Click switch? Rotate Head? What do you prefer?

Click it. Got a Kroll for my MiniMag, never going back to twist-head.

<<My vote is "click it!">>

I couldn't agree more. This is my pet peeve with the current crop of LED lights and mods. Switches allow for more positive action, and one-handed operation. One revealing test of a light (or anything) is to hand it to somebody who is a novice and does not realize they are supposed to be impressed by it -- somebody non-technical, (could be a wife for example). In my experience, they always twist the wrong way, twist too hard, or not hard enough. By the way, I also have one PT Attitude (as I noticed in another thread) that inexplicably takes all of my strength to twist as it nears the turn-on point near the end. I have tried all of the lubricants, removing the o-ring, polishing the threads, etc. and nothing works. Give me a switch!

I like both, but if I had to choose one, I'd go for the twist on. In my experience, the clickies just aren't as durable as a twist on light, there's always some moving part that's going to wear out or break. Plus, you don't have to worry about accidentally turning it on in a bag or anything. With a clicke, there's all different lockout mechanisms to prevent accidental turn on, so really sometimes it's not that much quicker to turn on the light than a twist on. Simpler is better.

Also, it depends on the size of light you're using it on, a twist on light is fine for small lights, but cumbersome on larger ones. But a tailcap clickie isnt' that useful on a smaller light for me, because when I'm holding it, it's usually a waist level, which means the lights is pointed backwards. If it's something like a minimag sized light, it just doesn't feel right to hold it to up at shoulder level.

The only twist-on I have is the Coleman Peak 1 Expedition I just bought. I do not like the twist-on at all, as it twists much too easily, causing it to switch off or change its focus with almost any vibration. And since I use mine on caving helmets, I'm vibrating it (to put it mildly...) every time I slam my head against a low ceiling. If the head had some way of locking in place, I could live with it.

Otherwise, I like this lamp. It's quite bright for just a 2D.

If anyone can recommend a good way to stiffen the head so it doesn't twist so easily, please speak up. I've thought about a light coating of Vaseline or heat-sink compound on the threads. Any ideas?

Clickie/push switches preferred here. The surefire style hybrid push-and-turn are OK too. I know turn-head lights have their place so don`t mark a light`s score down in my reviews when that mode of operation fits the intended use, but for my regular uses I prefer to push than twist.

Despite that, none of my daily-carry compliment uses clickie switches! It`s all push-momentary/twist-constant, but it prevents accidental activation - the only downside to many clickie switches.

My strong preference is a "clickie" (push-on / push-off) switch located at the forward end of the body, not on the tail.

I'm not a "tactical light" user, and don't need to impress others by having a "tactical light."

What I need is a light that I can easily pick up and use in a normal fashion with one hand while seated.

This would require a light that can be used palm-up and thumb-forward except in extremely unusual circumstances.

I currently have one that meets these requirements, and am attempting to mod another with an LS instead of an Opalec.

Here's my bottom line prefs:

Usable:
1) Clickie on / near the head.
2) Twist-on head
3) Clickie on / near the tail

Unusable:
1) Any momentary-contact-only switch
2) Twist on tail

Even my little Photon II's are better than many fancy "tactical lights" as far as usability in my circumstance.

For Hand sized lights (2AA, 3AA, 1,2 or 3 123a Battery packs) I prefer Tailcap clickie.

For larger lights, I perfer side switch clickie.

I don't like the twist on/off at all.

Just my personal preference.

I DO know that other people here perfer twist on/off JUST as strongly as I prefer clickie.

I prefer the "clickies" except on the ARC-LS. I love the light for it's extremely tiny size. Then again, I DID get a clickie for it when Peter had them on sale but I carry it with the twist pack more often.

Most lights: I prefer a clicky, near the head is better than the tail, but anything is better than twist-on unless size is of utmost importance.

Tactical lights: momentary-on tailcap switch is by far the preferred method for any light under the M4's size.

Joe

I'm definitely a "clickie near the head" advocate as I find them quick, ergonomic, and one-handed. Clickie tail switches make you hold the light pointing down, not outward. The twist-on types eliminate switches, making for a shorter length, but usually require two hands. Exception: the Arc-AAA which is a one-handed twist-on due to its short length and ease of turning. The Arc-LS popularity is, in part, I think, because it is so bright for such a compact light. What we REALLY need is a good clickie switch that is vertically compact and mounts in the light head, allowing a short screw-on battery tube: ergonomic AND small! Almost every clickie switch I've examined, and I've torn apart more than I care to count, is the same tired, cheap. horizontal plastic design. We can put a man on the moon but can't come up with a good clickie for flashlights. Why it's a national disgrace. Maybe I should write my congressman......

Denny, we can't come up with a good clickie for flashlights because of the very reasons outlined in this thread - there's no consensus on what's universally defined as "good".

To me, turn heads are annoying. I prefer a click on, click off switch - and not like the Surefire's momentary on ones. Sometimes I need to light to stay on with my hands off the light, and to do so would require twisting the tailcap, to which my first point applies.

I used to like clicky's best. Lately I've been wearing gloves a lot (go figure it's going to be -10 tonight), and a twist on is way easier with gloves.

Of the clicky's, please give me one where it's in front. I'm not a member of the SAS, or the SEAL'S, nor will I ever be. (I've been through some limited night handgun training, and I'm not convinced that the trendy tail-switch thing works well anyway, especially for someone with limited training time.) My "tactical" use of a light is finding something I dropped under my desk.

Oh, and the Arc AAA twisty is perfect. Works with one hand, with the o-ring still in place, with a little Break-Free applied.

One Hand!

Which means a click switch on or near the head. I no longer have any 2 hand knives and I'd like it to be the same with my flashlights. And no tail end switches, either - I prefer a twist head to that.

Tomas,

Is that a Craftsman minimag clone with a click switch on it and an Opalec inside? If so, is that light stil available? There are no 2AA lights shown on the Craftsman website.

Or does anyone know of a mm clone with a switch like that which will take a NewBeam?

Bill-
That light is also available as a Dorcy branded flashlight. I found mine at a local Ace hardware store.



-Darin

Click switches get my vote for most uses.

I prefer the traditional SureFire tailcap, with press to blink, and twist for constant on.

Anything with a single press-to-blink, press-harder for constant on causes me to press too hard when I want a quick flash, and I end up getting a constant on.

With something like a 4-D Mag light, you have to rotate the light in your hand until you finally find the switch, which takes time, and the switch is a little hard to find when wearing gloves.
(The Tiger Light's "charger bump" makes it easy to find the switch on the opposite side, but I still don't know why they chose to put the switch so far from the head.)

I also don't like the Novigear push button, where the light turns on when you RELEASE the button, instead of when you PRESS the button. (And a slight press on the button causes the light to go out, which makes Morse Code pretty much impossible.)

Like Onyx said, we will never agree on "best".

Bill H, that Craftsman is a current product, but I've also never seen it on the Sears site.

The Dorcy, Craftsman, S&W and other brands of 2AA click-switch lights are all similar in design (S&W has slightly different head - not recemmended to try to modify). They appear to be made by PowerTech for the brands.

The "Dopalec" shown above, and the minor mods to get the Opalec in it are discussed in this thread here on CPF.

Currently my two MOST USED and effective lights are my Arc AAA and the Dopalec shown.

I'm working on putting a BB400 in another of these, and that thread also discusses the start of Darrin's project of putting a Luxeon in his Dorcy.

There's another thread somewhere in here I started about modifying another Craftsman/Dorcy head to accept a better lens, but no luck on that so far.

I like quickies, oops wrong forum. my preference is a switch close to the head that is also momentary. i dislike the switches that must be fully depressed then released to turn on.

A lot of the new higher end lights are migrating from "turn the head to activate" to real honest to goodness "click on, click off" switches.

I myself own a fair number of 'lights, and find that the ones I grab are invariably the ones with "click switches". They are easier to use one-handed and with gloves, and mine are waterproof. Inevitably, after a year or two of use, my "rotate the head on/off" style lights now flicker or fail to light and so are no longer reliable - this despite a lot of repairs to regain use of an expensive light.

Further, all of the lights I purchase to modify have real switches - for exactly the previous reasons. I haven't had a switch go bad yet.

My vote is "click it!"

What's your vote? Turn it or click it?