Frequently Asked Questions

Thank you for visiting FlashlightGuide.com and the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page.  As I am writing this, several of these questions haven’t actually been asked but I thought I would answer them anyway!

What’s with the ads?  What is your business model?

I guess you could say that I have no business model, mainly because this is just a hobby for me.  I enjoy flashlights and I always wanted to create a website so this seemed like a natural thing to do.  As a collector, I already had many of the lights I would be focusing on and the cost of operating a website did not seem too expensive.  As things have progressed, I have learned that the costs of owning a website are a little higher than I expected but are still fairly manageable.  However, the time investment is much greater than I expected.

It is still something I enjoy doing but I am not opposed to being compensated for these expenses and efforts.  As a result, I have decided to try the Amazon affiliate program as a way to help defray some of the operating costs.  Since a large chunk of my disposable income goes to them anyway, I thought it would be nice to get something in return.

In a nutshell, if a reader clicks on an affiliate link to visit the Amazon website and then makes a purchase I have the opportunity to earn a small commission.  Basically, Amazon would be compensating me for putting a link out where someone would find it.

So what’s the deal with these “Fact Sheets” of old or obsolete products?

Those were the original reason I created this site, so that I could create a comprehensive resource for information related to these lights.  As a collector I often found myself searching high and low for information about discontinued lights and I thought it would be useful, not just to me but others, to have all of the information in one place.

If your intent was to provide background on discontinued products, why are you doing so many reviews of new products?

If asked at the beginning, I would have expected the site content to be 70% old products, 20% upgrades (mods) for these products, and maybe 10% reviews of new products.  I was not expecting the reviews to be so popular or that I would enjoy doing them so much.

Along the way other ideas and suggestions have come up which may further change the direction of the site, including things that I never considered at the beginning.  It will always remain a work in progress.

Do you receive compensation (cash, free products, etc.) from manufacturers for reviewing their products?

I will not accept compensation, cash or otherwise, in return for writing a favorable review of a product.  Reviews, whether positive or critical, will honestly reflect my actual experiences from using and testing the product.  I do expect to keep the product being reviewed which could be considered by some to be a form of compensation and, when this happens, the fact will be fully disclosed in the review.

After I complete a review, I always send a link to the manufacturer with the hope that it may find its way onto their website, Facebook page, or other visible location to increase exposure for my site.  If they do choose to share my review, I consider this exposure to be a form of indirect compensation.  Granted, a positive review is more likely to be shared, but performing an honest review is more important to me than getting a link back to my site.

Why do you only review lights from certain manufacturers?

This whole thing started because I wanted to document the history behind the lights I enjoy collecting and maybe review some of my new purchases.  Since most of my purchases were from a few different companies, the number of brands reviewed here has been limited.  I certainly cannot afford to purchase every light from every manufacturer.

So are you willing to review other brands?

Absolutely.  As a flashlight enthusiast (flashaholic) I’m always interested in what else is out there and if something catches my eye, I will purchase it and review it here.  You can also make suggestions by sending an e-mail from the Contact Page.

As a manufacturer or retailer, how can I submit my product for review?

Please visit the Product Submissions Page and review the provided information.  You may then complete the submission form for me to consider your product.

Since you admit to liking certain brands of lights, are your reviews biased?

If I spend my own hard-earned money to purchase a product I’m already predisposed to like it, after all why else would I buy it?  Also, if it is from a company that I respect and trust I may be less likely to notice some tiny flaw or detail.  On the other hand, if a light doesn’t measure up to my expectations you will definitely hear about that in the review.

To minimize the effects of bias I always begin my reviews with an overview of the light which is based largely upon information provided by the manufacturer.  This is followed by my observations and testing which I intend to keep as objective as possible by describing what the light does, rather than what I think of it.  The final part of the review, the conclusion, is influenced more by my opinion of the light and is naturally more subjective.

So how do you set your expectations for a product?

I consider a flashlight to be a tool and I expect it to do the job it was designed for.  Although all lights, broadly speaking, have the same intended purpose of providing light I base my expectations upon their intended usage.  If a light is marketed as a tactical light I have different expectations for it than I would for a more general purpose task light.