KartRacer31
Flashlight Enthusiast
*PF5 is a flashaholic get together in Califon, NJ. It's open to anyone who would like to attend.
Well, it's that time again, another PhotonFest is upon us. It's hard to believe that this is going to be #5!
Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 19th!
Well, those of you who were at any of the first 4 PF's know what to expect. For those of you who were not, here is a run down:
Date: Saturday Nov. 19th
Start Time: High Noon (12:00PM)
End Time: after dark, possibly Sunday AM, or you may stay at Scott's home for the night and leave the next day (see details below)
PF5 will be at the usual place, Scott's (Milkyspit) house in Califon, NJ. Please PM Scott for exact directions.
We usually start with a casual meet and greet. Of course, the lights come out right away for a show and tell, and those who can't wait for the dark head into Scott's basement where it's dark.
Everyone is asked to bring some small snack to nibble on: a bag of tortilla chips, a flavorful dip, potato chips, pretzels, popcorn, a bottle of soda, a six pack of soda, cookies, candy, fruit.....whatever! I assure you that everybody will be hungry for the snacks all day long, so let's have plenty to eat.
An additional tradition has been that those who want to bring small give-aways for everyone, may do so. Popular items in the past have been key chain lights, penlights, key rings, lanyards, etc. These little inexpensive give-aways are always appreciated. One year, CPF member Solstice made a cool drawing commemorating the event, and gave copies to everyone. Someone else provided blank name tags for all of us to stick on a shirt. It's better than saying "hey you!" A few guys offered flashlight mods that went bad, in the hope that a new owner could make use of them.
Additionally, many of us will have items for sale or trade. So bring some extra cash money ($$).
At some point, we usually get some food for dinner to break up the day. For the sake of simplicity, this will most probably entail ordering a bunch of pizza pies with a variety of toppings, from a local pizzeria. In this way, everybody will have something that they like to eat on top of their slices.
Of course, there is the mysterious Field of Darkness across from Scott's house, which contains a black hole that just eats up light before you can reach the tree line quite a distance away. Although many have tried, only a few lights have been able to illuminate the tree line. However, one year Ginseng showed up with some hyper-lights, and one of them was such a throwmonster that it almost set the tree line on fire! Seriously, it was quite impressive.
Not to be overlooked, is the annual trek (about a 1/2 mile walk) to the infamous quarry. It is an abandoned limestone rock quarry, which is used as a police shooting range.....but not when we will be there. Anyway, we head into the dark reaches of the quarry, which gives an interesting backdrop for testing our lights.
In the past, some CPF members from the West Coast who could not attend, sent out some of their cool mods for us to examine. Hopefully, that will happen again.
One of the coolest things was when PK (Paul Kim, VP of Engineering at SureFire) sent us some pre-release SureFire lights (an L5, an L6, and two versions of The Beast), for us to examine and return to him with our feedback.
Of course, everyone is encouraged to bring as many lights with them as they can. What one person may think is a common light, another person may be contemplating buying, and will be very happy to get a chance to have a personal hands-on review.
Scott has suggested that anyone who wants to sleep over is welcome to do so. Sleeping arrangements are as follows: You may sleep on the couches, or on the floor in his living room. You may bring your tent and camp out in his back yard. Or for the real adventure seekers, camp out in the quarry!
I'm sure that this date will work out great for some, and not so great for others. I'm sorry for those who will not be able to make it because of the date. It is virtually impossible to coordinate the perfect date for everyone. For those who can't make it, hang in there for PF6!
A few other things to note: While the November date will most likely mean cool to cold temperatures, look at the positive side. We will not have to worry about attracting a ton of bugs when we turn on our lights outside. Another advantage is that daylight savings time will be over, and it will be dark early.
So dress warm for a cool night......with hot lights!
While there isn't really any set schedule, we will set a flexible time frame for the event in order to ensure that those who want to see the quarry can do so at a reasonable hour. Regarding our eating manners, the only request made by our host Scott is that we all clean up after ourselves, and leave his home in good condition. That way, his wife will let us keep coming back for more!!! Thank you Heather.
Well, that's all for now. Hope to see you there!
--Tim (KartRacer31)
Well, it's that time again, another PhotonFest is upon us. It's hard to believe that this is going to be #5!
Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 19th!
Well, those of you who were at any of the first 4 PF's know what to expect. For those of you who were not, here is a run down:
Date: Saturday Nov. 19th
Start Time: High Noon (12:00PM)
End Time: after dark, possibly Sunday AM, or you may stay at Scott's home for the night and leave the next day (see details below)
PF5 will be at the usual place, Scott's (Milkyspit) house in Califon, NJ. Please PM Scott for exact directions.
We usually start with a casual meet and greet. Of course, the lights come out right away for a show and tell, and those who can't wait for the dark head into Scott's basement where it's dark.
Everyone is asked to bring some small snack to nibble on: a bag of tortilla chips, a flavorful dip, potato chips, pretzels, popcorn, a bottle of soda, a six pack of soda, cookies, candy, fruit.....whatever! I assure you that everybody will be hungry for the snacks all day long, so let's have plenty to eat.
An additional tradition has been that those who want to bring small give-aways for everyone, may do so. Popular items in the past have been key chain lights, penlights, key rings, lanyards, etc. These little inexpensive give-aways are always appreciated. One year, CPF member Solstice made a cool drawing commemorating the event, and gave copies to everyone. Someone else provided blank name tags for all of us to stick on a shirt. It's better than saying "hey you!" A few guys offered flashlight mods that went bad, in the hope that a new owner could make use of them.
Additionally, many of us will have items for sale or trade. So bring some extra cash money ($$).
At some point, we usually get some food for dinner to break up the day. For the sake of simplicity, this will most probably entail ordering a bunch of pizza pies with a variety of toppings, from a local pizzeria. In this way, everybody will have something that they like to eat on top of their slices.
Of course, there is the mysterious Field of Darkness across from Scott's house, which contains a black hole that just eats up light before you can reach the tree line quite a distance away. Although many have tried, only a few lights have been able to illuminate the tree line. However, one year Ginseng showed up with some hyper-lights, and one of them was such a throwmonster that it almost set the tree line on fire! Seriously, it was quite impressive.
Not to be overlooked, is the annual trek (about a 1/2 mile walk) to the infamous quarry. It is an abandoned limestone rock quarry, which is used as a police shooting range.....but not when we will be there. Anyway, we head into the dark reaches of the quarry, which gives an interesting backdrop for testing our lights.
In the past, some CPF members from the West Coast who could not attend, sent out some of their cool mods for us to examine. Hopefully, that will happen again.
One of the coolest things was when PK (Paul Kim, VP of Engineering at SureFire) sent us some pre-release SureFire lights (an L5, an L6, and two versions of The Beast), for us to examine and return to him with our feedback.
Of course, everyone is encouraged to bring as many lights with them as they can. What one person may think is a common light, another person may be contemplating buying, and will be very happy to get a chance to have a personal hands-on review.
Scott has suggested that anyone who wants to sleep over is welcome to do so. Sleeping arrangements are as follows: You may sleep on the couches, or on the floor in his living room. You may bring your tent and camp out in his back yard. Or for the real adventure seekers, camp out in the quarry!
I'm sure that this date will work out great for some, and not so great for others. I'm sorry for those who will not be able to make it because of the date. It is virtually impossible to coordinate the perfect date for everyone. For those who can't make it, hang in there for PF6!
A few other things to note: While the November date will most likely mean cool to cold temperatures, look at the positive side. We will not have to worry about attracting a ton of bugs when we turn on our lights outside. Another advantage is that daylight savings time will be over, and it will be dark early.
So dress warm for a cool night......with hot lights!
While there isn't really any set schedule, we will set a flexible time frame for the event in order to ensure that those who want to see the quarry can do so at a reasonable hour. Regarding our eating manners, the only request made by our host Scott is that we all clean up after ourselves, and leave his home in good condition. That way, his wife will let us keep coming back for more!!! Thank you Heather.
Well, that's all for now. Hope to see you there!
--Tim (KartRacer31)
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