Do I think I’m going to change the way the world works?
“If I’m rubbing the fur the wrong way, tell the cats to turn around.” — Billy Sunday
Well said, thanks Tom E.
Hi everyone, I’ve been silent on the issue so far because frankly I’m not well informed on the details of the Cometa debacle. However, lying, deceit and fraud are most definitely not accepted by me, so please be assured that I’m looking into the situation.
So, Bugsy, have you give any thought to buying my light for your nephew?
Several people have bandied about the word “drama” in reference to people speaking there minds about getting a light that is materially different than the one they thought they were going to get.
From one perspective that may indeed be frame.
On the other hand, the apologists, many of whom have, to one degree or another, relationships with the various dealers and manufacturers trying to shout down or otherwise censor opinions they don’t agree with can equally be construed as the cause of the so called drama.
Personally, I don’t think any of it is drama. This is a forum where the things get discussed. Discussions are the whole point of a forum, no? Individual readers can make up there own mind where the truth lies.
I think the fact that bugsy36 was sent a free light to review well after all of the issues encountered with this light, is a very valid point. Furthermore, it seems that BG made certain bugsy received one of the more excellent specimens of this light, as opposed to; non-functional lights, anodizing missing from the retaining piece, damage to the aspheric lens, large blobs of solder, etc. Lastly, I think you have overstated the tedious nature of reviewing a light. I am pretty certain this is done in one’s leisure time and thus is fairly compatible with their enjoyment of the hobby. If reviewing free lights is such a tedious task then why do individuals continue to do them?
luckily my cometa doesn’t get any issue but for safety reason i put plastic washer like been suggested by several BLF member, but i must admit it doesn’t that bright since i chose NW tint :innocent:
Obviously, everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I personally don’t believe this is a $60 light, especially in a GB setting. Correct me if I am wrong but can’t one can buy a stock Jaxman Z1 from Ali Express for $60 without any GB discount? I do understand to an extent what you are saying about the performance of the light. However, that is only because like you, I received a very fine specimen of this light (two actually). Had I received the lights some others received, my opinion would be vastly different and I would think your review would be as well. I do believe if the totality of the issues regarding this light were minimal, the consensus on this light would be different. However, there were far more issues with this light than there were with the Kronos light and that team was not only dealing with a copper light, but also a fragile display box! I think there was an expectation that this GB would have taken a step forward from the Kronos GB as opposed to two steps backwards. I do think the performance of my light is incredibly good, however, there is always a great sense of uncertainty as to the safety and longevity of this light, all things considered. I have not tried your butterfly spacer and I am not certain if this is a definitive fix for the shorting issue or whether there still may be the potential for shorting. Maybe you could elaborate?
I wonder how can some people defend the indefensible…in this case, an unsafe light, even more to the point of being dangerous, and might have life-long repercussions to an unlucky user.
I think, in the form of a discussion about this, not an attack or shout down at you or others, that is frankly not how it is. I bought, with an account Neal at Banggood (my contact there) does not know about, my Cometas from the group buy. Neal asked me a week after I had ordered them if I wanted one to review, I told him I had two on the way… He had no idea I had ordered them… I do not want ringers either, if a light sucks, it sucks. I could polish that turd, but it is still a turd, pretty sure the members here would see through that…
So, being sure mine were not hand picked, both were fine after dropping in an insulation disk… Cardboard was my choice… No bad anodizing on the disk, the solder was fine, the drivers not grounded out, the threads on the head looser than my B158, but fixed with a few wraps of teflon tape. Yet I was a shill of some sort for pointing out how to fix things, or a Banggood agent or whatever…
I recently (going to post the review tonight) got in two Astrolux M01’s that I have been carrying around for a couple of weeks to see how they are. One is not good, but fixable, the other fine… I suppose that these were also “hand picked premium” lights? Not really, as Neal just places the order, the warehouse (Banggood has more than one if you look on their website) packages and mails the order…. I doubt highly that anyone there (based on complaints in shipping and items received) is expert enough to know good from bad and “hand picks” the ones for testing and/or for “special” individuals.
As for the tedious, no it is not tedious to do the review, I may not have made that clear. I like to do reviews, and I try to actually carry the lights and use them for a week at least to get a good feel for them and their UI. I do not like the “I just got this and it is AWESOME!” reviews, I think they are junk. My fastest review was the Thorfire C8S new version. I have had at least 6 of the previous models (3+5 mode driver 8x7135) and saw all the upgrades in a few minutes of looking it over. Was I excited, yes. The light was much improved. I bought two more at full price, two more of the “old” C8s and set up a coupon with the seller and posted two threads about it here on BLF. So more than the review being quick, I worked doing all the other stuff too…
What my point was, is that some here think this is a benefit to “review” free lights. There is no monetary benefit is my point. I value my free time at $10 an hour (random easy number) the lights value is $40 lets say, then I get a review done in three hours of writing, taking and editing and uploading photos, editing the post… Then I have made a virtual $10!!! The next light is worth $20 and still takes three hours to do the review (which is enjoyable to me) then I am back to even on virtual time/money…
I have kept a few of the lights sent for my review, gifted most and know more on what to look for in a light and sincerely hope I have helped members here decide if a light is right for them…. I have bought more lights (like the Manker U11 and Eagle Eye X5R) BECAUSE I got to review them than I would have without having a sample to examine. I have bought 3 U11’s and 3 X5R’s in addition to my “free” samples to give an example…
It is a hobby, and I enjoy it very much, but “free” lights are nothing but a lack of money outlay, they are not really free. It does take time and effort for a review. My reviews are not even as good as some of the others here that knock the specs and tables and photos out of the park. I try to give a good working view of the light, my impression of how this light is and what other non flashaholics say when I hand them the lights…
Those that accuse me and my positive outlook on things here on a DIY type forum about being a shill or a fanboy are just not seeing the entire picture in my opinion. It is always easy to go negative with a situation, our brains are wired to give priority to negative issues. It takes work to see the good at times, I get it, but we work to better ourselves at the gym or in physical therapy, neither of which is easy when it is being done, but has a reward at the end…. Where is the gym or therapist for our outlook? In our own attitudes…
I am a fanboy of Banggood, but not for the free lights, but for the BLF A6, Manker Boney, Astrolux A01, A01 Copper, Astrolux S14 etc… They (other vendors too, not shorting them) worked with us to bring these about, even the Cometa… Perfect, no, willing to work with a bunch of lunatic flashlight idiots from the web and in two different countries, yes… And I am the biggest idiot for believing this was a good relationship according to some… Whatever…
I hope this clears up my positions some, there is no need to agree or disagree with me, I am just laying out where I am coming from for reference.
ReManG has it down pretty spot on.
To unnecessarily add to what he said:
Personally, it is normal for me to spend 2+ hours on the writing alone, then there’s the proofreading (1+ hours). For the photographs I usually go to a nice location only for the light pictures. It takes 2+ hours in a photo session to get something I am happy to put my name on, not including setting up equipment (tripod, charging battery, setting up the best camera settings for night beam shots) or the gas to get there. Then editing the pictures and choosing the nicest ones take 1+ hours on its own. Formatting the review (for reddit and blf) takes an hour or more also.
At the end of it, were the lights free? Yes, technically, but with all the work I place into my reviews sometimes I’m paying double+ the cost of the light in the time I use to create the review.
But man do I love doing it.
I understand all you state here, I actually never doubted that for you, reviewing may not be such a profitable venture. however, I also believe that for some the time spent is worth the free lights (or other merchandise). I am no English major myself but I could have definitely compiled a review such as bugsy’s and would have been more than happy to receive a free light in the process. As a matter of fact, I would have already posted a review on a light I received from djburkes, except I wanted to add video and I am not entirely certain how to do this. Also, I may not have been clear, but I wasn’t implying that bugsy’s light was “hand-picked”, although it could have been. I was simply stating that a raving review is much more likely when you actually receive a light without any of the notable issues which others have incurred.
Further, in some ways I believe the time investment you speak of, mirrors the issues of those receiving poor lights. The time they must invest in reading through the long GB threads in search of an answer to their issues, as well as the subsequent difficulty in understanding how to proceed once they actually find answers can not only be frustrating, but also time consuming. In some cases they are even told to “go search’ for answers or ”go learn” how to alleviate an issue. I can empathize with their time as well, not to mention the all important fact that they did actually pay for their light. Like I said, MY lights are great other than the imminent fear that something could go wrong due to the clearly demonstrated quality issues associated with this light. My father-in-law was awestruck by this light more than any of my others! However, I simply wish that everyone got what they paid for as opposed to the fortunate few.
Brett H, your slipping man……… I went over the ButterFly Spacer RIGHT HERE scroll down just about a month ago. 
You need a couple don’t you? Two Cometa’s IIRC?? PM me your mailing address and I’ll get them headed your way…… down to the land of the invasive Burmese Python , among other things.
They will be the correct size for the LED footprint though… 3.45 x 3.45 mm [ XPL HI ]
edit: Oh yeah, your about right on the Z1 price from AliExpress. I got one of each flavor from BG that just got delivered today. Price for the two was $103.53 with a ‘code’.
They are a whole different animal than the Cometa knockoff too let me tell you…
Right out of the box that was obvious, and it only got better. :+1:
Haha, I’m not slipping teacher. I just wasn’t certain if this spacer would work in every instance. Some of those solder blobs looked so big that I thought they still might be able to contact the retaining disc? I definitely appreciate the offer to send me some! PM sent Sir! I’ll make sure I get to the mailbox before the snakes do! I think I am far enough from the Everglades that I’ve got more Pygmy Rattlers than I do Pythons though 
PM received young man, I’ll try to get them out tomorrow but it may well be Monday.
It will raise the anodized disc 0.8 mm. But still put a bit of tape over the solder blobs.
I used Kapton, which I will send you some of stuck to part of a sandwich bag so the adhesive won’t get screwed up. Use it if you want although electrical tape would work just as well.
I’m sure you do have a lot of Pygmy Rattlers, but the ‘big boys’ are headed your way. :person_facepalming:
I know they have been killing them on a regular basis at the Naples Airport just North of Marco for well over 3 years. Of course, that is not public knowledge for the 6 pm news in that area if you know what I mean. And Bonita as well as Immokalee if my info is correct.
You be careful on those walks to the mailbox though, I’d hate to miss out on meeting you this winter because you got ate by a Python…… 
Take care
Holy crap! Immokalee isn’t too far away!!!
wow, this is great! After what Tom said, and now this. Wonder what kind of a result we could expect? Anyhow, THANKS!
I agree with Phil, Tom E, and anyone else who thinks this way.
To me it was 1% about the light and about 99% about the principles involved. The principles of lying, cheating, deception, extremely poor business practices, etc., etc… What was really telling to me was how several, by what they posted; seemed to condone these practices or blame them on cultural differences.
And many who tried to get some answers were absolutely treated poorly. Yet the organizer of this Cometa Group Buy virtually disappeared from the picture when the lights were released…… not much was said about that for a long time though. And even still not much is said???
To me it is completely irresponsible for anyone to do a review of this light without addressing all the many identified & potential safety issues. Nothing has been blown out of proportion about those potential problems. They are real.
And should a kid or a novice user get hold of one of these “unfixed” lights…. it could be a recipe for disaster. 
But hey, it’s just business. Banggood made a few extra dollars……… right??
I know………
And have you heard about THESE ? I’d rather deal with the snakes. 
I think right now they are still contained in the Keys, but it is said it is only a matter of time till they march on Northward. :person_facepalming:
Mercy me……………
It is truly sad the way these events transpired… but it appears I have a different take on it.
Hopefully these events will serve notice to any and all unscrupulous manufactures/suppliers who lie, cheat, bait & switch, and just have deceptive business practices in general………… that we at BLF have no desire to do any business with them what so ever.
“We” don’t need to have a second thought about “losing” them. If anything they should worry about losing us.
And it seems The Miller is having no problem working with ThorFire on his Q8 project.
And there is a start of something with Jaxman.
So just maybe the businesses that have some integrity will have no reluctance making BLF lights or dealing with BLF GB’s.
The ones that have proven themselves liars, cheats, and scoundrels…. may very well not want to deal with BLF again since their game will no longer work for them.
But the bottom line is they “need not apply” anyway…… cause we don’t want them.
YMMV
The only fact of the matter at this point is that everybody involved in the Cometa groupbuy has already formed their opinion, and there are no new facts to disclose. An analysis of the Cometa threads clearly reveals a huge dearth of facts and a glut of nasty arguments, trolling, and finger pointing. By locking but not removing the Cometa threads I am making an effort to leave the discussions out in the open for uninformed readers to analyze and arrive at their own opinion. But for the good of the forum, I can not allow baseless speculations and personal attacks to continue.