My Streamlight PolyStinger that I carried on duty for over 5 years. I did drop it and have the bulb die once, but it was a pretty old bulb by then anyway. I just sent that old beater in to Streamlight, and they put a whole new body on it. I wish I'd taken a picture of how it looked before and after. BIG difference. Thanks Streamlight.
your lights that have NEVER failed?
- Thread starter Robocop
- Start date
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BentHeadTX
Flashlight Enthusiast
Lights that have NEVER failed
Peak Mediterranean EDC 1.5 years
Peak Matterhorn (wife's EDC) 2.5 years
Peak Kilamanjaro White/Red/UV 2.5 years
Peak Baltic 2AAA EDC 5 months
MillerMods 1.7 watt L1P (twisty) helmet light 1 year
Arc AA (not used)
Arc AAA red LED (rarely used)
Fenix L1P (used as bike light) 1.4 years
FireFlyIII EDC keychain 1 year
Inova X5 2 years
LuxeonV nFlex Mag mod 2 years
Lights that have failed
Streamlight Batonlite 1.5 years (lightly used, board failure)
Streamlight Luxeon Jr 6 months (switch/board failure)
Arc AAA-P (would not turn on transistor problem)4 months
Aurora 1.5W Jupiter 2AA broken switch 1 day
I have three Mediterraneans. One HA-III 2AA with Kroll as a house light, one Stainless 2AA twisty as work light and an HA-III RCR123 twistie on a magnet/clamp at work. My red/UV Peaks are for "desert use" and have extensive use when needed. As ViReN stated in his post, there is a good reason the Peaks never fail...great contacts, potted electronics and the LEDs are not overdriven (unless you get Ultra versions) I have been using a total of ten Peaks and they have never given me a problem.
Peak Mediterranean EDC 1.5 years
Peak Matterhorn (wife's EDC) 2.5 years
Peak Kilamanjaro White/Red/UV 2.5 years
Peak Baltic 2AAA EDC 5 months
MillerMods 1.7 watt L1P (twisty) helmet light 1 year
Arc AA (not used)
Arc AAA red LED (rarely used)
Fenix L1P (used as bike light) 1.4 years
FireFlyIII EDC keychain 1 year
Inova X5 2 years
LuxeonV nFlex Mag mod 2 years
Lights that have failed
Streamlight Batonlite 1.5 years (lightly used, board failure)
Streamlight Luxeon Jr 6 months (switch/board failure)
Arc AAA-P (would not turn on transistor problem)4 months
Aurora 1.5W Jupiter 2AA broken switch 1 day
I have three Mediterraneans. One HA-III 2AA with Kroll as a house light, one Stainless 2AA twisty as work light and an HA-III RCR123 twistie on a magnet/clamp at work. My red/UV Peaks are for "desert use" and have extensive use when needed. As ViReN stated in his post, there is a good reason the Peaks never fail...great contacts, potted electronics and the LEDs are not overdriven (unless you get Ultra versions) I have been using a total of ten Peaks and they have never given me a problem.
greenLED
Flashaholic
Pelican M6
Arc LS (stock)
Pila GL3
CMG Infinity (Ultra, Task Light, Ultra-G)
Gladius
Arc LS (stock)
Pila GL3
CMG Infinity (Ultra, Task Light, Ultra-G)
Gladius
Robocop
Moderator, *Mammoth Killer*
Looks like Peak is the common denominator thus far. I have had a few over the years and really liked them however simply lost interest as Peak was just so slow to update anything....I think I just traded them off or broke them trying to mod them however now I have none. You just do not hear much from Peak anymore....are they still a major player?....
I do have one Peak light that was a prototype sent to me long ago to test on duty. It is I believe a 3 watt Lux in a 2 AA body with what looks like a IMS20 reflector. Come to think of it this light never failed me and I still have it in the bottom of my duty bag. As far as I know it is the only one made as Peak never introduced it......maybe it will be worth something some day and it is a very nice light. I almost forgot this Peak as it has been about 2 years since I received it and after some brief testing I just left it in my bag.
I do have one Peak light that was a prototype sent to me long ago to test on duty. It is I believe a 3 watt Lux in a 2 AA body with what looks like a IMS20 reflector. Come to think of it this light never failed me and I still have it in the bottom of my duty bag. As far as I know it is the only one made as Peak never introduced it......maybe it will be worth something some day and it is a very nice light. I almost forgot this Peak as it has been about 2 years since I received it and after some brief testing I just left it in my bag.
BentHeadTX
Flashlight Enthusiast
Robocop said:
I have two Peak 2AA lights with IMS 20mm reflectors, they are called the Mediterranean with optional 2AA body. Think of a large head Carribean and you have the Mediterranean. Not small, not sexy, not WOW bright but it always works, does not overheat and can take a beating. When it has to work when at work, my Peaks do the job.
Keychain lights need more pizazz though... hence the FF3.
Good point about Peaks, I have a Matterhorn 1-led stainless steel "high" powered (i.e. not overdriven or "ultra") unit and it's probably one of the most bombproof lights out there. It's never failed but I didn't count it because I don't use it much (too heavy). I've got lots of other lights that I didn't count for similar reasons, including quite a few that are still in unopened packaging. I figure that if you leave a light sitting in a drawer unopened, it's not very impressive to say it hasn't failed 
.
.Fenix L2P: Dropped several times onto hard floor (accidents), hit my car once and fell onto pavement (accident), thrown against wall (on purpose). Switch on the back clicks, lens is intact, and light still comes out of the front. The light has not failed me yet.
L0P-SE lives on my keychain so really hasn't taken much abuse (except for being purposefully thrown against a wall) but CPF will be the first to know if it fails :naughty:
1xAAA Clone: For $5 it's amazingly reliable. One of these days I'm going to get around to running it over with my car to see what happens.
L0P-SE lives on my keychain so really hasn't taken much abuse (except for being purposefully thrown against a wall) but CPF will be the first to know if it fails :naughty:
1xAAA Clone: For $5 it's amazingly reliable. One of these days I'm going to get around to running it over with my car to see what happens.
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By fail, I take that to mean in an incandescent not to include a bulb burning out since that is the nature of the beast and expected, so...
Never failed:
In the past close to 15 or better years:
2 - 5 C Cell Maglights
3 AA Minimags
1 AAA Minimag
A dozen or better Photon Microlights II
In the past 2 years since I discoverd higher powered LEDs
3 Inova X0 (old versions)
2 Inova X1 (old version and new versions)
I have had decent luck with flashlights to be sure.
Never failed:
In the past close to 15 or better years:
2 - 5 C Cell Maglights
3 AA Minimags
1 AAA Minimag
A dozen or better Photon Microlights II
In the past 2 years since I discoverd higher powered LEDs
3 Inova X0 (old versions)
2 Inova X1 (old version and new versions)
I have had decent luck with flashlights to be sure.
PhantomPhoton
Flashlight Enthusiast
Inova X03
Black Diamond Zenix Headlamp (original version)
Both of these have never broken and have never failed to produce enough light when I needed them. I carry both in my backpack (man-purse) everywhere.
Black Diamond Zenix Headlamp (original version)
Both of these have never broken and have never failed to produce enough light when I needed them. I carry both in my backpack (man-purse) everywhere.
MikeSalt
Flashlight Enthusiast
None of my torches have failed either. Obviously, flashlights are an excellent investment.
Illum
Flashaholic
old minimag, in the rain or under the lake...only think it has continually failed me is not giving me steady, bright output....
Atomic_Chicken
Enlightened
Greetings!
I've only been collecting flashlights for about 5 years now, so this is probably not a very good gauge of reliability.
These lights have never given me a problem of ANY kind:
All of my surefires
All of my Princeton Tecs
Inova X02
Inova X5
River Rock 1-AA and 2-AA models
CMG Infinity Ultra (Blue and Red LED Models)
These flashlights have given me MINOR problems - easily fixed:
One of my Inova X1's (Battery contact needed cleaning)
One of my Inova 24/7's (First one I bought had 1 bad Red LED - exchanged)
River Rock LED Lantern (Bought last week - nothing wrong with lantern - one of the batteries was dead from factory. The lantern has worked PERFECLY so far)
These lights have given me MAJOR problems:
Maglight 2-AA (Constant bulb replacement - 5 or 6 a year, got tired of it and rid of it.)
Chinese-made Shake light (Yes... it was one of the "fakes" with lithium cell)
Best wishes,
Bawko
I've only been collecting flashlights for about 5 years now, so this is probably not a very good gauge of reliability.
These lights have never given me a problem of ANY kind:
All of my surefires
All of my Princeton Tecs
Inova X02
Inova X5
River Rock 1-AA and 2-AA models
CMG Infinity Ultra (Blue and Red LED Models)
These flashlights have given me MINOR problems - easily fixed:
One of my Inova X1's (Battery contact needed cleaning)
One of my Inova 24/7's (First one I bought had 1 bad Red LED - exchanged)
River Rock LED Lantern (Bought last week - nothing wrong with lantern - one of the batteries was dead from factory. The lantern has worked PERFECLY so far)
These lights have given me MAJOR problems:
Maglight 2-AA (Constant bulb replacement - 5 or 6 a year, got tired of it and rid of it.)
Chinese-made Shake light (Yes... it was one of the "fakes" with lithium cell)
Best wishes,
Bawko
Oddjob
Flashlight Enthusiast
No failures yet. Don't expect any. 
(I know, I know, you never know etc. etc...)
(I know, I know, you never know etc. etc...)
benchmade_boy
Flashlight Enthusiast
my a2 has never fialed me and i dont expect it to either. my m3t only fialed me once and that was surefires bulbs problem. my u2 never fialed me and i abused it hard and it never fialed. either has my 8nx drop it many times and it has never fialed. the only light i have ever had problems with was bulbs keep blowing in my G2, but that is my only real issue so far.
Robocop said:
I don't consider a light as reliable until several years of use without any failures. (Incandescent bulb or battery failures are not classed as light failures.) These lights meet that definition of reliable, having never failed to light up with fresh batteries, and occasionally a fresh bulb:
36 years:
-Justrite 4D Headlamp (heavy use and abuse outdoors.)
20 plus years:
-Mag 2D, 2C, 2AA, 2AAA (lots of outdoor use for all of these.)
-Streamlight 2AA Pocketmate (used daily at work for several years.)
-Duracell 2AA Durabeam (much backpacking use.)
-REI 2AA Headlamp (much backpacking use.)
-Eveready Waterproof Skipper 2C (heavy use outdoors.)
16 years:
- Mag 1AAA Solitaire (carried on keychain everyday)
cratz2
Flashlight Enthusiast
Hrmm... I've had several. The ones that have seen a LOT of use would be my HDS Basic 42 and my Streamlight TL3. I've replaced the bulb twice but both times were preventative. And it has been dropped a couple times while on. And my Limited Edition CPF VB light. I replaced the reflector with a fake IMS27, added an O-ring to hold the lens in place properly and has been 100% ever since.
Both my L1Ps have ever so slightly failed a couple times but were fixed in seconds and probably a couple times, I'd go to push the tailcap on an Inova X1 only to find that I had backed the tailcap threads off further so that was technically a failure but other than that, my Fenix and Inovas have been 100% as well.
Both my L1Ps have ever so slightly failed a couple times but were fixed in seconds and probably a couple times, I'd go to push the tailcap on an Inova X1 only to find that I had backed the tailcap threads off further so that was technically a failure but other than that, my Fenix and Inovas have been 100% as well.
I have a Photon II that I've EDC'd for at least 5-6 years, banging around in my sweaty, lint-filled pockets with a big set of keys every day. Never failed to light up for me when I needed it, particularly in situations where I needed some constant-on use during blackouts and such. :thumbsup:
RCatR
Enlightened
Side shooting 'S' binned LuxIII + OSink + 3D Mag direct-drive
I've thrown it down 3-4 stories[onto concrete] with the batteries in it, tossed it as high as I could and had it land on asphault, and generally abused it.
Gave it to my dad and it still runs for him
I've thrown it down 3-4 stories[onto concrete] with the batteries in it, tossed it as high as I could and had it land on asphault, and generally abused it.
Gave it to my dad and it still runs for him
