This forum was created as an escape from a place where cheap / generic brands (and brands which didn’t sponsor the site) were treated as taboo (and grounds for getting banned). There was some pretty heavy censorship happening, so our friendly admin made a new site where people could discuss things which weren’t allowed on the other site.
People still like nice things here… but you won’t get banned for talking about how cool your $3 generic flashlight is, or posting a link to where others can get one. Some of that stuff is legit pretty awesome.
This accepting atmosphere also fostered a whole culture of DIY and modding, and collabs with manufacturers, from which several modding shops and “budget premium” brands emerged.
“Budget” really has a broad definition. Everyone has a different view of it, likely based on their income and what they are able to comfortably afford. I’m sure whatever any of us would view as “budget” would be much different than say, Jeff Bezos view of it haha!
I jsut reviewed another Amazon light, and honestly it’s just as “good” as i figured, but still cost $20 (now $24). Still, nownere near a Convoy C8+ or M21A for only $10 more. Budget lights are defintiely not what they were 10 years ago
When I discovered this site, I didn’t know much about flashlights. I had a couple maglights and I thought they were the real deal. Came here and found lights with triple the lumens at a fraction of the bulk of my beloved maglights for a similar price. All that and rechargeable to boot! What a boost to my flashlight budget! I admit I didn’t know it would result in my buying so many. It’s just that before I came to BLF, I had no idea how many lights I really needed. I still don’t know.
I agree. It’s all about hitting that sweet spot, where your tools look nice but also perform…and you actually put in the work yourself and not go by what everyone else says. I find that the most fun part about hobbies, is all the learning there is to be had through use and personal experiences.
If you want to talk about “Rolex” lights, any other Competing Platform/Forum will do fine, but if you want to talk about “Timex” lights that you can afford, and use, and carry, you come here.
Oh yeh, discussing “Timex” lights in The Other Place will get you banned. Ditto mentioning vendors/sites that don’t “support” the platform (ie, those which don’t pay their vig for the “privilege”).
Timex regularly has Snoopy collabs…i think that gives them tremendous value. Woodstock is actually my fave snoopy character, but without Snoopy there is no Woodstock.
p.s. one of the few companies I will openly badmouth is Logitech, because of a very foolish ad/bait decision they made years ago. In a nutshell, they listed a product for around 70% off at launch, waited an entire weekend+3 days, THEN took the listing down and “apologized” for the misunderstanding. The b****s then proceeded to float the money and took almost 2 months to issue the refunds to all of us VERY ticked off customers. From then on, I refused to buy Logitech UNLESS it was more than 75% off. I got my G502 for under $13, plus a coupon which dropped it to under $8.
I still can’t believe they got away with taking 2 months to issue a refund…it was essentially an interest free loan. I tell anyne who cares to listen, to remind them of one of the crappiest things they’ve done.*** back to regular programming, lol…
Budget lights aren’t what they were 5 years ago too. I took about 5 years off from buying flashlights and was surprised at what I got cashing in some loyalty points. “Free” today compared pretty well to what was mid grade 5-10 years ago.
Not sure if this is a reference to the Candle place, but FWIW well before I departed ~18 months ago moderation had declined markedly before the sale (fell off a cliff shortly thereafter); my experience the last several years was was that the preference for bling brands was much more cultural inertia than policy. Suspect that new management is disinterested in changing anything and is simply harvesting that user base + name recognition until it stops turning a profit.
