Where did all the oldtimers go.

[bykfixer]

When I joined in 015 it was pretty exciting to see all of the progress that had taken place through the years. I used to read a lot of old threads, which provided a sense of how things had gotten to where they were in 2015. I could also understand where the players had evolved as well.

Yet since then it seems like the tinkerer aspect has become a bit of a novelty thanks to ready made, non user serviceable products that provide a level of brightness the tinkerer's never had achieved.

My hat is off to those who got us to where we were in 2015 and today.

 

[Monocrom]

I'll never forget the day I received my custom modded SureFire L1 "Extreme." Scott (A.K.A. ~ MilkySpit) had found a way to get legit 200 lumens from one CR123A battery.... Literally 9 months before SureFire brought their equivalent onto the market. He achieved it! Absolutely.

It was my idea to have a light that could do double-duty. A general use flashlight with a low of 40 lumens. But then push harder on the tailcap switch to instantly transition into a legit tactical light with a then unheard of 200 lumens from a single CR123A cell. And, I don't mean just for a few seconds until it kicked down by itself to a lower setting. Scott pulled it off with runtime to boot on the higher setting. I wanted to name it The Gemini. Scott chose "Extreme" for the name. That light ironically generated a pretty big wave of orders back in the day for Scott. Seemed almost everyone wanted one. Scott beat out SureFire to the market.

Yeah, obviously this was before that whole sordid scandal with Scott.

As far as those tinkerers go, it actually happened a lot! Scott wasn't the first, nor the last who eventually ended up keeping customers' money and not delivering the goods. Though I'd say he was the last person the community expected would follow that trend. Start off great, then eventually decide to just keep the money and deflect regarding why no one was getting what they ordered; then eventually just stop replying. Scott used to invite fellow CPFers to his house for meet-ups!

No one openly talks about it. But one of the reasons why Gene (Malkoff) is still so incredibly popular on CPF is because back in the day before his full-fledged business was up and running, Gene never cheated anyone. He didn't follow the trend that so many other tinkerers did. The sad reality is, Gene is the exception to the rule! Start out great, fall behind a bit, decide to be a scumbag and just keep the money your customers sent you so you could buy parts needed to complete their orders, make excuses, eventually stop making excuses and try to quietly fad away. Hope one of the CPF Admins. would ban their account outright so they could fade away faster.

I mean, what are we supposed to say?
"Thank you, Gene for not turning into a scumbag.
Thank you for actually having morals, and not throwing them away."

Truth is, considering just how many of those tinkerers cheated other members, or eventually ended up cheating members; maybe it's a good thing there's very few of them left on CPF.

 

[The_Driver]

Most tinkering/modding is done by folks who do it for themselves. This used to also be very common here. I don't see much of this any more. The modders have moved to other forums, reddit and Facebook. It has also become less prevelant in the German forum, but not quite as much as here.

It's true though that there is less incentive to mod these days because there is such a large variety of lights available including some where the buyer can choose the used emitter and the maximum brightness can be adjusted by changing a setting in the driver etc.

 

[bykfixer]

Most tinkering/modding is done by folks who do it for themselves. This used to also be very common here. I don't see much of this any more. The modders have moved to other forums, reddit and Facebook. It has also become less prevelant in the German forum, but not quite as much as here.

It's true though that there is less incentive to mod these days because there is such a large variety of lights available including some where the buyer can choose the used emitter and the maximum brightness can be adjusted by changing a setting in the driver etc.

That's what I was getting at.

 

[knucklegary]

Thank you sir; I've always thought that the content of the post needed to stand on its own merits.

"If you have to post your resume just to support your opinion, you've already lost." :-/

Kestrel, you earned my respect after seeing your 240 "camper" ✌️

 

[ABTOMAT]

I remember the old CPF. Joined in 2004 right when Luxeons were hitting the market, but most the discussion was still about xenon Surefires and crazy hotwire mods. Turned into LED everything pretty quickly. LED Mag mods, Arc, Peak, CMG, McGizmo, etc. Those names are still pretty familiar to me. I guess around 2009 I kinda dropped out for a while. Didn't really come back to the flashlight world until 2019 or so. Then when the pandemic kicked off I found myself with a lot of free time and here I am again. I guess maybe it's because I'd been away for so long, but I don't feel like CPF has changed THAT much. Fewer modders and company involvement like PK at Surefire, but still the same old conversations and people talking about the next big thing. And Mag finally came out with decent LED lights so the hate for them's gone way down.

My first "modern" flashlight was a Streamlight Scorpion thanks to CPF. Carried that for a few years even though I'd also tried a bunch of Surefires, finally ended up with an E1L and a U2 as my EDC lights and sold everything else. While all that was going on I discovered the vintage thing. That was way more personally interesting than tracking Lux bin tints or whatever stuff the cool kids were doing. These days, changed my EDC once but otherwise business as usual.

 

[Raymond33]

Even though I'm a relative newbie @ 2007, I guess that since I'm semi-retired (fully retired from staff), maybe I finally might slip under the wire here lol.

I used to have more time, even though working full time. Now, I nap more often, and have lots more grandchildren (25) that take time.

Visits here are more infrequent, but are very enjoyable still.

 

[Kestrel]

Sorry Raymond; I just meant semi-retired from CPF.

 

[hamhanded]

Thanks for posting that link, nbp. Fun to see how it developed, and all the voices chiming in.

I wonder if the Zappos system administrators are, in this moment, wondering why there's a flood of people suddenly trying unsuccessfully to visit a 19 year old hyperlink.

 

[Glow Bug]

Joined 2001. Still collecting lights as if I don't have any. Really have seen a lot of changes since first luxeon pill was made for my Surefire 6p. CPF allowed me to meet and become friends with PK of Surefire among others here. I am truly blessed to have CPF as a resource. Don't visit as much but I do lurk occasionally.

 

[hamhanded]

CPF allowed me to meet and become friends with PK of Surefire among others here.

Would have loved to have that experience. You were around for the golden era.

 

[LuxLuthor]

Probably they are in nursing homes now.

 

[Glow Bug]

Probably they are in nursing homes now.

Was that you in the East wing I rolled by last week!?

 

[scout24]

Closing in on 15 years here, so still a whippersnapper, lol. I've stepped way back on purchasing and posting, but do surf occasionally. Great memories and a fantastic resource here...

 

[LuxLuthor]

Was that you in the East wing I rolled by last week!?

Yeah in the souped up scooter.

 

[BVH]

I'll bet that souped up scooter has at least 4 Fat Boy HID headlights on it!

 

[techwg]

Hello there! Still here. I just have not been spending much time with lights as much but I show up now and then to see what's new.

 

[Got Lumens?]

Older short timer here .
I need to say that I have not seen/read from about half of the "Old Timers" that were on CPF V.1. Some have come back to the new forum. I don't know whether it is the new forum, or just individual circumstances that has prevented their active participation here.
I do wish to send out a shout of thanks to the "Old Timer's", and a what's up?
In another ten years or so, I might be considered one
GL

 

[Blades]

Older short timer here .
I need to say that I have not seen/read from about half of the "Old Timers" that were on CPF V.1. Some have come back to the new forum. I don't know whether it is the new forum, or just individual circumstances that has prevented their active participation here.
I do wish to send out a shout of thanks to the "Old Timer's", and a what's up?
In another ten years or so, I might be considered one
GL

Old, old timer here; I read a lot and post a little.

 

[mqqn]

I am still waiting to hear how to order my Thor mod kit.

*shrugs*