Anyone tried the new super-ultra LED lights being sold on tv or in home centers?

I just watched Hunter Ellis shilling for the new "Atomic Beam USA" on tv. I've repeatedly seen the Bell + Howell "Taclight" on tv as well. It seems that many of these $19.99 lights have a zoom feature, so I wonder if they aren't basically the same light being sold under different names, like the "Copper Chef", "Red Copper", "Gotham Steel" pans being sold on tv. Of course these lights(and pans) are being presented as the ultimate in high tech-ery.

The other day I was in Lowes, and they had a large cardboard display case filled with some other $29.99 LED miracle light. That particular light was encased in a transparent plastic package, making it difficult to feel the body to see what it's made of, which is questionable due to the abnormally heavy weight of it. For its size it should be much lighter, even filled with 2 batteries if it were aluminum.

Has anyone checked out any of these tv or box store lights, and what was your opinion of them?

Yep. Everybody here has one.

We love them. Worth every penny.

Even bad lights aint bad these days.

Nope, these are overpriced junk. You can pick them up for $8 easily. Every month or so a marketing department comes up with a new name for it to avoid the bad press. Google "shadowhawk scam" for more details.

bdogps said:

http://www.highya.com/atomic-beam-usa-reviews

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Talk about a vague review.... It is like the author didn't even open the package and watched the commercial instead.
I'm guessing the atomic beam light is a $5 ebay light (or less) with zoom marked up to $20.

:tired:

parametrek said:

Nope, these are overpriced junk. You can pick them up for $8 easily. Every month or so a marketing department comes up with a new name for it to avoid the bad press. Google "shadowhawk scam" for more details.

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I was about 99% sure that this^ was the case, but I wanted to be open minded of the possibility that............ Nevermind. Anyway, I've got to go pick up my phone and buy some 'as seen on tv' miracle grass seed. They say it'll grow on concrete, and I really want a lawn on top of my driveway, so......

HighlanderNorth said:

I just watched Hunter Ellis shilling for the new "Atomic Beam USA" on tv. I've repeatedly seen the Bell + Howell "Taclight" on tv as well. It seems that many of these $19.99 lights have a zoom feature, so I wonder if they aren't basically the same light being sold under different names, like the "Copper Chef", "Red Copper", "Gotham Steel" pans being sold on tv. Of course these lights(and pans) are being presented as the ultimate in high tech-ery.

The other day I was in Lowes, and they had a large cardboard display case filled with some other $29.99 LED miracle light. That particular light was encased in a transparent plastic package, making it difficult to feel the body to see what it's made of, which is questionable due to the abnormally heavy weight of it. For its size it should be much lighter, even filled with 2 batteries if it were aluminum.

Has anyone checked out any of these tv or box store lights, and what was your opinion of them?

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Seriously though, you can probably do better for less.
It sounds like they've repackaged some stuff in a shiney new outfit, placed something for nothing verbage on the packaging, spent a few hundred thousand $ on tv ads to stoned/drunk/stupid people knowing they still believe in "free, Free, FREE" products and have a few drunk/stoned/stupid minimum wagers monitoring the 1-800 phone lines to sell them at 5x what they'll be selling for in the "as seen on tv" section at drug stores like cvs and walgreens this Christmas....

Just beware of products that have almost no information about them that is relevant that compare themselves to products who disclose everything about them relevant. I wouldn't buy any flashlight or product these days that I couldn't find out what type of batteries it used beforehand.

Overpriced, over hyped, mediocre junk.

If you want a semi-serious look at the light, mhlanlen did a video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swSU5GbWjgM

bykfixer said:

a few drunk/stoned/stupid minimum wagers monitoring the 1-800 phone lines

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This is kinda harsh.. Let's just call the people that buy these "uninformed".

HighlanderNorth said:

I just watched Hunter Ellis shilling for the new "Atomic Beam USA" on tv. I've repeatedly seen the Bell + Howell "Taclight" on tv as well. It seems that many of these $19.99 lights have a zoom feature, so I wonder if they aren't basically the same light being sold under different names, like the "Copper Chef", "Red Copper", "Gotham Steel" pans being sold on tv. Of course these lights(and pans) are being presented as the ultimate in high tech-ery.

The other day I was in Lowes, and they had a large cardboard display case filled with some other $29.99 LED miracle light. That particular light was encased in a transparent plastic package, making it difficult to feel the body to see what it's made of, which is questionable due to the abnormally heavy weight of it. For its size it should be much lighter, even filled with 2 batteries if it were aluminum.

Has anyone checked out any of these tv or box store lights, and what was your opinion of them?

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I saw the Bell and Howell tac light commercial for the 1st time a few days ago. For 19.99, it's hard to believe it can be run over by a humvee, work in a block of ice, and work in boiling water...

TA_ls1 said:

I saw the Bell and Howell tac light commercial for the 1st time a few days ago. For 19.99, it's hard to believe it can be run over by a humvee, work in a block of ice, and work in boiling water...

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Not hard to believe at all if you don't have it turned on you could put a wooden dowel rod or steel bar inside instead of the battery for the "run over" bit and I've seen people freeze the Fenix E015 lights in ice while running. As for the boiling water bit as long as you don't leave it in there long, that is you drop it in there and film it and take it out immediately it doesn't have enough time to totally fail. LEDs can take a lot of heat the main issue is leaking water inside and frying the battery and if you took the light from the block of ice into the "boiling" water and did the commercial in Colorado at a high elevation where the boiling point of water is 98C or they could mix a clear liquid that looks like water that boils at a lot lower temperature and claim it is water.

mk2rocco said:

Let's just call the people that buy these "uninformed".

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Yup, them too.

HighlanderNorth said:

The other day I was in Lowes, and they had a large cardboard display case filled with some other $29.99 LED miracle light. That particular light was encased in a transparent plastic package, making it difficult to feel the body to see what it's made of, which is questionable due to the abnormally heavy weight of it. For its size it should be much lighter, even filled with 2 batteries if it were aluminum.

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I'm guessing you were seeing the 700/800 lumen lights from Utilitech (red package in semi-hard plastic shell)? One of them comes with 3 C sized batteries, the other comes with 9 AAA batteries in three C-sized holders. I don't recall seeing any new lights with 2 batteries, but stores in different areas can carry different products. Regardless, stay away from Utilitech & Lux-Pro flashlights, I've sampled several of each & they've all been garbage.

I am astounded that these ultra cheap fire hazards seem to be selling as fast as Meco(Chinese manufacturer of 99% of these things)can make them. Worst is they usually come in a package with a no name lithium ion cell and junk charger. Recently saw an ad for a 26650 super mega light(Shadowhawk? Cannot remember)came with a plain no print wrap 26650 cell, a junk charger and what looked like an up sized Shadowhawk. These things are near the bottom of the barrel when it comes to quality. Mystery emitters, wiring done as cheaply as possible and a mystery rechargeable cell that is more likely to catch fire than anything else.

Utilitech...utter crap. I bought the biggest "1000 lumen" Utilitech and it is one of the worst lights I have ever had or even seen. It is painted not anodized. Unscrew the tail cap and you can see where the "anodizing" terminates in brush strokes. Avoid at all costs. The Lux Pro stuff is barely a grade above them. Never bought one but they seem better than the Utilitechs. I should have returned that awful Utilitech but got busy with life and forgot about it.

Folks if you are on this forum checking out what big box store light to get there is the Coast HP7 at both Lowes and HD and most Wal Marts now sell the new 3rd Gen XML2 3 D cell Mag for less than 50 bucks. Get one of those.

parametrek said:

If you want a semi-serious look at the light, mhlanlen did a video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swSU5GbWjgM

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Lol.. Cracked up at all the "tactical" moves in the video.

But I recently had a coworker tell me to look up the Shadowhawk x800. After looking at it, it seemed suspicious. Then a quick Google confirmed everything mentioned here!

chaosdsm said:

I'm guessing you were seeing the 700/800 lumen lights from Utilitech (red package in semi-hard plastic shell)? One of them comes with 3 C sized batteries, the other comes with 9 AAA batteries in three C-sized holders. I don't recall seeing any new lights with 2 batteries, but stores in different areas can carry different products. Regardless, stay away from Utilitech & Lux-Pro flashlights, I've sampled several of each & they've all been garbage.

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Hey now, ease up on the Lux-Pro. Some of those are pretty good.

That video on the G700 was hilarious. Unfortunately I did pick up a pair of "Guidesman" lights because they were on sale ($12!). Gave one away, and loaned the other to a kid going on a camping trip. Don't care if I get it back, lol.