Is it just me or is BLF dying? I see very few engaging on here now to what there used to be. There’s way more interaction on r/flashlight. I’ve had to refer people to post over there since their threads are left unanswered for very basic things.
I have had this impression for some time, too. More and more posts from flashlight manufacturers, and fewer and fewer from users doing unusual mods.
Maybe it’s because flashlights are now very refined and there is nothing to improve?
Yeah, I think BLF has less recent posts than before.
It's a shame, too, because I don't like the format of Reddit very much so I don't go over there for flashlight stuff very often. 
Watched the same thing happen on the other forum a while ago when this one really took off. Have I preferred BLF to reddit? Certainly! But it seems we are the minority.
BLF is each of us individually, if we see posts we can answer or tag a friend to help, do it. We can cultivate community. I believe Reddit and FB groups have taken alot of traction, but we are far from dead.
Yep. Its also doesn’t help that the forum is very archaic.
It’s mostly because there are a lot of individuals here that are making conversations annoying and tough to deal with.
It gives BLF a bad rap, and I wish we could get rid of some of them, or at least shame them in some way.
Most of the light and fluffy conversations are had on reddit. But technical resources and discussions with manufacturers are better had on here. They are more searchable, and there is more room for long-term discussion, as each new post puts the thread on the front page. It’s also better for things like ChibiM’s top of the year threads. You have 10 years of flashlight development history in one place at a glance.
Yep, i have the same feeling.
There’s also a Discord group that is quite active though, people seem to move to other media from time to time
I agree, but Reddit seems to get a lot more traffic than BLF.
My perspective on several stages:
1 - personally I’ve been interacting less due to time constraints, not because I’ve lost interest on BLF or lights. That’s what’s called “life happens” and despite our flashaholism, sometimes time doesn’t stretch. Also, I’ve been feeling that I have less creativity for mods, hence, I post less. Again, this is probably what happens with many of us.
2 - less “unusual” mods are probably due to that refinement on flashlight manufacturing mentioned above, but also due to lack of materials “ready-to-buy” (like amazing drivers with all that stuff we need want in a flashlight). If I want a driver, I have to personally request it or I need to learn to mount one. If I want a specific feature on a UI, I need to ask one because I don’t know how to program, or I will have to go with what the market offers and that is not always what I need want!
3 - HONESTLY, many members from BLF are also Reddit users, and unfortunately I’ve seen very nice mods and pics of flashlight interiors (useful for modding) posted there that do not appear here on BLF. The users made a choice, posting there and not here, maybe looking for more interaction, public acknowledgement, upvoting or whatever. That is also a factor that may explain what we don’t see here and see on other forums or platforms.
4 - another point is that reviewers have more and more their own platforms, posting their reviews there and leaving the links here for people to visit external links, and have less interaction here on the forum. Not to mention the amount of those review threads that are left “alone” just because.
5 - last but not least, I want to say that BLF is still a nice place and gives some good stimuli to its members (GAWs, OL Contest, new and old manufacturers and suppliers answering our requests - poor SIMON 
-, and even funny off-topic threads!). As long as we are here, this place will persist. 
Yep I have the same feeling too, very little of interest on here now for me, it all started with high cri madness imo, pretty soon that’s all you could read on here, more so arguments about it and duv and so on, now I know some find it important and that’s fine but it’s nowhere near the life or death scenario it’s made out to be. Peronally it bores the pants off me reading the same thing over and over and over again, with some users feeling the need to continuosly post evidence and photos of their ‘opinion’ over and over. Sure I don’t have to look at it, but it pretty much spreads into every thread.
This site used to be so good back in the OL days, and it’s took a steep nosedive since then - maybe thats because what used to interest me barely appear on here any more, nobodys fault I guess.
I used to come on and love seeing all the home made lights, modified lights and so on, what CRX etc would pull out the hat next, but that seems to have dried up you can see that if you look back through the years of the OL compo back in the day it was fabulous with some seriously impressive lights and it’s now so watered down it’s almost not even the same competition - again nobodys fault and I’m not belittling the entrants at all, but look for yourself it cannot be denied.
Same with the BLF project lights, I used to love watching them be developed and waiting eagerly to pick one up, I think they flogged the FW3A horse so much it killed the movement dead lol! I think the lack of modding ‘whole lights’ is due to use being spoilt with choice now, back in the day there were nowhere near so many lights popping up as there is now.
I still do a quick look in every few days, but mostly I don’t even bother logging in any more due to lack of interest.
I think Reddit is like the Walmart of online discussion forums. It’s a one-stop shop. People are tired of making new accounts for every little question they want answered. Too bad they either don’t know or don’t care about password managers.
Specialized forums like BLF have advantages but Reddit has this critical mass of users that makes its popularity self sustaining. People go there because it is active and it’s active because people go there.
Downvotes on reddit were originally supposed to be for replies that did not contribute to the overall discussion. I think the official rules still state this but nobody follows it. The downvote button long ago became a disagreement button. Sometimes quality posts and replies get buried by early viewers of a thread and are never seen except by the curious who go digging for dissenting opinions. To me, this is one of the biggest failings of the platform.
I think there is room for an improved website to usurp Reddit by creating a similar one-stop experience but one with features that promote better discussion and less score-seeking.
Remember when if you wanted a triple your ONLY option was to build it yourself? Including the spacers? Then the same for quads?
Remember when ramping was only an idea in a BLF post?
Remember when there was really only one choice for hi cri LEDs… and no manufacturer used them?
All these enthusiast only upgrades have now become mainstream… in large part because of BLF and it’s members over the years.
BLF has been on the leading edge of flashlight advancement. That made blf THE place to be.
The flashlight market is maturing and without further innovation, BLF may be fading.
So the question is, what are BLF going to bring to the flashlight community next?
For me, it’s this^ and lack of time.
So you think that our forum is dead ?
Please get that thought out of your head
You will get engrossed
In an interesting post
That turns into a fabulous thread
To some this is our daily bread
And we ponder the things we have read
The discussions we host
Can sometimes be the most
Enlightening stuff we’ve been fed
Its true that some people have fled
As this hobby has certainly spread
But first and foremost
We will try our utmost
To innovate and stay ahead
What all of you said…
I’m in another hobby but still loving flashlights thus less time spending here.
other thing is that Hank and Simon made perfect drivers with so many blinky options to choose that not much left to be desired.
And even if somebody wants something new or to be improved, manufacturers will implement it.
So only modding of tubes and bodies is what most of us can do with all these new and powerful emitters and drivers but not all have cnc or lathe at home.
Until something new in flashlight universe happens, we’ll be casualy floating around here.
I’ve seen this several times past 25years, it’s like going in waves…
Reddit is nice and fast interface but folks there are IMO more like Olight fanboys, just talking about Emisars, Convoy or Wurkkos. Not much fun to me
The subreddit for any topic often ends up becoming the place to go for one-off posts, easy questions, etc. I see it with places like /r/coffee after spending many years on coffee forums like home-barista.com. There’s way more traffic because it’s just easier to access, especially if you’re already on Reddit.
What Reddit doesn’t replace is the kind of long-term discussions that produce things like BLF special lights, or in-depth discussion of driver design, modding, etc. The ephemeral nature of Reddit means you are constantly moving on to the next content and nothing survives more than a day with any meaningful contribution. It’s lighter, easier to consume fluff. I still come to BLF for more serious discussion.
I’m not surprised to see things like complicated mods have become less common. The flashlight market is full of high quality designs, LED options, customizable firmware, etc. in a way that was unimaginable even a few years ago. There’s just a lot less of a need to people to rip the guts out of their lights just to get the light they want.
Could be the weather. Still nice weather around for members to enjoy.
I have never been to reddit and other similar places, just as i do my very best to not go to any of the social media sites