SAK Flashlights

are the Swiss Army flashlights and good?

They use previous generation LEDs which are less efficient but are alright otherwise.

Older generation of LED, but made by Inova and extremely good quality. Built like tanks.

jay_imok said:

are the Swiss Army flashlights any good?

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No!

Despite being built by Inova's Parent company, you'd never believe they were!

My story: Bought a 2AA Vic light from a B&M shop. The lights are twist-on only, and you have to twist the heads off in order to change batteries. Mine didn't work! Tried getting the head off. It got stuck! Took a closer look, threads were bone dry! (No wonder it got stuck). Head didn't get unstuck. Tossed that piece of $#^% down the sewer!

Another CPFer mentioned that perhaps I was unlucky enough to have gotten a rare lemon. Okay, fair enough. I actually went back to the same shop, and bought another 2AA model. Guess what? Same thing happened again! But this time I was cautious in twisting the head. I went to the drug store on the corner, bough a small tub of Vasoline, and after a bit of careful twisting and pushing; I managed to get the head off. Threads were bone dry again!

Also, the threads were so sharp that they were cutting very thin slivers off of the O-ring. I applied an obscene amount of lube to the threads. And now the light actually works decently.

My advice: Save your money!

I can't say too many good things about them. If they came free with a SAK purchase they would be ok. :sick2:

I just bought a Swiss Army (Victorinox) dress shirt from Sierra Trading Post.

Hope it's better than their lights.

Bror Jace said:

I just bought a Swiss Army (Victorinox) dress shirt from Sierra Trading Post.

Hope it's better than their lights.

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I've bought other Vic products in the past. Including their highly-touted watches. None of those expensive Vic watches could compare to my $55 Timex Expedition, in terms of quality! All got sent back for a refund! (Something I rarely do with most items I buy). Hell, my $120 Revo which is a Vic watch clone is better quality than the actual Vic watches I've owned!

Their knives are definitely worth it.... everything else that Victorinox has slapped their name on? :thumbsdow

Monocrom said:

I've bought other Vic products in the past. Including their highly-touted watches. None of those expensive Vic watches could compare to my $55 Timex Expedition, in terms of quality! All got sent back for a refund! (Something I rarely do with most items I buy). Hell, my $120 Revo which is a Vic watch clone is better quality than the actual Vic watches I've owned!

Their knives are definitely worth it.... everything else that Victorinox has slapped their name on? :thumbsdow

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This is the best value in Victorinox "watches":



The Traveller Lite (above) includes clock/alarm/stopwatch/altimeter/temperature,
as well as all the most common Swiss Army knife blades and tools, and a flashlight.
The Traveller omits the Phillips head screwdriver and the light.
The Voyager omits the altimeter.
There is also a Voyager Lite.

I have been EDCing mine for almost a year and a half, and just had to change the batteries in the clock/altimeter part.

Costs LESS than their watches.

Has anyone tried modding the light one one of these?

I have the AAA and the AA. Both original issue. The AAA lasted a year and has become loose in the light much like the Mini Mag drop in. Totally undependable anymore. I bought a Fenix AA to replace it. I like the 'hidden ' tailcap feature.

AndyTiedye said:

This is the best value in Victorinox "watches": .....

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I have to agree.

thanks for tha advice.


now about that thread lube ... is vasaline the thing to use or should i get something else if i am buying it just for thread & 'o' ring lube?

j

jay_imok said:

thanks for tha advice.


now about that thread lube ... is vasaline the thing to use or should i get something else if i am buying it just for thread & 'o' ring lube?

j

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Vasoline is petroleum-based. That means that it will very slowly eat through your O-rings.

Keep in mind that it was almost a year ago that I made the above post. And it was almost 2 years ago that I went through that experience. Back then, I didn't know any better.

Many hardware stores sell Silicone-based lubes. (Often used on PVC pipes). Get a jar of that, instead.

I bought a set that included the Victorinox Farmer (alox) and the AA LED light in silver. I had no problem turning the head, but it too was dry! :shakehead I cleaned all threads and used Nyogel 760g (from lighthound.com) and now it works perfectly! I use lithium batteries in it, the color of the LED is little bit bluish... compared to the TerraLux TLE-5EX, the "spot" is also little bit softer than TLE-5EX which has a clear round spot... The Nite Ize AA Glow Wand fit perfectly, the SureFire F04 too... So far it has been an positiv experience

PA

I've never owned one of the lights - but all my knives have been great, well made, durable and reliable...

And I have to disagree a bit on the Swiss Army watches - my wife has a Swiss Army Cavalry watch as well as a women's Officers model and both have been utterly reliable, durable and well finished. She's worn the daylights out of the Officer's model and it's still going quite strong.

I also have a 9G-500 automatic Swiss Army chronograph that has been an excellent watch. I'll give a pass on the Valjoux chrono movement since it is a standard movement at this price point (shared by a number of other chronos including more expensive ones actually) but the case, bracelet and fit/finish are excellent and it has been a real pleasure to wear. I truly can find no fault at all with the build quality, styling or reliability of this watch after several years of daily wear.

Obviously people can have different experiences depending on the model - but I'd not hesitate to buy any of them again.

Gatsby said:

Obviously people can have different experiences depending on the model....

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Very true.

Every Vic Watch I've bought turned out to be unreliable junk. It's sad that my Revo clone of a Vic watch has outperformed the real thing, over the years. I like the look of Vic watches, and am tempted to try another one. But my watches are not fashion statements. They must work well as watches first. For that reason, I intentionally walk past the Vic display when looking for new watches to buy.

jay_imok said:

are the Swiss Army flashlights and good?

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I own both the 2AAA and 2AA silver alox versions. The 2AAA uses a Nichia 5mm LED and is nothing special besides being well built. The 2AA uses a high power LED and is my favorite flashlight. Along with being well built, it is quite bright and delivers over 4 hours of regulated runtime.

Monocrom said:

Very true.

Every Vic Watch I've bought turned out to be unreliable junk. It's sad that my Revo clone of a Vic watch has outperformed the real thing, over the years. I like the look of Vic watches, and am tempted to try another one. But my watches are not fashion statements. They must work well as watches first. For that reason, I intentionally walk past the Vic display when looking for new watches to buy.

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I admit that I bought the Swiss Army chrono when I sold a Hamilton auto chrono which at 42mm was too big as a bit of a compromise - I would have preferred at the time a 38mm Hamilton but couldn't find one at the right price and the SAK came up on the used market so I pulled the trigger and have been really pleasantly surprised at how nicely finished it was and well executed. My wife really wanted the Officers model and at that time I probably would have gotten something different as well if it were solely up to me - but she'd seen one and really liked it - and again it has turned out to be a great watch functionally and it looks great as well.

It's too bad you've had such a poor experience, but thankfully there are plenty of military style watches out there as alternatives assuming you like that style, I've owned a few Hamiltons that were excellent, and the Seiko 5 military dial watches are workhorses. Of course if it was solely function I'd stick to my atomic solar Casio GShock Mudman or Citizen Skyhawk AT which are darn near foolproof! ...

The two, 2C, 1W, Luxeon models I bought for $22.50, each, are worth the price just for their solid, Inova, construction and perfect, fully knurled, beautiful bodies. YMMV depending on individual priorities.

However, for their weight, current consumption and mediocre output, they lag behind other modern lights. Also, one of the lights was missing the tailcap o-ring and reverse polarity insulator. Plus, there was corrosion inside the body and tailcap.

A mixed, but beautiful, bag.