Reverse vs. Forward clicky--design for user option?

I've been seeing this, time and time again. Here's a really great light, all the things a person seems to want except... it's a damned reverse clicky!

I'm guessing a reverse clicky is the choice for reducing the chance of accidental function that could drain the battery when made with a forward clicky (the light is pressed up against something that actuates it).

And of course, forward clicky is for tactical--simple on/off without clicking and easy manual strobe/signaling.

So... how hard would it be to design a switch that can work either way? Perhaps some kind of screw-in module that can be turned 180 degrees, with one orientation for forward and the 180 degree orientation for reverse. Would it be too costly to do this? Has indeed any company done it yet?:thinking:

No company that I know of has done it, and I haven't seen any demand so far. I prefer my lights to have forward clickies, and I usually loosen the tailcap when not in use.

garence said:

I...how hard would it be to design a switch that can work either way?...Would it be too costly to do this? Has indeed any company done it yet?..

Click to expand...

AFAIK: pretty hard (for any price we would accept), yes, and no...

I'm glad some lights use reverse clickies actually... that way I don't end up buying them. Saves me money.
I believe that designing switches for electronics is a lot more difficult than one would think.
IMO many manufacturers use reverse clickies because it is easier and cheaper. Not because they're trying to design the best light possible. In a few cases a reverse clickie is warranted but not usually.

I love and hate them. (reverse clickies) I love that my Olight never comes on in my pocket....like my e2e did in a public place. But I like how the forward clicky works better. I do like a easy candle mode though.

Overall, I prefer forward clickies, but reverse clicky lights have their place too.

I made this point a while ago on another thread back when i'd first joined CPF. It seems to me that the reverse clicky is MORE practical in a tactical (pistol holding ) situation. If you have a pistol in one hand and a light in the other,you have to tense numerous hand/finger muscles to hold the clicky and aim the light accurately,which is also the same time you may need to be aiming and firing with the other hand.Where as with a reverse clicky, at the most critical moments, one hand is relaxed allowing better flashlight aiming,and less overall task-loading while firing.In other words, you're not firing with no light, you're firing WITH light. So why not have the hand with the light as relaxed as possible when it's most critical,rather than the other way around? See what i mean?

I'm hoping that with the big success of the Nitecore Defender Infinity that other manufacturers get the clue and start making forward clickies available as I hate reverse for 98% of my use and was reminded of this since I've had the NDI light just how much I miss forward clickies. The only other configuration I consider acceptable (and actually quite nice) is the HDS / Novatac type click switches that are momentary physically but controlled by electronics act like a forward clicky and have great interface to make them the best setup for most purposes. I think one or two lights I've seen come with two tailcaps where one is forward and one reverse. Other than control with electronics I doubt one switch could be made to work both ways.

Interesting points. And I've now realized that I should have thought of the obvious--cost cutting. In that case, it makes sense why reverse clicky switches are more common--cheaper to make.

I know someone in textiles... it's amazing how one design can be significantly more expensive to make than another very similar design. Every extra dollar in production costs adds to the overhead... and when multiplying by many thousands of items, it can add up quickly to a notable amount.

So, designing a switch that could operate either way, being dynamic on which orientation the user chooses, could be far more expensive than simply making two switches of each type and selling them as options.

One thing I do like about reverse clicky switches is that many of them have "momentary off", versus "momentary on" with tactical switches. So, you can essentially achieve rapid on/off control, just reversed motion from a forward clicky.

There may be exceptions, but for the most part I've noticed that reverse clickies (and twisties) seem to be smaller than forward clickies. This may be a consideration for flashlight manufacturers who are trying to make the flashlight as small as possible.

If you compare the size of the tailcap on a reverse clicky Fenix, or the twisty on the Inova X5T, you'll see it's much smaller than, say, a SF tailcap. And Fenix's forward clickies are bigger than their reverse clickies are.

I think that tailcap technology has a long way to go, but hopefully in the next few years we'll see better designs for reliable forward clickies that don't add an extra inch.

The Novatac clicky button is interesting because it can be programmed for different operations.

When the Simple Momentary option is disabled, the light remains on when the button pressed OR clicked. With the Simple Momentary option is enabled, the light remains on when the button is clicked, but a press oinly keeps the light on as long as you're pressing (like a momentay forward clicky).

There's also a Tactical Momentary option, which allows the button to only work as a pure Tactical Momentary button.

And then there's an automatic button lock option which locks out the normal functions of the button unless the button is clicked quickly three successive times. This is handy of you don't want your light turning on should the button be pressed accidentally. Three quick clicks unlocks your button so it will function as defined by either the Simple Momentary or Tactical Momentary options. If the light is powered off for more than 5 minutes, the button is autoamtically locked again until you give it three quick clicks. You can also quickly lock it with three quick clicks when the light it on. If you don't like this option, simply turn it off, but it's nice to have options like this