Gander Mt. Shopping Trip

[fightingquaker13]

Ok. Tonight I took my mom out to dinner. The deal was I had to make a "quick" run into Gander Mt. on the way. This was not a problem as they have a great selection of stuffed critters and she loves to spoil her very young great nephews. So while she was looking at the stuffed beasts,I was looking at the the ammo and tac lights. Good news, ammo wise was that .556 PMC was there for $10 per 20 rds. Not a bargain but no complaints either. The Tac lights were a complete revelation though. They had a house brand 200 lumen model on sale for $39. I had always been sceptical of this stuff, figuring my mini mag and 3 D cell mag had lasted me this long and damned if I was going to drop $100+ on a flashlight.
WRONG! This thing is small enough to be hidden by my hand, vanish in a pocket and lights up the back yard. No joke it is far brighter than my three D cell mag light and makes my my mini mag look like a joke. It was worth every penny. I would reccomend checking them out even though I have owned the thing less than a day and so can make no claims regarding durability. It really does turn night into day inside of 20 yards and thats all we need.
FQ13

[blackwolfe]

What country was it made in?

[fightingquaker13]

What country was it made in?

The light is made by a company called CREE. Nowhere on the packaging or light body does it say country of origin. I thought this was required, but apparently not. Judging by the price, I think we can guess. 220 lumens, $39 = China. My bad, but I did want to test out a high out put light before dropping the cash on something like a surefire. This one, wherever it was made tells me that I was a hopeless old fart to rely on a mini-mag. It is far superior.
FQ13

[True_Texan]

You may need to re-read the packaging FQ. CREE manufactures the LEDs bulbs that flashlights use, which that is one heck of a good bulb. They have fantastic run time and are extremely bright. The CREE brand LEDs are used in numerous brands of flash lights.

Other then that bit of info, I have no idea who makes rest of the flashlight components for the Gander Mt. branding. You could always check out http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ and see what they say about it.

It honestly doesn't matter either way really... If you're happy with it, and it will light up the night then it's a good flashlight.

[jnevis]

Welcome to the land of truly great flashlights.  I am a confessed gear head when it comes to flashlights and knives, among other things.  I have a couple of Surefires and love them.  I have also picked up "off brand" lights to see how good they are.  I picked up a "Smith and Wesson" one at Sports Authority for about $25 that I have beat to hell but it still works.  I have a few Gerber pocket lights too.  Now a mini-mag or even a C or D cel Mag is for working on the car or plane but a "Tactical light" is for everything else.

[Sponsor]

[Walter45Auto]

I have a Streamlight TLR-1 that I got from Sportsman's Guide for $89. I actually know a Dallas police officer who carries one on his Duty weapon, a SIG 226. I like My Streamlight. But it sounds like you got a good deal on a good flashlight. Does it come with any kind of warranty??

[fightingquaker13]

I have a Streamlight TLR-1 that I got from Sportsman's Guide for $89. I actually know a Dallas police officer who carries one on his Duty weapon, a SIG 226. I like My Streamlight. But it sounds like you got a good deal on a good flashlight. Does it come with any kind of warranty??

It doesn't say, but in my limited experience (1 broken fishing rod, which also had no warranty attached) Gander is good about their house brand stuff. They just gave me a new one and didn't even need the sob story and this was on a $30 rod. Second best service I've gotten next to loomis and that rod cost a wee bit more.
FQ13

[Timothy]

Are Gander Mtn's bigger in other parts of the country?  I visited one outside of Cleveland and it was a bitter dissapointment.  It was about half the size of our Dicks Sporting Goods and didn't have much to offer!

[fightingquaker13]

Are Gander Mtn's bigger in other parts of the country?  I visited one outside of Cleveland and it was a bitter dissapointment.  It was about half the size of our Dicks Sporting Goods and didn't have much to offer!

Well, if we start talking about the size of Dicks, Mlette will have us in the corner for months (and everyone will lie). And yes folks I'll be here all week, please tip your bartender. Seriously, my local one, the only one I've been to, is almost the size of a Bass Pro. Big enough for boats, an archery range and a restatraunt.
FQ13

[Kid Shelleen]

My Brother-in-Law (Johnny Bravo) recently gave me a 160 lumen TechLite, Lumen Master. It is available from Costco at 2 for 19.99. It is a great light and a real flame thrower.

Here is his post about them:

I've got a new Tac light that might interest you guys. To begin with it is chocked full of features.

Now the specs: It has an aircraft grade annodized aluminum body. It has a LED bulb. It has a polycarbonate lens and vacuum plated reflector. It has adjustable focus. It puts out 160 lumens on the 3 AAA batteries that come with each of the two lights. It is water resistant for 30 minutes at 1 meter. It is shockproff. It has a striking bezel. It has 4 settings; 160 lumen full power, 80 lumen half power, strobe and momentary switch, all tail cap operated. It has a low battery indicator in the tail switch that illuminates at 20 % power. It also has an electronic optimizer to maintain constant lumen output for the life of the batteries. It comes with an attached lanyard.

I tested the battery life on the 160 lumen full power setting. The 3 AAA batteries lasted for 1 1/2 hours at full output. I shut the light off and I was surprised to see that it came back on and operated at half power. Pretty good for a 160 lumen light on cheap AAAs.

Now the price. They come in a package of 2 for 19.99. You can pick them up at your local Costco. Item # 406343 FLASHLIGHT.