Opps, almost missed this post.
Let me clairify. Let's say i'm in momentary, and while holding the button in, switch to strobe. It will switch, but you have to let off the button, or it will ramp. If in a USM (user selectable mode), turn to the next mode, you have to stab the button to complete the change.
Get this, if in USM (on) and you turn to momentary and push and hold the button, it will switch. Let off, your back to the pevious mode. To turn it off, go back to any of the USM's and hit the button.
A little funky. Forward clicky in one position, then reverse clicky in the others, then throw in ramping. To much thinking about going on here to change modes and which direction the button is going to be working in.
Wow. Yeah, that's too confusing especially under stress.
If they could implement my idea of the rotary knob + forward clicky with a triple/quad tap to enter programming mode, with the ability to partial press for momentary or full click for constant in all positions, I'd be perfectly happy with just 3 programmable modes.
In fact, for a tactical or LEO duty light, that would be ideal. I would set it to Maximum on one end, Strobe on the other and a low/medium in the middle. That way, it's a simple 'crank full clockwise for Maximum', or 'crank fully counterclockwise for Strobe' under stress. The low/medium I can take the extra second to select.
And folks who actually want a light this large for firefly (and the numerous folks who have no use for Tactical Strobe) can program what they prefer.
That + thicker/stronger glass and the bezel improvements you mentioned would pretty much nail it as THE Tactical light.
Since they managed to program the 3 clicks for the lockout, they should be able to reprogram that to enter the programming mode.
Besides, IIRC, I heard that the 3-click lockout drops you back in the last used mode no matter where the knob is set. That makes it less than useful.
I still prefer the half-press and turn lockout in the Scorpion. Took a little practice to be able to enter it reliably without turning on the light, but coming out of it was easy, just turn the knob to the desired setting and hit the button.
With a decent forward clicky though, there's no need for a lockout during use. I've never accidentally turned on my Quarks that were pocket carried or the Eagtac G25C2 MKii on my belt with their forward clickies.
Max
P.S. BTW, a combination of a forward clicky + rotary knob selector also solves one additional little issue with the Scorpion/Acebeam/Estrela interface.
While discussing it with some guys, the conclusion is that most of them feel that in use (disregarding programming etc.) simple is good. For that reason, most prefer a forward clicky when using Maximum.
They can pop-and-peek with the Momentary, or mash the button when they need constant. Eg. If you're using momentary and someone takes off running, they don't want to have to be concerned that their thumb slipping off the button could inadvertently leave them in the dark while running, and no one wants to have to fiddle with turning a knob to get to a constant on setting while in foot pursuit.
Being able to use Maximum in momentary OR constant with a forward clicky solves that, as opposed to having a separate standalone momentary Maximum position.
