I agree with all that already said that modding is not really necessary nowadays and that might be part of the fact that BLF topics are changing.
You can get a pretty, almost near perfect flashlight for around 45 usd, with the Led you want, in the color you want, in the shape you want, in the size you want, it can have usb c charging, theresoptions for a side switch or tail switch, it can have aux lights, with hundreds of UI options which were unthinkable a few years ago!
I remember building my first triple S2+ in 2016/2017 that was pretty unique at the time!
All made possible by Simon, which supplied us BLF-ers with LEGO-able parts, and still does
Nowadays i only swap LEDs from lights that dont come with nice ones.
I joined in 2019 looking for help with modding and flashlight questions. I was building lights The rest is history, but yes, I agree that a lot of the downturn on is due to innovation in the flashlight industry lately with manufacturers now selling factory lights with features that were prior only possible through modding and skills like triples, quads, big output lights like BTU Shocker). Now, no modding or special skills needed. I think it’s taken the virtue out of the modders and UI developers to keep posting here. Plus, with prices coming down, it’s not as cost-effective to mod anymore.
That said, I think the spirit is still alive and kicking.
I think BLF has grown but the modifying scene has gotten smaller, now days people just ask Simon (Convoy) for the S2+ or C8 they want and he makes it. Which is great but its taken away a part of the modding scene. I also see a lot of new members are into fancier lights that might not be found on here.
I am member number 15501 and we now have over 82k members, that is massive growth.
Flashlight enthusiasts are very few. How many people do you actually know that are flashlight enthusiasts? I think in the past ten years I have met one person that was one other than myself.
It’s a super small hobby.
Is BLF dying, I don’t think so.
The stock market has been going up and down for a century and it’s not dying.
The pandemic is close to being over and people are going back to work thus giving them less free time to dedicate to hobbies.
I dislike reddit because basically nothing is permanent there
Also, it’s very consumerist. Buying a new light is always the answer.
There’s no development happening there.
As much as I hate to agree with this, I have no choice. I have seen way too many well-intended Reddit discussions about which light to choose devolve into "oh just get both"...it must have originally been a funny remark, but not anymore after one sees it for the 42nd time. I think purely memey or humorous remarks do have a place, but it gets tiring to see them flood out discussions that have more to offer than just a quick, cheap laugh.
Also, personal opinion (feel completely free to disagree): I think most NLD Reddit posts do not contribute at all to the community. I completely understand the excitement, but do not feel it is reasonable to post the picture of a box or the exterior of a light, after others have done the same for the same light for dozens of times. I think it would be much more useful to post a short review/commentary, say, a week after one receives and uses a light.
One couldn't really expect otherwise, though: Reddit is more social media than forum, and given this setting, there will always exist users who would choose receiving upvotes over anything else. It is disconcerting to see unpopular opinions downvoted even when the author provides plenty of evidence and reasoning to back them up, while "fanboy"-type opinions get upvoted for no apparent merit.
As some posters above have alluded to, there are some members on these forums where it feels like they try really hard to derail threads - whether knowingly/unknowingly. It’s annoying. I’ve observed that that sort of activity gets dealt with more rapidly on reddit.
There is a certain overlap of members with deep knowledge on both platforms. You still get very informative and/or interesting build threads on reddit from time to time - though admittedly less so compared to NLD/gearporn threads.
A great thing about BLF is the archives. Has a deeper search function, but I think that’s more a comment on Reddit’s own terrible search function than anything. I actually in fact don’t use reddit’s in-built search engine, but I use google instead.
I personally think it’s silly to have an us-vs-them mentality. I use both. You increase your sources and have a wider net of knowledge.
I must confess I had been away from BLF for a number of years. I had lost interest in the topics on BLF. No one’s fault, but my own. But, after being away for about three years, I came back with a vengeance. I mean, I was on board when the whole BLF GT was first put forward, and then made into a reality. I remember being very excited about that project. I still own my GT and the GT 70. and as I mentioned, after being away for so long, imagine my shock at finding out that such things as LEPs, and even higher lumen monster lights existed. I believe the original excitement I had, and many other folks had when the GT was made into a reality, does not exist right now. It seems that almost any light that could be thought of, has already. Maybe more people would engage on BLF if we had a project such as the original GT? I mean, correct me if I am wrong, but I don’t think anything close to the GT existed before the GT came out? But now, we have everybody and their mother coming out with a me-too light. And that’s ok, it means more choices for us, and competition is always good. But, innovation might be lacking. I’m not sure. As to what project can be thought off and made into reality? I have no idea. I am sure people here with way more knowledge on this topic than I do can perhaps take a crack at it. But, I’ll throw an idea out there, how about a water cool flashlight? with sustain high output lumen levels of over perhaps, an hour? how about a thermal image camera on a light? For finding your way through a forest fire, lol. I know, stupid idea. I’m just throwing stuff out there. But seriously, more multi-purpose lights would be nice. Such as the Lumintop Thor pro. Thrower and flood. Maybe they can also add black light LEDs? If anyone has any ideas for a BLF project, I would love to hear them.
Not sure I can add anything to what’s already been said but I’ll give my 2c anyway.
The market is flooded with every type of light so little ‘need’ to mod. It’s only if you want to, which doesn’t appeal to the vast majority. Having said that the ‘perfect’ light still seems to be unobtainable to most
The forum has evolved and is flooded with members. It no longer has that friendly small community feel.
I’ve only been a member for 4 years. I was an occasional reader since the beginning of the site looking for a light for a specific type use. I never really had an interest in modding lights. For many years it seemed like it was just double A’s or halogen spotlights on the site. The site would not be what it is without the modders and the serious testers. I suspect that is approximately 1% of the total users and members of the site. The site would not be what it is without the other 99%. When new, and some old members, can’t be bothered to read at least half of the stickies in every category that has to rankle some members. Add the mixing of facts and opinions and some feathers are going to get ruffled. I think the varried discussions of high cri and duv has been very beneficial to the site and the flashlight industry as a whole.
CPF has picked up a lot this year, I think because Karen (not her real name, but you know who) sold the site last year. The insane drama is gone, and it’s coming back to its old self.
That said, both BLF and CPF are suffering from product maturity. There was a really cool electric car scene before Tesla made them commercially viable. Now even the lowest-end Tesla Model 3 absolutely blows away any homegrown EV conversion from 10 years ago. Overall this is great — EVs won! — but it sadly killed the hobby.
For me its seasonal, where I live in the summer its not dark until 10pm so you rarely need to grab a torch, whereas in the winter its dark from 4pm so you surround yourself with torches for 4 months! I’ll be back over the winter more stocking on up on the latest Convoy and BLF lanterns
I think its due to the worldwide situation, people focus more now on family and having hard times with economy when everything costs more, gas, food, rent etc…
Also lights have reached its peek here i think, no more unique lights most have too many lights they need by now, i sure do lol…
This is a relevant point as well. BLF’s software is fairly archaic, relatively speaking. I work with younger students - many of them have never even used a desktop OS of any sort. The sort of kids who have no idea what the picture in the ‘Save ’ icon refers to. An entire generation of exclusively mobile-OS users.
I put up with the BLF forum on mobile because sometimes I just have to. There’s info on here I can’t readily find anywhere else online in English. It’s not always a comfortable experience.
I sort of recall sb mentioning something about updating the forum software. Maybe I’m mistaken. Regardless, I imagine it would be quite the undertaking to do so, without many things breaking down or becoming unusable. I don’t envy the job of doing so, if it is indeed in the works.
Yes, that’s exactly it. You’re looking at a desktop website on a mobile device. Not all of us are on tablets or large screen mobiles. BLF doesn’t have an adaptive version of the website, that resizes and adapts to the user’s device/screen size.
Adaptive/responsive websites do wonders for readability on mobile devices, especially for those of us with smaller screens. My eyesight isn’t what it used to be, and sometimes fat-fingering my mobile to pinch and zoom isn’t always an agreeable thing.
