AR Sponsor
Posted: 3/23/2005 8:07:05 PM EDT
|
So, I had a disturbing experience today. Went by a local shop to pick up an item (said vendor shall remain nameless in case something comes of this) and saw a neat looking flashlight and asked about it. The gentleman advised me that he had purchased a bunch of them at the SHOT show and was thinking about selling them. He gave me two of the lights to take home and play with and let him know what I think about them. One is a 6v LED, the other is a 6v incandesent bulb. Other that the bulb differences, the two lights are identical. The disturbing thing is that these lights appear to be identical in appearance to the lights being talked about in another thread in this forum, without the logo on the bezel. I looked on the web site of the logo'd light and they do not offer this light in a LED version, but the xenon version seems to be a near perfect match. I sure hope that the other light is better that the ones given to me today, otherwise, even with the discount, I've been had. (I had already ordered a couple). Based on the comments from the other thread evaluating these lights, I think that they are the same. If so, I will be sending the ones I ordered back... Shoulda just stuck with the Surefires, but the price was so tempting... |
|
Don't have the ability to post pix, but rest assured that they are identical in appearance to the lights you are referring to, sans the white logo...I got my shipment notification today for the others and will have them next Wednesday. No, I do not want to reveal my source, but I can tell you this. The lights are completely without markings of any kind, are reported to have been brought in from Hong Kong. The business in question was going to market them under their own name. I contacted the owner this morning and I will be keeping the lights over the weekend and take them to work and see how they perform. From what I've seen, I will most likely advise that this is not a product that he wants to put his name on. His company is well known and has a great reputation, which I don't think he wants to tarnish. His projected retail price for these lights is very comparable to the "discount" price found elsewhere... I'll have to take him the "other" lights when they come in next week and see what he thinks. The only thing I can see as a redeeming quality for these lights is the price. The performance is not bad for the price. Hopefully, they will have the 70 lumen output as advertised, coz the pair I have for T&E do not... |
| Companies in the Far East are pirating SureFire's designs since enforcement of patents overseas is problematical. I would not support these companies. Another issue is that the quality of the metal used to manufacture these lights, as well as the quality of the bulbs, is unknown. If you need a light to do some undersink plumbing or to carry in the glove box, that is one thing. If you are planning to use it operationally, then you have to ask yourself - how much is my life worth? Look on eBay. There are great deals on genuine SureFire products. I'm on my third 6P (lost one, have two). Even with the stock bulb, they are plenty bright. |
| I concur with the Surefire suggestion as I have several lights from them. I was hoping that the lights I ordered that have a listed rating of 70 lumens would be on par w/SF as far as brightness. I do not expect the same overall quality from a light that costs 1/3 to 1/4 as much (noteable exception being the SF G2!), but if these lights are the same as the ones I have , they are not anywhere close to 70 lumens and the light pattern really sucks. Perhaps the others have a different bulb? |
|
What the heck is the point of this? Why are you being hush-hush over lights that you feel are pieces of shit after "testing" them for a few days? 1.) Post a picture 2.) State your opinion 3.) Be done with it no sense in pussy-footing around some other company's rebranded lights. Good thing Airsoft Atlanta is advertising now... |
No kidding... just come out with it. - If the guy who gave you these lights is planning on selling pirated crap then people would probably like to know this. - If the lights are a blatant rip-off of a major name brand then word of mouth may have not gotten to them and they may like to know about this. Read the Trijicon v. NcStar thread. - If the lights are good then it'll come out in the wash and your "source" will have nothing to worry about. |
|
First off, I didn't get the lights for free. They were given to me to evaluate and I will be returning them tomorrow. I should be getting the lights I ordered from a link found in this forum tomorrow as well. If they are the same light, I will be returning them because they are not worth what I paid for them. I'm just saying that maybe these lights aren't as great as the seller would like us to believe... But you may be right. Who else would be in on a group buy for some tampons? 
|
|
You still haven't given us the name. That type of "behavior" seems fishy to most people on AR15.com. I think we all have the same type of basic circuitry and I for sure find it strange that you couldn't mention the brand or name. There are plenty of people who bring up some product that everyone is going to think is a P.O.S. until they try it themselves. I think you understand, if not, at this point it's just too bad... |
AR Sponsor