Quality Manufacturing

Would anyone care to give me their opinion as far as quality manufacturers. At least as far as the more popular manufacturers talked about in this forum. ie. fenix, olight, deere, etc, etc. If you want you could rank them.

well, IMHO:

1st Place = HDS and Surefire no doubt.

then everything else!

STPD2109 said:

Would anyone care to give me their opinion as far as quality manufacturers. At least as far as the more popular manufacturers talked about in this forum. ie. fenix, olight, deere, etc, etc. If you want you could rank them.

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I would say that Elzetta has high quality manufacturing. Made in the USA doesn't hurt either. I have a couple Surefires that always work and are made in the USA. An old Inova X5 has treated me well and it's made in the USA. I also have 2 Fenix lights that while made in China, work very well and you can't beat the price. Everyone of them is manufactured with great fit and finish and work everytime. Top of my to-get list is an HDS RA Clicky.

I like my fenix pd30. The machining is excellent and the anodizing has performed better than a few of the walmart special led keychain lights I've owned. Sorry that's all I can compare it to, but next to my firearms it's held up well!

It would be very unwise and unfair to rank them, I am sure these pages are read by certain manufacturers and you will get members liking lights for different reasons,for instance I am a Fenix and ITP fan and for no other reason than they suit my pocket better than others in terms of what funds I have available for my hobby.I consider both to make decent lights and many members buy the brands.

Captain Spaulding said:

well, IMHO:

1st Place = HDS and Surefire no doubt.

then everything else!

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CPF has brainwashed you.

The above are obvious choices.

I really like JetBeams when you factor in aesthetics, performance, reliability, features, fit & finish and price into the "quality" umbrella.

I also like EagleTac, Olight/ITP/Maratac, Inova, MagLite and 4/7's Quark.

Surefire, HDS, and Peak all come to mind, not counting any of the custom lights.

Maybe its just something that has stuck out in my mind. Im sure every manufacturer has their hic-ups. But jet beam has had some problems before. Unless they have been corrected since then. Let me know as you are an owner.

Here's a similar thread from the general flashlight forum :thumbsup:

Recently, I had a chance to own some of NexTORCH tactical flashlight (their T Series). Have used them thoroughly in many of my missions. Surprisingly, their built quality and performance are equally well, if not better than some other brands/models, when compared with my Surefire, Olight, EagleTac, Fenix, Streamlight, Inova, and Pelican. My favourite models are their T6A and GT6A (all superbright xenon).
But I still collect fine USA made (SF,Inova,Pelican, and Streamlight), and a few hi-end Chinese made, as usual :twothumbs

I'd say that Surefire, Streamlight, HDS, NovaTac, EagleTac, 4sevens Quarks, Jetbeam, and Wolf-Eyes are all decent lights.

4Sevens quality control is iffy at best.

My first Quark was a Tactical AA2 and I was happy with it as it was well made for the money. It wasn't a wow moment.

My second Quark was the mini AA and it was a lot less well made than the first. Head was very sloppy on the body and the anno came off like wet paint.

My most recent Quark is the Turbo AA2 and it is brilliantly machined and the threads are great. So smooth and silky, yet firm. Everything about it is just that little bit better than the Tactical.

Give it another couple of years and some improvements in manufacturing consistency and I'm sure the 4Sevens line up will be up the ladder a few notches.

unclevit said:

Recently, I had a chance to own some of NexTORCH tactical flashlight (their T Series). Have used them thoroughly in many of my missions. Surprisingly, their built quality and performance are equally well, if not better than some other brands/models, when compared with my Surefire, Olight, EagleTac, Fenix, Streamlight, Inova, and Pelican. My favourite models are their T6A and GT6A (all superbright xenon).
But I still collect fine USA made (SF,Inova,Pelican, and Streamlight), and a few hi-end Chinese made, as usual :twothumbs

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A big +1 on the Nextorch,the little Nextorch K1 which I own is a joy to own and use and sort of posher version of the Fenox EO1,it is my evening EDC.Nextorch always respond to any emails sent to them as well.I rotate many lights for edc use but rarely my evening one as it is very small and light.

I have had several (10+ of each) Surefire and Fenix lights with no issues. I trust both of them...but I think most lights that cost over $20-$40 each made by popular manufactures are mainly reliable. I do not like mag lites...but I have never had one break either.

We've had hundreds of threads almost identical to this, and some of them are recent or still active. We don't need yet another one. It's closed.