a flashlight, batteries, and charger i must ask what actually makes you pay more for a flashlight?

In my case the warranty as well as ease of use come first, secondly things that could come in handy on some models like the Emisar D4S doubling as a lantern etc., but overall i'm willing to pay a bit more for features like a separate mode select system, high CRI, and durability.

Two reasons for me, the first being the fact that with the old cheap ones, it seems as if I always had to rap it against my palm to get it to work. This happened on every flash I had. I think the contacts would just get loose or corroded a bit.

The other being the fact that I can drop a well made flash and not have the thing go into self destruct mode or break the filament in the bulb.

The third ( did I say two?) is the amount and quality of the light they throw..

 

[ven]

For me many factors, where its made, by who, reason behind(be it EDC, military etc etc)reliability, build, warranty, LED and driver choices. So i like in ways a story, be it Henry with HDS with caving and Hogo's part. Developments over the years(decades) no matter how small and maybe not even noticeable......yet improvements. PK with the older surefires, his ideas and designs today put many new lights in the dark. Malkoff and oveready for their ideas and designs as well as the others mentioned. I am sure the WANT comes into it as well haha.

So USA made appeals to me, custom made in some cases. Admittedly some price points i cant afford to easy or at the drop of a hat, not because i dont think it may be worth it, but more on the not having the spare funds.

Be it good or bad, i am at the point of having not too many, but far too many. So i am far more fussy in what i buy or consider than say 3 or 4 years back. Pretty much as i have it mainly covered several times over.

A hanko and okluma dark ti at some point in the future maybe an option. Of course i could sell a few to self fund, but damn and blast i get attached to them all

 

[FLfrk]

Size, UI, durability, reliability

I want it to be small enough to be comfortable in my hand, not too bulky or too minuscule.

I want the mode(s) I require to be easily accessible without having to think too hard or push/twist too many times.

I don't want to have to baby it, or be concerned that if it falls out of my hand or gets wet/dirty, it won't work the next time I need to use it.

I want it to work. Forever. I can't stand when a cheap light dies before the first battery loses its charge.

 

[eh4]

Tint, efficiency, brightness and runtime options, UI, compactness, reliability, durability.