Do you destroy your flashes?...........

I see this a lot on a certain big modding thread. It’s amazing to me at least that some here consider it a “successful” mod when they hack up a nice expensive flash as a “last resort” to change for instance an LED/driver applying of all things a big a*s VICE GRIP to the body, pill, head, etc., with enough pressure to turn things into an OVAL or plain mar up the living sh*t out of it yet go on and on about how beautiful the flash, the finish, the anodizing, etc., WAS when they first received it is almost, well, fooking Outer Limits incredulous.

Yeah if they’ve used Loctite Red level glue whattya expect? You might as well use HEAT to soften the thread locker, destroy the driver, and/or the original LED, which ya dislike so who cares, with an LED/driver, which is relatively simpler to replace with the factory same or one ya like.

When I read about someone doing this sort of hacking and are painfully proud of the result it tells me everything I need to know. And you should know. This is HACKSVILLE. Don’t do watt they do.

AKA Amateur Hour. If you really gotta go to this extent just to change the LED/driver to a more pleasant subjective outcome consider the above alternative before ya use extreme crushing or gouging pressure. Yer better off, the flash is certainly better off, and most of all ya ain’t plastering mod BS all over BLF so some noob follows in yer fooked-up “technique”. In other words the community in general benefits moreso overall.

Don’t tell me whatta great job it was, how it was worth it, and the end results was worthwhile, ok?. It wasn’t. It’s hackmanship to those that enjoy seeing ingenuity and craftsmanship to solve the problem. If ya maul things up to THAT EXTENT, that ain’t modding, that’s hamburgers on a skewer.

PS. If I take my 2021 $80k BMW to the dealer to repair the driveshaft and I look underneath and see fooking deep GROOVE GOUGES all over it whatta think I would tell the service manager? This?..…

“Ya know, I’m sure glad your best service tech did that. It’s underneath the car I know so a little scratch here and there is no BFD. Now when I try to resell it and the buyer pays for an inspection I’m pretty sure they’re gonna give me accolades for having only Senior ASE certified BMW dealer mechanics work on it. And the extra deep gouges on the driveshaft are certainly proof of that. I hope the junior techs took notes and do this kind of outstanding workmanship on others too.”

Promulgating anywhere brute hackmanship when it doesn’t require it sucks. This is like demolishing a nice house so ya can “improve” things, ya dig? Applies here too.

PSS. Now ya really know why my middle name is Frank. I tend to be. :open_mouth:
PSSS. This Thread I expect will get locked up pretty soon. Ya know, redlined. :wink:

Their toys, their joys…

You completely missed the main point. Hack modding show and tells so noobs think becuz ya have 15,000 posts under your name is BS that ya should really keep to yourself. There are a whole lot better techniques out there. They should learn to apply them first.

I'm not a modder, but I have 15,000 posts under my name!

I don't really know all that much--I just post a lot.

This is a hobby, people are under no obligation to put more effort in than they want to.

I could not care less what my flashlights look like. I’ve seen very expensive splash, screen printed and Type III HA anodizing on other products, not to mention intricate 3D milling. The vast majority of lights outside of semi-custom and customs well out of my price range are nowhere near “beautiful” in that regard.

Guess the idea of being bothered by what anyone else does with items THEY purchased with their own money is pretty hard to imagine IMO. Haven’t seen anyone doodling on the Mona Lisa here yet, or taking a hand file to valuable/historical antiques.

So watt yer saying is that anyone has the right to promote hackmanship. I agree. And I also have the right to call it as I see it too. :laughing:

Ya definitely love and appreciate certain women that’s fer sure. I’m gathering from first hand experiences. :laughing: :open_mouth: :+1: :beer:

I didn’t miss anything.

Ultimately, people are free to mod their lights, or whatever else, by their means, and to their liking, whether you, or anyone else consider them hacks or not.

And if you believe that all BMW dealer techs, or any mechanic for that matter, operate with the care and precision of a Swiss watchmaker, you’re gonna be disappointed when you find the sump plug cross threaded or stripped the next time you DIY oil change, glop on the sealant, leave fingerprints on the interior after they tear into the door panel to replace the window regulator, or generally dive into areas that 90% of owners will never see or touch.

You may also shudder at the fact that the impact gun is one of the most popular tools in a shop. Can work just as well as that regularly-calibrated torque wrench that’s safely ensconced in the tool box so it won’t go out of calibration if it’s dropped on the shop floor. A lot quicker, too!

The service manager ain’t gonna care, because he knows what goes on in the shop, and only needs to get involved if someone discovers some sloppy work and complains. Or worse, if it manifests itself in a noticeable failure.

But, if the main point is truly to point out the hack jobs that so offend, don’t tell people how bad it is, do something constructive, and show them the better way.

Yep, certain women are awesome!

I'm a real philogynist, a word that I just learned and will probably forget immediately.

It means "a person who likes or admires women."

For me, the joy of modding flashlights is about taking something that works and then improving it.

Personally, I consider it a successful mod when the exterior of the light looks like it came out of the factory that way. I don’t really care how beat up or “hack-job’d” the guts look so long as the exterior looks pristine, and it works the way I want it to.

If I scratch up the exterior of the light trying to mod it, I probably wouldn’t consider the mod a great success even if I eventually get it working.

A failed mod is one where the goal of the mod attempt is not achieved. Every modder has probably experienced this. For example, I have a small Fenix AA light that I absolutely couldn’t get the pill out of. I ended up destroying the driver trying to remove the pill. Fenix used so much red loctite the pill never moved. And I was hesitant to try a torch as I was worried it might melt the optic or damage the anodizing. Not a super-expensive light. Maybe $20… but it was basically destroyed in the modding attempt.

Modding is a hobby. Sometimes I have success and sometimes I don’t. It’s a bummer when a mod fails, but I still learn from them. And they make the successes more satisfying.

“I didn’t miss anything.” …….

Stop while yer behind. :laughing:

Pictures or it didn’t happen…! :wink:
Your rant makes it sound as if you were a victim yourself.
…Tell us how you really feel! :person_facepalming:

Really though, these things belong in the hall of shame.

Wako-job has a point, some will pay a handsome sum for others to hack up their lights and its considered ‘acceptable’. Very few fields consider this practice the norm, actually it’s quite the opposite. That’s why you ask if a tradesman is fully insured…just incase he fk’s up more than he fixes.

“For me the joy of modding”………

Again, I see that aspect from your perspective. All I’m saying here is don’t show people how to properly do a hack job and then basically say, “Look what I accomplished using hack techniques!” :laughing:

PS. Some of these so-called “modders” musta taken shop in High School with Jeffrey Daumer as the instructor. :laughing:

PSS. I mean do they really understand watt they’re doing? Do they they have a CLUE that using using VICE GRIPS is the WRONG TOOL for the VAST majority of aluminum based flash mods? Do they have a clue that vice grips apply more PSI than your typical shop vice does? WAY more. Why’s that? It’s called leverage. When ya lock down that handle watt doya expect is gonna happen to a flashe’s 3mm aluminum tube as an example? Controlling the amount of vice grip pressure is subsequently VERY easy to fook up. At least with a shop bench vice ya can feather the PSI by minute turns of the handle. Vice grip = Hacksville, unless ya REALLY know what you’re getting involved with. Obviously cluelessness abounds.

Yet it’s promulgated as part of a viable legitimate “modding” technique to get to the objective rather than using HEAT to soften the thread glue enough so ya can unthread. :student: :laughing:

Shelf queens are nice, they are flawless and attractive.
But if someone prefers more lumens to no scratches thats their business.

To each their own. No one is being hurt by either preference.

Why not?

What’s wrong with using amateur-hour hack-job techniques?

It may not be appropriate to use such techniques in a retail product that you plan to sell to someone else. But there’s nothing wrong in using them on your own stuff for your own enjoyment. And if it works and improves the light, why does it matter what technique was used?

Hack-job techniques have a number of advantages for hobbyists. They tend not to require expensive special equipment or training. Most can be done in the home using stuff already on-hand.

If you personally find yourself offended when you see such techniques, just skip reading those threads or posts.

“Why not?”…….

It’s one thing for personalized approaches, it’s another thing to publically show and tell hack techniques as if it should be imitated firstly when there are a lot better alternatives that deserve time and effort to promulgate.

Here ya say……

“And I was hesitant to try a torch as I was worried it might melt the optic or damage the anodizing. Not a super-expensive light. Maybe $20… but it was basically destroyed in the modding attempt.”

So when ya say using a “torch” watt kinda one are you referring to? I don’t think ya mean a blow torch. Heat alternatives could be a plain ol’ lighter, right? Or perhaps (likely) more agressively a mini-butane torch on its lowest flames/highest distance. Either one (not that I’m accusing you) COULD’VE worked based on my experiences IF ya know watt yer doing. Butt ya gotta know firstly HOW that particular flash is put together to mitigate watt yer potential fears were. They were valid.

PS. The art/science of heat sinking temps away from watt ya don’t wanna harm. That’s an example of using craftsmanship in this regard that we’re discussing.

I have 60,000 posts on the old Kaspersky forum, and I did thousands of online disinfections with Combofix and other powerful stand-alone disinfection tools by generating my own hand-written disinfection scripts. People could either keep their virus and trojan infected computers the way they were, or ask anyone else for help. Or run my scripts that were custom written by me for and on their computer, and then reset some settings that Combofix may have changed. Their choice. Did people like my work that I did remotely on their personal computers, for free? I got four (4) all expense paid trips to Europe over 15 years, so all good.

Flashlights: I can have 37 of my favorite small, medium and large flashlights pass through my favorite modders' hands and get his engraving and his footprint on them, or I could simply not. My choice. Same as everyone else.

Why have flashlight X modded with Y modification by modder Z? Because people want to. And/or if they don't, they don't.

Regarding vise grips:

I think you’re referring to Jon Slider’s attempt to mod his D25A Ti. He used vise grips and accidentally bent the thin brass pill. Clearly his mod was unsuccessful.

I have never personally used vise grips on a flashlight so can’t comment on that method. My attempts to break threadlocker usually involve 3M Safety Walk tape (which causes no damage), and occasionally pliers on top of aluminum strips on top of 3M Safety Walk tape (which might cause damage).

Clearly, in Jon Slider’s case, vise grips were not the correct tool to use… as he demonstrated in his post. But that itself is good information for the rest of the modding community to know. Now the rest of us know not to use vise grips on thin brass pills.

Note that a blowtorch isn’t always the best option for releasing threadlocker. On an aluminum light a blowtorch can discolor and damage the anodizing. And if the light has plastic TIR optic, that optic may melt.

When discussing modding it is helpful to discuss both the successes and the failures.

Agreed. The first thing I thought of was: “Tyrant wants to enforce his views of how people should behave”, i.e. not understanding the reason other people do things (in another way than he would). Expecting perfection from hobbyists is crazy. They don’t need to do that for themselves, and they do not have any obligation to others.

The 2nd thing I thought of was the complaints of some people on a doom forum about videos by ‘azuruish’ with his demos/speedruns. Some of them complained that it was not perfect, he should have strafed in manner xyz all the time, and much more. He wasn’t interested in such things, and to me it makes perfect sense. Such people want others to conform to their view of the world, which is incredibly annoying. I like his speedruns more because they are not perfect (chillax 21 is fun to watch), they are still not doable in normal play, but perfection is boring, so to me it’s better.

And 3rd thing I thought of was bike lights that I modified, many years ago, which I showed only for the purpose of showing that I used a different LED and about other bike lights that someone else made from scratch which were shown as examples to build a bike light with simple electronics, and some guy on a German forum (where neither of us showcased these mods/builds) starts criticizing us about this, that these are not good examples of DIY and may put others off of building bike lights. WTF? I will decide what I do with my modifications and for what purpose! I am not interested in the perfectionist views of others who don’t understand the purpose of the mod/build.

Similarly I modify some of my torches and I may need to use a vice and damage it, I will try to prevent it, but if it happens, no problem, because I use torches, I don’t put them in a showcase. They will get dropped, get paint splatters on them, and anything else, and that’s fine.

People should quit trying to make others do what they want. It will make everyone happier.