You can see the archived poll results on the Wayback Machine:
https://web.archive.org/web/20221220093741/https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/72561
I found BLF when I was searching for information on Cree XM-L leds. I had not used any yet and was reading through forums about what other people had to say. BLF came up high on the Google search list.
I just wanted to see how others got here. One of those "just curios" questions.
If I remember rightly, I was first directed here following a link for a Sacred Fire torch that someone was enthusing about on some other forum. (No, it wasn't that one!)
Don has "stolen" what I wrote on jayki.com and posted a citation in this review about the Hugsby P31. I think that qualifies for "other". ;-)
Three things.
1. The friendly community. :)
2. Being banned over at CPF. 
3. You! I had been trying to figure out how to make a 1d and your posts on cpf came up and led me here.
I was searching for info on the UF980L and found everything I needed in Foys review. Then I registered to thank him, should qualify for "Other", too.
BlametheFoy :D
I was looking for something not CPF and the word budget let me know that the atmosphere would probably be different that CPF.
had almost bought a ld20 because it's the most popular flashlight (Ch*nese, brand name) on amazon, and somehow i was lead to cpf and e03. its popularity made me google more and i stumbled on the numerous reviews on bfl incl the e03. in the end i was looking for the most popular and brightest light (1xAA, possibly XML), and e03 xml was the only light (at that time) which was extremely popular on both foruas.
i am REALLY still wondering why it continues to attract buyers. i've used it today and i like it a bit (NW tint, pink body haha) but i dont see anything special in it. this forum has "hundreds" of 1xAA flashlight reviews (DX, MF, KD, ..) and i dont think that the e03 is superior to the reviewed ones.
anyway, this is how it all started. my very first 1xAA light became the e03. and bfl's e03 review contributed 50% to that purchase decision (the other 30% by cpf, 20% by some ****ing German flashlight forum).
Over a long period of time, my flashlights had progressed from crap, to Maglites, to Surfires, to Fenix. The Surefires were a clear step up in performance, but it cost plenty. Figured I could get almost all the performance for half the price with the Fenix brand. Then someone, somewhere said something about Romisen. I did a little research and found Shiningbeam and BLF.
I bought a couple of lights from Brian. They were at my house less than 32 hours after the order was placed (I live one state away) and provided value like no other flashlight I ever owned. Those two lights from Brian, and his CS, really showed me just how good budget could be.
I then lurked here for like a year and a half because, lets face it, the technical aspects of this hobby are not my strong suit, but I enjoyed reading and learning from you guys. I'd come here like two or three times a day.
Then late last year and into 2012, there was a rash of spam posts where dealers would pretend to be chicks. Tell everyone how they liked to go camping. The Paisley Party would soon follow. Even as a fly on the wall, I was having so much fun. It was then that I realized I owed you guys (and girls) a debt I couldn't repay from the sidelines. You all had provided me with such great entertainment, I figured that I could at least contribute to that. I mean, I'm nothing if not a character.
Been a pain in your rears ever since!
Signed up over at EDCF too, the day after here. I had lurked there for like four or five years.
You two are the only two forums I belong to.
Banned from that other C-word site. Googled a Solarforce dropin and have been here ever since.
It was Halloween night of '10 and I was posting while watching the porch for trick-or-treaters and drinking a beer . I can multi-task if I try really hard .
The R5 emitter had just replaced the R2 which had replaced the Q5 in the ITP A3 . As I was lurking around in here I stumbled across a thread concerning the difference between the beam characteristics of the R2 vs the R5 emitters .
I decided to register and post my observations .To my eye , the R5 actually threw further than the R2 by output alone . I also thought that the tint was slightly greener . I still stand by these observations .
I like learning about almost anything and I have learned a lot about a lot of things hanging around in here . So I guess I'll hang around some more .
Here's a shoutout to my BLF friends :
I was at CPF and a lot of us were frustrated by the "Budget Light Thread". That's right, they had relegated all discussion of budget lights to a single long, convoluted thread. And any thread about budget lights would just get merged into the budget light thread, so it was pretty ridiculous. Then they "accidentally" deleted the entire thread along with a couple of reviews I had written, and were unable to recreate it. That's when BLF was formed and I got invited by either Mr. Admin or Alfredajero since I was active in the budget thread. And I became member No. 8! Right after Don.
I thought Mr. Admin had set up way too many different subforums and there was no way they would all be active, but now he has had to add even more, and they are all pretty active.
While I was at the other place, one of their members either mentioned BLF in a post or had it in their sig. So I checked out BLF which was back in March of 2010 and never looked back. 
In a word, Grunta.
I'm here because of the infamous down-time at CPF. (12-10?) I had been a member there for a few months, scared to say anything, basically just absorbing all I could. Then, it was gone and not just for a few days. Looking for another place to get more information, I landed here and was surprised by how quickly the realization snuck up on me . . . whatever it was you were looking for, you found it.
Then I saw Don's beam shots in the woods. Until then, I didn't own anything with an XM-L in it. Wasn't long after that . . . Don's assistant passed and people were chipping in small amounts to Don as a courtesy and if I've learned one thing in my 53 years (this Sunday, actually) making a token gesture like that, even if it's small, invests you emotionally. So, I sent my paltry sum along with everybody else. That is when BLF became mine.
Flashlights are merely the conduit. Suddenly, growing old doesn't look so bad after all. What a well timed, pleasant surprise that was.
itaintjustaforumFoy
CPF is what made me find this place
I was looking for reviews on Solarforce L2 and it brought me to this site. Since then whenever I want to buy a new light I go here first to search for info.
Before Blf I had picked up a c-78? flood to throw and was pretty impressed with it for about a year or so .A friend had mentioned cpf a few years back and I knew it existed and started reading the forums picking up bits of info ..I had heard enough good reports about tank lights to be sold on the idea and I liked the look of their lights .
Almost too long ago to remember how or when I stumbled unto BLF I think it was about Oct 2010 I started reading threads ..
I was looking for deals and had just missed the trustfire 801ebay deal for 7$ by a day , I enjoyed reading about all the enthusiasm people had in this thread . https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/688 I had bought lots of lights from multiple dealers including a couple hundred bucks worth of lights from Dino Direct and nothing had shown up yet .I remember having an 18650 light for weeks before even ordering a battery and charger from DX .(afraid to buy the wrong thing)
I must admit that even the bad advice here on BLF was good advice .
Buy it and give us a report was some of the best advice ever ..(someone had to take one for the team )
too many lights never killed anyone
Two main things, I was looking for decent but cheaper 18650 cells and wanted a cheaper i.e. ~$100, not $250+ 3x XM-L light. I had seen mentions of this site on CPF and when no one on there really wanted to talk much about either of those things I figured I would come here and see what people had to say and everyone here had a lot more to say than at CPF.
Have always like flashlights and I was searching for a Sipik review and stumbled across Don's Hugsby P31 review which he borrowed from Vectrex. Saw the great camaraderie and wealth of knowledge so I jumped in.
Yay for BLF! :party: