What would get you excited about flashlights again?

[ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond]

Greta - I have to agree with you. I see so many threads started by noobs with questions and the only responses they get are why don't you go search the thousand other threads that have already talked about this. But that right there stymies creativity and learning. If someone asks a question, answer it, and maybe a whole new conversation will come out of it that wasn't covered in those thousand other threads. It get's really boring all you have is old threads to search through.

 

[idleprocess]

So something kind of interesting (to me at least!) has come up in this thread. I went into this thinking the flashlight industry has gone flat and we're all kinda bored with it all - it's nothing like the good old days! But then a few members chimed in - they are new to it all. And it's ALL exciting!

The joy of discovery of any given thing happens at varying points in time for all of us.

 

[ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond]

The joy of discovery of any given thing happens at varying points in time for all of us.

I remember being new and it was all so big and exciting here. I kept seeing "just get a P60 drop-in" or "just get a D26 drop-in" and I had NO IDEA what the heck people were talking about. It took me months to figure it all out and understand the ins and outs of it all. Then I made a few for myself and it was exciting. Now - is it exciting - not so much. P60/D26 drop-ins are cool but they've become a common place things to me.

I think the only progression once you get bored with production is to go to custom and mods. I got excited when Don released the Aqua line, I got excited when I discovered Jeff Hankos work, I got excited when I heard that a Tri-V2 was going to be release (that excitement carried me near 2 years until they were done).

Something that detracts away from the excitement of posting in the conversation threads here is not that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but that there is always that one person that has to argue your opinion is wrong and just make the thread difficult. It's sorta like the cool vs. neutral threads from 2-3 years ago. Every time you want to have a discussion with people who enjoy neutral tints there would that person that just has to jump on about how all we really need is another thread about neutral tints and knock them and such.

So, one thing that would excite me would to be able to participate in discussion threads where I just just enjoy participating in a conversation without people trolling around or getting bashed.

 

[MBentz]

Greta - I have to agree with you. I see so many threads started by noobs with questions and the only responses they get are why don't you go search the thousand other threads that have already talked about this. But that right there stymies creativity and learning. If someone asks a question, answer it, and maybe a whole new conversation will come out of it that wasn't covered in those thousand other threads. It get's really boring all you have is old threads to search through.

I think it's partly that, but at the same time people can only answer the same question so many times before getting frustrated. A simple Google search can answer the majority of questions asked by newbies.

I think another issue is when a new member comes in asking for a light with certain qualities in mind, and people reply by encouraging them to spend more money on something they were not originally looking for. That has really been frustrating me lately for some reason.

 

[ven]

I agree,happens on most(maybe all forums) with the hit and run.Can be frustrating if time and especially if YOU do the research for them that they could have done in YOUR time..........However i look at it like this,its easy to say "use the search" pretty much everything is covered but also does not bring fresh posts in,all be it repetitive.Although inexperienced to many............ok most:nana: i will still give up time,even though i may have answered the same question 5 times in a month.The friendly answer helps not scare newbies away,no intimidating responses,sometimes a bit too the point.

Everyone has their own views,imho i am not right or wrong,just mine,will give up time and will continue to help where i can.

After all its the least i can do as its you guys that have kept me coming back......................*cough* and spending my money

I do agree at times it should be a little less serious(exl safety) and a little more fun.

Either way its kept my interest and its still growing............thank you!

 

[Monocrom]

If someone asks a question, answer it, and maybe a whole new conversation will come out of it that wasn't covered in those thousand other threads.

Thing is, that never happens. And that's coming from a regular who keeps answering the very same questions from new members over and over and over and over and over, again.

It never leads to anything new that honestly hasn't been covered thousands of times before in similar, older, topics. Sadly, I can see and understand why so many older members get annoyed and post "Just use the search function." I still answer the same old questions by new members. But honestly, I do it knowing full well it's not going to lead to any sort of new perspective or conversation.

 

[Samlittle]

Thing is, that never happens. And that's coming from a regular who keeps answering the very same questions from new members over and over and over and over and over, again.

It never leads to anything new that honestly hasn't been covered thousands of times before in similar, older, topics. Sadly, I can see and understand why so many older members get annoyed and post "Just use the search function." I still answer the same old questions by new members. But honestly, I do it knowing full well it's not going to lead to any sort of new perspective or conversation.

Well coming from other forums where I am one of the "experts" compared to here where I am still deeply in the dark, I admit that it is easy to become bored and/or impatient with questions 101. However if I try to answer a question that has been responded to in detail soooo many times before (rather than just waiting for someone else to take a turn) I at least find a few links to the appropriate older thread to direct the OP specifically. Often it is easier for me because I know what the real questions is that can result in a productive search.

Here on CPF I know I have asked some pitiful questions but I usually say in my post that I will be happy to be directed to a thread or 2 that have already dealt with my question. I think that leading a newbie to a thread opens up the discussion and reminds us all that we were once just learning, and it teaches without dismissing. That's one way to keep CPF more interesting and as a forum to return to for seekers of the light - sorry - couldn't resist.

 

[HarryN]

I still take a look at CPF occasionally, but not as often as I once did.

There seems to be a continuous stream of new users coming into the forum, and that is a good thing. As the new users gain experience, there is no reason why a person with 3K responses, like myself, should interfere with the perfectly capable answers from someone with 100 - 200 responses, unless I can really add something significant. Since hardly anyone says "Thank you", that also does not make anyone feel like it was worth their time either.

Personally, I think splitting the battery and electronics section into two pieces, and forcing questions into specific sub forums would help. This would help bring some order to the questions about "drivers" vs. "batteries".

Since so many of the questions are repeats "what is the best battery", it appears that somehow that information is either still not obvious enough, or perhaps we could help point new users to the right thread instead of each person opening a new one.

As a practical matter, it would help if people read a few data sheets and they would find the information in them.

For me, I am reading more about fixed lighting anymore, as it is closer to my own goals.

Nonetheless, I like visiting CPF, just not every day like I once did.

 

[orbital]

+

People using the Search function also helps Mods. not have to merge threads.
..then Mods. can do the Mod. stuff they do



***Please use the Search function & then add to the conversation in existing threads***

 

[markr6]

Seeing less than 8,938 new threads per day for "best 18650 battery" or "charger for 18650" or "need new AA EDC" or "best 1xAAA keychain light" would help!

 

[KC2IXE]

I really don't know. Heck, I still carry an EDC-60, and still have an ARC-lS 1 in my backpack, and a zebralight head light.
I guess Maybe something that exists - a small (say ARC AA sized - or ARC-AAA) (yes, I know, showing my age) with a SIMPLE interface (like click on/off, or twist - nothing else) circa 40 lums (I almost never use the EDC 60 in turbo) with a warm high CRI LED, in a finish that doesn't get all beat up

I guess something like a stainless zebralight, but straight, and built to be run over with a tank

 

[Anonnn]

A single AA Lumamax.

 

[REDLINEVUE]

Okay, first let me say, pardon my poor photoshop skills (or lack there of) but.... What I want is a AA size battery / light which you can use in other lights or devices which backs up as an emergency light on its own!... maybe 1-3 lumens and have the POS terminal be the push button to activate and the NEG terminal the lens. It would look something like this (emitter/reflector stolen from 4sevens Atom AAA).

How cool to have these in a radio or flashlight.... just use the battery til near depleted as you normally would but in an emergency you could pull it out of the host device and allow the 1-3 lumen emitter to draw every last drop out of the cell. OR - simply use it as a regular low lumen light and then just drop it into the charger when done.

 

[nbp]

That's actually a really creative idea! I have no idea how that would work exactly, but if someone could make them, that would be super cool. :thumbsup:

 

[Kingfisher]

Better AA lights would get me excited.

 

[REDLINEVUE]

That's actually a really creative idea! I have no idea how that would work exactly, but if someone could make them, that would be super cool. :thumbsup:

Thanks... Me neither, Im sure there would need to be a slightly wider rim around the neg side so it could make contact with the charger but still you get the idea from the image.

BTW, I expect a free prototype for "testing" if anyone uses this idea!!

 

[reppans]

A fully programmable (AA/CRAA/14500) EDC light..... eg, a 0.9-4.2v HDS

 

[Kestrel]

[...] How cool to have these in a radio or flashlight.... just use the battery til near depleted as you normally would but in an emergency you could pull it out of the host device and allow the 1-3 lumen emitter to draw every last drop out of the cell. OR - simply use it as a regular low lumen light and then just drop it into the charger when done.

That's actually a really creative idea! I have no idea how that would work exactly, but if someone could make them, that would be super cool. :thumbsup:

I think that one possible implementation would be to integrate an LED function into the protection circuit of a LiIon 18650.
When the low-voltage protection circuit triggers, instead of simply interrupting the circuit it instead routes a couple mA to an integrated 3mm LED.
Your cells would even "self-illuminate" during 'dark' battery changes of your primary light.

 

[nbp]

That would be a must have around here I think. Self illuminating batteries?! How cool would that be. oo:

 

[ElectronGuru]

CPF Live: A live feed that you can leave open in a window/tab that shows new posts anywhere on the forum as timestamped post titles with the first ~140 characters, displayed as an auto-updating time-descending list, like a newsfeed.

Not really a feed, but Tapatalk has a function where you can subscribe to a category and receive popups for any new thread in that category.

OT, there are two kinds of new. There is new to existence and there is new to availability. In the case of the latter, CPF is like a well stocked library, a victim of its own success. If the information were wiped out tomorrow there would lots to do, all kinds of things to teach and learn. The information would only be in our heads so there would be lots for our heads to do. But because it's already out there, newbies need less of a creative force or even people with good memories, than they do just a good librarian.

My whole life, there are two things I always end up doing. Translating (helping people understand) and building. But if it's all been built and understood, what is there left to do? The Internet is about connections and connecting. The period when LEDs were new was also within the period when connecting itself was new. So what was once a simultaneous onslaught of new communication and technological developments has quieted down to a series of linear market improvements. The channels are all built up to deliver news and new news isn't coming fast enough to fill them.

Had LEDs existed 30 years ago, we would have read about it in technical magazines. One of us would draw out a new schematic, another would publish it in a special section and the rest of us would be waiting by our mailboxes for the latest issue to arrive. In the transition from then to now, we adjusted to the new speed of change. But at that new rate, we are also chewing faster through the developments we do have, so we have less time to enjoy them. So now we are at a cross roads. Do we adjust back down to slower developments or will we find more and larger developments to keep the buzz going?