cree lights

gubber12345

just been wondering where can I buy an original cree light and not a Chinese copy.

had a search on google but all I seem to get is ebay on the search results.some are from uk sellers and most from china.i have a notion that even the uk ones are really Chinese ones just shipped over here in bulk.

does anyone have an original cree and where did they buy it if they don't mind telling me.

thanks

kwi

I've bought the Chinese copies via a UK seller, at £18 a pop I got 4 of them. One was DOA and a replacement came very quickly giving me a spare battery. Am happy with them so far and all our clubs night time MTBers are using them. Though be aware that the batteries don't give much warning before dying and the battery holders strap isn't the strongest so either stick them in a bottle or zip tie them on.

gubber12345

kwi wrote:

I've bought the Chinese copies via a UK seller, at £18 a pop I got 4 of them. One was DOA and a replacement came very quickly giving me a spare battery. Am happy with them so far and all our clubs night time MTBers are using them. Though be aware that the batteries don't give much warning before dying and the battery holders strap isn't the strongest so either stick them in a bottle or zip tie them on.

i have a Chinese one as well although mine was £32 last yr.they do a great job for sure for the money but reports say they burn out quickly and sometimes just pack in without warning.i don't have a spare light so was thinking of getting an original with some backup if it all goes tits up.

saying that i have found a site for the originals when i searched a bit deeper and found they go under the name of magicshine.man they are expensive so could buy quite a few Chinese ones

ricey155

Another thumbs up for Chinky lights, are we sure UK sellers aren't buying them from asia and adding a fee?

everything is made in asia cheap buy direct - I'd be happy to buy another spare set to make sure I've got lights through the winter

bartimaeus

Cree make the LEDs... lots of people make lights with different Cree emitters in them, and many of the Chinese lights with Cree emitters are very good indeed.

kwi

Ricey155 wrote:

are we sure UK sellers aren't buying them from asia and adding a fee?

The seller I used is definitely a Chinese seller warehousing in the UK.

ednino

I've got a Chinky 3x CREE led lamp

bright as fook, I love it

night_porter

Ricey155 wrote:

Another thumbs up for Chinky lights, are we sure UK sellers aren't buying them from asia and adding a fee?

Of course they are adding a fee, would you import them and risk paying import duties, give replacements if they break down and still sell them for cost?

The delivery from China can be up to 2 months so paying a little bit extra to a UK supplier seem pretty reasonable to me.

To the op if you would like to buy high quality flashlights with genuine Cree emitters then Fenix is an excellent make. They will cost you significantly more than Chinese flashlights with the same emitters and brightness but they are built to very high standards.

Personally I have used an Ultrafire wf-501b bought from China every weekday for the last 4 years and never had a problem with it but loads of people complain about them. Maybe it is because I travel at night and so have to use them all year round instead of storing them during the summer months?

bartimaeus

I've a collection of Ultrafire 501b torches... I did not think much of the XPGs, but the T6 XMLs have been very reliable (and bright) and my newest XM-L2 (£8 from Lightmalls) is awesome. I have a stack of 18650 cells to power them - and in the last 3 years I have only had maybe two cells die on me.

The only issue I've found with the 501bs is random mode changes caused by the cells moving and losing contact... but this is very easily fixed with some electrical tape, and a spacer (I have 2.5mm rare earth magnets... others just use a washer or a small screw).

unixnerd

I've a collection of Ultrafire 501b torches

Search for the 501b, they're good quality. I've also put electrical tape around the battery and it works a treat.