Charge time will depend on how much current is provided. The current could be quite low if the supercapacitor is in series with a large resistor (e.g., R3 and the BAT in the patent schematic).
Yup.
Yup. A supercap is certainly not low self-discharge. It will continue to drain the battery as it continuously needs to be topped up with charge. You have maybe a month of shelf-life before your battery is drained by the supercap.
Yup. This stupid flashlight design.
Everyone else seems to be able to design lights with switches that can run off the main battery, and don’t need to be charged for an hour before you use it.
I still think the units must be faulty. I’m having a really difficult time believing anyone would design such a ridiculous switch.
I’m not sure your speculation matches what others have experienced with these switches that seem to have been used for over 4 years. Here’s a comment in the other thread
I'd like to know the parasitic drain of the switch assembly, but like I said, my (crude) multimeter measures nothing.
Note if parasitic drain is an issue and I need to leave the light sit for a month, it's easy to lock out by loosening the head 1/4 turn.
Thanks! you said what I was thinking.
In actual use I have not had any problem with my eSwitch Tool
it is a Brilliant Design!
tailstands, silent, simple
KISS
for those who do not know the history…
the Lumintop TiTool was the first eSwitch Tool,
here is maukka’s excellent review
Then my friend Coppet made his own by transplanting a TiTool eSwitch into a CuTool:
Then Massdrop ordered copper ones, and sold thousands of them. I have one, it works great.
I ordered another one.
I’ve had the same amaloop nimh aaa in my ti tool for well over 6 months and it still works fine. Parasitic draw mustn’t be too extreme.
What I like most about the eswitch on these Tools, is that it seems like it would be nearly impossible to have them come on in your pocket at any level other than low, which means that you’d have a long time to discover it before the battery could be drained to an extreme degree.
I think that the UI is a bit awkward, but it’s very good for assuring only low mode turn-ons in the pocket. Any accidental turn-ons seem pretty unlikely with these switches, anyway, since they’re not proud of the tail cap.
It is what it is I guess, but mine has been sitting in Hebron (roughly 10-15 minutes from my house) for several days with no update…
I dont think this is the exact circuit for the tool. Notice the schematic has 2 diodes D1, D2 the tool has 1 and the schematic has 3 resistors and the tool only has two.
The tool probably is real similar but maybe with a updated IC that doesn’t require as many extrernal components. As you stated R3 should be the current limiting resistor for charging the SC. In the GFS16 it also has a current limiting resistor for charging. I set mine at 100 ohms and it takes about 45 seconds to charge up enough to start turning on the fet. I don’t know what value resistor the tool uses but it could probably be lowered slightly to improve the time it takes to charge.
.
I’m not sure what all the fuss is about with the switch charging times, mine works from shipped state in about a minute of the battery being inserted.
Once the SC is charged its good to go. To me its the whole reason this light is so appealing to me. Its a cool innovative design with low resistance switch with almost no parasitic drain that very few lights offer. I dont know exactly how much it does draws once charged if any. The reason it has almost no parasitic drain is that nothing is using any energy while it’s waiting for user input from the switch. Its idle with the SC charged. Then once you hit the switch the SC supply’s the circuit enough to turn on.
No mcu using power waiting for user input from one ground pin to turn on and run the code. The tool switch is a very effecient cool design in my opinion. It even has a Super Capacitor, what could be cooler than that. 
Yeah. Somehow this is being blown out of proportion. Even mine took maybe a few minutes to work normal. Even if it takes hours for the first time, I personally don’t see that as an issue.
The Massdrop Vega (Lumintop Tool AA) is available for preorder - 30$.
Is an emitter swap simple and straight forward? Mine came as Cree instead of Nichia. I haven’t opened it yet.
If the emitter is an easy swap I’ll keep it. If not, I’d rather gift it without opening it.
Go for it and let us know 
I have not tried, but Ive had several modded for me by others
here is an sw45k in a Maratac head, on the eSwitch Tool body
Thanks! This looks interesting. I will add the link to OP for reference.
Its pretty easy if you can reflow another 3535 emitter on. No glue used, just unscrew the pill, pull the led protector out and unsolder the positive and negative wire to the mcpcb. Pull the mcpcb out, unsolder the led off the mcpcb, reflow emitter of your choosing back on. Place it back it the pill with a little thermal compound sandwiched in between and solder the wires back, add the led protector back. Screw the pill back in and your done. Its one of the easiest lights I have done.
I think I remember one model using a aluminum mcpcb maybe one had a copper mcpcb (not sure). Copper is really not needed in such a low current light.
Awesome. Thanks! 
Seems simple enough—I’ll give it a go.
still waiting for my CuTool
took 6 days to reach USA
spent 10 days in Illinois
and is now in Texas, just one state away from me
so far it has taken 17 days in shipping, and I dont have the light yet…
possibly the worst delay in a drop purchase I have experienced… thanks to them using DHL
but, soon enough it will come
Weird. The few times I’ve used DHL from China, it has taken about 2 or 3 days to get to me in Canada. But it’s costly.
normal for me
DHL received a package for me in Germany on Nov 19… tracking says it is still there… thats 18 days with no sign of the package reaching USA yet…
DHL Express, and DHL Ecommerce are two very different shipping methods. Not 100% that Ecommerce is correct name, but whatever it is called it is the economy side of DHL. And in all cases I’ve had it used for shipping it is way slower then Epacket. Seems to get in the US fairly quickly, then in my experience takes weeks bouncing around multiple states before it is finally delivered.
Slowest shipping I’ve experienced thus far.
It also seems like DHL Express has taken a big hit on speed lately. About six months ago they were 2-4 days to me from China, now they are barely faster then Epacket which typically is 7-10 days for my local. DHL Express starts at about $15.00 added to cost of item. The biggest benefit in DHL Express is accurate/quickly updated tracking so for more expensive packages worth it to me.
Both Ecommerce and Express DHL all the delays seem to be once it hits the US.
Following the trackin number I discovered the next message: "04.12.2019 10:16:01 [China Post]
[Guangzhou International] Return, Remarks: *Returned by security check*".
:O :FACEPALM:
I asked the Drop's customer service and they asked me if I want a replacement. I said "of course, but this time, send the correct (Cree) version."
I am waiting for an answer/sign from them.