These forums are awesome. I’ve made a purchase from a member, I’ve learned valuable information from CRX and other member’s posts. I’ve taken part in group buys, and I never would have known about or bought the lights I have today. The members here are great. I definitely appreciate these forums.
Thanks Bansuri! My interest in new lights has slowed a lot, but I did just get an Emisar D4 ti. Nice light. Not super practical, nicely blingy, and pretty damn heavy.
In any case, BLF renewed my interest in lights too, but in my years at CPF I’ve seen, received, and given much kindness. There are a lot of quirks and obviously it’s heavily moderated, but I have enjoyed my time there (and here!).
No spinner mods here, just bearing swaps and minor refinishing…
I know a lot of good folks on CPF that are also here. Gunga, bansuri, standardbattery and many others. Beside cash and politics, it’s still a great place for flashlights enthusiasts. I still like drooling on $1000 custom titanium flashlight porn on CPF but I now prefer building a $30 pocket light that can be seen from the moon…
Yeah, about all that rude stuff being said about CPF….
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It is all true.
I started this hobby over there about 8ish years ago and it took all of 10 posts to make me realize there has to be a better group that doesn’t require you to worship exotic lights that cost more than a car payment, or two. I do respect all the rare and craftsmanship that goes in to them. I just don’t have the disposable income to get them and all the other things I Like to buy, (Camera Lens, Firearms, Knives, Drones) And high end custom lights.
I've been a member of CPF since last September. As a relatively new member, it's been mostly a positive experience. EXCEPT I learned very quickly that it's an unwritten rule that you can NEVER, EVER mention that the forum runs slow. If you dare, Greta's homies moderators will try and convince you it's your problem, not theirs. You could even post a screen capture of a message directly from the CPF server, proving the problem is on their end. Greta never acknowledges the problem, you are only pointed to other threads on the subject that lead to no further explanation. Eventually, any talk of a slow forum gets your thread closed/locked/deleted.
Yes, I’ve noticed either avoidance or denial about the poor forum performance. I still enjoy the place.
CPF was great and helpful when people started to mod maglites, minimags, Lambda drivers etc. Than down the slope.
Mike
On the upside CPF is now back up and running and the new server seems to have improved performance.
IMO, slow performance was a minor CPF problem. The real problem is over-moderation of threads, and, well…. an “attitude” of the owner. It’s a good resource site to be sure, but participation can sometimes be tricky.
After writing my previous post in this thread, I received a couple of examples - via polite PM - on why some of us were driven away from CPF.
I have to say that some of the behaviour I was referred to is quite shocking. Although I was fortunate enough not to encounter it personally, I bear witness that there are people with legitimate views and real experience on both sides of this question.
I remember those days. I joined in 2006. Kind of near the peak according to the graph ToyKeeper showed of post volume. Even today total volume of BLF + CPF volume isn’t equal to the hay day of late 2000’s. My very first LED flashlight was a Streamlight 4AA Propolymer. There was excitement over a River Rock from Target. There just wasn’t a lot of choice. I was into the Mini MagLite upgrades….LOL. Even went as far as to make my own driver and a 3 LED, 2 D cell custom light. Modifying a Princeton Tec EOS headlamp to a SS P4 LED was the thing to do. Those guys are all mostly gone now.
Even David Chow is gone. I helped work his booth in Shot Show 2012. CPF seems in a downward spiral. I’ve noticed it for the last couple of years. The slow server definitely didn’t help. I was chastised a couple of times for what I thought were meaningless things, but I just let it roll off my back. I use to sell on the marketplace. It got hard to sell stuff and then there was a cost to list. Not as much talk anymore on basic lights. The main LED forum seems geared to high end lights which haven’t interested me. And pretty much all you see for sale anymore are high end lights or Surefires.
Part of it may just be the evolution of it all. The LED flashlight market is getting more saturated all the time. I remember the Streamlight Rep telling me in 2012. “there are so many light companies and competition is getting stiffer”. I wonder what he thinks now.
I spoke too soon when I said "mostly a positive experience". I've abandoned my CPF account. No need to rehash details. Greta threw one of her epic temper tantrums (April 2018). With zero respect for that woman, I left - and here I am.
FlashPilot prophetically wrote; [quote] I wouldn’t be at all surprised if at least 250 BLF members had appeared in this forum after being banned from CPF. It happens all the time. Many of those refugees have become great contributors to this forum, with gracious personalities that we have all grown to love and respect. As we say, being banned from CPF is a distinguished badge of honor. [/quote] .
I still have both of those, rolling around in boxes somewhere from the numerous house moves I’ve made since then. I also remember buying some relatively cheap keychain coin cells and modded AAA LEDs using their forums before they split into a commercial forum and non-budget friendly mode.
KuoH
The only reason for me to care about CPF is that it’s where all of selfbuilt’s torch reviews are hosted. I swear, that man refined flashlight analysis to an art form… at least before he basically dropped off the surface of the planet.
Aw dang it, now I made myself sad :weary:
I post there a bit, mostly on the Batteries & Electronics forum. I like those more than lights, actually.
Back last summer, I noticed that the ‘reviews’ section was slowing down quite a bit, just figuring that maybe manufacturers had backed off a bit, but in the fall, I noticed the other boards lacking traffic.
I don’t chalk it up to the slower boards however, since I would just gut it out and it really wasn’t any worse 6 months back vs. 3 years back.
I like Selfbuilt’s reviews as well.
Sometimes people just move on from their respective hobbies.
HiFi>Guns/Reloading>Flashlights.
I can’t indulge them all at once.
Chris
It is prudent to exit the arena when your adversary is a narcissist.
I was bored, so looked you up there, no luck since Searching is “temporarily” Disabled on CPF.
google found it though
(warning, only click this link if you enjoy watching catfights. Germans have a word for that, schadenfreude.)
Classic Greta
I have never dealt with a more hostile administrator than Greta.
I just read the thread and if that gets your panties in a bunch, than that’s on you (both).
We’ve sure got some delicate snowflakes around this place.
No wonder the world’s going to ‘hell in a hand basket’.
There’s a lot of bona fide crap to rag on vis-a-vis CPF, but that thread’s not one of them.
And yeah, I’ve moderated the biggest HiFi site around, for 18 years, so I know a whiner when I see one.
Chris
Yep, everyone in that thread was perfectly calm & professional until post #37. FYI, I removed my avatar and other profile details when I decided to leave.
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I joined CPF in 2005 and used to post there a lot back in the day when LEDs were just taking off. Always enjoyed CPF until I started visiting the Automotive Lighting section. Never realized how important it is to have good moderators until then.
I have seen that Attitude many times there and I’m sure it will not be the last time.
Then the gang comes in and defends this crappy Attitude, happens a lot especially to newbies.