trying to give back to this forum...

Hi everyone -

I already did a “Hi I’m new here” welcome post, and appreciated the warm welcome I got from so many of you. But now that I’ve been here for a little while, I thought I would ramble on a bit… :slight_smile:

I just wanted to say how much I’ve been enjoying it here on BLF. I have been a CPF member for more than 10 years, and while I personally never had an issue there, I understand why many members here take issue with CPF. I have found BLF a very nice alternative!

On CPF I co-fathered the Photon Fest get togethers and of course, as a co-founder I have attended all 19 of them. Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of meeting hundreds of Flashaholics - and since I think there are several members here on BLF that were/are on CPF I’m sure I may know several of you by different screen names already.

After the success of the PF events, I created a spin off which is know as FCW - Flashaholics Camping Weekend - which is just what it sounds like -a Flashaholic get together camping weekend. I just had our 9th successful FCW.

I look forward to posting an official “invite” thread here on BLF about the next event, and hopefully we will gain some new faces. Or be able to put faces to the new names. :slight_smile:

Many of the reviews here on BLF are about the hi-lumen / low dollar lights which we all love! I don’t do the best reviews, and I surely don’t take the best pictures, but I do want to give back to this forum since I get so much valuable info from here. So most of my reviews will likely avoid the Sky Ray, Ultra/Unique/Fandy and every other Fire lights out there, and focus in on stuff that might be a bit different.

Maybe some of the lights I report on it will not be thought of as Flashaholic “grade” stuff - but then again what is a Flashaholic… someone who likes all flashlights, not just the expensive or super bright ones made from aluminum -right?

I usualy call the majority of Dorcy, Rayovac, Energizer type of flashlights that you find in stores like Sears, Target, Home Depot, Walmart etc, - “Joe Homeowner” type lights. These lights serve a point, or fill a need - after all not everyone wants to get into 10440’s or 18650’s etc, with specific chargers and worry about protected vs unprotected, etc.

So while we Flashaholics here may have a preference of headlamps over flashlights, or HID over LED or some may still like setting things on fire with “hotwires” - we all like flashlights - regardless of the cost, material which they are constructed or who makes them.

Sometimes we might find ourselves “into” or more focused on one brand over another. For me a while ago that was Streamlight, then I was all about Fenix, then it was 4-Sevens and JetBeam, etc, etc, Right now I’m back into Fenix, Sky Ray and Black Shadow, and Dorcy. I’ve always had a soft spot for Dorcy as that my first/favorite flashlights when I was a kid were AshFlash and Dorcy. And the fact that Dorcy has given away free flashlights not only to tornado and hurricane victims - but they have also supported the PF and FCW events in the past with free flashlights for everyone who attended doesn’t hurt. One of my other threads here on BLF gets into how Dorcy gave me hundreds of flashlights to give away here in NJ to Hurricane Sandy victims.

Just to be clear - I don’t work for Dorcy or any other company that has anything to do with flashlights or batteries. While my track record as a Flashaholic here is short - my track record in the flashlight forum community is well established over the past 10+ years, and during the course of my time as a Flashaholic I’ve made the acquaintance of several flashlight manufacturers, dealers and distributors, Dorcy being just one of them.

Anyway just like I really like my SR King for what it is/isn’t. I also like inexpensive plastic flashlights for the same reason. And weather it’s a $2.00 Dorcy or a $200.00 Fenix - I’m going to tell it like it is. It it’s a POS I’ll say it. However, of course no one expects a $2 light to perform like a $200 or even a $20 one.

I like getting “Joe Homeowner” type lights for my friends and family for holiday gifts, and I would guess that some of you do the same. Let’s face it my “aunt Betty” just isn’t going to appreciate a 1,200 lumen 2x18650 light. But that nice light weight plastic Energizer flashlight with common AA batteries is one she can “relate” to.

So with all of my above comments in mind I hope many of you appreciate my “regular Joe flashlight” mini-reviews, and forgive my cruddy photos - many of which I try to take with the original packaging - which sometimes saves my fingers from retyping info you can read right off the package in the photo :slight_smile:

I love all of my super-lumen budget lights, and you will often find me adding my feedback to existing threads here about them, but I’ll let the guys who do much better reviews than me actually handle them.

Anyway this post was mostly spurred on by some isolated negative comments from one of the members here who must have been having a bad day or something and felt the need to make the type of comments which ruin things around an otherwise great forum like this. And while I doubt that anyone else had a problem with me offering up some “different” mini reviews on “Joe Homeowner” type lights, I thought I would justify why most of the posts I started are about that type of product - as oppose to my simply commenting on the other types of lights.

It is easy to just become absorbed by all the information here, and not give back. Knowing I couldn’t offer the level of reviews being done by some of the guys here who are focusing on the same “super lights” which I also own - I figured I would take a different route and give other info back to this community. I hope many of you find the type of lights I’m reviewing not only worthwhile and informative, but maybe even a nice reminder of what being a Flashaholic is all about… liking all types of flashlights! —KartRacer31

Welcome!

The “Joe Homeowner” lights you speak of are among the most important! Because they are most accessible to the general public through brick and mortar shops, your reviews would surely encompass a larger target audience.
I look forward to them!

welcome , where in NJ ? and where or the meets held?

Welcome!! You won’t find a better place!! :beer:

Welcome! Always on the look out for some good "general use" type lights for "Joe Homeowner".

-Garry

Howdy, kartracer! Same questions from me, too. I’m less than 30 minutes from Jersey and might be interested in these. :slight_smile:

+1 it’ll be cool to meet and compare flashlights beam shot… before you buy them :slight_smile:

—Thanks Slewflash that helps motovate me! I’ll get a few more up today - keep an eye out. —KartRacer31

Hi DarkSide - Thanks :slight_smile:

The PF events are held in Califon, NJ and the FCW events are at various NJ and PA campgrounds. Keep an eye out in this thread - I’ll post more info about them here first since a few others have also showed an interest in more info on them. —KartRacer31

Thanks rikr - I’m happy to see you and several other 1000+ post members who have been on BLF a while reaching out in support of my efforts! I’m really enjoying my time spent on BLF. :slight_smile:

Thanks Gary :slight_smile: —KartRacer31

Hi JohhnyMac - Thanks, and stay tuned for more PF and FCW info —KartRacer31

Hi DayLighter - you are so right about getting to handle so many lights at one time - not only are you able to see a light you are interested in, but you can directly compare it to no less than 100+ other lights that are there at the same time! —KartRacer31

I’m always glad to see reviews of any lights, just to see what is available. Don’t worry about the occasional negative comment. Part of a lightly moderated board is that you will get some cranks. Generally people here are pretty positive and friendly. It’s a worldwide board so a light that is only available at Lowe’s isn’t going to be any interest to someone in Australia, but they don’t have to read the review if they don’t want to. It could still help someone who is trying to tell a friend in California what to get though.

That’s great that you have such a history with Dorcy and they were willing to work with you to get lights to people after Sandy.

brted - thanks for your nice comments and support :slight_smile:

I’ll look forward to reading your reviews. By reading the threads of other members I’ve gained an understanding of what they like as well as the lights reviewed and appreciate the diversity available here. If you survived 10 years at CPF you must have a thick enough skin to weather a bruise or two so the few characters here will hopefully not be an issue. It’s a much different atmosphere here with such a low moderator presence. He’s more like an especially helpful ordinary member.

Thanks again to everyone for their supportive comments! BLF rocks! I’m really looking forward to introducing those of you who are unfamiliar with PF and FCW to these great events. Since I’ve seen senior members here on BLF say that it is OK to post direct links to CPF and other places - I’ve included a direct link to a thread I started about one of the past PF’s.

Here is a link to PF (PhotonFest) #9

As you can see by the dates within the thread #9 was quite a while ago, and we have had 10 more since then. I just chose #9 because it was aboutmid-way thru them. If you don’t have time to read all 9 pages of posts, I would suggest reading my intro on the first page, and then skip to the fun stuff… where the pictures start on page 7 thru 9.

Please keep in mind while this is an event open to all Flashaholics (and many times our kids, or wives/girlfriends (but never our wives and girlfriends at the same time - LOL) join us. And it is held at a members private home, which he generously opens up to all of us to enjoy the PF events at. He sents some ground rules, and we have never had an issue. New faces are always welcome!

Give me a minute and I’ll get a link and info up on my FCW events. —KartRacer31

Hi Rufusbduck - thanks, and good point on gaining insight and understanding to the other members.

That sounds awesome, I’ll have to check it out!! It’s really cool you took the time and personally responded to everyone!! :beer: :beer: Glad to have you here!!

I just checked out the link, great pictures and a great turn out, I wish I lived closer!! That’s awesome,Thank you for sharing!! :wink: