Posted: 2/16/2010 1:48:49 PM EDT
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Picked up a two pack of LED flashlights from COSTCO here in Metro Detroit today. Adjustable beam, stated 160 LUMEN output, momentary tailcap as well as strobe feature, three (3) AAA powered. $19.99. Found the same thing on EBay for $39.99. I know, I know...CHICOM product. I suck for buying them. Anyway, pretty decent beam. Don't know if 160 is realistic, but it is quite bright. And for $10 each, cheap enuf to toss one in each glovebox, or BOB..... Cheers, 
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Thanks for the info.
The price with batteries is outstanding. I usually buy these type of GP flashlights from Dealextreme, but they don't come with the batteries and shipping time is 3-4 weeks. I am in the process of converting friends and coworkers to the CREE technology and these sound like the perfect way to go. Having non-CR123A power source makes a lot of sense for a GP Survival type light. I'll save my CR123A batteries for my Surefire tactical lights and weaponlights. |
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Next time spend a little more money and get a Fenix LD10 or Quark regular AA.
Those flashlights are okay for a beginner, but for serious use you need both brightness and the ability to drop the light level down to a more usable range. The 100+ lumens seems bright as hell and a good idea, until you see a real light that can run up to 100 hours on low, and still has all the capabilities this light has. |
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I picked up a pack of these, since I go camping with alot of buddies it is nice to loan them a light that I do not worry about getting broken or lost and I was still not very happy with the light.. The beam on my light was not "adjustable", and having to click through all the choices to turn it off was annoying. the Strobe just hurts to see
Costco had a 2 pack of Dorcy lights that I thought were MUCH better than these lights for the same price a couple of years ago.. I have been spoiled with my Fenix TK11 (going to buy one or two more in the future when funds come up) and I also have a small Browning Alpha tactical light that runs on one AAA and it throws 100 lumens while still being small.. |
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Boy you guys are tough! For $10 these are decent lights. FENIX lights for $10? Where? Don't get me wrong, I love my daily pocket carry P2D or NiteCore, but again for lights you can toss in a glove box for ten bucks they are not bad.... Sorry yours did not adjust...mine do so....  As for clicking thru the options...is that a big deal? Is pushing your thumb a couple times too onerous?  As for being a "beginner".. I know you don't know me...and could care less, but here's a VERY VERY small sample of my FLs...I have far more than I need, but less than I want!  Cheers all, |
| Thanks for the posting. I will see if my Costco has any this Saturday. I have several Fenix, Olights, ITP, Surefire, Nightcore etc etc. I think everybody gets the picture. But I am looking for a better flashlight to take when I travel to leave on the bedside nightstand. I travel around 125 - 150 days per year. This will be a much better light than the $ 3.95 light I picked up at NAPA. For the price if the maid does decide she needs it more than I do, I still haven't lost much. It will be better when the fire alarm goes off or the earthquake hits than the NAPA AAA six LED light. |
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and having to click through all the choices to turn it off was annoying. From no matter WHAT setting, click and hold the button for a few seconds, then let up. It will turn off. From the off setting, click and hold to turn on the brightest setting (it acts as a momentary switch). Decent light for $10. I tossed them in the gloveboxes of our cars. |
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What can I say? I'm a light snob!!
My bed side light for hotels right now is my Nitecore D10. I travel about 200 days a year on average. My light is always with me so I don't have to worry about the maid taking the damn thing.  My Fenix LD01 bought at your recommendation (thanks it is a great light) is in my pocket all day. It goes on the dresser at night with keys etc. That is why this will make a nightstand light. The Fenix would make a great nightstand light no doubt, but I know I would forget it one day and I use it probably 5 days out of every week. I would not say you are a light snob, you just appreciate perfection. |
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Quoted: Quoted: and having to click through all the choices to turn it off was annoying. From no matter WHAT setting, click and hold the button for a few seconds, then let up. It will turn off. From the off setting, click and hold to turn on the brightest setting (it acts as a momentary switch). Decent light for $10. I tossed them in the gloveboxes of our cars. Thanks for that little tip. The strobe was driving me crazy. Who needs a portable rave anyway.  Sam's was selling the same light for $28 at Christmas. I gave several of them as stocking stuffers to the wife and kids for their cars.
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Quoted: Thanks for the heads up. Those seem like great lights for the money! BTW- What is a "beginner" flash light user? Its someone who thinks these are great lights!!!! sorry. I couldn't help myself! There is nothing massively wrong with them in general. Just low performing. |
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Quoted: Seriously, it is a TEN DOLLAR FLASHLIGHT. I'm not expecting it to be able to signal Saturn. But shed some light when the electricity goes off or when it is dark outside; I think it might excel at that. That is pretty much what I want flashlights to do.Quoted: Thanks for the heads up. Those seem like great lights for the money! BTW- What is a "beginner" flash light user? Its someone who thinks these are great lights!!!! sorry. I couldn't help myself! There is nothing massively wrong with them in general. Just low performing. Now if we are talking light sabres.... |
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Quoted: Quoted: Seriously, it is a TEN DOLLAR FLASHLIGHT. I'm not expecting it to be able to signal Saturn. But shed some light when the electricity goes off or when it is dark outside; I think it might excel at that. That is pretty much what I want flashlights to do.Quoted: Thanks for the heads up. Those seem like great lights for the money! BTW- What is a "beginner" flash light user? Its someone who thinks these are great lights!!!! sorry. I couldn't help myself! There is nothing massively wrong with them in general. Just low performing. Now if we are talking light sabres.... Actually, the over all output of these lights doesn't mean all that much to me. Its the run time graph that was posted earlier (another thread). Run time is king, not brightness. That is why digital regulation kicks ass and why I prefer it. The low uses PWM, and I have not seen run time graphs of that mode, but its clear that on high this light does not perform all that great. If it suits your needs, go right ahead. You can graduate to a real light later. (see! I really can't help myself!) |
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Seriously, it is a TEN DOLLAR FLASHLIGHT. I'm not expecting it to be able to signal Saturn. But shed some light when the electricity goes off or when it is dark outside; I think it might excel at that. That is pretty much what I want flashlights to do.
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Thanks for the heads up. Those seem like great lights for the money! BTW- What is a "beginner" flash light user? Its someone who thinks these are great lights!!!!
sorry. I couldn't help myself! There is nothing massively wrong with them in general. Just low performing.
Now if we are talking light sabres.... +1 It's not an XPG R5 but for $7.50 each the XPC emitter is a good general purpose light bright enough for any task. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: ...you keep saying that...plz show me a better light for $7...  I can show you a 50 times better light for 4 times the price. How about that?  Which on is 50x better for 4x cost? Go to 4sevens.com and look at the Quark line and the Fenix line. Almost every single one of them has real run times that are better than the false stated run times with these lights. Every one of them has a lower low that will be much more handy 90% of the time, which means massively better battery life. They will have better beam quality. Better tint most of the time. Better construction and anodizing. Most of them will be smaller for the output level. Let me know what you think. |
| I thought about picking up a pack of these until I read a thread about these on CPF . Several people complained about the batteries being drained dead in one week while not in use . Apparently something like the built in low battery indicator drains the batteries slowly while the light is in the "off" position . |
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Quoted: I thought about picking up a pack of these until I read a thread about these on CPF . Several people complained about the batteries being drained dead in one week while not in use . Apparently something like the built in low battery indicator drains the batteries slowly while the light is in the "off" position . http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=262363 Check it out if you want more reasons these lights are no bargain. http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=269156 This link gives the run time of these lights When you all start looking at the number lumens/hour for a set of batteries, its absolutely embarrassing. |
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The old say is true, "You get what you pay for" .
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I thought about picking up a pack of these until I read a thread about these on CPF . Several people complained about the batteries being drained dead in one week while not in use . Apparently something like the built in low battery indicator drains the batteries slowly while the light is in the "off" position . http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=262363 Check it out if you want more reasons these lights are no bargain. http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=269156 This link gives the run time of these lights When you all start looking at the number lumens/hour for a set of batteries, its absolutely embarrassing. |
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I'm a fan or the low cost LED light. I picked up a couple of Rayovac Sportman xtreme LED 1 watt light from Menards on sale for $5 a light. I have been using these lights daily at work for about 3 months and I really like them. They are machined aluminum and use AA batteries. They are normally priced at 12 dollars and are a very good light for the money.
Rayovac Xtreme sporsman light |
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Quoted: I'm a fan or the low cost LED light. I picked up a couple of Rayovac Sportman xtreme LED 1 watt light from Menards on sale for $5 a light. I have been using these lights daily at work for about 3 months and I really like them. They are machined aluminum and use AA batteries. They are normally priced at 12 dollars and are a very good light for the money. Rayovac Xtreme sporsman light The light you linked to has a simple mechanical switch and one reliable, very long running brightness setting. This is worth 5 of the costco lights that run really hot for less than 15 mins and then die off for the next 100 mins. Less brightness at the beginning, but efficient. ETA: I should explain myself. I really want to provoke discussion and thought about what constitutes a good "survival" light. Battery life and quality is way more important than brightness. Just because a light is bright does not mean its worth buying. Lights like the Costco lights are known for running down batteries when not even being used. That makes its usefulness suspect for any purpose except entertaining kids. |
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Quoted: I have no illusions on the cheap price of these. I have Surefires, but so far these lights serve a purpose to have a light in a glovebox or for general use. My .02. If the batteries are dead in two weeks or a month sitting in your glove box, how does this light serve a purpose? |
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I have no illusions on the cheap price of these. I have Surefires, but so far these lights serve a purpose to have a light in a glovebox or for general use. My .02. If the batteries are dead in two weeks or a month sitting in your glove box, how does this light serve a purpose? Listen Bud. I check all my lights on a regular basis since I want them to work when I need them whether they are my 6 Surefires, a few Maglites or these 2 Costco lights. Are they my weapon lights no. I clearly stated what I intend to use them for. They work right now & if they fail I'm out $20 and I pick something else to use in my garage, glovebox or on my bike to blind a dog that runs out at me. So far so good. Am I saying these lights are better than anything else, no. |
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Thanks for the heads up. Those seem like great lights for the money! BTW- What is a "beginner" flash light user? Its someone who thinks these are great lights!!!!
sorry. I couldn't help myself! There is nothing massively wrong with them in general. Just low performing.
You do realize of course that even if these only give 90 lumens of light that they are still as bright as most of the "Big Name" lights just a couple years ago, and 90 lumens was considered fine for most use. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Thanks for the heads up. Those seem like great lights for the money! BTW- What is a "beginner" flash light user? Its someone who thinks these are great lights!!!! sorry. I couldn't help myself! There is nothing massively wrong with them in general. Just low performing. You do realize of course that even if these only give 90 lumens of light that they are still as bright as most of the "Big Name" lights just a couple years ago, and 90 lumens was considered fine for most use. If you read the links they give approximately 80 lumens and drop off to less than half that in about 15 to 20 mins. I would rather have a light that will maintain 80 lumens for two hours, wouldn't you? I would rather have a light that puts out 40 lumens for 5 or 6 hours. |
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Update: 6 weeks since purchase and use started. No batteries dead from just sitting around on the nightstand. Just as bright in all three use settings as when batteries first installed.
Same results with two other folks I know that uses them. Seems to me if some one is having problems then take them back to Costco since there might be a couple lemons out there, BUT so far so good to go with mine & two others. Are they Surefires? NO. But they are working fine for me. |
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Quoted: Update: 6 weeks since purchase and use started. No batteries dead from just sitting around on the nightstand. Just as bright in all three use settings as when batteries first installed. Same results with two other folks I know that uses them. Seems to me if some one is having problems then take them back to Costco since there might be a couple lemons out there, BUT so far so good to go with mine & two others. Are they Surefires? NO. But they are working fine for me. How much have you used them? The complaints were not just about batteries draining, but about over all battery life during use. |
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Quoted: BTW you've claimed... Lights like the Costco lights are known for running down batteries when not even being used. That makes its usefulness suspect for any purpose except entertaining kids. I'm not seeing that with mine. They are useful to me. I have not claimed. I posted links to real stories. There is a difference. Their experiences are just as valid as yours. I am glad them are not running down on you. They still have other huge disadvantages that do not bother you. Great! |