I have noticed the desire for certain mods start to fizzle out, it seems as though the market is going away from certain modders work that used to be very popular. What changes hove you noticed in the modders marketplace?
Certain trends...
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What I've noticed when I joined the Forum, people were modding lights with older emitters with newer ones being introduced. Now it seems the lights have caught up with the newer emitters and no reason to mod except for a different tint.
irv_usc
Enlightened
i've noticed that there aren't too many posts in the homemade lights section anymore
what modders used to be popular?
I think a lot less modding is "needed" these days. Lots of good lights out there and a 2 year old led is still very good...
Most good lights now are also very bright so the need to make them brighter isn't as big as before.
I mostly swap emitters these days. I hardly have any lights that aren't using neutral or high CRI emitters now.
Sverre
Most good lights now are also very bright so the need to make them brighter isn't as big as before.
I mostly swap emitters these days. I hardly have any lights that aren't using neutral or high CRI emitters now.
Sverre
DM51
Flashaholic
Interesting topic for a thread.
With some commendable exceptions, there used to be much more interest in modding Mags than there is now. The ROP broke new ground, and the other hotwires soon followed.
Nowadays, it is quite easy to buy powerful LED flashlights off the shelf, some of them quite cheaply, and perhaps the urge to mod lights has consequently faded. The nearest many CPFers come to modding a light these days is to get a new drop-in.
It would be good to hear what some of the CPF ol' timers and pioneers think about this...
With some commendable exceptions, there used to be much more interest in modding Mags than there is now. The ROP broke new ground, and the other hotwires soon followed.
Nowadays, it is quite easy to buy powerful LED flashlights off the shelf, some of them quite cheaply, and perhaps the urge to mod lights has consequently faded. The nearest many CPFers come to modding a light these days is to get a new drop-in.
It would be good to hear what some of the CPF ol' timers and pioneers think about this...
^Gurthang
Flashlight Enthusiast
I feel that you've made a fairly accurate observation 250. If you read through some of the old threads themes appears:
Today, the theme has changed:
- Current LED lights are at least a generation or two in emitters
- M@G incans are weak
- The cost of drivers and emitters has fallen to the "affordable" range
Today, the theme has changed:
- Drop-ins are readily available in a wide array of emitters and drivers
- A greater variety of batteries is available
- EDC & "Pocket Rocket" lights, with very high output are readily available for little more than the cost of a M@G or two
HarryN
Flashlight Enthusiast
There certainly are a lot more, nice, off the shelf lights available now than 5 years ago.
LEDs have dropped in price a lot. A 200 lumen, premium binned Lux V was $ 50 (when you could get one) and now you can buy the same equivalent lighting power, any color white you want, for $3- 5, also off the shelf.
I still enjoy building up custom stuff for myself and family, but it is quite time consuming, and most of it is for fun, not for economics. My guess is that many modders have slowly realized how difficult it is to even break even on custom work.
LEDs have dropped in price a lot. A 200 lumen, premium binned Lux V was $ 50 (when you could get one) and now you can buy the same equivalent lighting power, any color white you want, for $3- 5, also off the shelf.
I still enjoy building up custom stuff for myself and family, but it is quite time consuming, and most of it is for fun, not for economics. My guess is that many modders have slowly realized how difficult it is to even break even on custom work.
That you all for adding your observations, I am glad to know I am not imagining things 
I guess the expensive multi emitter mods, are being taken over my the SST50/90 mods. And an expensively modded Surefire, appears to be getting replaced with uber output drop-ins. There is still a certain "cool factor" involved with some of the mods out there, but members of the community have certainly taken it in the shorts when they try to flip them.
I guess the expensive multi emitter mods, are being taken over my the SST50/90 mods. And an expensively modded Surefire, appears to be getting replaced with uber output drop-ins. There is still a certain "cool factor" involved with some of the mods out there, but members of the community have certainly taken it in the shorts when they try to flip them.
I have been unable to follow developments for several years. Now that I am back in it, I was surprised by the changes over that period.
There is a trend toward art/appearance rather than improved function from many custom makers. It's a whole new category that has developed in the past few years. Exotic metals, and coatings with elaborate machining are the focus.
Something similar is happening with the less expensive lights, too. Lots of grooving, polishing, rainbows, ninja stuff added to otherwise standard lights.
The 5 minute light seems to be a new trend, too. That is a small, high output monster that is unable to run for more than 5 minutes without damage from heat.
Functionally, besides the new leds, cheap drivers, variable output and the use of rechargeable batteries have seen big increases. Oh, can't forget multiple high output leds.
There is a trend toward art/appearance rather than improved function from many custom makers. It's a whole new category that has developed in the past few years. Exotic metals, and coatings with elaborate machining are the focus.
Something similar is happening with the less expensive lights, too. Lots of grooving, polishing, rainbows, ninja stuff added to otherwise standard lights.
The 5 minute light seems to be a new trend, too. That is a small, high output monster that is unable to run for more than 5 minutes without damage from heat.
Functionally, besides the new leds, cheap drivers, variable output and the use of rechargeable batteries have seen big increases. Oh, can't forget multiple high output leds.
So True, & I am guilty at doing that. Since joining CPF over a yr now, I have yet to turn on any flashlight & leave it on for more than 10 minutes.
The truth is, I have no real needs for flashlights, period.
Perhaps, many other also just make/buy/sell flashlights for the fun factor?
I think plenty off-the-shelf lights that are both inexpensive & could more than satisfy the needs of anyone
using flashlights as a tool. If all are only into flashlights for utility reason, the board would not nearly be as active, in fact, it would be a boring place.
Crazy mods have more fun :naughty:
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Good observation. A few years ago, this wasn't true. We needed more light, better batteries and adjustable output for a decent work light. Most mods aimed to improve on that.
Now you can buy an inexpensive light that satisfies all those needs. Other than improving toughness and reliability, there is not much room for originality or fun unless the focus is elsewhere.
AnAppleSnail
Flashlight Enthusiast
i've noticed that there aren't too many posts in the homemade lights section anymore
what modders used to be popular?
I just rebuilt a lamp - it's doing thermal testing in the other room. I was lazy and didn't take any build pictures, but I could document it. I guess I'll get on that...
fyrstormer
Banned
That's certainly true. That's how you can tell the market has hit its prime, when your basic off-the-shelf widget can do what most people need it to do most of the time, and so the real market growth transitions to the custom-made and designer segments. Nobody would pay $50,000 for a custom-made economy car nowadays, because they're so easy to make using robots that they can cost a quarter as much. People only spend $50,000 when they want a high-end car, or when they want to take a normal car and customize it to suit their preferences.
Sticking with the car analogy, the obvious comparison here is the drag-racer. Once the basic functionality of automobiles was distilled to a science, it became practical to push that technology to the absolute limit, just to see what it would be capable of if durability were no longer a concern. I wouldn't be entirely surprised, as the cost of the electronics and the emitters continued to drop, if we started seeing lights not only equipped with easily-replaceable pills, but also a design philosophy that those pills should be pushed beyond safe limits until their performance drops below a certain threshold, and then be disposed of and replaced, much like the disposable racecar engines they have nowadays.
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Al Combs
Enlightened
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2007
- Messages
- 872
Ooh-Rah, so true...
I EDC a P2D that I use on the job for binocular inspection. The rest are just for fun. Someone asked me the other day what I needed a 2,000 lumen flashlight for? Hey, nobody ever asked before. All I could think of was Tim Allen's character on Home Improvement making his monkey noise. All I could say is a hobby doesn't have to serve any other purpose than being good clean fun.
So long live crazy mod's.:twothumbs
Stereodude
Flashlight Enthusiast
I'm about to start several SSC P7 Mag's. I've also got a ROP. I've also modded a few of my own lights.
My guess is that part of the thrill of making super high power incans that have sub 5 minute run times has worn off since the whole concept can only be pushed so far and perhaps there isn't a lot of new ground left to uncover. They're not real practical lights. My AW "C" powered ROP is neat, I don't use it much, but for me that was about the limit of where I wanted to go with in terms of short run time.
As to modding other lights... It seems that modding often costs more in time and money than simply buying a new light with a better emitter (depending on the light of course). We also have to admit that even relatively inexpensive recent Fenix and 4Seven type lights put to shame very high end lights from even just a few years ago in terms of output and battery life. Lastly, at some point you have enough light for most practical uses and the continuing push for more lumen seem somewhat necessary.
I guess that for many people an off the shelf light is simply good enough.
My guess is that part of the thrill of making super high power incans that have sub 5 minute run times has worn off since the whole concept can only be pushed so far and perhaps there isn't a lot of new ground left to uncover. They're not real practical lights. My AW "C" powered ROP is neat, I don't use it much, but for me that was about the limit of where I wanted to go with in terms of short run time.
As to modding other lights... It seems that modding often costs more in time and money than simply buying a new light with a better emitter (depending on the light of course). We also have to admit that even relatively inexpensive recent Fenix and 4Seven type lights put to shame very high end lights from even just a few years ago in terms of output and battery life. Lastly, at some point you have enough light for most practical uses and the continuing push for more lumen seem somewhat necessary.
I guess that for many people an off the shelf light is simply good enough.
spencer
Enlightened
I would say in the lower power end this is true where it is hard for the average joe to make it work properly but once you get into the higher power stuff then IMHO the off the shelf stuff isn't as good or you end up paying too much. When you hit 1000+ lumen in LED you are better off doing it yourself.
Mag mods are great. I love them. Heatsinks are readily available and most drivers fit in the large body. Any modifications (like switch cut down) can be done by just about anybody.
Also there is nothing like making something yourself and seeing it work.
Black Rose
Flashlight Enthusiast
True, but that's not such a bad thing.
With the sheer number of P60 hosts available and the number of folks who have/use them still increasing, I see P60 drop-ins as one of the trends amongst the amateur and pro modders on CPF that will keep growing for a while yet.
Until folks get bored with P60 hosts and move onto something else, that's a market that is ripe for the modders.
Very true.
I get enjoyment out of building P60 drop-ins for myself and my wifes lights.
Instead of simply buying a drop-in (where's the fun in that?), I buy the components, assemble and tune it myself.
I get the satisfaction of "building" something myself and being able to say "I made that".
Stereodude
Flashlight Enthusiast
Yeah, but how many people really need a 700+ lumen light? Most people's idea of a flashlight is a plastic 2D incan or maybe a 2-4D incan Maglite. Even probably most of the enlightened on CPF are mostly satisfied with 200-500 Lumen lights that are widely available now. Prior to the SSC P7 / Cree MC-E & more recently SST-50 & 90 LED's there wasn't any way to get those light levels with anything that was commercially available at a price most people would even consider. So, if you wanted to get there DIY / modding was king. Also, prior to the LED revolution you were also largely stuck with single level lights. For example, my ROP isn't very practical as an everyday light because it's simply too bright for most uses.
I'll also add, that while you can get more output in DIY land, a lot of the DIY LED drivers don't seem all that great. There are way too many 7135 based "drivers" that are hardly drivers. DW makes some nice high efficiency / high current drivers and there are some nice TaskLED drivers as well (probably some others too), but there don't seem to be many high efficiency / high current / high power budget drivers that offer lots of flexibility on the battery side.
I agree, they're fairly easy to do and have a lot of parts available for use.
True. DIY hands on stuff just appeals to some people.
