FLEX Swirl Finder Light Review

[resarias]

Hi,

I own a Flex pe14, pe8 and a 3401 and I can tell you that all of them get a solid 10 in performance and build quality, exactly what I would expect from German made tools, and that was exactly what I was expecting when I ordered my Flex swirl finder light, but let me tell you that sadly I was very disappointed, it works fine for finding swirls but the build quality is very very low for something with the flex name on it.

Having said already that it works fine for finding swirls I will put a list of all the things that MY light have that were very disappointing.

1- When I first open the nice box in which it came in I got my first disappointment, the directions look like if they were home printed and cropped by dull scissors.

2- Next I picked up the light and it just felt cheap, at that very moment I knew that it was not worth $44.99, and to tell you the truth I felt ripped off

3- When I installed the batteries I saw some very ugly soldering on the inside, and the back switch was very difficult to install because the treads are very rough

4- The rubber were it says flex was very loose and it moved all over the place, I had to glue it because it was very uncomfortable when actually using the light.

5- When using the light the on/off switch feels very cheap, and like it will fail pronto.

6- I don’t see any use for the strobe mode for finding swirls or scratches, it is very tedious to go over the three modes just to go back to the mode that you were using.

The reason why I do this review is not to tell people that the Flex swirl finder light is worthless because it is not, it gets the job done, but what I want people to know is that it is definitely not worth $44.99 and that just because it has the Flex name on it, that doesn’t mean that it is German made or up to the quality of the Flex German made tools, and that was what I thought when I bought it.

[haris300]

Thanks for sharing your input. Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with the light. I'm happy with my Streamlight pen from Amazon. Works great for finding swirls, fits in my pocket, and cost me less than 20 bucks.

[Hokie335i]

Sorry to hear about the bad experience. I was debating grabbing a dedicated swirl light but may not now.

My dad works for Cree so I get the promotional Cree flashlights that they give customers and I use it and it works great!

[conman1395]

I'm pretty sure I read this exact flashlight can be found on Amazon for under $20 of $30. Too busy/lazy to figure out where I read it.

Honestly though, why in the world would a swirl finder need to be a tactical flashlight?

The Rupes pen light is the only light I find detailing specific worth buying. Otherwise, I'll stick to my Coast, halogens, LED panel lights, and the sun.

The Rupes light is soooooo nice. It deserved to be included in another sentence.

[RobRabbit2.5]

Im very surprised to see that. i bought the same light from autogeek and was very satisfied with it. But the pictures you have don't lie, and are very different from what i recieved.

I would contact wherever you bought it or flex themselves. Either should help get you a new one. The one i have has absolutely no damage to it, the threads are beautiful and the build and soldering are immaculate. Seems like a bad one just got past quality control, which happens.

Good luck righting that wrong, but don't let it get you down on them flex lights, i love mine.

[medicscott]

Mine actually fell apart in my hands when I went to install the batteries. Couldn't believe it. 1 call to Autogeek customer service and a new one was in my hands within 3 days. Needless to say it's OK at best.

[addysdaddy]

brinkman dual xenon swirl finder

[fotomatt1]

I have the Rupes swirl finder light. It's very well constructed and fees like an expensive tool as it should. If you can wait for a 15 or 20% sale, it's the light to get.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[custmsprty]

brinkman dual xenon swirl finder

Those were discontinued a long time ago and so was the marine version which is what I have.

Any decent LED flashlight with a pinpoint beam works fine. I just got one for a few dollars and it works great. Runs off of one AA.

[resarias]

I bought mine from Autogeek, I haven't contact them because I live in Costa Rica and it is very tedious to send it back all the way to the US, but I will contact them to let them know. Although it is very sad to hear that I'm not the only one that have had bad experiences.