Suggestion: A Forum for more expensive lights?

BLF Site-related Issues
16

Troop, there's a lot of opinion and conjecture in this thread, but no one here will be banned or edited for voicing their opinions or posting product links. I value your opinions just as much as any of the others and I also enjoy the reading. What I have witnessed at cpf with daily regularity is those that spew the false pretense that "my flashlight is better than your's because it costs 10x as much". Anyone making even the slightest inference towards budget lights are often edited, banned or ostracized. Obviously this is a heated subject, with many members here that found a new home at BLF because they were booted from cpf. Interestingly, many of those here are now humble authoritarians on the subject that provide leadership in purchasing and writing excellent passionate qualified reviews for all to enjoy. The newb is never made to feel like a jackass here for asking pre purchase questions about a $5 flashlight. Its refreshing that google now finds BLF to a much higher degree than CPF during my searches for LED related information.

The day that the management of this forum begins editing or controlling the flashlight oriented opinions of its users in the interests of maximizing sales dollars for vendor relations is the day I begin searching for another flashlight forum.

Yes, I have seen the occasional leo, combat troop or firefighter inquiring about lights online. That number is so small in the total population that it is infinitesimal in comparison to those still stubbornly hanging onto their cheap incans (usually mags).

As an aside, Im a personal friend of a rather large outdoor equipment provider. He advertises on CPF and also has one of the larger online presence for LED flashlight sales. We share the interests of another hobby in common and talk often. One of the industries dirty secrets is in the very high failure rates of many many expensive LED flashlights. Sure, they get replaced if under warranty (usually at some cost to the user), but no one seems to focus on that. Of the 50 or so +$100 lights I have or have owned, at least half of them have failed prematurley, been extremely difficult to repair or adjust. My friend tells me I am NOT atypical in that regard! Today, I dont buy budget lights because they are inexpensive. I buy them because they work and have been thoroughly reviewed by many satisfied customers. Just my thought...

17

I do own a number of higher value torches, but I'm still happy to be a member of BLF and have a chat about torch lights, theory, diy tips, and just stuff in general.

I think its comes down to the type of people that are in the forums. Many here are far more open minded to the concept of various budgets, and its this that makes this forum more forgiving for the newcomer. The question is how open-minded we are to the definition of budget. There are many members at BLF that have come from another place.

As has been said by others as well, budget lights are made to a price, and sometimes cannot offer the features such as a UI that doesn't rely on the tail cap power switch alone. This is not pointing the finger at budget lights, but its something we must understand is just the nature of the business. With this in mind, higher budget lights have the resources to offer additional features beyond just producing light, and discussions about these aspects would allow a better appreciation of torches in general from an engineering and design point of view.

A not quite do budget light section may allow more open discussion of other lights, which would allow others to read about what features are available, and possibly bring fourth ideas which can be considered and maybe even incorporated into the budget lights (light the magnetic ring control system)

At the same time, I am not too keen on forcing a separation of budget and non-budget lights, we have to start considering things like; what defines the threshold, what happens if a light is considered to be in the wrong section...

At the end of the day, the question is, how do people feel about the discussion of a $50, $100, $150, $200 18650 XP-G torch, which is likely going to be outshined by a $20 Fandyfire. If the forum can accept that these torches be discussed in the same forum, without bringing on a rant about "how/why would anyone spend that kind of money", then maybe a separate sub forum isn't required, however a separate sub-forum would more openly permit these discussions while keeping the forum neatly defined.

I do enjoy talking about more expensive lights as thats where I tend to focus my resources, but I started with the budget lights, and maybe its cultural, but finding a good bargain always seems to satisfy the inner soul (of illumination) I would like to know what others feel about this?

18

I wouldn´t mind having that kind of section in here. :)

19

Hehe sounds awesome :slight_smile: like you say, keep the budget theme

20

+1

21

Well spoken

22

Budget Light Forum. That is what I come here for, information on budget lights. Another forum exists for non-budget lights. I think people here are smart enough to type in another url if they want to converse with those who prefer more expensive lights. Is that too much to ask? I haven't been here long, but I like it.

This is a budget light forum. I want it to stay that way. That is my opinion.

Ron

23

I agree with the sentiments expressed by, old4570

....and even more pointedly by, scubaduderon

24

+1

I have 15+ budget flashlight and 3 non-budget, two sides of the same passion.
I'd like to find here, in this friendly forum, all information about LED flashlights (and HID, why not).

25

For me im fine the way it is. Its nice to see some not so budget lights go through here every once in a while. Keeps me dreaming and wanting them. I would like that xeno G42 neutral xml

but i cant see myself spending $100 for it. So if anyone here has one and want to add it to E1320's timeshare idea , I would really appreciate it. I envy the guys here who has or get the not so budget lights. I guess we can call it the cpf section

26

My thinking has taken a turn lately, that rather than buying 1 $30 light 3 times a month, maybe I'd enjoy buying just one $100 light once a month. It is still the same budget in terms of my bank account.

On CPF, even $100 lights are frequently considered budget lights, and personally I don't want to hang around there looking for input on lights in that category.

Anyone want to suggest better places to get that information?

27

Everybodys budget is different. One mans budget light is $10 while another mans is$200. The way I see it is that this is a flashlight forum. People here like flashlights, not just flashlights that cost under a certain amount. I dont think flashlights that cost more should be placed in a separate area. I like the reviews and posts on more expensive lights just as much as the cheaper stuff. If you love the cheaper lights it is good to keep up on what the more expensive lights are offering because those are the features that will trickle down to budget lights. Think disk brakes and airbags on cars.

I love budget lights because I can buy more of them and I appreciate a good deal and value. I also love budget lights so that I can afford to buy a more expensive light every now and then. It's not my website so I cant tell you what the mission here is but to me it's a flashlight forum first and foremost, with an emphasis on lower cost offerings. There is plenty of room for all flashlights. Lets not be, as my friend Brother Dorpmuller suggests, flashlight racists.

28

+many!! Let the rich stay on CPF. The atmosphere here would get ruined fast.

You know... it's not broke, so don't fix.

Rich

29

first of all this is an inclusive site filled with good people, if you have a $3000 dollar light i would like to see it and would rather stay on this site frankly- i go to cpf too sometimes if the search takes me there - good people there also , mostly . i just dont like random monkeys playing god with my valuable time. deleting my account , posts loosing info etc, treating ppl like they dont matter. way over the top arrogance vs here . i could go on ...

its called BLF but it could be easily called LF , its doesnt change the fact most people would like to spend less on FL and stretch their hard earned income

i could buy any light i want but limit it to my own practicality ( not so much recently) but you know what i mean. its free to read the site so when you get something you dont get robbed and know what to buy thx to others that are willing to share there review , knowlege , etc

besides i love those expensive lights, if i needed it professionally i would pay for one. i just dont see the need for my self its still cool to be exposed to it. frankly i like the learning and sharing and helping. if somone asked me about these units i have some knowledge

i think if having a section on non budget lights is ok , more practically how does it help the site functionality. sorry i dont see any arguments as to whats non budget. tk41 , very expensive to me , then again so is the DRY triple is it the cheap version of something , maybe that makes it budget ?? i like the categorize by battery suggestion and maybe a revisit of all the categories is a good idea

maybe a "pro " or specialty section, for military , firefighter , police

I dont know what falls into this category but here is my stab at it

$10-$30 to $50 vs $100 on up , its difficult cuz this is always changing like somone said

i like categorized - dropin , host , battery type

i think there is room for a PRO or high end section ? lets not forget what BLF is about respect. and there is no question in my mind should we have expensive lights here . if it saves your life its budget , frugal, worth the money. for most of us its a $30 vs $130 light but really about knowledge and technology if you think about it

30

First of all, I am down for reading reviews of whatever light people want to write up. I am here because i enjoy the atmosphere/general attitude of the people.

Secondly....

Where can i read about this 9000 lumen beast?! I kinda want to build one :)

31

I'm in agreement with many above that things are fine the way they are. There are some outstanding reviewers here...regardless of the price of the torch being reviewed. I'd rather read about every new light here than somewhere else.

I picked up a zebralight SC600 a few months ago and have been meaning to do a full review for awhile now (busy summer). When I post it, it'll go in the 18650 section where hopefully it will be well received.

This site could be called Lightforums, TotallyTorches, or Sb56637'sSaloon...it wouldn't change the fact that what keeps me here is the way this community interacts with each other with respect and a very high level of maturity.

Classifying lights based on something other than technical specs may create undue tension.

32

Looking forward to that review!

33

I think the one issue that makes it tough is where you define budget. ALos, people's defintion of budget changes depending on the type of light it is. People tend to have a higer price ceiling for multi 18650 lights for what is budget vs a 1xaa light. There are many reviews here for $50 multi 18650 lights that are considered budget, but I would never consider the $50 Thrunite Neutron I reviewed budget. In my mind the Xeno E03 sort of straddles the border between budget and non budget. Lights that we consider non-budget here are considered budget elsewhere. Fenix is considered budget by the Surefire and up types while they are generally not considered budget here. I think people are interested in good value for a type of product. While most Fenix are more expensive, more often than not they represent a good value for their quality level especially when you can get them on sale and I want to see reviews for these and similar lights. Heck, it'd be nice to start up pass arounds for some of those more expensive lights (like a Fenix TK70).

A sub forum is a good concept but with it being hard to define what is and isn't budget, that alone may create unnecessary friction. However, this forum has grown tremendously over the past few months where there are so many threads and posts, you almost need some more sub forums for organizational purposes. Its not there yet, but at the rate its expanding, it may be necessary in the future.

34

I think this is a great idea!

35

I'm happy with things the way they are. We've got categories by battery type, and I haven't seen someone get dumped on for saying

"hey, my budget is $120, can you recommend me a good light?".

The locals just take this in stride and do the best they can for him. There's a lot of refugees who show up and if we just dump them into a non-budget subforum for asking these kinds of questions, they won't get the "if you're on a budget, this might be a better option" posts. Unless they state they're not sure, we often just assume they know what they're talking about, or know what they want.

Take scubaduderon (no offense man, just the first example that springs to mind). When he showed up as lucky #1000, he wanted a "thrower"... Being literal, we assumed that's what he wanted and tried to find him one. Ultimately he did want one, but the assumption was made. I think that if we have a separate forum, those kinds of assumptions probably won't be questioned.

To me, wanting to spend more is like preferring a WW emitter or saying "I'm looking for a zoomie"... So far there's no judgements against such people. Ultimately things might change as the membership grows, but excluding the members of our community to a subforum just because they have a different set of requirements seems unnecessary.