Got a nice deal today

[turnsouth]

I was in the city today, and stopped by Marshall's to see if I could score some of the Leatherman Serac's folks have been talking about, but sadly when I got there the only Leatherman's they had were some Squirt's at normal prices.

So I was poking around the "tool" display stand, and there was the usual department store smurf, things like: Sharper Image four piece multitool sets for $15.00, football team branded remote controls, battery holders, etc... Then, as I was digging around, I noticed that on the peg behind the 6 packs of LED lights (the ones that come with all of the "long lasting" batteries) that there were some things that seemed out of place. After I pulled all of the other lights out of the way, I found these old stock LED Lenser's with clearance price tags on them :







Sorry about the cell phone pics, I'll post some better ones when I get home

[captain spaulding]

Good finds you got there. I never think about Marshall's for tools or lights.  I think I need to take a drive.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Score

[Sazabi]

Huh, I saw those at my TJ Maxx, but completely skipped over the LED Lenser in the corner.  Are they decent lights?

[MeadMaker]

I stopped at Marshall's for the same reason and, since they didn't have the Seracs, I picked up the LED Lenser L6 for $15.  I believe that is the same one in your first picture. 

After carrying it on dog walks for a week I have to say that I am impressed with that light.   The focusing beam is especially useful.

I don't understand why LED Lenser doesn't get more respect in the flashlightaholics community. 

[turnsouth]

Are they decent lights?

They are very good high value lights. These particular ones don't have all the bells and whistles of the current crop of LED lights, but they are regulated, and at $14.99 I figure I couldn't go wrong.

I picked up the LED Lenser L6 for $15.  I believe that is the same one in your first picture. 

Yep, that's the one. And what a nice light it is, it looks to have a solid brass inner body, with a thermoplastic shell. Which I found was a real pleasure to handle last night when I was out in the field behind the hotel trying them out. I had forgotten how comfortable a plastic light is to use in the hand when compared to how cold aluminum gets below freezing.

After carrying it on dog walks for a week I have to say that I am impressed with that light.   The focusing beam is especially useful.

+1

I don't understand why LED Lenser doesn't get more respect in the flashlightaholics community.

You know what I think it is? I think it's because, before Leatherman bought them, they picked "Coast Tools" to be their US distributor, which ended branding them as cheap junk. IMO...


I'll post some good picks this weekend

[Sazabi]

Now I hate I didn't get the L6 when I saw it at the TJ Maxx I stopped by last night. :/  TS, did you grab a spare?  I'd trade you an S3 for one. 

[turnsouth]

Now I hate I didn't get the L6 when I saw it at the TJ Maxx I stopped by last night. :/  TS, did you grab a spare?  I'd trade you an S3 for one. 

They only had one 

But I'm going to be looking at some other T.J. Maxx · Marshalls as I get to them, and if I get another I'll let you know

[Sazabi]

Now I hate I didn't get the L6 when I saw it at the TJ Maxx I stopped by last night. :/  TS, did you grab a spare?  I'd trade you an S3 for one. 

They only had one 

But I'm going to be looking at some other T.J. Maxx · Marshalls as I get to them, and if I get another I'll let you know

Thank you, TS.   I know at least the TJ Maxx I stopped by had it for $10, so I'm surprised yours asked $5 more. o.o;

[turnsouth]

Thank you, TS.   I know at least the TJ Maxx I stopped by had it for $10, so I'm surprised yours asked $5 more. o.o;

It is surprising (that you walked away from a deal like that!  )

[Sazabi]

Thank you, TS.   I know at least the TJ Maxx I stopped by had it for $10, so I'm surprised yours asked $5 more. o.o;

It is surprising (that you walked away from a deal like that!  )

I know, I know.

[scrappy]

10 is a, great deal
14 is still a great deal. I love the focusable light

[Gareth]

I stopped at Marshall's for the same reason and, since they didn't have the Seracs, I picked up the LED Lenser L6 for $15.  I believe that is the same one in your first picture. 

After carrying it on dog walks for a week I have to say that I am impressed with that light.   The focusing beam is especially useful.

I don't understand why LED Lenser doesn't get more respect in the flashlightaholics community.

I think it's because they don't seem to have ever gone for the multi-modes that most top brands have, relying on the focus for near/far work.  Their claimed run times are extremely ambitious, to say the least, and I get the impression that they don't exactly use the very latest LED emitters so hardly the brightest things out there.  Plus they do seem to use the 3xAAA format a heck of a lot that many hardcore flashlight fans don't like. 

All that said if you get one for a good price and it suits your needs then it's still a bargain.

[turnsouth]

Plus they do seem to use the 3xAAA format a heck of a lot that many hardcore flashlight fans don't like. 

That is true, the whole thing adds a bit of fuss to changing the batteries.

I don't know about the UK, but I think that here in the States, if they would have brought them in under their own name, and touted them as just a "well made reliable light", they would have had more success than they did. Maybe not among hardcore fans, but they might have made inroads into the homeowner's junk drawer. Sort of the "German Maglite".

But I'm sure that Leatherman has a good business plan for the company. Time will tell...

[Gareth]

LED Lenser are indeed a brand that we do actually see on the shelf here in the UK.  Not nearly as common as Maglite perhaps but a lot of 'outdoors' type of shops seem to stock a few basic ones.

[turnsouth]

Here I see them at department stores, and farm stores.
To be honest, I had never heard of LED Lenser until Leatherman bought them.
I mean, I had probably seen them near a hundred times at different stores, but they were under the name of "Coast", and right away when I see that brand my mind goes to "That's cheap smurf I don't need to waste my time looking at".

But now it's a little like finding hidden treasure

[turnsouth]

Good pic here:

LED Lenser Owners Club

[kronk]

Thanks for the info.  I never really shopped at Marshall's before.  Guess I'll have to spend some time there. Normally I cut through Marshalls to access other stores in the mall.

[MeadMaker]

I stopped at Marshall's for the same reason and, since they didn't have the Seracs, I picked up the LED Lenser L6 for $15.  I believe that is the same one in your first picture. 

After carrying it on dog walks for a week I have to say that I am impressed with that light.   The focusing beam is especially useful.

I don't understand why LED Lenser doesn't get more respect in the flashlightaholics community.

I think it's because they don't seem to have ever gone for the multi-modes that most top brands have, relying on the focus for near/far work.  Their claimed run times are extremely ambitious, to say the least, and I get the impression that they don't exactly use the very latest LED emitters so hardly the brightest things out there.  Plus they do seem to use the 3xAAA format a heck of a lot that many hardcore flashlight fans don't like. 

All that said if you get one for a good price and it suits your needs then it's still a bargain.

Thanks for the explanation Gareth.  It makes more sense now.

[Sazabi]

I stopped at Marshall's for the same reason and, since they didn't have the Seracs, I picked up the LED Lenser L6 for $15.  I believe that is the same one in your first picture. 

After carrying it on dog walks for a week I have to say that I am impressed with that light.   The focusing beam is especially useful.

I don't understand why LED Lenser doesn't get more respect in the flashlightaholics community.

I think it's because they don't seem to have ever gone for the multi-modes that most top brands have, relying on the focus for near/far work.  Their claimed run times are extremely ambitious, to say the least, and I get the impression that they don't exactly use the very latest LED emitters so hardly the brightest things out there.  Plus they do seem to use the 3xAAA format a heck of a lot that many hardcore flashlight fans don't like. 

All that said if you get one for a good price and it suits your needs then it's still a bargain.

Thanks for the explanation Gareth.  It makes more sense now.

The other thing I have to mention is that LED Lenser tends to use multiple LEDs; as a novice, I tend to consider multiple-LED flashlights as substandard and cheap - and their use of multiple AAA or battery cells, that's what'd previously colored my opinion of them. :/  Still have that opinion of the Maglite 3x AAA flashlights, too. >.>

[Gareth]

I stopped at Marshall's for the same reason and, since they didn't have the Seracs, I picked up the LED Lenser L6 for $15.  I believe that is the same one in your first picture. 

After carrying it on dog walks for a week I have to say that I am impressed with that light.   The focusing beam is especially useful.

I don't understand why LED Lenser doesn't get more respect in the flashlightaholics community.

I think it's because they don't seem to have ever gone for the multi-modes that most top brands have, relying on the focus for near/far work.  Their claimed run times are extremely ambitious, to say the least, and I get the impression that they don't exactly use the very latest LED emitters so hardly the brightest things out there.  Plus they do seem to use the 3xAAA format a heck of a lot that many hardcore flashlight fans don't like. 

All that said if you get one for a good price and it suits your needs then it's still a bargain.

Thanks for the explanation Gareth.  It makes more sense now.

The long and short of it is that flashlight fans can be even more snobby about lights than we are about MT's.  

[AimlessWanderer]

The long and short of it is that flashlight fans can be even more snobby about lights than we are about MT's.

I must admit it's a whole different world I don't understand. I'll pop in the Flashlight Forum here at MTO and find it predominantly useful ... because it's usually in a language I understand. Elsewhere on the net (one site specifically )there's a sea of words and numbers being spouted back and forth and I'm struggling to find anyone speaking in a language I can understand.

I'll either choose a black one or a shiny one (seriously), and then I'll chose whether I want a little bit of light, quite a bit of light, a lot of light, or a shedload of light. Beyond that I know that everytime I get a AAA light it rattles and strobes occasionally, don't use more than one CR123 at the same time because strange things can happen and I might blow up, and charging those great big sod off 18650 fellers without a degree in astrophysics could eliminate my entire neighbourhood if I let it go flat then charge it (which in itself is confusing as I thought that was the general point of the matter) ... so if I suddenly go offline for an entended period of time, I've charged my batteries and will return once I've regrown enough skin to type

[Gareth]

 

[turnsouth]

+1 

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

That#s a fair assesment

[Nightshade]

50FT- That's a spot on summary!!!!!