No Flashlight Magazines?

[Youfoundnemo]

Ive been here for a little while and have come to a conclusion, any hobbie worth having should have a magazine so that you can read it while on the pot. I mean I used to like RC cars, they have at least 3 magazines dedicated to each type of RC veichle, RC driver for cars and trucks, FlyRC for airplanes and helicopters... I just dont understand why there isnt a "Tactical Illumination" magazine, theres gotta be a freelance writer thats a flashaholic maybe a monthly PDF then, something that us flashaholics can print off and read in our spare time. It could include a plethra of abuse tests and runtime graphs, lux readings and that months hottest DIY project:devil:.

Ohhh well I can imagine right

PS Ohh if someone here would consider making one of these Im sure Im not the only one who would be screaming

 

[SUREFIRED]

Sounds like a great idea, considering there is a magazine for everything nowadays (tugboats, anyone?)

 

[DesertFox]

As long as its not printed on that shiny paper. That way, we could all read it in the bathroom . . . . . . with the lights off.

 

[PsychoBunny]

Ive been here for a little while and have come to a conclusion, any hobbie worth having should have a magazine so that you can read it while on the pot. I mean I used to like RC cars, they have at least 3 magazines dedicated to each type of RC veichle, RC driver for cars and trucks, FlyRC for airplanes and helicopters... I just dont understand why there isnt a "Tactical Illumination" magazine, theres gotta be a freelance writer thats a flashaholic maybe a monthly PDF then, something that us flashaholics can print off and read in our spare time. It could include a plethra of abuse tests and runtime graphs, lux readings and that months hottest DIY project:devil:.

Ohhh well I can imagine right

PS Ohh if someone here would consider making one of these Im sure Im not the only one who would be screaming

I agree with you, there is a magazine for everything you could
possibly imagine, and high performance flashlights have become
very popular, why no mag just for us??!!
You would think that the manufacturers would want this.

 

[PsychoBunny]

As long as its not printed on that shiny paper. That way, we could all read it in the bathroom . . . . . . with the lights off.

LOL!! do flashaholics EVER turn their lights on? :huh:

 

[daloosh]

I've been here a while, too, and I don't think it's economically viable.
You could do it if you loved flashlights, but making money's a whole other thing.

An old thread:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=69568

daloosh

 

[n4zov]

A magazine is a very good idea!

 

[HKJ]

Just buy one of the new cheap and small laptop computers and install a WiFi network in you home, then you can browse CPF anywhere in the house and near the house. Much better than a magazine, because it will always be up to date.

 

[1996alnl]

A magazine..wow never thought of that.
What a great idea,i mean there's magazines for everything out there.
Someone's missing the boat here,rest assured if someone comes out with one others will follow.

Edit: This would really make our hobby mainstream which in return would be profitable.

 

[MarshallManiac]

Doesn't Surefire publish a magazine two or three times a year? That's a start. Maybe we can convince them to accept advertising from Fenix...:huh: :hahaha::whoopin:

 

[Federal LG]

I don´t think it will be a good idea.

Internet have more info about lights than would have a magazine.

While CPF exists, I would never buy a light magazine...

 

[Ajay]

Great idea! I am always browsing the various manufacturers websites, light stores and CPF looking for new "stuff". A free PDF magazine would be perfect for people who don't log on to CPF every single day.

 

[Illum]

there are threads asking for the availability of magazines way back since 2006!

the answer is: no sufficient demand for a large scale publication that has a profit merit for publishing companies to be interested in it. Outside of the forum theres little demand for that sort of thing. US anyway...

 

[Ajay]

Maybe a few hardcore CPF'ers should make and publish a PDF magazine and get some ad revenue from 4sevens, bugout, brightguy etc.
Just a thought.

 

[BenjiBot]

There's a lot of R&D that goes into making magazines - focus group testing, regional launches, distribution logistics, the courting of advertisers, etc. etc. - and now is not the best time for launching a new, super niche title. Maybe email Sasha and ask if she could print out CPF, slap a cover on it and post/mail it to you once a month :thumbsup:

 

[PharmerMike]

According to the stats at the bottom of the screen, there are about 8500 active members on the forum. I don't know the economics of the magazine business (other than to know that many are losing money), but I suspect that it would take a signicantly larger number of subscribers for said magazine to be viable.

Having said that, I like CPF better than I would any magazine.

Like HKJ mentioned, I would suggest WiFi and a laptop...and maybe one of those protective covers for the keyboard...

 

[StarHalo]

There's a shortwave radio magazine called Monitoring Times that's almost impossible to find on most newsstands. As slow as the shortwave world moves, if they have a magazine then I don't see any reason why there couldn't be one for flashlights..

 

[sORe-EyEz]

the thing about a magazine is that without it, it'll take much longer to convert more to this addiction...

i think product placements in TV shows & movies have made little, if any, impact on increasing sales. for those who are not interested (with lights) will continue to have little.

it would be nice to have a magazine maybe quarterly issued? including freebies will help sell the magazine? free pill, batt carrier...?

 

[deranged_coder]

I think one significant concern is that flashlights are still not considered a hobby by most people. Most hobbies that have magazines devoted to them are already widely considered and accepted by others as hobbies (e.g. RCs, knives, knitting, cars, guns, shortwave radio, guitars) even if they themselves do not enjoy that specific hobby. If you told someone that your hobby was collecting knives or playing the guitar they might ask why you selected that particular hobby but they never question that it is a "real" hobby. If you tell someone your hobby is flashlights the usual reply is, "collecting flashlights is a hobby? "

Now, having said that, while one could argue that a flashlight magazine is not viable because the internet (e.g. CPF) will always have more up-to-date information than a printed magazine, one could pose the counter-argument that the same is true for most other hobbies anyway (e.g. knife forums are probably more up-to-date than knife magazines) yet hobby magazines still continue to be printed. So I disagree that the existence of online forums are a deterrent to the successful publishing of a magazine.

In my personal opinion, content is key. If a magazine contained some premier content (as a flashlight hobby example, perhaps an interview with Paul Kim of Surefire during SHOT Show, some exclusive photos of Fenix's coming lights or a behind-the-scenes look at 4sevens.com) that is not readily gained from an internet forum then it would have some possibility of success. Of course, to get good content you would need a team of reporters, editors, editorial assistants, photographers, etc. which would cost money. Then you would need layout artists, etc. to actually create the magazine layout. And of course, you need industry contacts so you are actually in a position to get the premier content that you need. And then of course, there will be the costs of printing (unless you do some online PDF only magazine and only use open source tools such as GIMP and Scribus to avoid license costs). And you need money for salaries for people because if you want the magazine to be successful then you will need at least a couple of full time people working on it and if you want good people who will help the magazine succeed, then you need to be able to afford good people.

Please do not get me wrong, I would also love to see some sort of flashlight hobby magazine but I think there is a lot that needs to happen before we will ever see one. I do not wish to sound so negative but I do know people who are in the publishing industry (my sister and brother-in-law work in advertising, my brother-in-law's sister has worked as an assistant editor in a widely published magazine and her husband has had his photographs published in magazines, and my wife worked for several years as an editorial assistant in a magazine) and my impression of the magazine publishing industry is that it is a very complex industry where everything has to come together just right (the planets all need to align on the 10th leap year of the century on February 29th at exactly 12 noon kind of stuff) or else the magazine will never even get a premiere issue published.

 

[blinded_by_the_light]

No offense, I love a good flashlight, but I don't think it's big enough for other people to appreciate.

My friends at work make fun of me when I look on this forum and talk about lights on my car and guns and flashlights for camping. I just laugh it off and am glad I have a place to go to.