Basic Flashlight Performance Characteristics – regular BLF users contribute!

[Parametrek]

@1stein

I think we need a BLF simple standard, to make repeatable and comparable tests of light power.

I presume you are familiar with the ANSI FL1? It isn’t a perfect standard but it is the standard we have to work with. I am more than a little surprised that I’m the 1st person to mention it in this thread.

@1stein

I wonder would it be possible to create such guidelines on how to measure basic characteristics without sophisticated devices.

Many people have tried and it isn’t easy. By far the biggest contribution to this area is zakwilson’s CeilingBounce app. Terry Oregon’s survey of PWM sensors has also made measurements easier for more people. There are maukka’s calibration lights too. And all of the DIY integrator projects that are too numerous for me to list.

I had a lengthy section commenting on each of the 6 factors you describe. But I can replace it all with: good measurements are difficult and expensive and if I say any more than that I sound like a depressing wet blanket.

However I will comment on 1 aspect that doesn’t cost money or involve measuring anything:

@1stein

6. UI – this should be systematized I think. Maybe a general assessment on how extensive is UI since many of us has different preferences. Say, 5 points for extensive (e.g. Andurill) and 1 for very simple (e.g. classic hated low-mid-high-sos-strobo)?

Despite my site being the most comprehensive collection of information out there I have completely ignored user interfaces. Categorizing these is hard. My approach has been to only classify the presence of certain UI features that people find desirable. Is there a momentary mode? Is strobe hidden? Can it measure battery charge? Is the light single mode? Etc. Programmers will look at any systematic categorization as both a roadmap and a challenge. We like making original things and the simplest way is to head off into the unknown and force you to add a new category.

I hope those were enough contributions to the thread proper. I don’t want my post to be 100% threadjacking content

I am very interested in seeing what you come up with. Particularly since you have professional experience in an uncommon field.

@wle

also i had never seen it

It is true that in the 6 years that I’ve been doing this I’ve only advertised once. But it was before you got into flashlights. However I can say with 100% certainly that you personally have seen mention of my site before. Your eyes have slipped over it 1000s of times by now.

@wle

the owner has a bunch of requirements for being listed – apparently one is “ i have to like the vendor “

Here are the core requirements that I try to follow. It is nice to like a brand. Certainly makes it easier to spend a day typing. But I don’t really like Black Diamond or Petzl or Surefire or Coast or Led Lenser or Maglite for that matter. I do like the majority of lights but “not liked” companies make up 15% of the site.

@ToyKeeper

It’s maintained by an active contributor over at /r/flashlight. He does frequent giveaways there, using the money collected from the site’s affiliate links. It may not be a comprehensive flashlight database, but it is still a pretty good overview of what’s available from ~40 brands at Amazon.

Thank you. But the “amazon” thing isn’t really accurate. I actively avoid most of the brands on Amazon because most of them aren’t good. There are even a few high profile and highly requested brands that have a massive amazon presence but they have too many bad rumors tarnishing their reputation.

Whenever I am giving advice to aspiring affiliate marketers (what a sad aspiration) it is to avoid amazon as much as possible. Link to what is good instead of what makes money. Linking to a single seller presents a massive and obvious bias. Of the 41 brands I currently track there are 11 of them with no significant amazon presence. Of the 2296 production lights on the site only 1507 (66) are at amazon. And of the 5563 outbound links only 27 of them are affiliated. It is more than a little fun sharing those numbers with people in the business. They immediate go from “please tell me your secrets” to “but then I won’t make any money!” Well that is the secret

@ToyKeeper

I’ve found that, for most purposes, it’s a lot less work (and just as effective) to use a curated short list of what’s popular lately… such as /r/flashlight’s Arbitrary list of popular lights maintained by zak.wilson. That list has the answers to most people’s questions, because the questions mostly boil down to “what’s good”.

I agree. In fact that List helps guide what brands get added to the site. There is a 71% overlap between The List and my site because of that.

@ToyKeeper

I personally find it a bit disappointing because ~95% of the lights in my collection aren’t listed. There’s nothing from Emisar, Lumintop, Sofirn, Fireflies, Thorfire, Convoy, Jaxman, Astrolux, Mateminco, Imalent, Reylight, Okluma, Sinner, or BLF in general.

Based on that you shouldn’t like the Arbitrary List? The List only has 25% overlap with your favorite lights. Sending people to it means they will almost certainly walk away with a light you don’t approve of

@ToyKeeper

I’ve asked him about these, but generally we just end up arguing since we have very different ideas of what the site should be, and I shouldn’t expect anyone to follow my vision instead of their own. That would be silly.

You’ve certainly had the grandest ideas of what my site could be. And for that I’ll probably give you the entire database when I get hit by a bus. If anyone can make that wonderful vision happen it is you.