Why I hang out at BLF

Go look at post #36! I finally said it.

Rich

I have a surefire with a malkoff and it is a good light, but it is no better in output than my Solarforce L2 with a XRE drop in and it cost me 3 times as much before I knew better. Some people stubbornly cling to the idea that you have to pay out the nose to get the qualitiy you need. I'd rather save 75% of my money and invest my time tinkering. To each his own.

Kestrel is the one that picks on me.

i am glad that CPF had that server crash a while ago. because of that crash, i found BLF.

at cpf ppl make u feel bad about buying cheap light. over here, ppl brag about the good and cheap lights they find.

True that!

Oh, and I like BLF even better since it has become an official .com site

I guess that makes me snooty like some CPF people.

Wow, those 2 sentences really explain what I feel is wrong with that place. Well said!

I have no problem with people spending big $$ for a light, but to think that it is the only true way and blindingly preaching to newcomers that they have to pay up or else they are not welcome is just wrong to me. And the worst part is that they truly believe they are a warm and kind community... DM51 bashing newcomers is being warm? Bah...

And another part I really like: you have to buy expensive flashlights since you don't want your light to break down on you when you're in a crisis and your life depends on your light (like even 90% of the people over there have had a situation where the flashlight saved their life) and still many of them (like most of us over here :) ) carry an excessive of flashlights during a day (yes, I'm talking to you Don). And how many of us have had a light break down during regular use? Sure, DOA is one thing but if my light survives one charge I pretty much consider it being "life saving proof".

But as said before, "To each his own".

I think if you browse throught the threads at CPF, you will find more problems mentioned there with expensive lights than you do here with cheap lights!

Indeed "to each their own". Just been out seeing three bands.

The first - my reaction was "1975 called and want their music back"

The second - I've known these guys for 20 years and love what they do - I've posted enough links to their videos. They are sort of like a coked out folk band. Except when they aren't.

The third - I've been listening to for thirty years. And Paul Kossoff did it better forty years ago. Inoffensive and competent with a pure dead brilliant harmonica player who wasn't born when the rest of the band started.

But tastes vary - others were there to see the first and third bands and that's fine.

Frankly, I don't really care if nobody else likes the lights I do. Their loss, not mine.

I don't own (or ever intend to buy) any Surefire lights or Malkoff dropins. More likely to give Gene Malkoff money than Surefire though.

I either have been banned or have forgotten (or changed the password and forgotten what I changed it to) the passwords for both the accounts I've had in the Other Plaice.

And don't care enough to set up another account.

What those folks want is just fine - I don't knock their choices and don't care for it when they knock on mine. But life is way too short for such nonsense.

When I was a theology student, I used to get into all sorts of heavy debates in my first year. By the time I'd finished the degree I realised the person was way more important than the theological standpoint. Some of the fundamentalists were nice folks, some weren't. I'm firmly in the strongly liberal camp but just because I agreed with the others who thought like me didn't mean I liked most of them (I didn't). Actually I got on best with the fundamentalists. And if those guys said "black", I'd automatically say "white" before i even bothered to engage my brain.

People are far more important - and we have a nicer sort of person here. No group of people will ever be in agreement over everything - and that is good. But how we argue our case is much more important than what that case is....

But enough ranting for one night.

LOL Don.

I'm Talbot Theological Seminary, 1981, MDiv

University of Aberdeen 1986 BD

University of Aberdeen 2003 Ph.D. (Failed)

Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (2014) D. Min

I was at work today and got asked "is that a surefire?" nope its a solarforce. he grabs his surefire an E2d. we start comparing and the UF 3mode dropin was waaay brighter. Ive been a cpf member since 07 but i never really stayed around. nothing drew me in lke BLF did. id go there once in a while for some useful info but that was it.

I've actually never been treated poorly over there. That may not be saying much since I've made very few posts. I think I had less than 100 before the sever imploded. I don't have a problem with pricey lights or people who own/defend them. What I don't care for however, are sweeping statements slamming a flashlight they have little or no experience with and/or no evidence/facts to support, specifically why a particular light is inferior. "Solarforce tail cap switches are weak/will fail" is simply not accurate. Do some switches fail? Of course but I don't think a blanket "you get what you pay for" should summarily dismiss budget lights.

especiallysolarforceFoy

I just float around, sometimes providing posts i hope are useful, sometimes just useles posts that dont really say much, and off-topic posts.

I think this is just another useless post from me, but at least its contributing to the somewhat more friendly environment that BLF feel like to me. I admit to buying too many not so budget lights, but at the same time, I can appreciate that $$$ is not always required to enjoy a hobby.

I couldn’t help myself and ended up signing in over there to see what all the hoopla was about. Not nearly as contentious as I’d hoped.
Does anyone know of solarforce switches failing under a 3A load or do we even just assume that some will fail? I might have missed something around here but I don’t remember any “my solarforce switch fried on me” threads. I could be wrong though.
I have never had a switch burn out on me and I tried. I have also never had an “improperly”'heatsinked XML dropin “cook”,whatever that entails, on me.

At a guess I'd say it was because Solarforce don't give them any money.

That might not be the reason, but I have a terribly low opinion of the CPF managment.

That's why we are on BLF .... to get more than we pay for.

I have 24 posts on CPF and 820 posts on BLF , so I like BLF about 34 times better than CPF... yeah, sounds about right.

Let's face it, if you wanted to buy an expensive light, you would get a lot of very good information and reviews at CPF.

Research, not personality, is their strength.

Because it's the only site that provides the right medication for flashaholics!

My dog won't talk to me .... That's the reason I'm here .

when she does...I'm off to the other site

I'm like vectrex about 20 posts vs 700 .. great minds think alike . woof woof woof woof

Neither will mine :(