I miss CLICKIE switches. Where have they gone?

I guess maybe I'm a purist. I don't really care for electronically controlled flashlight switches, the kind that enable us to have "low/med/high" or strobe or SOS functionality.

I greatly prefer a mechanical "clickie" switch. Two prime examples so you'll know exactly what I like: my older generation SureFire E1L Outsoorsman, or any older generation D-cell Maglite.

I want to be able to press lightly for momentary-on functionality, or press firmly to click and get constant-on.

REVERSE CLICKIE IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE ALTERNATIVE to me, and LIGHT-TOUCH ELECTRONIC SWITCHES ARE EVEN WORSE. But I find that for some blasted reason, those two switch types do indeed seem to be what has taken over the industry.:scowl:

These days, I no longer am aware of ANY true clickie LED flashlights. I currently EDC a Fenix LD10, which unfortunately is a reverse clickie. It's a decent flashlight, and useful, and bright enough for me eating ubiquitous AA batteries.

I don't know how many out there feel the way I do (and I'm curious, thus the poll). And I haven't been on this forum in a very long time. I don't know if this topic has been beaten to death already, or where, so I apologize if I am hopping on something that has been dealt with already.

I am asking if anyone can point me toward any reasonably priced clickie style flashlights that are still on the market, that I wouldn't have to go looking for used items or new old stock items to get. Thanks!

What about the flashlights that have a clicky switch in the tail (momentary-on and constant-on functionality) with a separate switch on the body for selecting various modes?

Just as an example: Fenix PD32

there are lots.

I won't list them at this time, but forward clicky is not that rare.

Plenty of excellent torches using a McClickie ....

I got a Nitecore P12 which has forward clicky as well as a mode button as sideswitch.

If you ask me that is probably the best combination if you want a tactical light, but you have to save the mode when you turn the light off
if you get into a defensive situation not having the defender mode saved you get in trouble.

Really decent light you can buy also a remote switch for weapon mounting.

I ordered a Klarus XT11GT which has a patented tactical setup with 2 swotches at the back of the light as well as a sideswitch, description is quite confusing but I hope it can provide a defender mode no matter which mode you ran it in last use.

There are tons of clicky lights on the market, for example the larger 1X18650 tactical range of flashlights use clickies almost all the time. I call it the Olight M22 warrior class of lights. There are also smaller EDC lights wih clickies, thrunite t10 for example, orcatorch t11 etc.. there are also alot of lights with additional side switches and tailcap clickies on the market like the eagle eye X5R. I like them as well

Anything Malkoff is forward clicky, and not just clicky, they use McClickies.
Malkoffdevices.com, just go and drool.
P

"These days, I no longer am aware of ANY true clickie LED flashlights. I currently EDC a Fenix LD10, which unfortunately is a reverse clickie. It's a decent flashlight, and useful, and bright enough for me eating ubiquitous AA batteries."

Hey Bro, I hear you like forward clicks, Maglite & Surefire are both still in business, Bro! :thumbsup:

Timely thread. In fact, I just started a thread regarding the NITECORE P10 (which I'm thinking of buying) as the P10 has a rear Tail Cap/Clickie switch nearly identical to my Klarus XT11. I quickly learned that I do NOT like Flashlights with SIDE switch/switches as I find it difficult to locate side switches (especially in the dark in the dead of Winter while wearing gloves). An example would be my Klarus ST-20 (2XAA) with SIDE mode switch. Uggh. I find Tactical style, rear clicky, momentary soft on, one click on, tap to advance modes best suit my needs. I also like the XT11 direct access to STROBE!


SixCats!

So am I the only one who has voted for reverse clicky?

Chaitanya said:

So am I the only one who has voted for reverse clicky?

Click to expand...

No, there are two of us now

I'll add Solarforce lights as a budget forward-clicky option, especially if you want to lego your lights or try different LED dropins. Try to buy all your parts at once from the same supplier, though, as I've noticed that Solarforce stuff made several years apart tends to drift in tolerances, to the point that some parts are incompatible with each other.

I have a plain stainless steel bezel ring that won't screw onto one of my L2M heads because of that, and a couple of tube sections whose threads don't quite match as cleanly as I'd like.

To put my subsequent comments in context, I'm legally blind and wear armoured gloves to protect my hands whenever I'm out and about, all year round. I'm forever bashing and scraping my hands on things I didn't see, or misjudged the position of. I need to be able to operate my lights without looking at them, with reduced dexterity and only a very coarse sense of touch.

Five years ago, when lights only had one or two modes, I used to insist on a forward-clicky tail switch. I'm thinking of the old-version Fenix E21 as I write this: forward-clicky tail switch for momentary on / locked on / off; head twist to change between high and low modes. A 2xAA light which was nice and easy to handle with gloves on. I still have those lights, and a woman I know still uses the one I gave her at the time.

A year or two later, I changed to a Sunwayman V20A: forward-clicky tail switch for momentary on / locked on / off; magnetic control ring at the head for continuously-variable brightness selection. The forward clicky-tail switch was just as easy to use as ever, and the control ring was very nice to have after I got the knack of using it. Basically, I had to apply just enough friction to turn the ring without being able to feel it, but not so much that the head would unscrew from the body.

I then tried a Fenix UC35: forward-clicky tail switch for momentary on / locked on / off; electronic side switch for mode selection. Again, the forward-clicky tail switch was just as easy to use as ever, but the side switch for mode selection was a non-starter for me, because I just couldn't find it by touch through my glove. That light now rides in backpack EDC as a backup light / waterproof spare cell carrier / waterproof USB 18650 charger.

My current belt EDC consists of a Fenix LD02 and an Astrolux S41. The LD02 is a standard AAA light with 3 modes selected by a reverse-clicky tail switch, but the real gem is the Astrolux S41.

I love the BLF A17DD UI it has, as written by Toykeeper, because it puts every single function of the light on that one single reverse-clicky tail switch. As long as I can judge the medium half-press - I have been known to step up a mode when I meant to step down - it's even easier to use than my old Fenix E21, because I don't have to move my hand around the light at all. Ten different modes, all operated by one easy-to-find control.

That's the UI which completed my conversion to reverse-clicky tail switches, after the LD02 started me along the road.

Having said all that, I would love to see someone make a light with: a forward-clicky tail switch for momentary on / locked on / off; and a big chunky protruding momentary side switch for mode selection, with the same size and feel as the tail switch. I think that might be the best of both worlds for me.

I love clickies! I don't like twist on or side buttons. I like a good tail clicky.

Chaitanya said:

So am I the only one who has voted for reverse clicky?

Click to expand...

For most purposes, I like forward clicky for the momentary on option, but for a few applications, like headlamps, I like reverse clicky for cycling through modes without a full press.

For an EDC, I lean the same direction as the OP - mechanical forward clicky, with last mode memory, although I haven't bothered to hunt down such a light, as my Fenix E05 has been sufficient, even if twisties aren't as convenient.

Chaitanya said:

So am I the only one who has voted for reverse clicky?

Click to expand...

Nope. I prefer reverse clicky and E switches (if done right). The only lights that should be forward clicky, IMO, are tactical lights.

I actually appreciate all three types. I like the momentary option but mode changes on reverse clickies is better and e-switches provide other cool UI options.

^^ +1 to what gunga said. I cant stand a forward clicky with multimode. Or reverse clicky on a light where the button is not used to change modes. So what i prefer, depends all on the ui.

+1 on the clickie type switch.

JT

Thank you for the replies and votes, everyone.

I guess that since I'm not one of the people able to buy dozens of lights and really get to know what's out there, I'm not familiar with a lot of the lesser-known companies and their products that some of you are mentioning. (And as I said, I haven't been on here in a while.

I've been gauging things instead based on what I see in stores, which of course doesn't really reflect state-of-the-art, or light-connoisseurs' choices.

Are there any websites selling lights that offer the ability to sort by switch type? That would help me probably as much as asking you all for a list of makers and models, and be easier to do. Thanks!

Oh, and what's a "McClickie"?

peacefuljeffrey said:

.....I want to be able to press lightly for momentary-on functionality, or press firmly to click and get constant-on.
REVERSE CLICKIE IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE ALTERNATIVE to me.....

Click to expand...

Spot on brutha. :thumbsup:

RE: reverse clickies - I can't understand why they were put into even ONE flashlight. They are absolutely awful.
Can anyone tell me one purpose/advantage/reason for a reverse clickie?