KC Flex Led light bar VS Made in China alternative

[autism family travels]

How narrow is the lazer beam. that's what I am most interested in. Everything I found on the net points to two little narrow beams. Will they light up ditches on a two lane highway down road? I mean the lazer part. I know the LED part of them will light up close by, but I am looking for more down range lighting. Thanks for the info btw.

Just watched your video, the Lazers look awesome. Just wondering on the width of the lazer beam down road.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

The laser beams are narrow and go really far.

You: Will they light up ditches on a two way lane down the road?

Me: How far down the road do ypu need to see the ditches? 200 meters down the road? 500 meters? Or half a mile down the road?

My lights go as far as 300 to 400 meters and you see the road perfectly bright and clear. Beyond that distance, it is not too important though this light goes way beyond that.

When you are driving 10mph offroad or 80mph on the freeway, your eyes are focused on the immediate distance infront of your car of up to 100 meters or 200 meters, you are not focused on 300 meters or 400 meters down the road.

Normal headlights high beams do not compare to any 8.5 inch led cannon, let alone the one I have. So, imagine everybody who does not have offroad lights. Their eyes are already accustomed to the length of light of what car manufacturers know is important for our eyes to see down the road.

My Cannon led light has a laser beam in the middle that acts like a spot light and it has many leds that act like flood light. So, each of my Cannon lights is a combo of spot and flood.

The laser goes really FAR. It is narrow. It is a spot light. It does not light up ditches down the road, as I believe you may be wanting. You may be asking too much of this light's output. Try to find a company that produces exactly what you are asking and share that with me let me see 8f that exists.

The leds in my cannon are flood. They are a very good spread and light up the ditches, but not like you may be thinking or wanting. If you want what you are asking, buy some lights and angle them towards the ditches for excellent ditch lights. That is what people who really want that do on the forums.

The leds lights I have perform for what you are asking for. I must tell you my cannons are blinding. Any time I light that at night on a road trip, 18 wheelers start flashing back at me from afar. I have enjoyed using it on some road trips at night and let me say when it is pitch dark and I am alone on the road, when I turn every light on, it turns the night into day. It goes very far and wide into the ditches.

Like I said, for the price and performance, there is no 8.5 inch cannon out there that beats this one. You cannot find one. If you find one, be kind to share pictures and videos, not just talk about it without showing performance.

 

[autism family travels]

OK,

I had HIDs that would punch 1000 m down the road in a good spread at that point. That is why I ask. we have more moose per capital on our highways than anywhere else in NA. If I make a 2.5 hr trip to the airport, I see anywhere between 15 and 25 moose during that drive, the further off we can see them the better chance we have to not hit them. I do work installing lighting and I deal with long haul truckers. They see upwards of 50-75 a night easy. I was wondering about the laser as it would be a viable option to what we are looking for, but it sounds like the beam is too narrow for our application.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

I don't know exactly what type of HIDs you had, but these 8.5 inch cannon beats it when it comes to how much light and how far. Maybe you can post pictures or a link of exactly what HIDs you are talking about because these leds beat that HID in everything you just mentioned the HID does.

The guys in Australia who have these 8.5 cannons or even the ones I replaced with these, all say they can see Kangaroos 1km down the road up to 1 mile (1.6km) down the road. Since they do have a Kangaroo problem on many of their roads in Australia.

So, their Kangaroo problem is like your Moose problem. So, these would work very well for your Moose problem.

I do not have Moose or Kangaroos here in Texas, but I sure see very far aheadwith these cannons. I am not going to talk about 1km or 1 miles ahead because I am not trying to figure out anything that is 1km or 1 mile ahead of me on the road when I am dling 70mph. Or offroading and doing 10mph.

 

[autism family travels]

I'm not getting into a apparatus measuring contest with you. I was asking some questions about your lights. You are going on the defencive not me. Relax. Enjoy your lights.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Oh not at all. We are all here to share ideas and maybe help each other in our search for some things.

I just feel based on what you say you want and what you explained, these lights would satisfy that need.

But as you know, you are the one who makes the final decision on what you want to buy and how much you want to spend on a light.

 

[autism family travels]

It seemed you were getting really defensive and what not. here are two examples of the Hella HID setups I used. One 500 with 50w HID installed. and the other is 4 ff75s with 55w HID. THis is the photos I want to see from you so I can make a judgement on those lights. the drone footage does not show what I want to see.

The treeline at the end of the road is approx 500-600m away and its' well lit up. Mine would punch way past that. Again, kangaroos are a differnet ball of wax than moose. I will show the difference in a Roo strike and a moose strike to a vehicle in a min.

Here is the shot of the FF75s converted with 55w HID. Again, there is a long punch of light. These were aimed to the sides close up, not how would aim them for my useage, but friggin tight and bright none the less.

If you could get a couple of shots of the Lazers without the KC copies like this I would appreciate it.

 

[autism family travels]

This is a vehicle after a kangaroo hits it.

This is a vehicle after a moose hits it.

or another

 

[autism family travels]

Oh, btw, just to go back to the original content of this thread. You pay more for KC lighting over the china alternatives for a 23-year warranty. That in itself is worth the extra dollars.

 

[exp for]

Well, I don't have have moose or kangaroos here either. After seeing those pics, I wouldn't want to have a run in with either. I occasionally drive through moose country on trips. If I saw 15-25 moose on a drive, it would go down in my travel journal as an epic day. If I saw a kangaroo on a drive, I would probably have to pull over and take a rest as I'd likely be seeing things.

To the original poster, thank you for taking the time to document all of this excellent information. I found it useful, and I am very interested in these lights.

To everyone else, I think he did a good job of posting detailed photos. If you still have questions after everything he has posted, then maybe no photograph will be good enough for your specific needs. This is just a suggestion to be helpful, but these lights are inexpensive enough that maybe you could buy your own set to do your own hands on evaluation with. If you go this route, it would be great if you could post your pics and results here for us all to see. Also, if you really value lights with a solid warranty, do not buy these. You will thank me for this advice. You are not going to get good warranty service on China lights. If, as stated, the warranty is worth the extra cost to you, don't waste your time or anyone else's even considering these.

When it comes to my vehicle, I generally only purchase high quality components. I see great value in the benefits provided by top tier products. That is my general philosophy with nearly everything.

My auxiliary lighting is one big exception to this rule. I am completely comfortable with buying lower quality China lights. I have been very satisfied with the ones I currently have. I am certain that China lights are the right solution to my needs.

First, I don't consider the supplemental lighting essential to my needs. I try to do a majority of my driving during daylight hours. Because I'm doing this for the experience of the journey I like to be able to see what I'm driving through. Day time is for driving. Night time is for chilling by the camp fire. My auxiliary lighting is only for those times when night driving is absolutely unavoidable. If for some reason during night driving my auxiliary lighting failed, I would just slow it down and not out drive my vehicle's headlights. I would just treat it as an opportunity to further enjoy the journey. A light failure would not shut down the mission.

Second, China lights, or at least the China lights I have experience with, have been great. I've been using them for going on three years without a single failure. They are like new in both function and appearance. The performance is also outstanding. I know I will never out drive these lights. Do I think that Rigid, KC, Baja Design, etc. lights would perform better? Absolutely I do. But, how much better? I know it's not enough to justify the four to ten times higher cost for the premium brands. I have never wanted more out of my China lights than they could provide.

Third, I have a hard time leaving $4,000 worth of lights sitting on the outside of my vehicle. It's far too easy for a low life with some simple hand tools and a few minutes alone in a parking lot or trailhead to walk off with them. In today's current culture, there are far too many criminal predators out there looking for any opportunity to take what's mine and make it theirs. If someone steals my China lights I'll be mad, but it will be far easier for me to financially recover from it.

I wish that with auxiliary lighting, I could support the premium brands, being the industry innovators and for the most part USA companies. But for me it just doesn't make sense.

I really hope these turn out to be a good lighting option because they seem perfect for my needs. To the original poster I would ask if, over the several months of use, he is still happy with them. Do they seem to be holding up well? One concern I have with these is that if one unit goes bad, it may not be possible to source a replacement.

Thanks again.

 

[autism family travels]

I agree, he did do a great job. I just would love to see a couple of images from the seat of the lasers so I can get a good idea how they work. I am not crapping on them, nor am I praising them to be the greatest thing since the sun was invented if you get my drift. I also agree on the chinese lighting being really good now. I just know how my HID Hellas worked. If these LED with laser spots work like them or better, I would gladly buy them. But all I am seeing around the net is images from outside the vehicle. Most of them either showing the lights from front on (which is pointless to showing how ANY light works, as you don't look INTO the light when you use them), and the other is a side on shot of showing the beam from the light on the side. I was hoping the OP was not thinking I am crapping on his lights, but I guess he does. Since he's not responded to me. He did a bang on job with his pictures and videos, but all I am asking is for a couple of photos from the cockpit to see the projection of the laser so I can make an informed decision. I have them available in my dealer stream, but I don't like wasting money if they are not what I am looking for.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

To the original poster, thank you for taking the time to document all of this excellent information. I found it useful, and I am very interested in these lights.

To everyone else, I think he did a good job of posting detailed photos. If you still have questions after everything he has posted, then maybe no photograph will be good enough for your specific needs. This is just a suggestion to be helpful, but these lights are inexpensive enough that maybe you could buy your own set to do your own hands on evaluation with. If you go this route, it would be great if you could post your pics and results here for us all to see. Also, if you really value lights with a solid warranty, do not buy these. You will thank me for this advice. You are not going to get good warranty service on China lights. If, as stated, the warranty is worth the extra cost to you, don't waste your time or anyone else's even considering these.

When it comes to my vehicle, I generally only purchase high quality components. I see great value in the benefits provided by top tier products. That is my general philosophy with nearly everything.

My auxiliary lighting is one big exception to this rule. I am completely comfortable with buying lower quality China lights. I have been very satisfied with the ones I currently have. I am certain that China lights are the right solution to my needs.

First, I don't consider the supplemental lighting essential to my needs. I try to do a majority of my driving during daylight hours. Because I'm doing this for the experience of the journey I like to be able to see what I'm driving through. Day time is for driving. Night time is for chilling by the camp fire. My auxiliary lighting is only for those times when night driving is absolutely unavoidable. If for some reason during night driving my auxiliary lighting failed, I would just slow it down and not out drive my vehicle's headlights. I would just treat it as an opportunity to further enjoy the journey. A light failure would not shut down the mission.

Second, China lights, or at least the China lights I have experience with, have been great. I've been using them for going on three years without a single failure. They are like new in both function and appearance. The performance is also outstanding. I know I will never out drive these lights. Do I think that Rigid, KC, Baja Design, etc. lights would perform better? Absolutely I do. But, how much better? I know it's not enough to justify the four to ten times higher cost for the premium brands. I have never wanted more out of my China lights than they could provide.

Third, I have a hard time leaving $4,000 worth of lights sitting on the outside of my vehicle. It's far too easy for a low life with some simple hand tools and a few minutes alone in a parking lot or trailhead to walk off with them. In today's current culture, there are far too many criminal predators out there looking for any opportunity to take what's mine and make it theirs. If someone steals my China lights I'll be mad, but it will be far easier for me to financially recover from it.

I wish that with auxiliary lighting, I could support the premium brands, being the industry innovators and for the most part USA companies. But for me it just doesn't make sense.

I really hope these turn out to be a good lighting option because they seem perfect for my needs. To the original poster I would ask if, over the several months of use, he is still happy with them. Do they seem to be holding up well? One concern I have with these is that if one unit goes bad, it may not be possible to source a replacement.

Thanks again.

You are very welcome and thanks for this nice post. I agree with everything you said on here.

These are Chinese made and cheap. My lights that I bought cost me less than $350 shipped. And 3 people who have personally PM me know, the cost of shipping alone for the light was about $60! So, I paid less than $350 shipped. That includes the shipping cost of about $60. So, the lights alone in my case, cost about $290. Then add shipping cost of about $60. That is cheaper, compared to $1,300 for the KC lights that you get 1 less pod than what I have.

Whatever we all share on the forums is just passing information to help each other. The final decision is on the buyer whether they want to buy KC lights for $1,300 or Chinese cheapees for $360. Only the buyer knows what they can afford and what they want to afford. It is their rig. They can put whatever they want on it or put nothing at all and remain all stock.

To answer your last paragraph.

I have only good things to say about these Chinese knockoffs. 2 people in Ouray, CO told me they like my KC lights and I must have spent a fortune. He continued to say his wife does not want him to buy them because of the cost. I smiled as I was walking to my car and did not have time to tell him these were Chinese knockoffs.

As you know, the only downside to these offroad lights is no use during the day and very limited use at night. Well, I use my KC lights a lot especially during the day. So, they see some real use. I have gotten a lot of compliments from it that is why I seem to use it often. People notice them a lot when I have them on durikg the day. It gets a lot of attention. I have the option of using top row or all rows. So, I use only top rows for not a lot of light.

As for the cannons, if I turn them up during the day, people always flash their lights back at me because my light are too bright. Even during the day, it is piercing to the eyes of oncoming drivers. So, it sees very little use. But it is my high beams now. As that is all I reach for as high beams than the high beams on my car. In the mornings on my way to work, if someone cuts me off where I feel he did me wrong, I never get into road rage, but I will flash my cannons twice! The effect is interesting. The person often gets off my lane and then the next 2 cars ahead of him suddenly change their lanes. I just move on.

I have washed my car about 6 times now since I installed these lights a few months ago and each time I wash my car, I spray these lights very well with water to see if I will see it fog up later on. None of that yet. So, I am hoping it is well sealed.

I must say I really enjoy the lights and I give them 10/10 for my use, experience and application so far.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

I was hoping the OP was not thinking I am crapping on his lights, but I guess he does. Since he's not responded to me. He did a bang on job with his pictures and videos, but all I am asking is for a couple of photos from the cockpit to see the projection of the laser so I can make an informed decision.

Thanks for the compliment about the work I did to put this thread together. The good about it is that I posted the threadtl it to share just like I have found some useful and helpful threads on different forums from people who shared a nice finding.

Also, I do not feel you crapped on my lights. Well, maybe you did just a little. Tell the truth. You know you did. Lol, just kidding.

But hey, this is all what the forum is about. We are adults. We have to agree that we can have heated conversations or arguments about things like football, basket, (politics!) or even chinese knockoff lights. Ain't nothing wrong with that. But at the end of the day, we can atleast respect each other and still respond to each other in a normal way. We can't live in society without an argument or a disagreement. That does not mean we should not help answer each other.

Through the forums, I met a complete stranger who saw my road trip and invited my girlfriend and I on my 2017 road trip to their house for dinner. He is a cop with his wife and 2 girls in Saskatchewan in Canada. We got to their house at about 4pm, met them for our first time, exchanged gifts and they bbq chicken wings for us. We ate and had drinks just next to the grill in their back yard. We just talked and had a good time. We left there at about 9pm to go back to our hotel which was like 5 miles from their house.

So, I love the forums and I do not feel bad even if someone craps on my Chinese lights. But I may unfriend them on facebook if they do. Nah, just kidding!

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

He did a bang on job with his pictures and videos, but all I am asking is for a couple of photos from the cockpit to see the projection of the laser so I can make an informed decision.

Ok, I went into my photo gallery to look at all the pictures I took that first night on my road trip. Since I like to take pictures, I always take more than one shot of something just in case the other has some imperfection like being blurry or something else. So, take a look at these pictures from my driving seat. I did not want to post all 9 of them. Hopefully this helps you.

All these pictures were taken between 1am and 1:30am, per my time stamp. For me to see the major difference in light output, I usually do some radical thing that my uncle used to do when he was taking us on a road trip over (27 years ago) and we happened to be driving at midnight. This was on 2 lane roads. My uncle always drove fast but when he met another fast driver, he would hate to be stuck behind them for more than 10 minutes. So, he would be behind a car and he would suddenly turn off all his lights and be driving with no lights and just following the car infront. That always scares the other driver who will slow down and then my uncle would over take and then turn on his lights and floor it and just disappear! Crazy times, I swear.

I don't do that, but when I want to see the difference in my light output, I find a long stretch of road. Like here at 1am. I make sure I am all alone. No other light or vehicle in sight. I quickyly do this OFF and back ON maneuver. I turn off all my lights for complete and full darkness while doing 80m/h. And immediately turn it back on and I must say it lights up the whole road. Far and wide.

Here is a screen lshot from my phone's gallery of all the pictures I took that night from my cockpit. All these pictures were taken between 1:07am to about 1:30am. After which I put away my phone and focused on the road.

1:07am.

Here are the requested pics. I hope they are helpful. I really love these lights and they are very bright and go way too far.

 

[autism family travels]

Ok, I went into my photo gallery to look at all the pictures I took that first night on my road trip. Since I like to take pictures, I always take more than one shot of something just in case the other has some imperfection like being blurry or something else. So, take a look at these pictures from my driving seat. I did not want to post all 9 of them. Hopefully this helps you.

All these pictures were taken between 1am and 1:30am, per my time stamp. For me to see the major difference in light output, I usually do some radical thing that my uncle used to do when he was taking us on a road trip over (27 years ago) and we happened to be driving at midnight. This was on 2 lane roads. My uncle always drove fast but when he met another fast driver, he would hate to be stuck behind them for more than 10 minutes. So, he would be behind a car and he would suddenly turn off all his lights and be driving with no lights and just following the car infront. That always scares the other driver who will slow down and then my uncle would over take and then turn on his lights and floor it and just disappear! Crazy times, I swear.

I don't do that, but when I want to see the difference in my light output, I find a long stretch of road. Like here at 1am. I make sure I am all alone. No other light or vehicle in sight. I quickyly do this OFF and back ON maneuver. I turn off all my lights for complete and full darkness while doing 80m/h. And immediately turn it back on and I must say it lights up the whole road. Far and wide.

Here is a screen lshot from my phone's gallery of all the pictures I took that night from my cockpit. All these pictures were taken between 1:07am to about 1:30am. After which I put away my phone and focused on the road.

1:07am.

Here are the requested pics. I hope they are helpful. I really love these lights and they are very bright and go way too far.

Awesome, Thanks brother. And totally no to **************** on your lights. Now, to dig into my dealer network to see how much these are going to set me back. They are deadly! Exactly what I am looking for. There are also Laser lights for my Jeeps headlights. A LED low and high beam with a seperately switched Laser module in the middle of the light. They perform "trucklite" ish on low and high...and then you can turn on the laser if you want more.

Thanks again, they look great!