Aggressive knurling - yes or no?

etc

Flashlight Enthusiast
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I hear this "Aggressive knurling" term thrown around...

What does it does it mean, can you quantify it, and is it good?
 
for me, this one is subjective.

what would be aggressive to others may not be aggressive to me.
 
A heavy nearly sharp texture that aids in holding onto the light.

This is like everything else here, you can have too much and too little.
Too much and you end up getting a hole chewed into your pocket.
Too little and the light seems slick and you end up dropping it.

I prefer the aggressive approach myself.
 
There might be an ISO / ANSI standard floating around out there for knurl patterns. Anyone got a machinists handbook?

Aggressive knurl is a thumbs up in my book.
Poor machining and burs however:green:

My inova X1 has no knurl and its slippery and hard to grip IMHO.
 
Aggessive knurling is typically applied to some Surefire lights, especially the deeply-cut patterns on the E-series. Some complain that such knurling chews up pants-pockets if you carry a light clipped there.

(This is why the Surefire E1B was intentionally made smooth, and slippery, as Hell)!

The lights I carry most are my E-series Surefires.... with aggressive knurling. None have even come close to destroying my pockets! I did come horribly close to dropping an E1B several weeks ago because it's like trying to hold onto a wet bar of soap.

If a CPFer is actually getting their pockets chewed up by lights with aggressive knurling, then it's time to buy better pants. The pants I normally wear are issued to me by the security company I work for. Trust me, those are not high-end pants. Yet the pockets on all of my pants look as good as the day they were issued to me.

If the lights are too aggressive for your pants, don't buy smooth lights.... Buy better pants! :twothumbs
 
Aggessive knurling chews up pants-pockets ... it's time to buy better pants ... not high-end pants ... too aggressive for your pants ... Buy better pants!
LOL! Maybe we need a High-end pants vs. low-end pants thread in the Cafe.
 
LOL! Maybe we need a High-end pants vs. low-end pants thread in the Cafe.

You might be right! Considering how many CPFers keep complaining about pants-pockets getting chewed up, there is clearly a wide-spread epidemic of low-end pants on CPF.... Or on CPFers. :grin2:
 
Re: Aggressive knurling - yes or no?cordura

Aggressive knurling + a Cordura belt pouch/holster
 
bunch of crybabies haha. This is the epitome of aggressive knurling. Does the L6 Porcupine grip even count as knurling? I think that is straight up CNC machining to get that type of grip.
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bunch of crybabies haha. This is the epitome of aggressive knurling. Does the L6 Porcupine grip even count as knurling? I think that is straight up CNC machining to get that type of grip.

Well...the L6 was intended as a work of art, that type of knurling is almost too rare to find on consumer baed lights...a more practical version would be the Diamond 3100 [FLR link here]

Anything more aggressive than this and you can use it to pluck chickens...let alone the fine threads the manufacturers used to sew the linings of your pockets together:nana:
 
My HDS EDC B42 has more aggressive knurling than the Novatac I have.

Maglites have smooth "non aggressive" knurling. They have some knurl, but it is a light knurl. My Novatac knurling resembles Maglite knurling. I prefer the light knurl for daily EDC. That is one reason I don't carry the HDS most of the time.

Both my Novatac and the HDS have identical clips. The clip bites down in a knurled area, so the HDS tends to wear my pocket and cap bill much more than the Novatac with the less aggressive knurl.

My Surefire has an aggressive knurl, interupted by smooth regions. Its pocket clip bears down on a smooth region, so it doesn't bother me at all (it is a U2).
 
Thanks for the replies.

Basically I am looking to purchase a SF body from FiveMega and the only thing that worries me is the "Aggressive Knurling" part. I haven't seen one in person. (There is a pic in a for-sale thread but it's not very good) Could someone post better close-up pics? I have a feeling I will like it but I want to make sure.

I don't really care for non-aggressive knurling of Mags, it's not enough IME.


The knurling I like is on StreamLight TwinTask 2D. Makes it easy to hold on to it.
 
Some people have to wear dress clothes.

The pants that I normally wear are several pairs of black dress pants that were issued to me by the security company I work for.

Pockets are still in like-new condition. I find it hard to believe that the cheap-@$$ company I work for, issued me high-end dress pants. :D

Let's see those badly chewed up pocket seams. Post.... Post pants?? :huh:
 
Thanks for the replies.

Basically I am looking to purchase a SF body from FiveMega and the only thing that worries me is the "Aggressive Knurling" part. I haven't seen one in person. (There is a pic in a for-sale thread but it's not very good) Could someone post better close-up pics? I have a feeling I will like it but I want to make sure.

I don't really care for non-aggressive knurling of Mags, it's not enough IME.


The knurling I like is on StreamLight TwinTask 2D. Makes it easy to hold on to it.

which SF light are we talking about? Which knurling are you interested in seeing?
 
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