Categorize Flashligt brands by quality

I am quite new to this hobby. So will someone please help me with the basics.

If you should place the brands in the categories below , how would you place them.
I know there will be different opinions , but thats okay.


Category 1. The very best quality


Category 2. Top quality


Category 3. good quality


Category 4. average quality


Category 5. junk


By quality I mean switches that will keep working after extensive use , build quality , durability , etc.
Price is not an isue.

There are a lot of brands out there, it's a big job to list them all. Do you have any specific brands in mind?

Otherwise just a few popular brands around here:

Surefire, Ra/HDS, Arc, Peak, Muyshondt, are usually regarded as very high quality. Of course, many custom builds like McGizmo, Milky, dropins from Malkoff, Nailbender, Moddoo all very respected. (I know I'm missing tons guys, so add more, I'm just tossing out a few)

Other high quality but foreign made stuff might include Jetbeam, Fenix, Olight, Zebralight, Nitecore.

I don't really have much experience with the budget lights, maybe someone else can pop in. Just a few names to get you started. If you have specific brands you are comparing that would be easier.

I know you don't mean it to be but this thread will hit argument stage in about 20 posts and get locked by a mod.
People get touchy about flashlight quality threads.

Hopefully I will be wrong and we can all act like adults.

nbp said:

There are a lot of brands out there, it's a big job to list them all. Do you have any specific brands in mind?

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Thanks for the answer.
I don't expect you to list them all , just a few brands are fine.
No I don't have any specific brands in mind.
The only brands I know a little bit of are Surefire , maglite , Led lenser and Fenix.

_

Do you know what you are looking for in your first quality light? Size, price range, what are you trying to do with it. I can give you a general idea and say look at the 4Sevens Quark lights. They are nice lights and a great place to start and a good value.

Below is my personal list of brands according to performance and reliability + customer service & back up (in my experience).

Category 1. The very best quality - Surefire, Malkoff, HDS, Peak, Electrolumens + customer makers: McGizmo, Mac, Cool Fall + others here at CPF.


Category 2. Top quality -


Category 3. good quality - Fenix, Olight, Jetbeam, 4sevens, LED Lenser, Maglite,


Category 4. average quality - Nitecore, Eagletac,


Category 5. junk - no experience with this catagory but DX products seem to cop a little flak around here from time to time.

I know I have missed some but these are the ones I have dealings with.

James.....

Sgt. LED said:

I know you don't mean it to be but this thread will hit argument stage in about 20 posts and get locked by a mod.
People get touchy about flashlight quality threads.

Hopefully I will be wrong and we can all act like adults.

Click to expand...

Burgess said:

_

Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

1) Best Quality: SureFire

I had a few other makers for some of the lesser categories, but kept changing my mind, so left them out altogether. Also, my inventory is strictly "old school," so I cannot comment on any of the newer brands.

@jimmy1970 and flashfan .


Thanks , thats exactly the kind of general information I need to get started.
Most of the brands I never even heard of. Maybe because I'm from Denmark.


@lovenhim


It's a general question. I'm not realy looking for a specific type of flashlight.

Viking said:

@jimmy1970 and flashfan .


Thanks , thats exactly the kind of general information I need to get started.
Most of the brands I never even heard of. Maybe because I'm from Denmark.


@lovenhim


It's a general question. I'm not realy looking for a specific type of flashlight.

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If you are looking for lights/manufacturers that are highly respected by the CPF community, this thread might be helpful: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/279454.

It will get you started at the very least.

One guy's best is the next guy's worst

Viking said:

I am quite new to this hobby. So will someone please help me with the basics.

If you should place the brands in the categories below , how would you place them.
I know there will be different opinions , but thats okay.


Category 1. The very best quality


Category 2. Top quality


Category 3. good quality


Category 4. average quality


Category 5. junk


By quality I mean switches that will keep working after extensive use , build quality , durability , etc.
Price is not an isue.

Click to expand...

Impossible to categorize by brand in such a way. There are good and bad models in almost every manufacturers portfolio. Example:

Surefire:
Good = 6P/C2-Z41
Bad = Previous design E series clicky (white plastic)

47 Quark
Good = 1AA lights
Bad = CR123 lights with loose / sloppy machined threads, uncharacteristically high RMA rate compared to the rest of the brand.

ITP
Good = A3
Bad = Previous design A6 cell carrier

I don't even think you can list Chinese multi-LED showerheads under the "Junk" category anymore. Now that there appears to be a serviceable drop in for the mag.


The Malkoff brand as a whole seems to have exceptional CPF history of reliability and durability. At least I can't think of any large scale product failures, or extended CPF "Malkoff failure" discussion threads. Sames goes for Paul Kims Icon lineup.

kramer5150 said:

Impossible to categorize by brand in such a way. There are good and bad models in almost every manufacturers portfolio. Example:

Surefire:
Good = 6P/C2-Z41
Bad = Previous design E series clicky (white plastic)

47 Quark
Good = 1AA lights
Bad = CR123 lights with loose / sloppy machined threads, uncharacteristically high RMA rate compared to the rest of the brand.

ITP
Good = A3
Bad = Previous design A6 cell carrier

I don't even think you can list Chinese multi-LED showerheads under the "Junk" category anymore. Now that there appears to be a serviceable drop in for the mag.


The Malkoff brand as a whole seems to have exceptional CPF history of reliability and durability. At least I can't think of any large scale product failures, or extended CPF "Malkoff failure" discussion threads. Sames goes for Paul Kims Icon lineup.

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How do McClickys and Z57s rate? I haven't seen too many complaints but thought I'd ask just the same.

I agree that RichS' thread is a very good read. I was surprised by some of the models that made the top ten list, not the least of which is the light that has held the number one position from the beginning, IIRC.

I'm surprised that more people have haven't chimed in with their picks. I may be wrong, but I think the OP is simply looking for overall opinions about specific brands. Sort of like cars perhaps--different things come to mind for Ford, GM, Toyota, Mercedes, Bentley, etc. I think it goes without saying that in every brand, there are superior and inferior performers. And even among the "best" lights, you'll probably always have lemons and/or failures of some sort.

Getting back to the topic on hand, some of the other old school brands that I like include Streamlight, Underwater Kinetics, Princeton Tec, Photon and Pelican. From a durability standpoint, none of these probably fall into even the "Top" category, but I would certainly characterize some of them as Good or a little better.

I'm probably very much in the minority with the above picks, as I think a lot of CPF is more excited/enthused about the newer, state-of-the-art makers. One of the important factors to me, is longevity. With perhaps the exception of Photon, I think most of the companies have been around a long time, and likely to be around for the foreseeable future. As a non-tech, it concerns me a bit that some of the newcomers might not be around in a few years, so if I need accessories, replacements, etc. I might be stuck.

Just from my own experience it would go like this.

Best- Surefire, HDS (Ra), Zebralight and from what people say Malkoff is up there with the best as well.

Jetbeam- I give them their own spot because I personally believe they are somewhere between good and the best.

Good (Top) - To many to list but a few would be Fenix, Quark, Olight, Deerelight, Nitecore, Tiablo, Eagletac

These are my opinions and I don't expect it to reflect everyone else.

The only lights I can personally vouch for are Malkoffs - my MD2 has held up very well in a ship's engine room with high temperature extremes, oil, fuel, chemicals and salt water. It's gotten its share of dings and knocks as well. My other Malkoffs have so far lived an easy couch potato life but they seem to be as good if not better than the little MD2 in terms of build quality. Maybe it's just because they're bigger and more massive that they seem that way..

Surefire and HDS are very popular in military and law enforcement, lots of shooters mount these lights on firearms (Malkoffs as well, too!) so I can't see any reason why people wouldn't rate these at the very top. I don't have any personal experience with these however.

Viking said:

I am quite new to this hobby. So will someone please help me with the basics.

Click to expand...

RichS said:

If you are looking for lights/manufacturers that are highly respected by the CPF community, this thread might be helpful: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/279454.

Click to expand...

I too tried this in the past. It didn't end up well when we started to get the idea people were just listing their flashlights instead of giving useful feedback.

I had a thread I started here and was hoping to get more responses: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/284567

The good thing with large manufacturers is there is simply more volume out in the field (tens of thousands of units) so any design flaws will turn up more easily statistically. It is much easier for a larger pool of folks to share experiences, form opinions, and provide feedback. The only thing that worries me about some small high-end vendors, despite quality, is that problems or flaws simply won't turn up as frequently because there are simply less lights out in the field. You're talking about model runs of tens, maybe hundreds of lights with high collectible status, with half of them ending up as safe queens. Many also don't have staple products and change their lineup very often which creates that exclusivity so any inherent problems on a 20-light run that exist probably won't ever show up.

That isn't to say small vendors aren't good. I come from the firearm world and custom manufacturers/gunsmiths are highly regarded. You can't remain in business as a small company by ignoring angry customers. Since manufacturing a light is a physical product, a good eye can spot details to attention and good engineering design. I've heard enough good things about Malkoff that I stepped out of the Surefire world and own 3-4 of their drop-ins now. I recently dropped money on an HDS Ra Clicky as well and I'm on my way to trying Peak's FR series.

In general, price is a good indicator of product, but I wouldn't use it as the only metric in judging something. Someone made a comparison to automotive brands. I would never, ever buy a Mercedes given how many problems there are for a premium-priced product and the insane proprietary maintenance items. A lot of the titanium lights cost a premium, but it doesn't necessarily make them better at anything except cosmetics. The premium cost often massively exceeds the additional cost of the material and slight increased difficulty in manufacturing (try machining inconel or stellite before complaining about titanium )

Lastly there is usability and ruggedness. Some folks use it every day in a normal fashion and want a handy user interface with tons of options. Some folks are chasing down criminals and getting their gear banged up. Two different purposes. If categorizing as an overall averaged quality rate, I still put Surefire on the top of the list because I have the most experience with them. They're also used in some of the most harsh and rugged environments imaginable (military/le) for decades so that has to count for something.

Re: Categorize Flashlight brands by quality

It would have been far easier if everyone was simply objective about flashlights but this can easily become a subjective matter instead. Brands can distract and so does price yet these 2 sometimes don't match! Some manufactuers may spend a lot of time/money on research but few focus enough on marketing. All in, these effects can make it harder to be objective about quality when feelings are involved esp about certain appeal and designs. Some brands (including custom made ones) seem fleeting like in the fashion world and the prices just do not make economic sense. Scarcity of some are even said to drive values further up! Much like how wine can appreciate due to fine tastes for certain vintages although I would much rather prefer a good beer! At the end of the day I find (both think & feel I hope) SureFire somehow ranks up there with reliability, consistency and after sales service. That is perhaps the ideal formula for a bullet-proof reputation of a solid product that will simply outlast the rest in, on and off the field.