Temu quality lighting and blades

[UK Urban Prepper]

Just a quick heads up, a lot of you may think this goes without saying but i recently looked at some Temu stuff on YT and just wanted to say, the lighting and torches. absolutely spot on for the prices you pay I've added multiple to my prems, the Knifes however are garbage (so far) ive just ordered a bit more expensive one too see if its the same but I don't hold out high hopes.

So dont avoid it cause some of the stuff is brilliant but so far id say avoid blades.

[Forager]

Id say, with a knife, you really need to do your homework before buying. Or just go with the tried and tested brands according to your budget. You can't go far wrong with Mora, Cold Steel, Bark River, or Falkniven. Depending on what you can afford.
Buying a knife from Temu, you could be asking for trouble imo. You may be relying on that knife one day.
Its on the cards, its going to break. At best, you will be sharpening it after each use.
They may be useful for practicing your sharpening skills though

[Yorkshire Andy]

I'd echo forager

Whilst cheap stuff is ok ISH in day to day life when shtf your kit must be reliable and long lasting be it a knife / torch / cook set / tent it is likely to be the only bit to keep you alive or prevent injury a cheap knife blade snapping at home in the garden might be inconvenient on a bad day a trip to A&E for a few stiches... Out in the wilderness .. it's potentially life threatening risk of infection / blood loss et all .. with no medical assistance available..

Or a torch that £3 torch might be ok round the house but not even shtf a simple say a puncture on the car on a unlit country road ... Sods law It'll happen on the darkest coldest wettest night of the year with horizontal sleet not the time to discover the torch isn't waterproof as water gets In to the switch and turns itself off and refuses to turn back on leaving you working blind hard to be seen by traffic .. my favourite head torch is in the car it's a petzl Pixa 3 I've had it since 2014 and it's still going strong it gets used often at work the elastic is starting to go but a new headband is about a tenner
https://www.uk-preppers.co.uk/forum/vie ... head+torch

It's been used in very dusty environments dropped bashed soaked and keeps on coming back for more

End of the day like everything in life you get what you pay for ..

[tarmactatt]

Products on these sites are so variable, that without specific product recommendations, broad statements singing the praises of an entire product category are fairly worthless.

Even specific products are liable to change with no notice, and the photos/description not updated, this is done through malicious intent or incompetence.

For what it's worth, the majority of the lighting I've seen on Temu is what I consider "cheap and nasty".

Buy one decent 18650 headlamp from Fenix/nitecore/skilhunt/nitecore/etc, some good cells (not from china) and a charger, and you're set.

Edit to add: it appears they've recently changed their site to make you sign in before you can even browse. This is a big red flag for me, it's obvious it's just data collection exercise.

I'm happy to recommend plenty of lights on AliExpress if people are looking for specific types.

[korolev]

"Buy cheap, buy twice"

[tarmactatt]

On topic of Chinese tools, I received a Daicamping DL30 multi-tool from AliExpress. £35 inc delivery, seems well made, there are a few "unfinished" edges on the handle which are slightly sharp and one of the hinges of the pliers is a bit rough sounding when deploying/folding pliers.

Not yet used the (replaceable!) wire cutters, the scissors seem good though slightly fiddly to lock into place as you need to unfold them then push the "spring" into place. Nit-picks aside, I would recommend for the price if anyone is looking for a large sized, budget multi tool.

FYI all blades lock so not UK legal to carry without reason.

[rik_uk3]

Bought all sorts of tut and tat off Timu, some really great value, some not so good

10 for £1.42, very bright for their size, draw 0.1a

https://www.temu.com/uk/10pcs-mini-usb- ... 5zxq04bpxx

The power bank case cost me about £5, fitted 8 x 3500mAh 18650 batteries which cost under a tenner so for £15 got a cracking power bank that took 2 minutes to assemble, way better than what you'll find in Argos, certainly for the money

[PrepperPete]

I saw all the ‘Temu’ ads doing the rounds some time ago and decided to investigate it a bit as the prices seemed too good to be true - and guess what? They are!

Basically the Temu app harvests your personal data and - it seems - sends it to servers in mainland China. Chances are the prices are SO cheap in order to attract people in order to collect personally identifying information which *could* be used for a range of nefarious things.

I’ve decided to steer well clear… I’m not planning on giving up all my data to the People’s Liberation Army and whilst I doubt they’re that bothered about me personally, at a time when you can get persecuted for playing a piano at St. Pancras and filming it, I’m simply not convinced that cheap kit is worth the risk of being profiled for “god knows what” reason later.

Right, back to the tinfoil hat construction!

Cheers,

PrepperPete