Zebralight Hot Pockets!

I purchased my second Zebralight a few weeks ago. I own the SC600 and SC51C High CRI model. I love the SC51! It's an excellent EDC light, however, the light can easily be activated during carry!

I have never seen anyone get that excited.
You are as happy as me when I eat.

This happened to me also. Since then i always unscrew the tailcap a little so it cant come on accidently...Robert.

Less than a quarter turn and it won't accidentally turn on

I think loosening the tail cap on ZL's is a must. Their switches tend to be quite sensitive. Before I started doing this, many times I'd find them on when their not supposed to be.

Isn't it annoying though!? I had an SC600 and it was my edc but I just couldn't deal with it. I hated having to take my light out and twist the cap then push a button. Might seem trivial and dumb, but we look for perfection here, no? I can't imagine anything better than my Rotary now though so I guess its a good thing. Just fix that damn switch! What if you keep it in a bag and forget to do the lockout and it runs until it kills the battery? That would be a bummer.

I haven't had any "hot pockets" incidents with my H51c (so far), which places the switch on one end--it works great as a handheld flashlight in addition to a headlamp, by the way. I can see how it would be more of an issue with the side switch on the SC51 series, though. Some people have glued O-rings around the switch in order to prevent accidental activation. A 1/2" O-ring (inner diameter) should sit on the bare metal surrounding the switch boot, and reportedly works well. A slightly smaller 12mm O-ring would fit right up around the boot, and is said to work as well. A 7/16" O-ring would sit on top of the outer perimeter of the boot (outside of the moving part of the switch, however) and may work, too; for extreme cases, gluing a second O-ring of the same size on top of the first makes for a switch that is somewhat difficult to reach, but also very difficult to accidentally activate.

The sc600 switch is probably the best of the bunch, if you holster carry or side pocket carry with the button facing away from your body you won't have an issue, my h30 I find I need too twist the cap or risk killing yet another battery

Is the SC600 the first model that "addressed" this issue with a deeper recessed switch and that still didn't work? Lockout feature shouldn't be required for pocket EDC. A lockout is extra safety that I use on long trips if I keep my lights in a suitcase to make sure there is no chance of draining cells.

I have the h31 and the sc600- the h31 always turns on [static?] in my pants or shirt pocket [ i dont mind, i lock it out -i like it for its versatility] but i have never had a problem with the sc600.

Very cool and appropriate Hot Pockets artwork! The SC51 is a perfect EDC light. I love the UI, the size, the fact that it uses a AA battery and the range of output. It is very bright for its size and battery configuration, and it goes very low--which is more important to me than the high setting. The "hot pocket" is the only negative characteristic of this light. Obviously it would be better if accidental turn-on wasn't an issue, but I have found that I like the light so much that I will give the end cap a twist and carry-on rather than exchanging it for another of my many other EDC sized lights.

Before I glued and o-ring on (haven't had a hot pocket since) I would unscrew the tail cap, it didn't take two hands. With it clipped to my front pocket before I removed it to use it I would tighten the cap, one hand. When I clipped it back in the pocket I would loosen the cap, again with one hand. It only took a second. The hard part was training my self to do that extra step.

Take a little time and glue an o-ring on.

Just my opinion, while I absolutely love the UI and output of my ZL's gluing an o-ring to the body is a very poor remedy to stop the light from turning on during normal pocket carry.While it may work, a less sensitive switch would probably help alleviate this problem.

I can tighten the cap with one hand before I even have the light all the way out of my pocket. Same goes for putting it back in. One hand and zero extra time...I don't see what all the fuss is about???

The stiffer switch on the sc600 works well, but now people are posting about it being too stiff and that it hurts their finger to double click it. Seriously!?!?!? My 4 year old can work my sc600.

Nice artwork!
Maybe it's time for them to change the UI to press for HIGH and click for LOW.
Perhaps make it a user selectable option.

bansuri said:

Nice artwork!
Maybe it's time for them to change the UI to press for HIGH and click for LOW.
Perhaps make it a user selectable option.

Click to expand...

I agree with you. The press for high/click for low would make the ZL UI even better IMHO.

That is a good idea.

I hope they continue to improve the SC51 and 60 series too though. I like the 600, but smaller is still good.

Even though I have had one hot pocket incident, I still find the SC51C to be one of the best EDC lights I have carried and the interface is amazing. I personally don't mind carrying with a loosened bezel because the switch is very nice to work with. I guess I thought the hot pocket issue was somewhat funny and wanted to show off a crappy photoshop sketch I made with 20 minutes of my time. :huh:

Maybe they should make an electronic lockout feature? I have one on my TM11, and it works quite well.