Flashlight mfgs with US based support ?

First off I want to say hello and thank you for all the great info on this site. I've found some info on this when searching but pretty sporadic. I have had some made in usa lights and some from overseas. It doesn't bother me if a light is made in China but I would like to purchase from a company that has a genuine US presence. There is a great thread on made in the USA lights but to be honest I simply really like some of the lights from overseas. For example the eagletac d25a and d25a2 are two I would really like. But from what I have read if I have an issue I would need to send the light to China myself. I don't care if the light Has to go to China I just don't want to have to deal with the hassle and expense myself.

So who has a genuine US presence for customer service and support?

Thank you again!

:welcome:
Foursevens has nice lights.

US made lights all have US located customer support. There are some non US made lights that have have US located support, such as FourSevens, as mentioned above, but that is unusual. To find out if a company has a US service center, look for the contact info on their web site.

FourSevens, excellent! and thank you.

I have had many U.S. made lights over the years, and currently have one of the little maglite 2AA led lights, Works pretty well. I've even had a Surefire a few years ago, liked it as well. But there are a number of lights from overseas that I would like for myself, wife, relatives, etc... The Sunwayman 2AA that has the batteries side by side is another I would like. And I have looked at some of the mfg's websites, Eagletac has a U.S. address but from what I have read if you have an issue you have to send it overseas, am I incorrect about Eagletac? With some companies this may not be too big of an issue but... There are so many lights that look appealing, having local (in the U.S.) support is something would sway me towards specific lights.

But I'm pretty sure I'll be getting that Sunwayman regardless, I've never had a sunwayman light but I'm sure I will...

Thanks again everyone...

It looks like Zebralight is a U.S. based company. Anyone know if service is handled directly to their TX address? I hadn't come across them as I was looking mainly for 2AA flashlights. The SC52 looks good, and it can handle 4.2v, is there an extender that fits on this light?


thank you,

A sneaky way to get support, and to probably not need it, is to buy a customized light.

There are guys here who either make lights from scratch, machining etc...or, take a Chinese light and gut it to make a new super light with upgraded parts etc.

The least expensive / most bang for the buck is at Vinh's sub forum. ...

If you don't want a converted Chinese light, look at Malkoff ' s stuff for example.

Oveready, and others machine lights from scratch if you want true one of a kind us made products, and so forth.

Food for thought.

aud said:

First off I want to say hello and thank you for all the great info on this site. ....

So who has a genuine US presence for customer service and support?

Click to expand...

:welcome: Welcome to CPF.

US flashlight companies which offer US support include:

Surefire
Streamlight
Pelican
Maglite
Malkoff Devices
LensLight

HDS Systems is also another U.S. based company.

lots of options, I will say many of them are little too far north of what I'm willing to spend on a general use flashlight. But I do appreciate the quality of some of those lights. After checking out the malkoff inserts for the surefire lights I sure wish I hadn't gotten rid of mine. The light itself was great, but it was either on or off and too bright for most things.

Anyway I am currently looking for a 2AA flashlight. I have never really used rechargeable batteries and I'm thinking some AA nimh batteries would be a good, safe, and easy way to start.

sooner or later i'm just going to have to pick one and get it ordered.

Any other suggestions are more than welcome and I thank you all again.


regards,

Head over to CPF marketplace and check out the dealer section. Many of the lights that are sold/mentioned are Chinese lights that are sold by US based companies. Goinggear is one that I deal with regularly. Your light breaks, you send it to them and they take care of the hassle of sending to Back to manufacturer. I'm sure all of the other dealers have A similar policy. Have you registered at the Marketplace yet?

FourSevens cs has been great for me. They have always been very helpful and go out of their way for even the smallest thing. And they've had a fast turn around with the products i've sent back to them. But as always, your mileage my vary

I haven't been to the marketplace but I'll check it out, anything specific I should be looking for?

Good point on working with a reputable seller and working through them to get support. So GoingGear is good, any other recommendations?

It looks like FourSevens and Zebralight are two companies I could probably work with directly that are based in the U.S. but manufacture their lights overseas.

I've had a couple of CR123 powered lights in the past and I'm really looking to just have AA powered lights. While it's only happened a couple times where I couldn't find CR123 batteries I have had to overpay many times because I didn't have any spares with me. Foursevens has a couple of lights that look very nice, and I like the rectangular shaped sunwayman light that takes two AA batteries. The foursevens I can buy from anywhere and go directly to them for support. The sunwayman I'll need to get from a reputable dealer and work through them.

Thanks again,

47s and GG have fabulous CS, and both run good sales, you can buy a 47s light from either based on price if you want, but definitely go straight back to 47s if you have an issue after 30 days - they fully support their products whether you buy from them or their dealers. You might want to search a bit more on ZL though, most here recommend going through a good dealer, and then of course there's a big difference in warranty period. Both companies have great AA lights that fully support 14500s as well. Quarks are more battery versatile though, supporting 3V CRAAs, and in a real pinch can run anything between a 9v and 18650 with a piece of MacGyver tinfoil. ZL has the size and UI advantage (although I prefer the Quark Pro's momentary max "feature"). Between the 3V+ 14500 and CRAA, and the ubiquitous ~1.5v NiMh/Alk/L91 options, you really lose nothing to the CR123 platform .

I was looking at the quark pro, don't really care if it's the qp2a or the qp2a-x as the turbo mode doesn't interest me as much as having a couple of low/mid modes. Any thoughts between the two models on the differences other than max lumens? while a high mode is great and would be useful it's not a determining factor. does either have more of a flood type of light? the more I look into the Foursevens the more I like the idea of getting one.

Zebralight was the only other U.S. based company other than Foursevens and the U.S. mfg's that I found.

Any info on Sunwayman, the only reasons I like the sunwayman D20 is the second red led and the unique side by side layout. I had cheap plastic side by side as a kid that I thought was coolest thing ever. I know sunwayman is not us based but if I purchase through GoingGear it sounds like they would support me well.

Thanks again,

I'm also a low lumen fan - my favorite is a Lego'd QPA-X (that's the 2AA on an optional 1AA body) and a I run 0.3/3 over 40/40% of the time. The X is floodier, and has a brighter (but lower lux) moonlight mode (great book reading/camping level for me) and a stone consistent reset (some non-X versions have long reset times on high voltage cells). You'll see a runtime difference on the lower modes in the specs, but I have lightbox and have tested them side-by-side and find them equally efficient on a lumen-hour basis.

My understanding is that ZL is run by an American but based and HQ'd in China with a US sales office - if you send your light in for repair to TX, it will be sent to China and the reports are ~2 months turnaround - you also might want to do a more research on ZL CS. 47s is run by an American HQ'd in GA with manufacturing in China... I understand that they can handle most repair issues out of GA, and I can attest to their excellent service (never had a light fail, so no repairs yet). SWM makes great lights (I have the D40A) and I've read excellent service as well.... but I personally prefer ultra-long runtime moonlight modes over red LEDs for preserving night vision.

If you're interested in lows and meds, I'm curious why you're focusing on 2xAAs? The Malkoff MDC AA is another great light you should consider - US owned, manuf, CS, and built like a tank.

Just looked at the "MDC AA" and that looks great. Actually I thought Malkoff only made the surefire style lights and new modules for them.

I'm currently using a nitecore sensAA, which I really like as a pocket light. While I use it on low most of the time the auto brightness adjustment isn't just a gimmick as it works quite well. I am looking for a good, reliable, and not too pricey 2AA flashlight that I can get for myself and a few others as gifts. Which is one of the reasons I'd like it to be U.S. based support, if there is problems I want it to be as easy as possible. I think the Quark line is where I'm headed. I think I'll get a QP2A-X for myself and give it a try.

I know what you mean about the red lights, I don't really like them but there are times when around other people etc... I have headlamp that has a red led filter and it's O.K. for certain things. I mostly like that light for the side by side battery layout.

Thanks again for all the great info.

aud said:

...I am looking for a good, reliable, and not too pricey 2AA flashlight that I can get for myself and a few others as gifts. Which is one of the reasons I'd like it to be U.S. based support, if there is problems I want it to be as easy as possible....

Click to expand...

Yeah, me too . 47s sees more of my friends and family gift/buy-for/recommendation business than all other manufacturers combined. I won't argue they are the highest quality, or best built light, but I find the important bits of the light (driver, clip, clicky) very well designed and robust... and they stand behind their products. I try and keep track of my friends & family lights - no failures yet.

I'd love to buy more uber quality US lights, but other than a token light or two, they simply refuse to address the AA/AAA market. 47s rides a fine line between Chinese light performance, features and versatility and US reliability, warranty and customer service... works for me .

parnass said:

:welcome: Welcome to CPF.

US flashlight companies which offer US support include:

Surefire
Streamlight
Pelican
Maglite
Malkoff Devices
LensLight

Click to expand...

Peak lights are also made and serviced in the US.

Elzetta

parnass said:

:welcome: Welcome to CPF.

US flashlight companies which offer US support include:

Surefire
Streamlight
Pelican
Maglite
Malkoff Devices
LensLight

Click to expand...

Add Fenix to that list too. Fenix flashlights sold in the US are distributed by Open Air Brands, LLC (DBA Fenix Lighting), they are US based and provide US support and US returns.

From their website:
"Open Air Brands LLC, dba Fenix Lighting US, guarantees all Fenix products purchased from retailers directly supported by them to be made of first-class materials and therefore provides a lifetime warranty against any defects in material and workmanship. Excluded from warranty coverage is any damage to the exterior deemed reasonable wear and tear such as scratches and/or fading of color. In addition, the warranty does not apply to damage caused by abnormal or unreasonable use of any of the components. This includes use of unapproved batteries in Fenix products (see user manuals). This warranty is in place of all other warranties, including warranty of fitness for a particular purpose and warranty of merchantability and excludes any liability for incidental or consequential damages."

However I don't know it they then send repairs back to Fenixlight Limited (Shenzhen, China) as I've never had any issues with any of my Fenix lights.