When will quality flashlights hit the mainstream public

[Sharpdogs]

Last weekend I went to a giant corn maze. We went at dusk and we were advised to bring a flashlight or purchase one there There were four of us, so I had my Molle Light, Olight, Photon Proton and one of my Fenix lights. Of course I hade a few Photons as back ups. First off the flashlights they were selling were cheap incandescent lights that probably cost 32 cents. That did not surprise me. What surprised me was what everyone else was carrying. By the time we left it almost pitch black. About a third of the people in maze had no flashlight. Those that did were carrying the strangest lights. One person had a Coleman latern, which in retrospect was probably not a bad idea since he was the only one in his group of ten with a light. Someone's grandma was carrying a giant spotlight. Most lights were the $3 2 D cell incandescents that they probably picked up at the Quickie Mart down the street. I did not see one maglight, or anything that put out more than 10 lumens. I know I am preaching to the choir here, but LEDs have been out for around a decade, Target can be a new flashaholics favorite store, there are no excuses for not having decent flashlight. It looks like our passion has not filtered down to the masses. Thanks for letting me rant.

 

[Norm]

I guess most people haven't seen the light yet
Norm

 

[lctorana]

Preaching to the choir is pointless. They are too busy shuffling their music and sucking peppermints to listen.

Oh, and flashohlics in a cornfield?

There'd be so much competition on who had the brightest torch that someone would start a fire...

 

[PayBack]

No delete option

 

[BSCOTT1504]

I don't think we will ever see large numbers of the general public carrying quality lights. Or even small numbers for that matter! :sigh:

 

[spoonrobot]

They won't.

Unless intrinsically interested; people buy what they need and afford. Most do not need any more light than the typical 0.88$ Big Box light can provide and most cannot afford to spend 50$+ on a flashlight they won't often use.

The mainstream public has more options for decent quality flashlights now than ever before at their typical purchase points. We shall see how well they respond to the current selection.

 

[LA OZ]

I am in China at the moment and was amazed that outdoor stores do not stock good flashlights. They have backpacks, tents, etc... but only stock those cheapo 5 to 10 niche type leds that takes 3 AAA. I am very disappointed and would thought I be in a buying spree. So far the only high power LED I have seen is a luxeon one.

 

[Manzerick]

I can't wait to go to my first cornfield with the "Floody McGee"!!! 637 Lumens...Beast torch!!!

Do you think I'll start a fire? :lolsign:



I don't think good torches will become common until the price becomes as cheap or comparable to the other options.

On a side note, I work for a telcom co and am in a small partioned office (keep us away from GP...no really!!) and the lights went out and the energency lights DID NOT WORK!!! I lit up the place and mamrched the troops out but....le tme tell you this.... since the utility of myhobby was shown, it was laughted at. Not that it mattered to mme... but...


Not it gets a little r-e-s-p-e-c-t

Oh, and flashohlics in a cornfield?

There'd be so much competition on who had the brightest torch that someone would start a fire...

 

[FlashSpyJ]

Flashligths seems to be one of thoose things that "ordinary" people wont take interest in.
People that are doing some sport or other things out in the woods etc, spend alot of money on their equippment, but they wont spend more than a few buck at the most on a flashlight! And if they do, they goes to the local sporting store and ask them what to buy. They will leave with a very over priced flashlight that isnt that good anyway! Since Im interested in lights, this bothers me. But I guess that theres alot of things that I neglect that others think I should spend some money on, like more fashionable clothes...

People here in Sweden thats not interested in lights, cant really buy really decent lights even if they wanted to, the led lights here that are "to of the line" right now is old luxeon leds! 3W and some 5W at the most! And I have seen one K2 led light. They are very expensive and not something I ever would spend my money on!

I wonder if high end led or any other kind of good flashlights ever will hit the Swedish market at all....

 

[AvPD]

wont spend more than a few buck at the most on a flashlight!
People here in Sweden thats not interested in lights

With the number of daylight hours during winter at those latitudes I would have thought that having a good torch would be mainstream.

 

[Marduke]

My experience with a cashier the other day pretty much sums it up. I found a $30 light (Rayovac Highbeam 3 watt) on clearance for $8. When scanned, it was still coming up for $30 at the register. As usual, most cashiers just listen for the scan beep and don't look at what's going on, but I pointed it out to her, and showed her the clearance sticker.

Her response was "$30 for a flashlight!! That must be wrong, I would never pay $30 for a flashlight. I won't pay over $2 for a flashlight. Only time I've payed more for a flashlight was $20 for one of those crank lights that don't need batteries. I would never pay that much for a flashlight unless it didn't ever need batteries."

I didn't have the heart to tell that that unless it was a Freeplay (which I HIGHLY doubt) that her $20, no-battery flashlight was a ripoff.

 

[jdong]

I don't think we'll see quality flashlights hit the mainstream until they can be sold at under $10, or until the next major power outage happens and everyone realizes those D-cell dollar store lights don't last 5 years of storage in the emergency supply box....

I mean this with utmost respect to this forum and its community, but look at "I'm new here and want flashlight recommendations" threads. How many times has a sub-$50 flashlight been suggested?

We might see some sense/value in an expensive, premium-grade flashlight, but most people don't. I just had a friend the other day ask for an EDC recommendation, and I pointed out the LM31, which I find to be extremely reasonably priced for its value, and he was shocked at the price of the thing.

 

[scottaw]

Before i discovered CPF i was just like a lot of you guys, i had several maglites, had some since i was a kid actually. I assumed the maglite was the standard in basically all american households.... So anyways we were at work one day and the power ran out, so i ran out to my car and grabbed my 2D mag, brought it and, and everyone said "wow, that's a really nice flashlight" I kept my little P2D on low so they could keep thinking the mag was nice. So until the maglite goes away (never) that's gonna be "overpriced" for the regular population, so they'll NEVER have really nice lights.

P.S. That mag is just a stock 2d, not even a magled.

 

[tarponbill]

If you mean quality as defined by costs more than a current 2D Cell maglite, I doubt it will ever happen. Case in point -- We were clobbered by Wilma, our neighborhood was a wreck. The power was out for days. So we know what emergency is. I had Maglites, most people on my block had plastic Walmart $5 special 2D incadescent. Barely a flashlight, surly not an emergency tool.

For years, well since Maglites came out, 4D cell Maglites were my emergency kit. A few waterproof Pelicans were in the mix as well. But this time, we had real repairs to do, real problems to fix, and no power, no light, no help. My Maglights proved too cumbersome to hold, too heavy and needed an extra person to hold. Roof damage was the main problem we had, it needed fixing quick to prevent damage to our house interior. It was only with ground level illumination that I was able to repair our roof. Not pretty, and probably not safe to work on the roof in the rain at night. But you do what you have to do, I guess.

So I went hunting for better, lighter, handier, flashlights. After finding a few good flashlights, lanterns and headlamps, I showed them off in the neighborhood. Sigh, no one cared. They dug out their Walmart $5 specials and said, hey this is all I need. The miniMag is viewed as expensive for a flashlight.

While shopping this hurricane season for supplies, the pallets of $5 lights and other "toys" lined the isles of the local big box stores, and were being bought at an alarming rate. People would rather buy a $500 generator than a $30 flashlight.

So it's not going to happen, unless the price gets down to $5.

At least the wife has listened, she has recently proceeded to fence off what she calls "her lights". She has turned in her $5 Walmart special. Most were formerly my best lights, but ...

 

[alanagnostic]

I don't think the masses will be using "quality" flashlights any time in the future. Lots of people I know that have been through an emergency that would have gone much better with a good light still don't think they need one. I think it has a lot to do with the mentality of many people these days. Many people do not value resourcefullness or independence...mostly because they have never really needed it. I think a lot of people honestly believe that the government will come to their rescue if things go wrong. It's sad, but I don't see us reversing course anytime soon.

 

[Gatsby]

I recently got a light for my 5YO to take camping. I got a LM301 - lux version since it uses easy to find AAs which I also have a fair supply of rechargeables, tough, easy to use clicky, and small enough to carry around and be useful. I got it used so it was pretty inexpensive for the quality. My brother in law asked why I bothered with a decent light (and he knows my habits) and didn't just get a 2AA Maglight...

He's seen some of my lights and always been impressed, but to him, and to most of America, the Mag really is the top of the pyramid. And the reality is that, particularly in an LED format, they really are pretty well made lights for a fair price. I've never had a C or D cell light malfunction (the twist switch on the AA and AAA lights seems a bit less reliable) and I still have some in cars as our backup lights.

My neighbor and I went out last Halloween with our boys and he pulled out an Inova X5 - I was a bit suprised and asked him about it. He is an engineer and does some on site inspections so he needs a good reliable light - but bought this in a pinch since he'd forgotten his and it was available in the big box store down the street. He was a bit appalled to pay close to $40 for a light, but once he used it he really saw the value of it as a tool. But he uses one regularly so he can justify it.

I don't find the average person using a mag that surprising, but I do find it surprising when someone who uses and relies on a light for their work uses a lousy light. Some electricians were doing some work in our ceiling here at the office, struggling to see something with their weak MiniMags and I pulled out the HDS and gave them a little bit of light on primary and they were amazed. They don't really need an HDS but surely a MagLED or perhaps an Inova Bolt or something like that would work a lot better for them. And I see this all the time - they've got lots of top line contractor grade tools and a $5.00 flashlight.... THAT I can't figure.

 

[RebelRAM]

What I can't figure out is who is buying lights at Target. Every time I go in there there are always a couple people looking a the various offerings from Inova, River Rock, and Dorcy. They aren't CPFers and I don't see them in my neighborhood either. Most of the people I work with, if they have a light it's a $2 light.

My friends and family are starting to catch on though. Most all of them have at least a Mag or two. My brothers are really liking the LED upgrades for Mags. They also like the LED Streamlights I have bought for them as gifts. My dad has been borrowing my Surefires more often lately, so I am waiting for him to ask for his own. I got him a Mag last year and dropped a TerraLux in it and he really likes that light.

So I think it is catching on, at least with some people. They may not be as interested as your average CPFer, but quite a few of them do appreciate having a good light.

 

[Fallingwater]

When will quality flashlights hit the mainstream public

Never, probably. The mainstream public does not need quality flashlights. And in the rare "emergency" occasions when they notice that yes, owning one might be a good idea, they often promptly forget that fact when they come home and get abundant lighting at the flick of a switch.

About the maximum you can hope for is for people to buy the cheap chinese luxeon knockoffs. They are crappy, but still much better than ordinary cheap supermarket flashlights.
You can get them for around €5 in chinese stores around here.

 

[Khaytsus]

I know people who regularly geocache at night and all they carry are the $3 2C incan's. I'm sure half the time they're banging the light trying to eek a little more dull yellow out of it.

IMO the River Rock and such from Target are not the best deals, but they're better to have than a cheapy plastic light.

 

[Numbers]

Never
Because the average Joe is just looking for enough light to keep them from bumping into something. I think they would just as soon use a candle except for the fact they would have to carry matches, instead of pushing a switch (that will hopefully work) on a $2.00 flashlight.
I only own a couple of decent lights and my friends (including some technically savvy ones) think I am nuts - especially now that I have to buy some of the updated SF's.