Clone Flashlight: Telltale Signs of a Cheap Fake

I would take a Surefire any day. I have several. When I need a flashlight... I need it to work. EVERY TIME! I don't think a $20 china flashlight is going to come with a LIFETIME guarantee. ALL of my Surefire flashlights work every time. And... As far as the batteries leaking? NEVER! Surefire offers the BEST and lowest priced CR123A batteries, period. I would never put my job or my life on the line with a $20 flashlight.
Besides, how many times do you want to buy something? If you buy a $20 flashlight, I'd guess you'd buy a new one every year if you use it every day. With a Surefire, you buy it once!

I can't help but notice the Knurling on the left of the SureFire unit is partially cut off near the smooth indentation.
Was this unit dropped or abused?
Hope it didn't come off the assembly line like this.
The knock-off one APPEARS well crafted, which shows that Chinese products are here to stay. Kind of reminds me of Toyota in the 70s and 80s.
After I lost my Kline linesmen pliers, I bought a cheap pair of at Home Depot for $10. They stick when opened half way and cutting heavy gauge wire requires noticibly more effort. The Made in USA Klien tool cut like a "hot knife thru butter."

You folks are missing the point- a cheap battery will rot the insides of a $270 flashlight just as quickly as a $20 unit. Are you more likely to find a rotten battery or lose the flashlight? Hmmmm?... I'll take the $20 unit..

For a real in-depth article discussing "good enough" technology, look at the latest issue of Wired magazine. It all depends on the consumer and that fine line between price VS quality - which is a personal choice. There's nothing inherently evil about producing cheap products as there will always be someone around willing to give it a try. Mission critical applications by their very nature demand the most reliable product (which comes at a price).

Haven't you people ever heard of Mag Lite?
These things are reliable, American made,
available at Home Depot, Lowes,etc and don't have triple digit price tags.

For those who require the ultimate in reliability, consider the redundancy per dollar made possible by "reasonable" quality, low-priced products.
If I were in a cave, I'd gladly trade a $200 waterproof flashlight for three waterproof $25 flashlights!

My life (read that business reputation) depends ultimately upon quality of workmanship.
This reminds me of a recent episode of the British show "Top Gear" where the hosts had to race across the desert in cars that they bought for around $500. I believe the car that won was a really worn out Mercedes. The only issue I would have is with the longevity of the company in re to support. I still am able to purchase any factory part for my 30 year old Porsche. If I go to the dealer for parts for my 1983 S10 shop truck, I find only a limited few available. Everyone laughed when I spent $1500.00 for an Apple G3 in 1999, but it still works for home use and now I remind them all of how many pc's they have purchased since 1999. The Pc's I rely on at the shop are "Business Class" and cost me ten times the Wally World versions, but they don't crash and what little support I need is available 24-7. Cost analysis will show that over the long run it really pays to shell out the extra $ for quality. SnapOn tools carry the same warranty as do the Sears/Kmart versions and are about ten times the cost, except when one factors in the cost of lost reputation due to the trips across town to replace the Sears/Kmart hot deal tools on Friday afternoon with a customer waiting impatiently. Compare that with the SnapOn pie wagon delivering any replacement tool with just a phone call.
Next time you are driving down a steep hill towards a hairpin curve just above a cliff, think about the shop, or for that matter the uncle / shade tree grease monkey, that you had "do" the brakes for 1/2 price, then take a long hard look at the effect upon your family after the bakes fail. In regards to the Japanese, I seem to remember something about a fellow (Demming?) who was ignored by Government Motors and then had all 14 point of his TQM system adopted by the Japanese. Something to do with the importance of Quality regardless of cost I believe. But then I'm probably delusional, Now where did my glasses... glass? yeah Ill have a glass of... glass? that window's open,.... windows? close and reboot,... boots, tie boots,... tie? forgot mine... mine?, gold ore... gold, send gold surplus... Ore was it sur-minus?

I have been importing tac lights and 20 to 50 mw green lasers from china for 2 years now. Their technology 3 years ago had 3 w led's and 2 years ago they had 5w led's. Those lights cost $13 and $38 to me.The green weapons lasers were of good enough quality you could give to a child and he couldn't tear it up in one evening.Not everything made there is poor quality. They are slowly proving to the world that their stuff is pretty good.

a LOT of people buy surefires with their own money, My father has one, I will get one eventually (probably the $100 variant). Its like a high end precision tool or sports equipment, those who prefer quality or enjoy the "pride of ownership" pay for it. Look at what folks will pay for fly rods & reels, graphite golf clubs, high end pocket knives, or kitchen knives, or art. There is also a market segment for $5 or $20 cheap flashlights, they not as reliable, but you don't care if you loose one. But market each with an honest name, and the manufacturer's own styling and labeling. Trying to copy the high end one in looks is fraud.

I just wish the price of fake Rolexes would come down. They sure are pretty!

Everyone wants to spend their money at will, but it's always useful has more options that $20. If you want a $20 flashlight to use just when the lights goes off, sounds reasonable and the $270 flashlight is not for you; but if you are on the top of a mountain as on the deep of a cavern or mine; you sure that you regret it your $20 decision.

This must be an old article. The price is now $295.00 per the link given. Ridiculous. US Army approved sticker is nice. I guess the military got rid of the fraud, waste and abuse program it started when I got out. At these prices, Surefire will be the next company to fall to the overseas market. Anyone know where to get the knockoff at? I'd like to try one.

Hmmm....Anybody got a match? If I built one flashlight in my workshop per day, I would probably ask $300 for it also. Wonder how long it will be till Surefire has China make their flashlights?

$270.00US for a Flashlight? That's equivalent to $1701.00 Trinidad and Tobago dollars. That's a monthly installment on a car.
Apart from that though, I got a pretty good LED flashlight, with great light intensity, AL body and Anodized finish as a giveaway at a tradeshow, so how expensive can these really be?

Although I agree that $270 seems like a crazy price for a flashlight with no smarts, I have found that small-run specialty items can be quite pricey. Engineering, tooling and mold, and other fixed costs can kill you on small runs. Here at Los Alamos we sometimes need small quantities of very specialized items, and we have to pay through the nose (and we sure can't outsource to China!). A rad-hard $2 CPU, for example, might cost you a thousand times more.

Like the previous person commented the majority of people who purchase the $270 flash light don't pay for it them selves directly. They pay by higher taxes. We (Americans) are being screwed by big companies who have favoritism inside the US government. They can charge anything they want because the person who is writing the check isn't spending his own hard earned money.

The cloning is just plain WRONG (like knockoff Rolexes...) but Surefire flashlights and their prices are like buying a government toilet seat. There is NO need to spend this sort of money. There are other VERY HIGH quality and PERFORMING flashlights out there for a fraction of the overly hyped and snooty Surefire line. Sorry guys, I'm an engineer, have taken your product apart, and know marketing hype when I see it. For the prices you charge, I expect a laser sword option as well!

I purchased some "entry level" Surefire flashlights for less than $50 and it is laughable how much better they are compared to mass market products. Definitely worth the meager investment.

the price for this high class is for those that have high level discretionary money -- that often is greater than the yearly salary of the majority population.
$270 calls for lithium rechargeable batteries, multisource charging source equipment and variable light output and possibly including protection against water " immersion" and salvage equipment --other wise it is what is called in the latin countries: "Gringo Sucker "

I wonder if the "QC" included a head-bonking or 10' drop test?

Where can I purchase the $20 version? I can adapt a Luminus SST50 to it and have a winner.

I work for SureFire, but my comments are my own.
RE: Cost SureFire U2 versus knock-off:
Consider that we do offer much less expensive lights with performance and quality far exceeding the Chinese knock-off. The U2 is not a slave-labor produced, low-quality, marginal performance, throw-away flashlight. It has six output levels with a rotary magnetic switch, is extremely bright on the high setting, uses the finest available materials throughout, and has a lifetime warranty.
Yes, you can buy a $400 laptop. You can also buy a MacPro with all the fixins for around $3K. You can buy a basic Kia for $14K or a HumVee for much more. Apples to Oranges comparisons are just that.
The U2 may be expensive, but it is purpose built to be the best of its kind. And for the record, almost all of the U2's SureFire makes are purchased by civilians. You need to use one before you can understand the value. Just like driving a 7-Series BMW or using very high-quality tool, it is not for everyone, but it's perfect for someone.
There are no free lunches. A flashlight with the quality and performance of the clone may work for you (but please, buy a legitimate $20 flashlight, not one that undermines our economy) but that does not mean that the U2 does not have $270 of value built in. It all depends on your need and ability to pay to have that need fulfilled.

When we, each of us, make product purchases based on first cost alone and do not consider quality or durability, we are proving that price is more important than quality-- WE ARE THE MARKET. It does not take much to kill off the high quality producers and reward the poorest quality guys. This is the reason Walmart is so successful- they have found out that American consumers are gullible and will accept poor quality as long as we can consume, consume, consume at that lower first cost. They even only offer the lowest priced products, preventing higher priced ones from even being a choice there. This has eliminated many US manufacturers, who actually had to make their products perform, or be sued or badmouthed. Brand identity has value to the consumer as well as the seller.
As for the $270 flashlight, don't buy it if you don't want it, but do not assume it is "too expensive" at all if someone's safety is on the line. Do you buy the cheapest rope to climb mountains with? Do you want to equip our troops and law enforcement with Walmart ammo? Saves money and works most of the time...
I have determined that the English pronunciation of the word "warranty" means "the check cleared" in several asian languages.

The anodized finish quality is not a big deal unless you get salt water on it or let the batteries corrode. A MUCH bigger deal is the durability of the connections inside. And if there is a circuit board, the quality of the plating on it. Also the quality of the solder connections. In a "cheap junk" assembly the copper foil comes off the circuit board, and the solder is brittle and breaks when there is vibration. Then it doesn't work at all. On the other hand, my $6.95, 7LED, 3 AAA cell flashlight seems to be fairly durable and throws a nice field of light. The battery life is poor, but that is OK for my applications. And the case does seem to be fairly waterproof.
Remember the old military flashlights with the right-angle heads? They certainly were not cheap, although I don't think anywhere $300. BUT they were durable and the switches never became intermittant or failed, and they had a predictable battery life. Plus, they were sort of ugly and had very little status or cool-factor.

Since the main purchasers are government institutions and paid for by our tax dollars is there any question as to why it is so expensive? A ordinary citizen would not be able to afford a $300 flashlight.

Price gouging invites cloning. $270 for a LED flashlight is at least $200 too much - for the same quality. Consider - you can get a laptop for about $300 and a 1 TB hard drive for less than $90.

Well you certainly had me fooled right from the start. From the look of the image I would have immediately assumed the one in the back was the cheap knock-off. Its anodization is clearly fading from black to yuck. That is NOT hard anodized! I did some homemade anodizing before and had a similar result after a couple months. Yes, the knock off should have been marketed on its own merits and they should not copy the name and logo of the original. That would be a perfect world. Those days are gone.

There's another issue that surrounds the "low priced" product - how and where is it manufactured. Are we getting a deal based on extremely low cost (meaning "slave type") labor from somewhere off-shore. It's only a good deal if it's a good deal for everyone.

If the $20 flashlight was "redesigned" to be unique (including its name), it would probably be a decent product for a lot of people, who don't really need a $270 flashlight.
I sometimes wonder if counterfeiters shoot themselves in their own foot with such blatant clones?

I have used a couple of the Surefire flashlights and there is by far no comparison. It is like comparing lights on a new car to a 1960's car. Remember the old adage: "You get what you pay for."

SureFire is mainly for military and law enforcement use. It costs that much for a reason. I need it to continue working after bonking someone over the head with it, or taking a 10' drop off a wall or building, or a tuck & roll after a parachute landing or infil off a moving vehicle. For the average Joe, naw it's not worth it.

I wonder how the clones compare as far as the quality of the light beam is concerned.

That $270 flashlight better also be a
GPS, cellphone, multitool, TV remote, taperule, cigarette lighter/minitorch, and garage door opener, for that price!!!
Ridiculous!!!

$270 is WAY too much for a flashlight, regardless of how good the manufacturer thinks it is. Imagine the mark up especially if the clone product costs $20. Perhaps if the manufacturer was realistic about the market price, it would subside the clone market.

Come on folks, realize they are stealing from legit businesses. Yeah, great flashlight for $20. Try their milk next (remember the story where cheaters killed and sickened 1000s of infants with their milk protein clone).

Ironically, the $20 flashlight may be the best "go anywhere" flashlight - you don't have to worry about losing it! I need a flashlight that lights when I pick it up, stays lit for a while, and perhaps will stay lit in the rain. I don't need to run over it with my car. The market will decide which flashlight better serves its purpose. Maybe $20 is too much for the cheap flashlight. If so, I'll soon see it at the liquidators for much less. I suspect that most of the $270 flashlights are carried by persons who don't have to buy their own flashlights.

Threaded fasteners are another low-quality offshore item I've seen in the hardware stores ... threads so badly made that the nuts literally "fall" off the screw ... Another one is deck screws ... the head breaks off with just a little tightening torque. Wake up America!!

Surefire has reason to be concerned. Aside from all the people who will be fooled, there is also certainly a market out there (many other people) who would rather get a good flashlight for $20 than pay $270 for a great flashlight (I would!). And, as we have seen in the electronics and automobile businesses (Japan in the 1980s-1990s, Korea in the last 10 years), it is likely that there will soon be flashlights from China that cost less than the Surefire AND outperform it.

For $20 compared to $270, it still may be a good buy.