I went to a target recently, i had a giftcard and wanted to buy some flashlights as I'm new to this flashaholic thing being 15 and not having much money.
Three observations:
1. some basic brand lites aren't so bad, I got a energizer 4aaa led light, and y'know, though it's nowhere near as bright as a tactical 2AA light, it's bright enough for everyday use. It doesn't use just a weak 5mm LED, it appears to use something like a 1W with a really good focus beam. Not too much of a ringed pattern, and very small and handy. It's a decent light, and it cost $20 and was a basic energizer target light. Sure it was the highest end energizer they had, but still. They also had a nice Dorcy 1 watt and a Maglite 2D LED, which is great if you need long runtimes or focusing (the maglite will run for ~12-20 hours at high brightness, which other flashlights don't do, not even tactical.) Even the $10 flashlight packs that use to come with the crappy incan lights with horrible switches, had what looks like a decent switch and a 5mm LED, for just $10. Not a good light really, but OK.
2. They had tactical! Fenix, Inova, and target brand "River Rock". Real nice lights in the $30-45 price range, with LEDs up to ~5watts, Cree LEDs, and things like the XO and X5 from Inova. Really i'm surprised at the selection, those were some nice lights. I like long runtime so I got a River Rock Nightfire 2C light. Cree 3.8 watt bulb, and very bright and great beam. Basic, entry level tactical. I even saw a surefire, IIRC.
3. The multi-stage lights seem not to be popular at retail or with the public yet. And they still had plenty of crappy lights, like a 2D basic $5 eveready, and a $35 3D incan Maglite. but if you chose right, you could get some nice lights at any price from $20-50.
Pretty much I think the decentness of a basic flashlight now and the lower prices of tactical (down from rather high $75+ to basic entry-level at $30-40) mean that both types of light are more common at these stores now. They had a whole isle dedicated to mostly flashlights, which seems to indicate that flashlights are selling more than they used to, especially high-profit high-end lights.
So have you seen decent lights at stores? Where. A decent light should IMHO have some sort of 0.5W+ LED, and a decent construction.
Three observations:
1. some basic brand lites aren't so bad, I got a energizer 4aaa led light, and y'know, though it's nowhere near as bright as a tactical 2AA light, it's bright enough for everyday use. It doesn't use just a weak 5mm LED, it appears to use something like a 1W with a really good focus beam. Not too much of a ringed pattern, and very small and handy. It's a decent light, and it cost $20 and was a basic energizer target light. Sure it was the highest end energizer they had, but still. They also had a nice Dorcy 1 watt and a Maglite 2D LED, which is great if you need long runtimes or focusing (the maglite will run for ~12-20 hours at high brightness, which other flashlights don't do, not even tactical.) Even the $10 flashlight packs that use to come with the crappy incan lights with horrible switches, had what looks like a decent switch and a 5mm LED, for just $10. Not a good light really, but OK.
2. They had tactical! Fenix, Inova, and target brand "River Rock". Real nice lights in the $30-45 price range, with LEDs up to ~5watts, Cree LEDs, and things like the XO and X5 from Inova. Really i'm surprised at the selection, those were some nice lights. I like long runtime so I got a River Rock Nightfire 2C light. Cree 3.8 watt bulb, and very bright and great beam. Basic, entry level tactical. I even saw a surefire, IIRC.
3. The multi-stage lights seem not to be popular at retail or with the public yet. And they still had plenty of crappy lights, like a 2D basic $5 eveready, and a $35 3D incan Maglite. but if you chose right, you could get some nice lights at any price from $20-50.
Pretty much I think the decentness of a basic flashlight now and the lower prices of tactical (down from rather high $75+ to basic entry-level at $30-40) mean that both types of light are more common at these stores now. They had a whole isle dedicated to mostly flashlights, which seems to indicate that flashlights are selling more than they used to, especially high-profit high-end lights.
So have you seen decent lights at stores? Where. A decent light should IMHO have some sort of 0.5W+ LED, and a decent construction.
