BLF lately is anything *but* Budget!

Huh one thing that hasn’t changed, BLF is the BEST FLASHLIGHT FORUM AROUND……………PERIOD! :+1:

It’s just a Flashlight Forum, a Hobby or is this all you have in your life? :person_facepalming:

Change is Inevitable nothing is going to change that….

If you look on WTS in CFP there are so many lights at 200-500$ or more.

If you look at lights for 50-60$ they still ovver a great value and many consider them still budget.

If someone wants to spend only 10$ to an XML2 light he can get it as well from C8 copies or Meco Zoomies.

If someone wants a light for 100-200€ with very specific features he wants then he gets lights recommended in that price range as well cheaper lights.

The forum should consider all lights budget as people have a different understanding what is budget.

I am willing to pay up to 60€ and consider it budget, while others consider budget 5$, important is to get value for the price you pay.

Budget doesn't only mean cheap.

It also means a set amount of money. No indication of what amount.

Technically you can spend $10000 on a flashlight, and it's still a budget flashlight.

Just a $10k budget.

I want this budget, anyone feeling generous?

I have been here for four+ years. When I joined, I new nothing of lithium powered lights and was totally amazed at the output and range of lights costing 10 USD and less. Believe it or not, there are still “budget” lights that cast a strong beam even at the original price (501b) etc. still available. What is different is technology is advancing rapidly. I recently took a year or so off and just happened to check back in. WOW! I couldn’t believe the advances. Now I can get a 14500 light less than four inches in length producing 500+ to 1400 lumens. Yes the price has increased, but it is worth it. Since I came back a few month ago I have purchased way too many lights. What can I say? Today, I purchased my third Klarus Mi7, this one for $19.00. To me, this light as well as many others are true budget lights.

Now recently, I see group buys for lights $100 or higher. I am not interested in those, but some are - OK by me. There are many exceptional lights at far lower prices in my opinion, and they are discussed and reviewed here. Actually, I have seen sub $10 lights discussed here recently. In any event, I think we are still in “budget” mode although possibly at a bit higher cost. It’s called time and progress.

signed, happy camper

/dbare

Depends how bad you want it. You can sell a testicle for $50,000 then you’d have your 10k budget easy. You can sell one to science and they will put a metal one in there so it still looks like you have two. And then you can say you have balls of steel. If I was older and completely on test replacement therapy I’d consider it

The problem is - and the reason I shy away from most budget stuff these days - is because of the hit-or-miss build quality. You just can’t depend on getting a good $40 light very often, or recommending one to someone else while having confidence that what they get will be as good as my unit. You are limited to a select few brands.

For some reason, it took me years to find that out. The clone is never better than the real thing. Get the real deal and you come away with more.

Man, i thought kidneys were valuable, 50k for a testicle huh, whats a kidney or heart worth?

IMHO budget doesn’t mean “cheap” as much as it means “good value” and there are plenty of those here in stock form and via modding. I read a huge amount of old posts before joining and yes, there’s a difference today. No longer do people get ecstatic over a $5 light because there are better lights and better deals to be had. And there’s many good stock lights now unlike in the past. Some of the deals we’ve seen here are as much as 50% less than the actual price you can buy or build that kind of light for; how can that not be “budget”? Look at the M24X2 GB and price it against any comparable light. Ditto for the CooYoo Qyantum when it arrived on the scene. And where can you best the Q8 The Miller is doing for us at a price of $40?

What BLF is today is great knowledge, great people, and a great attitude. That hasn’t changed and I hope it never does. Sorry that somebody has a problem with the rest of it- perhaps if they’d looked for the good things they would feel differently :wink:

Phil

I started out on CPF when I jumped into the light scene. I quickly figured out that most of the people there were less than friendly and some were flat out rude…especially when a new person would ask a question. I was really curious about modding lights because that’s all I would read about but it wasn’t about actually doing the modding…it was about buying the already modded lights from so and so. A few months later I stumbled into this nuthouse and I’ve been here every since. Everyone seems to be fairly friendly and seem to enjoy sharing their eye scorching skills. I knew nothing about flashlights before I joined BLF…I had a Streamlight Protac HL (CR123A Vampire) and my wife bought me a Fenix LD60 for my birthday shortly after joining CPF. I still peek in over there every month or two but I tend to stay here. To me…it’s not about finding the cheapest light. It’s about finding a light that you like and then upgrade it by about 300%! I :heart_eyes: you guys.

Yep! You've got that right! ;)

Lumintop Tool, Worm 4.0 and Jetbeam JET - u only cost less than $12 each. Back in 2013, I was only able to buy crappy Ultrafire with that budget.

tbh some day I will dig a giant 20ft hole in my back yard, make a giant parabolic reflector, and use a $3k 24000W Osram lamp with 2.3 million lumens to make a giant sky beam.

$10k budget? Sounds like enough.

What makes this forum awesome is not the budget, it's the people :D

Exactly. BLF is the only community I know of where an incredibly effective and innovative collection of members collaborate together to create something unlike any other. Not only that, but to then communicate and liaise with international companies to manufacture their designs and innovations! This kind of innovation from the hobbyists end usually is the stuff of dreams. But BLF makes it a reality! And that’s something very special.

Just like the OP has done “so many times” lol.
You are right I don’t know of any other forum that actually gets its ideas made in to reality by international manufacturers.
I’m hanging for the Q8 and possibly may even jump on the GT depending on price.

The issue is simply about
Chinese Lights => Chinese Production Cost
MSRP => US price
Chinese Premium Brands => Know that US market can afford much higher price, so why not set the MSRP to this market to make higher profit

Good thread, good points here

You are feeling better ? That's all right , this was the point ! I have to admit that the "advertising" became much too agressive but , this is a free market and you have the freedom to decide to buy or not .., this is your DECISION , and belive me , it's counts !

It is true that on BLF the things has changed but is normal , as everything in this world is changing , we like it or not. I'm happy with that ? No , but also , I'm not happy that the books of my youth almost dissapeared , that the computers own to much of my life , that the time spent with my friends and family is too short , that the grass is not so green and the waters are not so blue as they used to be...

I know , you are looking for the same feeling of satisfaction and happiness at the beginning . I urge for it , also but ,maybe is not the BLF who changed , maybe WE changed ..?

While I still think of BLF as “budget” I have to admit that flashlights, modding and gadgets/electronics in general are an addictive hobby! I can’t wait to see new replies, new mods, the latest BLF designed light or a new board on Oshpark.

I only own budget lights (average value per light around 10-14 bucks) but the tricky situation is that the overall expenditure is quite high. Just think about all the extra parts, tools and shipping you have spent to get to where you are. Sure, a programming clip is only 3 bucks on aliexpress, the latest emitter will boost your light for only 2-3 dollars and the next battery sale will be cheap with coupons and points.
But my overall spend within 6-8 months was more than 300 dollars if I include all the tools, shipping and parts I bought! that is quite a lot just for a “hobby” I recently picked up.
Also, all the amazing promotions the shops are running may lead us to buy products we don’t necessarily need? Sometimes I buy flashlights just because they are cheap… (not blaming anyone but me here!) :smiley:

Its not all bad… People get drawn here by reviews of popular flashlights. They have the opportunity to read reviews on $100 lights and $20 lights. We have many people who do great objective reviews and incorporate hard data like runtimes, lumens, etc.

These people drawn here by a review get to see that lights like the c8 outperform most higher end lights.

Some people end up buying that c8 because we take the time to review all flashlights. They save money and end up flashaholics like us.

The beauty of this forum is that we have a huge baseline to compare other lights to. We can give people really good recommendations because we don’t limit ourselves to certain types of lights.

In the end people come here looking for guidance, and we can show quantitatively the difference between a $20 and $100 xml-2 light.

We are a forum where a guy who does search and rescue work can come to find a budget priced professional grade flashlight.

For example the lumintop sd75 is a great budget light for a S&R team.