CPF vs BLF

I initially signed up on CPF years ago, and the reason was a friend referred me to that place. What initially was a good place to hang out, it became so political (forum politics, not actual politics) and they started to ban so many people
then I google flashlight forum and found BLF. The users on BLF are much friendlier.

reddit has grown so much in recent years and they are now the biggest forum in my other hobbies. they have the ability to win over people.

I haven’t stopped by there for years. Can’t even remember my password.
I can get my full ration of aggravation just watching TV.

Reddit is alright in some respects, but it’s predominantly kids who follow fads. One kid buys an Olight, and there’s a mad rush for Olights. Another kid buys a light from Intl-Outdoors, and all you see over there is “Hank lights”.

I guess I’m not enough of a tribal ‘follower’ to get much out of Reddit. BLF feels better, at least folks here seem to form their own considered opinions and express them respectfully and intelligently.

last i was around they had tons of network problems with site etc… never liked that place really compared to blf …

The two things I did not like about CPF:

The moderators were on some power trip. If you posted in the wrong group you were publicly shamed.

And

The light brand discussions were snobbish. If it wasn’t Surefire or HDS Systems, it was garbage.

Well we all know the outcome of that.

The BLF members are so nice, I mean it.

Not this again, this usually never ends well.

There is no “vs”

They are 2 separate flashlight sites.
Choose your flavor and carry on. :slight_smile:
Peace out.

The conversation is very civil and professional. Lots of good feedback.

I like both. Don’t find them snobbish. Sometimes I like to play with higher end stuff and sometimes I like the budget stuff.

Yup, me too as well as r/Flashlight on reddit.

Ok, gotta check reddit.

Reddit interface is not good, but they seem to be much more open to discussion and tech stuff. I think they are slowly taking over now.

Interesting

Reddit is like Olight Facebook group. They will never get that tech level as BLF.

Simple discussion and maybe more deep but only between few guys.

BLF is Oracle

Good to know.

use whichever sites you find useful

recently CPF passed BLF, after being behind

I noticed the moderators at CPF had stopped posting so much
they stopped enforcing some of the rules, such as posting links, mentioning blf, talking about where to buy…

here is an example of the top 5 threads a few moments ago… maybe that will give some perspective on the different personalities of each board

CPF, imo most hostile moderation, the main reason I left for BLF:

BLF, imo very flashlight modding friendly, very little moderation, lots of leeway about posting links and info that CPF forbids:

Reddit, I know little, have not gotten comfortable enough w the UI to participate

The problem with CPF is it was bought by someone who wanted to use it to earn profits from advertisers, so after that it was never a real forum and was geared towards giving positive testimonials for certain companies.
BLF has been an oasis of minimal moderation although I notice that seems to have changed since the lockdowns began.

[quote=Colonel
…BLF has been an oasis of minimal moderation although I notice that seems to have changed since the lockdowns began.[/quote]

Maybe sb is getting older and grumpier :smiley:
But I fear the real reason is that the pandemic has caused more issues that needed moderation.

Who can delete posts on BLF ? Can members delete spam or foul language or is it just SB who mods ?

[quote=djozz]

I think sb is becoming more grumpy. He'll lock a thread faster than the speed of light

I’m pretty new here, and only joined CPF in November, but have lurked both sites for years. My observation of BLF is that of a much more laid back and inviting atmosphere. Regardless of an individual’s knowledge level, seasoned posters here seem to be far more willing to share their experience and opinions without alot of judgment or egotistical background noise.
Being new, I couldn’t even name a moderator here, and don’t recollect having seen a thread where one has had to ‘step in’. The crowd here is pretty good about self-policing.

Have you seen r/flashlights lately? It’s pretty much just memes that get upvoted, also anything that is not a flashlight from Hank just gets ignored.