Should I Continue Writing My Flashlight Article?
- Thread starter xcel730
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KingGlamis
Banned
Kudos, xcel, for putting forth the effort for this article. I look forward to reading it when it is finished. As a magazine editor may I offer some advice? To be impartial you have to put yourself in other people's shoes. In the quote above I mostly agree with the first sentence, although it should be "can afford." :twothumbs However your second sentence in that quote alienates a lot of readers. Who defines "quality?" Not picking on you at all and I don't want to start a brand-war, but one man's junk is another man's treasure. Let's just put it this way, out of 40+ lights that I own the only two I have had that failed were two of the biggest names known on CPF. And not one of my DX-style lights have failed. And if you haven't owned any DX-style lights, as I believe you stated, perhaps you should interview those that do own them before passing judgement.
Just some tips for ya, have fun with the project.
Thanks for the grammatical correction :thumbsup:. I think my writing style is quite decent, but oftentimes, I would make some rookie mistakes such as using "could" instead of "can" and mixing up tenses within a setence.
My main goal of the article is to provide readers with features in a flashlight that they should look for in selecting an emergency / survival flashlight. This include having a EDC-able "quality" flashlight at all times, having a backup, types of flashlights to keep at home, car, and bugout bag. I think I have maintained impartiality throughout the article. I know that the average consumer could care less about fenix vs surefire, ra clicky vs novatac, etc. I could see your point of who defines quality, and I'll see what I can do to adjust that.
I have no problems with DX and KD lights. I just cannot write and recommend something that I have no experience with. Instead of conducting an interview, I was going to recommend them to BessieBunny's sticky related to budget flashlight comparison. My main issue with recommending DX and KD is that ocassionally, they would sell counterfeit flashlights and I want to avoid having them be tempted to buy one thinking it's the real deal. I guess I could tell them to purchase only those that are recommended from BessieBuny's page or tell them to do their research prior to purchasing. It will be up to their discretion of whether they should buy replicas or not.
Thanks for your recommendation!
My main goal of the article is to provide readers with features in a flashlight that they should look for in selecting an emergency / survival flashlight. This include having a EDC-able "quality" flashlight at all times, having a backup, types of flashlights to keep at home, car, and bugout bag. I think I have maintained impartiality throughout the article. I know that the average consumer could care less about fenix vs surefire, ra clicky vs novatac, etc. I could see your point of who defines quality, and I'll see what I can do to adjust that.
I have no problems with DX and KD lights. I just cannot write and recommend something that I have no experience with. Instead of conducting an interview, I was going to recommend them to BessieBunny's sticky related to budget flashlight comparison. My main issue with recommending DX and KD is that ocassionally, they would sell counterfeit flashlights and I want to avoid having them be tempted to buy one thinking it's the real deal. I guess I could tell them to purchase only those that are recommended from BessieBuny's page or tell them to do their research prior to purchasing. It will be up to their discretion of whether they should buy replicas or not.
Thanks for your recommendation!
to Xcel730 --
Great idea on what you are doing !
:thumbsup:
(you wrote)
So if people don't want to read everything, they could just jump to the end.
Please, however, kindly answer THIS item right now,
as it has been puzzling All Of Us on CPF for quite some time:
(IV) How Many Flashlights do I need?
_
Great idea on what you are doing !
:thumbsup:
(you wrote)
So if people don't want to read everything, they could just jump to the end.
Please, however, kindly answer THIS item right now,
as it has been puzzling All Of Us on CPF for quite some time:
(IV) How Many Flashlights do I need?
_
Burgess, your question is not about needs, is about want. I only need two, but I want more than what I have right now. :devil:
I guess your question is legit. Sometimes I want a light so much that I need to buy it or else I can't sleep.
xcel730,
Definitely do the article. Of course, I wouldn't trust any recommendation you make unless you personally own every light in the list.
Here's your excuse to expand your collection! Carrot's guide is very good, but it doesn't have to be the only one. Many times, for some reason, things just gel better when explained by one author vs another.
NonSenCe,
Dude, that ranking system is serious! It's like a KT analysis... Let go, Luke. Use the Force and trust your feelings.
Definitely do the article. Of course, I wouldn't trust any recommendation you make unless you personally own every light in the list.
Here's your excuse to expand your collection! Carrot's guide is very good, but it doesn't have to be the only one. Many times, for some reason, things just gel better when explained by one author vs another.NonSenCe,
Dude, that ranking system is serious! It's like a KT analysis... Let go, Luke. Use the Force and trust your feelings.
2manybikes
Newly Enlightened
I think a non flashaholic is not even going to understand the term "EDC". Keep it short and simple, or it will not be read by non flashaholics.
Asking about a book about flashlights in this forum is like asking "Who wants free beer?" in a bar. Consider the audience very carefully.
Asking about a book about flashlights in this forum is like asking "Who wants free beer?" in a bar. Consider the audience very carefully.
I think that unless you keep the recomendation section up to date, at least every few months, it will quickly be outdated and of little use. If you do give recomendations, make them lights easily available, and not modded lights. If you are not planning on updating on a regular basis you might wish to give general ideas as to types of lights for use.
csshih
Flashlight Enthusiast
uhoh.. I just realized the same goes for me..
anyways.. you should include a bunch of links back to CPF, we might get a few more visitors. :candle:
greenLED
Flashaholic
Carrot's guide is indeed great, but his is a "guide to high-end lights" (paraphrasing the title here). Your title is very different from his (unless you've drifted significantly off your initial plan).
Can't find the push graemlin, but this should do:
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As long as it is fun for you, keep working on it. Many will appreciate it.
Carrot's guide is indeed great, but his is a "guide to high-end lights" (paraphrasing the title here). Your title is very different from his (unless you've drifted significantly off your initial plan).
Can't find the push graemlin, but this should do:
My focus is features in a flashlight that's ideal for emergency / survival purposes.
There are definitely overlaps with Carrot's guide since I wrote about beam profile, brightness, multimode, programmability, etc. I have additional topics that are not covered in Carrot's guide and I'm planning on putting a lot of photos in it; mostly pictures of my flashlights, but I'll see if other members want to contribute as well.
The summary is going to be an abridged version of the entire article. Basically, if readers don't want to read a textbook on flashlghts, they could jump to the summary.
This is certainly going to be a long project, but it should be fun. Most likely the ones that are going to enjoy the article are going to be closet flashaholics, soon-to-be flashaholics, and already-too-late-to-change flashaholics.
It's also fun for future reading ... of what I thought was good today. I read one of my old reviews on outdoor gears (prior to joining CPF), and I wrote " ... the MagLite Solitaire became amazingly bright after replacing the stock incandescent bulb with the LED. In addition, with the LED replacement, the Solitaire runs impressively long at approximately 3 hours with a freshly charged NiMh battery; the first two hours being the brightest." I recently took out the Solitaire and played with it. It has a purplely tint with very flawed beam, and the LED makes the head sticks out a little higher. But at the time, I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Man, how have times changed!
RocketTomato
Enlightened
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2008
- Messages
- 475
First of all, I definitely think you should continue writing the article you have currently started since it would be of large interest to the CPF community. Your outline looks very comprehensive and detailed.
However ...
2manybikes hit the nail on the head here. You should write a second, short article (maybe 500-1000 words) where you discuss the very basics. Incandescent versus LED. Flood versus throw. Then suggest a good camping light, a good biking light and a good hiking light. Focus on whatever the outdoor community website is geared towards.
This second article will actually be much harder to write! It will force you to distill the essence of your collective knowledge down into a few paragraphs that a layperson would be able to follow and appreciate.
Good luck and keep up the good work!
However ...
2manybikes hit the nail on the head here. You should write a second, short article (maybe 500-1000 words) where you discuss the very basics. Incandescent versus LED. Flood versus throw. Then suggest a good camping light, a good biking light and a good hiking light. Focus on whatever the outdoor community website is geared towards.
This second article will actually be much harder to write! It will force you to distill the essence of your collective knowledge down into a few paragraphs that a layperson would be able to follow and appreciate.
Good luck and keep up the good work!
carrot
Flashaholic
Hey xcel730 you should see your way to PF12, it'll be a blast! Or is it too far...?
I'm thinking about going. Scott has been very good in helping me with building two mods already, so I would like to meet him in person. My traveling schedule is often unpredictable though, sometimes I will be gone for a week or two with only a few hours notice, so I cannot say for certain that I'll make it. But I'll try my best ... I'll take a personal day for a weekend if I have to.
I think I should be done with the article by then. It's actually going to be more of a write a short book about flashlight :devil:. The main "article" (book, bible, textbook, dictionary) is going to be targeted for CPF flashaholics and soon-to-be flashaholics who don't mind reading a novel on flashlights. A second one will be an abridged version that doesn't go into details. It'll be about two or three pages long and will mainly focus on recommendations.
I'm expanding on my recommendations to other sports and perhaps occupations and will post a "NEED HELP" in the "general flashlight section". I'm planning on covering:
(1) Camping
(2) Backpacking
(3) Caving
(4) Diving
(5) Biking
(6) Law Enforcement Officers (LEO), EMS?
Since I don't have experience in most of the areas, I'll need some members to contribute.
I think I should be done with the article by then. It's actually going to be more of a write a short book about flashlight :devil:. The main "article" (book, bible, textbook, dictionary) is going to be targeted for CPF flashaholics and soon-to-be flashaholics who don't mind reading a novel on flashlights. A second one will be an abridged version that doesn't go into details. It'll be about two or three pages long and will mainly focus on recommendations.
I'm expanding on my recommendations to other sports and perhaps occupations and will post a "NEED HELP" in the "general flashlight section". I'm planning on covering:
(1) Camping
(2) Backpacking
(3) Caving
(4) Diving
(5) Biking
(6) Law Enforcement Officers (LEO), EMS?
Since I don't have experience in most of the areas, I'll need some members to contribute.
NonSenCe
Flashlight Enthusiast
has it been continued?
-i was thinking about doing a separate post of this merit system. and just expand it a bit if i get around to it. got any ideas what to ask and add?
i had forgot that i had posted it here. and just found it by accident.
man ..if i would know a nutcase unemployed and bored computer nerd with free time, i would ask him to do a multiple choice click on survey kind, and then just have the program go thru the answers and then do some recommendations automatically
no more "newbie wants new flash " threads! hahhaha
who needs a forum anymore! hahahah
-i was thinking about doing a separate post of this merit system. and just expand it a bit if i get around to it. got any ideas what to ask and add?
i had forgot that i had posted it here. and just found it by accident.
man ..if i would know a nutcase unemployed and bored computer nerd with free time, i would ask him to do a multiple choice click on survey kind, and then just have the program go thru the answers and then do some recommendations automatically
no more "newbie wants new flash " threads! hahhaha
who needs a forum anymore! hahahah
