photons made in china?

What's up people!? Check out photonlights websight, on the main page there is a link to an article on LRI by The Register Guard. In the article, David Allen (creator of photon) makes it known that he is planning to move production of photon lights to china. He's had sales this year of six to seven MILLION and the greedy ******* is selling out to the junk market. So much for by the people for the people. My photon feels dirty. Oh well, still lots of good lights (laserlyte, pulsar, emissive energy) that to the best of my knowledge are made right here in the states. Take care all

Look at how much he can save doing that. Why pay someone the $5.25 an hour minimum wage here when you can pay that a day and get the same product? Look at how few things there actually are that are made in America. Very few things are made here that are both a decent price and decant quality. The best things still made here are "foreign" cars since the import tarrifs are even higher than the high wages the unions force upon the auto makers.
Sorry, I just think that minimum wages and unions have gone a little too far. A small company or sole proprietership can't really afford to pay a high minimum wage, either not having as many (or any employees), or raising prices, and the larger manufacturers tend to move to places like China, or third world contries as soon as they have the money to build a factory there. Both cost Americans jobs.

moral: buy Pocketbright, or Emissive Energy. Emissive Energy; are they the ones with the rubber 'peel off' battery cover? They really should put their name on their light! That is a very convenient battery change, and if it's anything like the similar Petzl rubber battery cover, should be fairly watertight.. The Emissive is a great little light, and the way the parts are held in place is far better than the Photon, (they don't spill all over (ever try reassembling the parts of a photon? then trying to get the switch to work? not easy.)...more positive switch design in the Emissive..it's got a shrouded bulb, and may be smaller than the Photon...

Can't blame photo for being a smart business man. People will still buy photons even if they are made in china. If not china, india, if not india, mexico, if not mexico....etc.

I sure wish some of these other companies would pick up on the "constant-on" concept. For me that's about the biggest selling point for the Photon II. That Emissive Energy light looks pretty sharp and sounds like good quality. Add a reliable constant-on switch and they'd be good to go. (If they could make it waterproof in addition to the reliable switch, I'd be theirs in a heartbeat!)

I think everyone needs to take a minute to go over to PHOTON'S discussion board before going OVERBOARD.
The explanation by Brian is pretty clear.
Its interesting to see all these FLAMES that were probably typed on PC's where 90% of the pieces weren't made in the USA.
Bet they were quite a bargain too!!!
Long live free enterprise. Good products for a reasonable price.
r/s

K Horn misses the point. The idea isn't to buy 'all American' all the time, or nothing at all. One tries to makes the best choices one can, when there is a choice. This isn't possible in all cases. In some cases it is. Like this one. I wear Chinese hiking boots (Hi-tec) because no one else makes my size in a light boot, and it kills me.. thanks to free enterprise my size foot has become extinct because it doesn't pay (the greedy manufacturers) enough to make this size for so few people, relative to the other sizes...if you can avoid buying goods made by slave labor, from countries that don't support human rights, do it.

Money talks.... If two equal products are out there and one is cheaper than the other, more people are going to buy the cheaper item. If there are any doubts check out the number of American made clothes the next time your at Wal-Mart(I bet Al's mom doesn't even sing him to sleep with that union song anymore). Or better yet see if you go to that gas station that is charging a penny more or are you driving out of your way down the block for the cheaper gas.
Simply go over to the flashlight posts here and see how everyone is mulling over going to one store or another. Even if the cheaper one seems to be a little less reliable.

<FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by K Horn on 11-01-2000 at 11:47 AM</font>

Yes you are correct, people certainly can be sheep; thoughtless, witless sheep. Witness Nazi Germany.
I for one will choose Emissive Energy over Chinese Photons, even if they're twice the price.

Parts from the Emissive Energy are probably made overseas in a less developed country. Think about that!

On a upbeat note, America's economy is at its best right now. The economy is GREAT right now.