In terms of quality is there any Chinese maker that stands out?

Just wondering because I have had problems with every Chinese light I've owned. That's two by Fenix, two Nitecore, two Lumapower, and one Klarus. My HDS has been flawless on the other hand. I would stick with American lights but they just aren't nearly as bright for the same size Chinese light and although the quality is fantastic, you pay a premium. Is there an Asian maker who produces lights closer to HDS quality but with the lumens we've come to expect from that market?

I have three Eagletac lights and the Nitecore TM11 and from what my limited exposure to the Chinese made lights I would say their quality is very good.

Their steel production is of such quality the San Francisco Bay Bridge is using their steel to use on the new section of that bridge.

I am a retired Union Journeymen Mechanic and also a member of the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) and organized labor need to deal with wage difference between nations.

One Word: SUNWAYMAN.

I'm not sure you can have your cake and eat it too. Most "lessons learned" threads probably correctly state that the cost of pushing the envelope - ie over-driven lights, and too many features - is reliability. I think the best you can hope for is an Asian manufacturer that will stand behind its products with a long warranty and good customer service that can handle your issues locally, vs mailing back to Asia.

I'd love to get an quality HDS, no problems with sacrificing lumens for me, but I do not want to move away from AA/14500s.

What models of Fenix and what problem did you have?
My own experience with Fenix is very good and as I understand it many others think the same. (But of course see post about problems also).
I also have a EagleTac P20C2 Mk2 - no problems.

Maybe you could explain your "problems" with the said lights in case people here could troubleshoot it for you. I honestly have never encountered any problems with lights made in china. Even my no-name lighs work flawlessly after being dunked in water.

Sent from my GT-S5830 using Tapatalk 2

I own a few Chinese lights a jetbeam,xeno,Dereelight & a nitecore I've not had any trouble with any of them so either I've been lucky or your very unlucky.I also own a few HDS lights & none of the Chinese lights come anywhere near
the standard of them IMO.I've also been recently loaned a Surefire by a very good friend on CPF & it was a very good light also in my opinion quite a bit better than the Chinese lights.This has made me a bit of a flashlight snob i only
look to buy the high end flashlights on the market now.It mean's i can buy a lot less lights but in my opinion better ones .

Thanks for the responses. I have an LD10 and 20. I have had to replace the switches on each twice. The LED on the Lumapower burned out and the replacement head is so dim it's probably only 20 lumens. Both Nitecore's got dimmer over time....they are probably half power now. The Klarus stopped working in anything but high mode. Now doesnt work at all. These lights mostly sit in drawers and are used rarely so these problems are very dissapointing. I will say though that the customer service people have always been polite and quick to respond...but sending lights back to distributors who then send them to China or me sending lights back to China myself has become time consuming pain.

davyro said:

I own a few Chinese lights a jetbeam,xeno,Dereelight & a nitecore I've not had any trouble with any of them so either I've been lucky or your very unlucky.I also own a few HDS lights & none of the Chinese lights come anywhere near
the standard of them IMO.I've also been recently loaned a Surefire by a very good friend on CPF & it was a very good light also in my opinion quite a bit better than the Chinese lights.This has made me a bit of a flashlight snob i only
look to buy the high end flashlights on the market now.It mean's i can buy a lot less lights but in my opinion better ones .

Click to expand...

I have quite a few Surefire flashlights and plan to keep them; the higest output is 200 lumens.

I hope the Egaletac and Nitecore TM11 were made with quality components; time will tell.

No, none of them really Stand Out per say.
Surefire stands out but they are not made in america.
there are at least a dozen brands of equall quality. IMO

I have a Jetbeam that's been camping, been a long-burn lantern, been on safari in Africa, spent months in Kenya with my brother while he was volunteering, been dropped, kicked, stood on, treated as a toy by my toddler, spent nights outside in summer and winter (turned on) when said toddler was finished with it.

It's never skipped a beat.

reppans said:

I'm not sure you can have your cake and eat it too. Most "lessons learned" threads probably correctly state that the cost of pushing the envelope - ie over-driven lights, and too many features - is reliability. I think the best you can hope for is an Asian manufacturer that will stand behind its products with a long warranty and good customer service that can handle your issues locally, vs mailing back to Asia.

Click to expand...

So that's more or less what its about. The Asian makers are sacrificing reliability to push the envelop and the US makers are being conservative?

fishndad said:

No, none of them really Stand Out per say.
Surefire stands out but they are not made in america.
there are at least a dozen brands of equall quality. IMO

Click to expand...

Really?

Norm

Offending quote removed - Norm

Wow. So much for the "friendliest flashlight community on the internet".


GM

gravelmonkey said:

Wow. So much for the "friendliest flashlight community on the internet".


GM

Click to expand...

Agreed and fixed.

Norm

I read the original statement by 'fishndad' and I thought his statement fair and that some of what was deleted had to deal with some of the issues concerning manufacturing that are quite releavant.

Obviously I am not a moderator, but I think part of the deleted post was an important comment. :huh:

fishndad said:

No, none of them really Stand Out per say.
Surefire stands out but they are not made in america.
there are at least a dozen brands of equall quality. IMO

Click to expand...

I would assume he meant China, as this is the origin in question in this thread.

many of the top end american made production lights are designed for a specific work or task as simple hand tools.
many of the "made in china" higher end brands seem to be specific for the enthusiast market.
all of the high end china made brands seem to come from the same few factories, so i dont see any difference between their qualities.
but i also view quality from its design, and not merely about how thick or how well the parts were machined.

ive taken apart surefires, and other brands of lights, and there is an apparent difference. there are a lot of little design qualities that surefire adds because they do not aim to build the smallest light possible, thus being able to add features making it more robust. in contrast, of many china made higher-end brands usually design for a more compact size sacrificing robustness. but even when compactness is not a concern, features about protecting the critical components are usually absent.

reppans mentioned finding brands that stand behind their product with a longer warranty and good customer service is the biggest reason i have given up on most "made in china brands". there are still a few that I would consider buying from, and that is based strictly on their customer service reputation.
another problem i have is parts replacement when something does go wrong. the switch being an example, how difficult it was be to find a new switch? if i cant obtain a replacement switch, would i then have to replace the entire light?

fortunately for me, i like my lights with a simple interface, and i dont need more than 200 lumens. although, i do understand the want for more lumens i dont feel compromising runtimes, and thermal safety is worth it. and i also understand users that dont want to use lithiums, and stay with common batteries such as AA and AAA. i live in a country where using lithiums is neither a hassle, nor overly expensive.

sidecross said:

I read the original statement by 'fishndad' and I thought his statement fair and that some of what was deleted had to deal with some of the issues concerning manufacturing that are quite releavant.

Obviously I am not a moderator, but I think part of the deleted post was an important comment. :huh:

Click to expand...

He can repost without the offending paragraph if he wishes, fishndad himself expressed his concern that his post may not met with approval of mods.

Norm

Let me tell you about this little light. It's a ThruNite Ti that was csshih's attempt to break it, hence the scuffs and dents. It was dunked, smashed, thrown out a thirteen story window a few times, thrown against a brick wall as hard as it could be flung, and it still worked. He actually broke it after he decided to dismantle it since blunt force trauma wasn't causing it to stop working. The only thing I've done to it was to remove the keying lug as it was tearing up my pants pocket due to damage. The light still works, just that it won't go into high mode and it can be fixed by soldering one thing back on, but, I like this light the way it is and it will remain as-is.

I have quite a few Chinese lights in my collection that I would depend upon if I needed a light in a life or death situation.