came here via Google! bought a cheap led light on ebay and thought it was one of the worst purchases ever. googled a bit and the first links where to BLF.
Bought a POS 2x18650 zoomie that didn’t last a year.
Found r/flashlight looking for better 18650 batteries for the zoomie mentioned above. Then for a work specific light to replace pos zoomie, That’s how I came upon my Klarus xt11s. A year after that went back and came upon the H03.
From r/flashlight made my way over here to sign up for The GT. Then went in on the Q8. Also on the list for FW3A, Kronos K70 and MAYBE the MF-02 (?).
I was a member on CPF back 2007 then went broke and i found this forum on google so i crawled in here 
I have always liked high power lights. Went to CPF and was really put off by the attitude that if it is one of their pet brands or customs that cost upwards of $150+ it was crap. At the time a $40 light sure, but anything over $100 was way beyond my budget, besides I had a surefire light, and while it was bright, it had a few failings as well.
I knew there was a place that could discuss inexpensive lights that were good or even better than what was being put forward.
Fired up google and lookie here I am, that was a little bit ago, but I have not even bothered to go back to the other forum, there is a lot more quality information here.
When I became interested in lights I joined CPF but a lot of searches about modding lights led me here. This place seemed friendlier with a lot more interesting topics for me.
Was looking for a decent NiMH charger, & came across GarryBunk’s comments on the AccuPower IQ-328.
At the time, I wasn’t into LED lights at all, I just wanted a decent charger for some Turnigy cells. I got in & out of here unscathed… 
It was only about a year after that, when I had used a mate’s LED torch at work, that I found myself back here again by co-incidence, researching LED torches. At the time, the P60 format was all the rage, & SolarForce was the go-to brand.
I liked the friendly vibe of the forum, & soon found myself entangled in the world of modding, & then fell into the very first Old Lumens comp. :partying_face:
I was interested in budget flashlights back in 2010 and bought cheap ones on DX. DX had a pretty good and lively review and discussion forum attached with a nice community of people who could help out with flashlight stuff (completely uncensored which is still unique for a chinese company , Gearbest and Banggood can learn from that!). I learned some first modding tricks and sloppy soldering in that period.
I then started reading on CPF and soaked up a lot of information about leds and new things going on. CPF is still a good source of information.
Then I tried to combine the two……
On CPF where Luxeons and Cree’s were the leds of choice, suddenly the new high CRI Nichia 219A 4500K was all the rage and some expensive flashlights became available with this led. Then Illumination Supply started selling them on a 10mm board, so I bought a few and being into cheap DX lights I modded a ‘NEW 10B’ 16340 cheapie with one, my first modded flashlight :party: . It was immediately my favorite EDC light with wonderful light. I still have it and it would still do great as my EDC.
Enthousiastically I posted about the mod on CPF, mind that this was the very first recorded DIY mod with this brand new led that everyone talked about. Result: total silence…….
I tried once more to do an interesting post (so I thought…) on CPF, now about measuring total light output by doing systematic lux-measurements over the beam profile and then integrating the results into total output, crude but no-one had ever tried that and the result was surprisingly good. It got me one enthousiastic and encouraging reply, from HKJ 
, and further: nothing.
Then I discovered BLF, technically there was less know-how here at the time compared to CPF (in 2012 that was), but the people over here were so much more friendly and responsive that it became my favourite flashlight place to hang out.
I see a link in the spanish forum FL… simply. ( 5 years ago and 1 month….)
yeah those days are memories djozz
DX was the main site many people buy flashlights but then it went down hill at some point:(
I didn’t gain much modding knowledge on cpf whereas here we have lots of smart people.
After I joined this forum I have not look back cpf
i was finding a place where people modding light, at first i thought CPF is that place, but after being here for a while i found this place is much more suitable for me
in march of 2012 I googled - bright flashlight
came across this forum and a thread about the trustfire tr-j12 and king kong 26650s from intl outdoor
the rest is history
Last year, after searching for “flashlight” on AliExpress, I ended up finding Convoy, that - by that time - seemed to have good specs for what I wanted. [ Later confirmed it has :D]
I started searching for ‘Convoy’ on Google, and most of the results directed me to BLF . I didn’t knew what ‘this’ was, by that time, but it sounded interesting. [ Later confirmed it is :sunglasses: ]
So I read many threads here about the flashlights / batteries/ chargers, and then decided to buy a Convoy S2+, 2 cells (Panasonic protected) and a Nitecore Digi D2 Charger.
But then I felt I needed something more and different. That was when I found references to the “Biscotti” firmware being used on Convoy. I started reading the Convoy C8 thread to perceive if it could also be used on the S2+.
When I got my doubts structured, I registered, made my first post on C8 thread, had a very nice welcoming and most of my newbie doubts were clearly answered That took me to my second flashlight order, another Convoy S2+ !
Then I paused, came back months later to ask suggestions for a AA light (ended up with with Manker E11), and then I paused again, “re-joining” in the middle of this year, when I wanted a new flashlight (ended up with the Zanflare F1) and when I perceived I could be able to mod after seeing so many interesting mods, builds, threads…
The BLF projects, the comments on lights, the opportunities to learn and other stuff, got me ‘stuck’ here, and I don’t mind 
Of course, down the road, my budget has been decreasing due to the amount of things I “had” to buy (lights, tools, instruments …) :money_mouth_face: :person_facepalming:
Regards to all! :+1:
mrs dnf is to blame
I was looking for the ultimate EDC light to incorporate into a modified Leatherman sheath, needed to be very close to the Leatherman in length and diameter, so googling led me to CPF, which naturally brought me here, since I am a seasoned bargain hunter.
Now I am slightly addicted, with the requisite Banggood/ Aliexpress/ Gearbest order tracking spreadsheet since I can’t remember all the stuff I have been unable to resist. At least I am not alone in the my-wife-thinks-I-am-nuts club.
From New and Addicted - #16 by Suncoaster
“I came here after checking out EDC (everyday-carry.com) and updating my EDC gear… now my paypal has had a pounding thanks to you guys… but I had a pleasant learning curve as well, so thanks.”
In 2010 I bought my first real flashlight. And I had some questions about it and I wanted answers.
So after some .oogling I ended up in the other forum (Marketplace).
It took me a while before I could ask my questions in a way that did not make me look like a complete idiot.
But I was wrong, apparently. I received a lot of opinions and no real answers.
Nevertheless I stayed there, mostly lurking. Till one moment I read that the other forum was not the only forum.
I thought: let’s see, can’t be worse. That’s when I stepped from a cold drip into a warm shower. So to speak.
But I stayed in the other forum, as a reminder.
Looking at the other posts it seems that the other forum has been one of the greatest incentives to join BLF.
Closely followed by the BLF GT 
After wasting money on crappy *Fire 18650 and 16340 batteries and horrible blue tinted lights from dx, tinydeal, and amazon, I started looking for reviews and the all-knowing sage, Google, led me here.
Now I spend more, but waste less.
Circa 2010, I was already modding flashlights, some of my old 3D Mags. I had discovered DX as a seller, and had bought a few lights from there: a C3, Romisen RC-G2, TK-703, SK-68, and my favorite, the Ultrafire 501b with XR-E R2 (which I still have and use).
I read a lot on the DX forums flashlight section to learn about modding, and from there ended up linking back to a very young BLF on the old .CZ.CC site. I didn’t lurk very long, joining in early 2011. Always loved the activity of this forum, no posting and then waiting a week to get a single response like on other forums I’ve joined.
Also, posts remain remarkably cohesive here. We get to enjoy good grammar, good spelling, and mostly clean language. Obviously, there is a lot of collected intelligence and education here that other forums don’t get to enjoy.
I was looking for info on the “Shadowhawk Military Grade Tac Light”. Found a link to a thread here that was titled something like: “Don’t buy the shadowhawk its a scam.” Luckily saved some money that day, but have spent a boat load since.