How to hold a tail clickie?

I've had tail clickies for a couple of years and only recently have come to grips (pardon the pun) with holding one. In the past I started with the icepick grip and did a mini baton twirl with my fingers to bring it to the comfortable grip used by the great unwashed. I've always assumed most of the cognoscenti just kept it in a tactical or icepick grip. Tail clickies don't make sense to me with the shift. And I've never been comfortable with the icepick grip.

I've encountered a couple of comments here on lights more intended for the great unwashed that suggested they would do better with switches on the body rather than the tail. That seemed a confirmation that most CPFers normally used a tactical grip.

But some comments on mode adjustments in the front allowing one handed use has confused me. Even the great unwashed use only one hand on a flashlight.

How do you CPFers hold a tail clickie?

pinkie on bezel, thumb on clickie, lens towards dark spot, usually about eye-level

I like to use the Cigar Grip on mine.......but then of course most of mine are single celled lights.

SFG2Lman said:

pinkie on bezel, thumb on clickie, lens towards dark spot, usually about eye-level

Click to expand...

So all of your lights change modes with the tail clicky? Or do you use different grips for different lights?

alfreddajero said:

I like to use the Cigar Grip on mine.......but then of course most of mine are single celled lights.

Click to expand...

Not quite sure what that is, but your cigar grip is probably about what I've been using the past few months. I think of it as picking up a dart to throw, with my index finger back on the clickie. Is that similar? I find it more versatile than the icepick and it is easier to roll into my GU grip if I am going to hold it for a long time.

Heres how i like to hold mine.......

"Icepick" whenever I first turn it on, from there it just depends on what I'm doing.

There's times I hold the thing with my teeth...

I sometimes do the same thing when i need both hands to do something.......but other then that i like the cigar or cig method of holding my lights.

"Icepick" a lot of the time, mainly if I'm outside or pointing at something specific.

Down at my side if I'm walking somewhere and not aimed at anything in particular.

And if I'm inside the house and not worried about batteries, I hold it as if I was holding a torch or a candle :candle:, point it upwards and bounce the light off the ceiling at max brightness to light up the room :laughing:

With my clickies I hold the light like I am hold a pen. For quick uses I will pull the light out of my pocket and use the icepick grip and switch to the pen grip if using the light for a longer time.

I hold it like a pencil and use my index finger for the clickie.

Of course, I should probably explain that I hold my pencil wrong...I use my thumb, middle, and ring finger to hold the pencil. My index finger rides up higher on the pencil.

I like the cigar hold and start out that way sometimes, but somehow I always subconsciously adjust back to the pencil grip.

flatline said:

I hold it like a pencil and use my index finger for the clickie.

Of course, I should probably explain that I hold my pencil wrong...I use my thumb, middle, and ring finger to hold the pencil. My index finger rides up higher on the pencil.

I like the cigar hold and start out that way sometimes, but somehow I always subconsciously adjust back to the pencil grip.

Click to expand...

I'm guessing yours might be similar to mine. I can change the modes easily and find it reasonable versatile. I can shift to the great unwashed grip easily if I don't think I want to change modes.

I generally use the icepick grip (G3, Z2, 6P) holding the light anywhere from shoulder-level to eye-level. I'm not sure how I'll hold my incoming E1B, but I'll figure something out.

slipe said:

I'm guessing yours might be similar to mine. I can change the modes easily and find it reasonable versatile. I can shift to the great unwashed grip easily if I don't think I want to change modes.

Click to expand...

Yes, that's exactly how I hold it. Doesn't work well for lights much bigger than a minimag, but for anything 2AA or smaller, it allows you to aim easily without moving your whole arm.

--flatline

This is my chronic smoker grip LOL
Sometimes I can't resist flicking the tailcap...