The 5th Annual BLF / Old Lumens Scratch Made Light Contest

is Now Closed - See you again in 2018!

Hello everyone,  

The contest officially starts as of this posting and it runs until October 31th at Midnight (UTC).

Some inspirational images of builds from earlier years:

 ..and of course this: 

Here are the Contest Rules:

Common Rules for All Contestants:

• You must make a build thread and you must be able to show clearly legible photos of the progress of the build
• The better your thread, the better your chances, since we can only judge on what you show us in your thread
• No outside services allowed => You cannot send your parts or light out for someone else to work on it, or to Anodize it or plate it (read: All work must be done by you!)
• Must be made from scratch = Cannot use a pre-existing light
• Must be a hand held and battery operated light (Read: Loosely classed as a flashlight. Lanterns and similar are ok. Loosely classified as battery: Also other portable energy sources are allowed)
• Single or multiple emitter, driver and battery configurations are allowed
• You may use some manufactured components such as; reflectors, P60 drop-ins, drivers, LEDs, “O”-Rings, switches or lenses
• You may not use manufactured flashlight parts such as: a bezel, body, tail cap or head
• You may enter with only one build, in only One Category: Machine Made OR Hand Made
• If something is not mentioned in these rules, feel free to use your common sense, or think "What would Old-Lumens do?"

Hand Made Category:

• All hand tools are acceptable, as well as these power tools: 
• Soldering gun/station
• Electric Drill / Drill Press
• Dremel style Rotary tool
• Cutoff Saw including Band Saw and Table Saw
• Disc or Belt sander
• No other power tools, for example:
• Lathes
• End Mills
• or automated machines

Machine Made Category:

• Can be made using machines such as a Lathe or End Mill, or what I would consider machines found in a machine shop, or any other tools listed in the hand made category

A panel of judges composed of current members of BLF, from all walks of life and from different countries, will judge the winners of the competition. I will be one of the judges as well.

What do we judge the contestants on?

• Uniqueness/Innovativeness of the build: Is it a one of a kind? Different? Using New methods?
• Skill level of the finished build: Does it look like a hack job? Or were the finished parts/assemblies done with skill and care?
• Thoroughness of the build thread: Did the builder do a good job of showing and explaining to the forum, how he did the steps in the build?
• Documenting also the failures & obstacles: How did the builder solve the inevitable problems? Documenting the obstacles and using the power of the BLF community to solve them is seen as a big plus!
• Possible new driver design or custom firmware is seen as a plus (especially when shared and open source in a true BLF spirit)
• Following the guidelines: Did the builder follow the rules and guidelines written in the contest thread?

Contestants: Please remember to PM me with a link to your Build Thread.

POST your Build Threads HERE in the "Giveaways and Contests" category PLEASE  

I will keep all of the links in Post #2, so people can easily find all the builds.

Thank you.

PRIZES:

• $125 gift card to GearBest.com
• $75 gift card to GearBest.com
• Haikelite MT-01 XHP50 Flashlight w/ worldwide shipping to any of the countries USPS ships to, provided by Mountain Electronics LLC
• Emisar D4 Flashlight w/ worldwide shipping to any of the countries USPS ships to, provided by Mountain Electronics LLC
• $25 Gift Voucher for MTN Electronics or MTN LITEbar (winner’s choice), provided by Mountain Electronics LLC
• Old Lumens Nichia 219B Copper Mini LED Flashlight, provided by banggood.com
• Old Lumens Nichia 219B Copper Mini LED Flashlight, provided by banggood.com (yes, another)
• BlitzWolf® BW-ET1 XP-L V6 600LM Stepless Dimming LED Flashlight, provided by banggood.com
• BlitzWolf® BW-ET1 XP-L V6 600LM Stepless Dimming LED Flashlight, provided by banggood.com (yes, another)
• Acebeam H20 headlamp, provided by hc-lights.fi
• WubenLight TP10 tactical penlight, provided by hc-lights.fi
• + more

+ bragging rights for at least a year!

I'd like to thank the sponsors for their generosity, and would like to see all BLFers supporting their business: Please look to them when purchasing quality lights and accessories:

Still seeking for more good sponsors - PM me if you are a store owner wanting to donate something or have good relations to any good store that would like to sponsor this great contest, thanks! Good publicity guaranteed!

Prizes will be distributed by the same method than last year: Winner of the Hand Made category will select the one he wants, winner of the Machine made category will pick next, followed by the 2nd place in Hand Made, etc. (continued as long as there are any prizes left)

Let the modding begin and remember to have fun!