Customer Reviews

Dorcy 41-4295 6-Watt K2 LED Flashlight with Batteries

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The Dorcy 41-4295 is a great light, lite weight, and very powerful, the answer to the battery issue (expensive) is to get rechargeable 3volt batteries, and get two sets.. one set always in the charger..

Now the bad part.. there's a flaw in the design, the end cap that you unscrew to insert the batteries, is also the switch, being that it is the switch, they have to isolate the metal body from the switch.. they do this with plastic.. very cheap thin plastic.. Thus.. my end cap has broken twice.. first time they replaced it for me.. pending the second one right now.. but even if they do replace it a second time... its going to happen again.. I am not rough on this at all, actually very easy on it due to it happening the first time.. if you get this.. you will love it.. until the switch end falls off on you.. if they would do a modification on the end cap to keep it from snapping off.. This by all means would be the best, lightest flashlight of all time..

I bought the 41-4295 several years ago and it just sat in my car glovebox for the most part. Lithium 123 batteries were a good deal because the last for 10 years.
However, the other day I looked in the glovebox and the rubber back end had popped off...the plastic collar that holds the switch in the back of the light
had failed.
No repair part is available for a $30 flashlight...this is the last Dorcy product I'll buy...LOL!

Back to Surefire FTW...any surefire product is fully repairable!

This is a solid performer with great distance. The light gives off a white/bluish tint. For the price, its a great flashlight to have especially if you want to see at a good distance with intensity. If you're just looking for a good short distant but bright light, get the Dorcy 3 watt one. That is a great flashlight for almost half the price. I bought this one at Sportsman's Warehouse for $34.95. The clip is a nice feature, it has a good feel to it. It should last because I won't be using it a lot. Overall, great intense light. I'd buy another one and or recommend it to a friend.

I purchased this light at Sears so I could easily return it, I just wanted to check it out.
Its very bright, brighter then my 7 watt, brighter then my Surefire P6. I use RCR123A batteries in it so battery cost is not an issue. Its well made, but I'm not sure how well the rubber will hold up.
I decided to keep it, I've had it now for six months
Sears price on sale, + 10% off = about $30.

I collect LED flashlights and Dorcy makes some nice medels. this isn't one of them. I ignored the negative reviews and regret it. It is very bright and attractive and it seems rugged but the tail switch is no good. It is the screw in type and it is impossible to find the correct spot to leave it in to ensure that it is off. Even when it seems to be off, it may come on later and drain the expensive litheum batteries. This is what happened to mine and I cannot spend the money to replace them knowing that they may be drained again. This light (one week old) will never be used again. The Dorcy rechargeable or double-A models with push-button switches are a much better choice.

I had this light for maybe 9 months, used it maybe two dozen times. The switch started to not function. I clicked it 'on' but it wouldn't turn on until I gave the light a solid tap, as though the switch were sticky. One day I pulled the light out of my pack to see the rubberized switch housing had completely broken off.

Dorcy was awesome about sending me a replacement light. I told them it broke, they told me to send it to them, and a short while later a new one showed up in the mail.

Sadly, after only a few short weeks, and using it just a handful of times, the switch has become extremely sensitive to motion. While it is on (it still turns on easily enough), any amount of movement will cause the light to turn off, until it is positioned in such a way that the circuit completes.

While the switch is functioning properly, this light is awesome. Plenty of light, focused nicely and it lasts quite a while. Plus, people admire it, which is cool. However, the poor performance of the switch makes this light unacceptable. The rest of the light feels bombproof, I never would have thought something as simple as a switch would give out so easily.

Two stars.

Update (March 11, 2011):
I decided that, instead of letting this light collect dust, or getting a 3rd replacement, I would try to tear it apart and see if I could fix it. This light is impossible to tear apart without destroying! (Rather impressive, actually. That does mean, however, that if the bulb ever goes out the flashlight is done for.)

So I settled on tampering with the only part of the guts I could get to... the spring completing the circuit between the switch and the batteries. I mashed it, I stretched it almost to the point of deformation, I twisted it every which way I could and when I was satisfied the spring had had enough I screwed the cap back on. That was two weeks ago and the problem with the light flickering seems to have vanished.

It has gained a star in my book. (Now to 3.)

As others have stated this is one BRIGHT light! In fact, it is as bright as any light that I have ever used (even a little brighter than MAGLITE ST2D096 2-D Cell LED Flashlight, Gray, which is especially impressive due to its small size. The light is about 4" long and weighs in at less than 1 lb.

While I do appreciate how powerful the Dorcy is - it does have a few problems. After about 2 months of use the endcap of the flashlight fell off. Without a little glue the light would have been headed for the garbage can. Also, the cost of replacement batteries is high - expect to spend between $6-10 on replacement batteries. By the way - the battery life is not-so-great.

Pros

- Very bright
- Compact
- Bulb will never burn out!

Areas for Improvement

- Lithium Ion batteries are not cheap.
- Battery Life is not great... the brightness of the light decreases with the loss of battery power.
- Quality is suspect ... I had to glue the end-cap back on (gotta love superglue)
- Not cheap - nearly twice the price of the maglite.

Final verdict- while I enjoy the power I am disappointed in the Dorcy's battery life. At the end of day this is a very expensive flashlight to own (unless you take another reviewer's advice and buy rechargeable batteries). I was also a little disappointed that I had some quality issues within the first few months.

3 stars