...and I thought "dirty little secrets" would usually incorporate things like alluring lingerie and handcuffs... guess I still have much to learn!
Oh, I just received a Maratac AAA the day before (not the AA version I am STILL after), and one of Boaz' NiteCores is on its way to me as well. You may well expect reviews on both lights from me here on BLF; some updates on my crude budget hackjob (you know, the hacksawed dropin stuffed into an unsuspecting triple-AAA light - proved mighty great for lighting up dark staircases, as the shortened reflector produces heaps and heaps of spill instead of throw) as well as a review AND mod on my NOS SolarForce T4.
I don't think having money should automatically make somone a bad person. I'm able to collect flashlights and knives, and drive a car, but a friend considers me a spendthrift becasue he can't afford these things. Does this make me a p@#ck? It's all relative. My neighbour drives a porsche and has a $50,000 Patek Philippe. Is he an a@@hole? If we follow this logic it would make every person on BLF evil because there are many, many people throughout the world who don't even get enough to eat each day.
Photon, don't get me wrong, I am not against people having money. I work with people everyday who have tons of it. An @hole will be an @hole whether he has money or not. The difference is your neighbor probably does not go on the Internet and post photos of his watch and his Porsche, and even if he did, no biggie. It's when you start posting photos of your 5 Porsches and 5 Patek Philippe watches that things get weird. The most interesting thing about working with folks who have money is all about how they handle it.
If you don't want to help or feel like being mean/rude--just bite your tongue and go on to the next thread. There are a bunch of really nice and very patient members here that will jump in, help and be nice about it even if the question has been asked a hundred times. We all know who these awesome mwmbers are and we love them for it. Members like them are what makes BLF the absolute best flashlight (not just budget) forum period! Without them BLF wouldn't be as popular as it is.
And of course none of this would be possible if it weren't for Mr. Admin.
Best thing about BLF is the ability of members to get over themselves and their ability to let things run off their backs without taking it personally . That and there are some truly funny people here .
I agree with fishinfool there are some very kind people on BLF who take the time to be nice to new people asking very dumb questions ..the hardest question for me is when someone has been cpf beaten so badly they come and ask
"i need a 190mm. AA xpg light that puts out 400lumens has a vf of 2.9 that has 4 modes starting on med,them high ,low and then medium/high with a pwm at 1250cycles per second,Forward clicky, tailstands ,in a light shade or tan or aqua,with a stainless steel bezl,No knurling ,has a cri of 85 or higher and has a run time of at least 4 hours on high and over a week on low ,with a pocket clip .From U.S. supplier who takes returns up to 6 months no questions asked ..I have 80$ to spend ,what kind of budget light do you recommend " ?
Usually underneath such a question there are 10 sincere answers trying to be helpful ....That alone stops me from wanting to strangle the guy .
I think having all the common stuff on the wiki is a great idea, but honestly, I just love the response when someone asks their first question around here.
The responses I got to the hello thread and my first couple questions are what made me stop and stay, rather than just lurk and move on...
I have half a dozen other forums I lurk on some for years and this is the first one I have been compelled to post on because of the friendly, down to earth, helpful people, the relaxed atmosphere and the hands off administration. After reading some of the responses newbies get on CPF I would never think of posting there, every single first post I have read over there starts with an apology and usually some sort of advice that is bad or condescending and the snooty attitudes, no thanks.
This split in the flashlight community reminds me of the split in the motorcycle community. I have been riding since I was 11 and I am a biker first and foremost. I can only afford one machine now and it needs to be a multipurpose machine so I have a Suzuki Bandit 12 . Do I like Harleys hell yeah I owned on for a while it was a great bike for cruising, do I ride with Harley people yes, I will ride with anyone that can keep up, but still out on the road Harley riders only wave at other Harley riders. I don't get it, we are all on two wheels just like we are all flashlight geeks we represent a small minority of the population, we don't have to get along but why can't we at least be cordial and try to stick together.
Bah! You never rode around me. I ride a Harley and I wave to everyone, even the folks on scooters. Maybe I’m just the ambassador of nice Harley people. For the most part in my area everyone on two wheels waves to anyone else on two wheels. We are all brothers at heart and as motorcyclists we all choose a different path than the “cagers” due to our love of the open rode and feeling of freedom. We all take our lives in our hands when we pull out of the drive way each morning and blend with traffice.
I feel the same way about flashies, too. Do I think the guy that spent $30k on torches is an asshole? Heck no! I wish I had that kind of disposable income too! More power to him, I say. Would I have 4-5 of the same exact overpriced models in my collection? No, but that's just me and that's just him. I definitely think he hasn't found the holy grail because he's not a true flashlight guy though. He is a buyer of premade customs and never "turned a wrench" himself. If he'd just learn how to work on them and mod them himself he'd be much better off and would appreciate all that goes into a custom light instead of just what they look like and cost.
Now if I had $30k to spend on lights I would have just bought myslef a CNC machine and would be building each one form scratch! ;)
Whoever said this thread is an example of how BLF is wonderfully different than any board, couldn't have said it better. I also like that when I'm occasionally surly, my apology is quickly accpeted.
In over two decades on the internet, I've not accumulated more than about a hundred combined post on any other board. Interesting that I'm not the only person with that experience.
In high school and college I had a scooter because it was so much cheaper to buy, operate, and insure than a car. I felt pretty self-conscious about having this thing that would only do 45mph (probably downhill). Every now and then guys on real motorcycle would wave. At first I thought maybe they were making fun of me, but realized they were just being nice and waving to another motorcyclist and didn't care that I was just on a tiny scooter. It was still just us 2-wheelers vs. the 4-wheelers out there.
