Convince me to get a twisty

I have been going through a phase of messing around with dropins for a while, and I have been having a lot of fun with it.

However, I realised yesterday that what I really need most is an AAA light for my keychain.
The (windowless) bathroom light went out at work, but thanks to the trusty Black Cat I always have on my keychain, I was able to save the day.

All this drama caused me to have an epiphany - I obey the cardinal rule of always having a flashlight on my person, but if I'm honest, most of the time, that flashlight is the one on my keychain.

For those that don't know, the Black Cat is a cheapo Chinese light, probably made by Tank007. It's actually not that bad at all, in fact I quite like it.
It's a bit worse for wear after being carried in my pocket for around four years though, and in that time there appears to have been great leaps in the technology of AAA lights.
Although I like the Black Cat, I have come to realise that ninety percent of the time, it is actually my primary light, and I think I should get something a bit better.

I've been looking at various lights since yesterday, and I see that I am spoiled for choice.

One thing they seem to have in common though is that the majority of them are twistys.

I have an aversion to twistys because of the single twisty light that I own.
It's a Tank007 something or other in CR123 size.
It's actually pretty awesome in a way. It's very bright with a 16340, and it is extremely small.
The only thing is, it turned itself on in my pocket a couple of times.
When I tried unscrewing it further to prevent this, it ended up falling apart in my pocket instead, which is very dangerous considering I had coins in the same pocket.

I really liked it, but felt I couldn't trust it, so it ended up in a drawer, and I haven't bought a twisty since.

Another thing that worries me is wear on the threads. Doesn't all the screwing and unscrewing eventually wear out the threads to the point that the light doesn't stay off or stay together properly?

I really like the idea of a twisty light for my keychain, and I really want to like twistys in general, but this bad experience has put me off somewhat.

As a yardstick, my Black Cat (which is a tail clicky) has a 100% track record.
This light has never switched itself on in my pocket in over four years of carry.
In fact, none of my clickies have ever done this. The only light that has ever switched itself on in my pocket has been the one twisty that I own.
Just thought I'd put that out there, as the prevailing wisdom appears to be that the opposite is the case.

So, are twistys great and I just got a bad one?

Peak Eiger is very reliable (especially in stainless) ....

The Jetbeam JET-u is a tiny AAA twisty with three modes and memory. I don't know how it will be over the years but I stuck a 10440 in mine and it is very bright without getting too hot for short periods on high. For longer periods of use just set it to medium and it is still about 100 lumens without getting hot. $10. http://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_368124.html?wid=21 If you happen to get it and it doesn't work out at least it wouldn't be extremely expensive. It really is a tiny size light too.

My two most reliable twistys have been Fenix E01 and a E15. Both were nearly enough used every day for about three years and were abused as hell. Probably dropped more than a hundred times. The E01 is still going strong on my key ring but I replaced the E15 with this years model and gave my old one to my brother.

When you are ready grasshopper you won't need convincing.

ps. Jet-II MK

I'm actually considering something in titanium.
I'm a user, not a collector, so I'm ok with splurging on a titanium light because I know I will use it a lot.
I got four years out of my Black Cat, and to be honest, I could probably get four more.

I don't want to buy an expensive titanium light only to find that twistys are not for me.
It's not something I could just shrug off and admire in a collection, I need it to be useable to justify the cost.

I know there must be some brands that are more reliable than others, but my question is really more of a general one, ie are twistys in general reliable?

A few Pros to a twisty I can think of:
Typically slightly more efficient due to no switch in the mix.
In most cases total voltage cut off when unscrewed. Meaning no parasitic drain on the cell or cells.
In many cases, I find they are easier to manipulate on handed. Say while walking a dog.
Most can tail stand.

My only titanium light is a Thrunite ti4t penlight. The clicky on that one feels a bit cheap and I would not be surprised at all if clicky mechanisms generally fail at a much higher rate than the twisty. However, if a twisty did fail than it might be more of an issue having a twisty with bad head threads than a broken clicky. It is pure speculation on my part, but it does seam that twistys would have better reliability given decent threads with proper treatment and a bit of maintenance via occasionally lubricating the threads. I realize I'm not much of a source here.

I'm not a huge fan of twisties - I've also had them twist on, and completely unscrew, in my pocket and you often need two hands to changes modes. But in a AAA keychain light.... there's not much other choice. I'm now using a small piece of Gorilla tape to lock the head/body position, and then moving it to the body when I use the light.

Electronic clickies have been problematic for me too... accidental activation, parasitic draw, extra lockout steps, failures in functionality and UI. I mostly stick to good old mechanical clickies, most are easy to bypass (turning them into twisties) and replace in the rare case of a failure, but I haven't had one yet.

reppans said:

I'm not a huge fan of twisties - I've also had them twist on, and completely unscrew, in my pocket and you often need two hands to changes modes. But in a AAA keychain light.... there's not much other choice. I'm now using a small piece of Gorilla tape to lock the head/body position, and then moving it to the body when I use the light.

Electronic clickies have been problematic for me too... accidental activation, parasitic draw, extra lockout steps, failures in functionality and UI. I mostly stick to good old mechanical clickies, most are easy to bypass (turning them into twisties) and replace in the rare case of a failure, but I haven't had one yet.

Click to expand...

Hmm, that's what I feared.
I'm worried that I'm going to spend a lot of money on a titanium light and have it turn on or fall apart in my pocket.

My current keychain light is a clicky, and I have paid it literally zero attention in four years (apart from when I needed to use it) - it just works when I need it.
I want the same from my new light - pop in a lithium primary and forget about it until I need some light.
I don't want to have to constantly check if it's screwed together or go to use it and discover that it turned itself on and drained the battery.

Maybe I should buy the cheaper aluminum version and see if I can live with it before springing for the titanium one.

Oh, and don't get me started on electronic clickies...

jamesbeat said:

I'm actually considering something in titanium.
I'm a user, not a collector, so I'm ok with splurging on a titanium light because I know I will use it a lot.
I got four years out of my Black Cat, and to be honest, I could probably get four more.

I don't want to buy an expensive titanium light only to find that twistys are not for me.
It's not something I could just shrug off and admire in a collection, I need it to be useable to justify the cost.

I know there must be some brands that are more reliable than others, but my question is really more of a general one, ie are twistys in general reliable?

Click to expand...

If you are referring specifically to the switch (not the driver, etc) ... twisty is (in general) much (much) more reliable than clicky. By far.

I carried and used some variety of Peak Eiger twisty every day, multiple times per day, for several years. Number of accidental activations ... zero. Number of times it fell apart ... zero. Number of times it failed ... zero. Peak uses oversize O-ring past the threads, however, making it tough to twist (especially one-handed) .

For a variety of reasons, recently I have mostly switched to a UniVex AAA clicky for EDC. It is a very nice keyring light, but it has accidentally activated in my pocket a non-zero number of times.

I should qualify my earlier statement...

The reason why my AAA twisties have activated and/or unscrewed is because my AAAs are pocketed/carried daily yet very rarely used. They are back-up lights to a larger primary light which I almost always have and use, yet have never failed.

As a result, if the head spins a 1/16th of turn from a jostle every few days - it will eventually unscrew, or turn on. If I were using it everyday, the head be reset to my favored half-turn unscrew... everyday.

In this respect, I would love a backward twisty light like the old Maglites that turned off when you tightened the head.

Since "two is one" , I carried a second torch (a twisty, but not a Peak though) on the same keyring for those same couple of years ... (almost) never used, never accidentally turned on, never fell apart ....[emoji317]

I have had 6 clicky tail switches fail over the years with low cost AAA lights.

Here is my solution to loose threads on twisty heads.
Teflon pipe tape on the threads solves the problem with loosening in the pocket.

I like the Lumentop Tool AAA light, especially the $10 sales price today.
Very loose threads which is a shortcoming in design/manufacture,,, the Teflon tape in two layers solves the problem.
Leave the clicky switch permanently on,, and use the twisty head to activate.
The O ring with taped threads is firm and does not rotate freely.

Regards,
FK

Yes, PTFE tape on the threads works well for keeping the Streamlight Nano together

Just buy an E01. It is cheap so if yea don't like twisty lights the cost of the lesson is minimal. The E01 is kinda like a Mora knife for those who want to try out a scandi grind. For 10 bucks you will know.

Ok I'm convinced lol.
I'm going to try out a cheaper twisty to see if I can live with it, and if I can, I'll give it to my semi-flashaholic* wife and buy a titanium one.

*she rolls her eyes at my hobby, but steals all my lights.

My Keychain light is a Tank007 ES12.

Stainless steel twisty, it's never come on accidentally in my pocket and it's never fallen apart either.

Main advantage over the anodised version is being stainless my keys don't wear the anodising off and it's also cheaper than a titanium light.

I bought seven members of my family E09's and none have had a failure.

jamesbeat said:

buy a titanium one.

Click to expand...

In my experience with the Thrunite Titanium TiXmas, Titanium makes for Very Gritty twisty threads. I do not recommend Titanium in a Twisty at all. I also do not care for the Thrunite Ti3 in Aluminum, because it starts on a very very low mode that I find essentially useless.

If you want a really classy Titanium AAA light, that even has the High CRI Nichia LED, then look no further than the Lumintop Titanium Tool. It is a Clicky, weighs less than your Black Cat, and has 3 modes instead of one. It is on sale at Bangood, with code "Lumintop" for $35. It starts on Medium first, which I find much more practical for most EDC uses, than starting on Low.

The TiTool would be a significant upgrade to your single mode low CRI Black Cat.



imo the Lumintop Tool in Aluminum is not as good a keychain option, because of how the switch hits the hanger. Here is an example, in copper, but the Aluminum is the same switch and keyring attachment. Not recommended for keychain imo:


The reason I prefer a twisty, is because it makes a smaller package
IF you are OK with Cool White, Low CRI, and Aluminum, I recommend the Olight i3s, seen here in purple


Here is a size comparison of a twisty, the TiTool, and the Copper tool


You are in a position to upgrade to a High CRI Nichia LED, just say NO to Cool White Low CRI.

Another twisty that is very inexpensive is the Astrolux A01, but, it starts on a ridiculously Low, Low mode first, I do not recommend it, even though it is available with a Nichia.

Since you want Titanium, have doubts about a Twisty to begin with, I give a solid recommendation for the TiTool with Nichia. Take advantage of the sale and buy one