Thank you SKYLUMEN for sponsoring this year’s contest!
SKYLUMEN is offering a Weltool T1vn with SFT40 6500K or SFT40 5000K + User programmable DriverVN4, OR a “Mystery Flood” light, OR a “Mystery Throw” light!
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Thank you Nealsgadgets for sponsoring this year’s contest!
Nealsgadgets is offering a NLIGHTD L1 LEP Flashlight!
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Thank you CountyComm for sponsoring this year’s contest!
CountyComm has offered two prizes, a $100 CountyComm Gift Card and a $200 CountyComm Gift Card!
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I would be happy to participate but since I have to order components from AliExpress and still don’t decide what to order. It is hard to believe 66 days will be enough to complete my build if it is OK with @INeedMoreLumens and @MtnDon maybe we can porspone the deadline.
Wow! Great news!! I thought the 5000K version of the SFT40 was still unobtainable…
What do you think is the ideal duration for the challenge? Last year’s was 101 days so that was a pretty long one.
The free or cheap shipping options from China tend to take 15-21 days for me. Express takes ~7-12 days and is not that expensive but it’s not always an available shipping option.
IMO 3 months is ideal, sometimes you forget to order something or change planes during the build and need to order more components.
Extending the duration of the challenge is okay with me. I guess that would push the complete-by date to after Christmas? That too would be no issue for me.
An end date of 1/1/2024 would make for a contest duration of 100 days, with 94 days remaining from now.
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I kind of like the idea of it ending at the stroke of midnight, right as the new year begins.
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I would be interested in building, I’ve chickened out the last few years. But this year has been especially rough. I haven’t touched the soldering iron except for fixing some head phones in months. I need some time to settle down. over 90 days is generous.
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I have decided to enter the contest!
You can find my build log and entry here:
https://budgetlightforum.com/t/haedesz-11th-annual-old-lumens-challenge-entry-hand-made-category/220435/2
As a newcomer I do have some questions:
- Am I allowed to use store bought metal hinges and closures for example , in the hand built category?
- Am I allowed to use bought aluminium heatsinks in the hand built category?
Thanks and good luck to everyone!
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Yes.
But consider how you might go about making your own hinges and closure. You might find that it could be done without too much difficulty, and without a sloppy appearance or imprecise fitment.
Yes, as long as it is a generic heatsink and not a flashlight specific pill, drop-in, heatsink etc.
As for making a heatsink from scratch, consider how you might make a heatsink like this:
Or like this:
Hopefully you will find that immersing yourself in design, using the 3D virtual design space inside your head, drifting off into some sort of trance in your idle moments, imagining virtual objects, rotating them around in your mind as though you had your own internal CAD program, and even simulating the physics and kinematics within this space, is enjoyable and rewarding, and a natural experience. 
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By popular request, the challenge duration has been increased.
The challenge now ends December 31st 2023, for a total duration of 100 days.
93 days remain in the challenge.
Good luck to all.
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It’s great that the duration has been increased. I may be able to mod a flashlight in the Christmas holidays.
Many thanks to you, Hoop, for organising the OL contest again.
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Oh boy, I wanna see what’s coming from there 
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As a new BLF member and after finding out about this competition, Im going to enter it! I have a build in mind and I have an emitter ordered specifically for this build. I will post as soon as the emitter arrives and I start building. Wish me luck. I will post a thread about my build.
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Here’s my entry to the competition in the Modified Light category: an Emisar D1K with an RGB emitter. Not as crazy as what some others have entered, but for now it at least a one-of-one.
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I also decided to enter this contest, in the category hand made.
Soon I will start with the building of this project. It is btw my first project of a self-made light ever.
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