Twisties, loosen for 'on' is better then tighten for 'on'.

it makes sense to me, if im not using my light, and i dont want it to turn on accidentally, to be able to twist it firmly together and forget about it (very unlikely it will untwist itself), why would anyone want a light that is off in the 'slightly loose' position?

in the 'slightly loose' position it can accidentally get tightend to much and come on.

what 'popular here' lights are 'off' in the twisted closed position?

twist for off is even better then an accidental 'clikie' on.

innit?

The Mini-Maglites.


. . . . and the Mag Solitare


_

Well for me I'd rather have the light tight for on. Since I don't want it to accidentally turn OFF when I need it the most :thumbsup:

The only time I would think a 'slightly loose' position light would turn on is when there is not enough force in the spring to the battery to keep the tail cap from turning. If it turns on that easy then you have a mighty weak spring in there :thumbsdow

If you're worried about it accidentally tightening, shouldn't you worry about it becoming loose then? I see no difference.

defloyd77 said:

If you're worried about it accidentally tightening, shouldn't you worry about it becoming loose then? I see no difference.

Click to expand...

Exactly. If the o-ring is loose enough to turn, it'll turn in either position.

waddup said:

Twisties, loosen for 'on' is better then tighten for 'on'.

Click to expand...

+100

Imagine a twisty loosen for off, in your bag, in your pocket, on your necklace.... versus tighten for off in these places where you carry them. When you need them, just loosen up and it's in YOUR HANDS, so any accidental tightening can be controlled.

Never had a problem with my MJP Extreme III loosening up and turning on. Lots of folks use the LF twisty lights which use the same turn on mode, ie Liteflux LF2X.

Bill

defloyd77 said:

If you're worried about it accidentally tightening, shouldn't you worry about it becoming loose then? I see no difference.

Click to expand...

Marduke said:

Exactly. If the o-ring is loose enough to turn, it'll turn in either position.

Click to expand...

id say if a threaded something is half way loose its easy to continue, but a threaded something that has been tightened down is much harder to get moving.

ever worked on a car?, getting a bolt to move is often very difficult, but once its moving its easy.

waddup said:

id say if a threaded something is half way loose its easy to continue, but a threaded something that has been tightened down is much harder to get moving.

ever worked on a car?, getting a bolt to move is often very difficult, but once its moving its easy.

Click to expand...

You don't want to tighten down on the light until the point you preload the threads, which runs the risk of binding the light.

waddup said:

it makes sense to me, if im not using my light, and i dont want it to turn on accidentally, to be able to twist it firmly together and forget about it (very unlikely it will untwist itself), why would anyone want a light that is off in the 'slightly loose' position?

in the 'slightly loose' position it can accidentally get tightend to much and come on.

what 'popular here' lights are 'off' in the twisted closed position?

twist for off is even better then an accidental 'clikie' on.

innit?

Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more! I'd still have my LD01 if it had worked that way. I had to loosen it enough so that it didn't turn itself on when bouncing around on my keychain and the head fell off and I lost it and the AAA battery. Never heard a thing. No idea where it fell off. I complained that the head should be tight enough not to fall off so easily but no dice.

defloyd77 said:

If you're worried about it accidentally tightening, shouldn't you worry about it becoming loose then? I see no difference.

Click to expand...

The difference is you can make it tight enough NOT to loosen but once loosened you can't help it unscrewing all the way and falling off of your keychain! Worst case scenario is it turns on and you notice it before it unscrews all the way and you lose it. If in your pocket you could wear out a battery. BIG DEAL. A battery doesn't cost over $40. A LD01 does!

Burgess said:

The Mini-Maglites.


. . . . and the Mag Solitare


_

Click to expand...

Ya but the base of the light can loosen on your keychain. I lost one of those too! No need to have a moving head AND a moving tail.

I have got to add that my Mako (tighten to turn on) does not want to unscrew, and if it did it would take forever to twist off.

Bill

I have to agree with the O.P. on this one.

What about the S.F. T1A- is it OFF when tightened all the way down, or does it get brighter as you tighten it & so far only the Solitaire that works as waddup describes? Any others?

The NiteCore E.Z. series?

I've always thought the o-ring is most snug when tightened...I don't want to have to think that water resistance has been compromised while I'm actually using the light

Interesting thread.

What hasn't come up is the reliability of the mechanism. From what I understand, tighten-to-on is dead simple and the most reliable. I mean you literally are just making contact or not. When we rely on more "fancy" things I think there is more room for failure and error.

I will say that I have an original FireFli tiny neck light that is loosen-to-on (see here: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/229843) and a new TiFli that is tighten-to-on (see here: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/231369).

From a function standpoint, the original is kind of cool in that it is sealed and totally waterproof when off. When on, however, it is not water resistant at all because in this case the zinc air batteries actually need some air. But operating it is kind of nice. The TiFli is the reverse and yet is still pretty water resistant while off due to the O-ring--I have swum with it many times and it still works fine. There have been a lot of reports of FireFli's failing since the mechanism is a little contrived for it to work, however, and so far my TiFli has been solid.

I say Tighten for "on" and Loosen for "off". I use to have a mag-lite AA and while driving a truck during the daylight it would loosen and turn on. Later that night when I needed it the batteries would be dead! Now that I am a night-time dispatcher, I see drivers with them and they have said they have had the same thing happen. I now have a Fenix P1D Q5 which is a tighten to turn "on". I have never had it tighten itself up and turn on.

:twothumbsTighten for "on"!!:twothumbs
:thumbsdowLoosen for "on":thumbsdow

We can all disagree on weither or not either one will or will not twist unintentionally, but applevision's dead on the money, tighten to on is as simple as it gets. I've only had Mags, no other loosen to turn on, so I don't know how others do it, but the switch on my MiniMag busted.

defloyd77 said:

We can all disagree on weither or not either one will or will not twist unintentionally, but applevision's dead on the money, tighten to on is as simple as it gets. I've only had Mags, no other loosen to turn on, so I don't know how others do it, but the switch on my MiniMag busted.

Click to expand...

+1

The Titan T1A works in the fashion the OP describes. Tightened is off, then it ramps up as you loosen it. Plus, there is a bit of a "bump" you have to twist past from the fully tightened off position IIRC (I recently played with one in my local brick-and-mortar store). This seems like a pretty good method for a twisty (probably the best IMO). It's just too bad the emitter is ice cold

-Robert