Various Brands Tailcap & Rubber Reliability???

So I was playing with some of my various lights the other day and noticed that the thickness and feel of the rubber used in the tailcaps varied wildly. This was also related to the overall switch construction being longer or shorter and exposing more rubber. Some just felt cheaper and less long term reliable than others.

My generalized observations:
- Surefire: Thick rubber, short throw, reliable!
- Fenix Tactical: A bit thinner rubber, medium throw, not bad.
- Quark Tactical: Thinner still, longer throw, seems like you could rip the rubber by just rotating it around with all the "give" available.
- Olight M20/M30: Same as the Quark...

Now I love my Olights and Quarks, and they have not failed me yet in some rough use. It just seems like they could do with a little work upgrading their tailcaps...

Any other comments, ideas, or observations?

Dennis.

Do you go swimming with your flashlights?

Seriously, replacement rubber caps are $3.00 for a bag full at DX.

I've had a few lights apart and some have a thicker or longer "stub" on the reverse side (inside) that I'm had to trim to replace the switch or when using one cap to replace another cap.

It all depends on the size, shape, and throw of the switch. If it's too thick on some lights you can't easily push the clicky.

I don't think it has much to do with "quality".

Haha, not with these lights. I just went to the Long Beach SCUBA show and they finally had some custom LED's using li-ion rechargeables, but at way, way beyond SF prices! Definitely an underserved market by the normal flashlight companies.

Anyways, I'm not questioning the quality, but more specifically the overall "toughness" of rubber caps that can move around so freely and be crinkled and worse during normal use.

Just a small design issue that would be nice to see improved.

Dennis.

I had my lumapower MRV rubber swtch cap work for almost 3 years every night before failing on me. Glad it came with a spare one though!

Not super thick but not super thin either. It does have some play but I am not worried about it ripping from playing with it. My last one started to rip slowly and I could see that the sideways play did serve to make it tear faster but it was also 3 years old, getting used 5 days a week.

Dennis said:

Haha, not with these lights. I just went to the Long Beach SCUBA show and they finally had some custom LED's using li-ion rechargeables, but at way, way beyond SF prices! Definitely an underserved market by the normal flashlight companies.

Anyways, I'm not questioning the quality, but more specifically the overall "toughness" of rubber caps that can move around so freely and be crinkled and worse during normal use.

Just a small design issue that would be nice to see improved.

Dennis.

Click to expand...

I agree regarding the dive lights market. It's not that hard to make a regular light a dive light (for the manufacturer that is) but when they do they sure mark-up the price big time!

Most of the dive light companies give us old technology as well. Some of the European makers are better in that regard but their prices are unreasonable for the most part.

That's why there is a dive lights sub-forum here. Many people just figure out how to make them or modify them themselves since it's hard to get what you want from mainstream dive light companies.

Most of them are still making everything out of plastic and using led technology from several years ago.

You can get cannister lights designed for technical diving but's that overkill in many cases as well.

gcbryan said:

I don't think it has much to do with "quality".

Click to expand...

Actually, I disagree. Chinese rubber sux big time, on nearly everything they make. Not sure if it's where they source it from, but this spans other products as well. For example, have a BMS go-kart (honda motor clone from China) and it is a great kart...except for all the rubber. The spacers are cracked, the boot covers are split, the radiator hoses and fuel lines are split and cracking, and all after only 1 year. Comparable "other" made hoses and parts last for years before failing (like hoses on real cars which last for 100k miles for example). The build is great, but the rubber and plastics used are really sub-par. Not all rubber is created equal, I'm afraid.

Alas, I too have noticed this with my light boots. Good thing they are cheap to replace, huh? For the most part, I have had the cheap switches fail about as often as a boot, so really it is just an overall build issue. Lets face it, most of the China lights really are a tad lower in quality from what they could be (cost controls are a big part I'm sure). :sigh:

bkumanski said:

Actually, I disagree. Chinese rubber sux big time

Click to expand...

I think you have a point there, but at the same time I wouldn't assume thicker 'boots' are going to last longer just because they're thicker, as the OP seems to suggest. I'd agree with you that the quality of the rubber material used will make a difference.

Zatoichi said:

I think you have a point there, but at the same time I wouldn't assume thicker 'boots' are going to last longer just because they're thicker, as the OP seems to suggest. I'd agree with you that the quality of the rubber material used will make a difference.

Click to expand...

I suppose my suggestion is that a rubber switch cover that doesn't so easily fold over on itself during normal use might last longer! However, rubber quality is everything. I'm sure there is a special rubber made to handle folding over itself all day long!

Dennis.

Yes there's all kinds of rubbery substances for different applications these days. Just doing a little research on o-rings confused me plenty.

gcbryan said:

Do you go swimming with your flashlights?

Seriously, replacement rubber caps are $3.00 for a bag full at DX.

I've had a few lights apart and some have a thicker or longer "stub" on the reverse side (inside) that I'm had to trim to replace the switch or when using one cap to replace another cap.

It all depends on the size, shape, and throw of the switch. If it's too thick on some lights you can't easily push the clicky.

I don't think it has much to do with "quality".

Click to expand...

I have been looking for a replacement. Can someone tell me who/what/where DX is? I am looking for one that fits a Wolf-Eyes Defender. Thanks.

Pete