Wow... thank you for the awesome and pertinent (to me) review. Darn--you'd think the twisty/momentary design would have LESS resistance, owing to its simplicity and contact area. But I've seen similar reports in terms of behavior/resistance with the Surefire OEM twisty/momentary switches. An expert on cpf did some pretty in-depth test on it too; I'd try to find/include the link if I did a full review. And Surefire uses a rivet to keep things in, so you typically have to damage parts of the tailcap to get it apart. Looks like this S7 twisty might be similar.
I don't have the S7 yet, but my Surefire OEM tailcaps came (z41 [metal] and the G2 [platic/nitrolon] tailcap). Hope to do a full review at some time, but... no good. Of my 501b, 504b, and L2, the G2 switch didn't really work on any of them. I got one function (twisty or momentary) to work in one flashlight, but I forget; it wasn't worth it. The G2 cap threads onto the 504b and L2, but not the 501b. As far as the (metal) Z41 tailcap, it does intermittently work in my L2, but not at all in my 504B (and again, wouldn't thread onto the 501b). When the Z41 actually works in the L2, I love it. To my shock, I could actually change modes one-handed--but untwisting and twisting the light with my thumb and index finger, while holding the tailcap in my pinky and ring finger. It seems the SF tailcaps come pre-lubed with their superspecial Nye Lubricants Nyogel 760-something, but whatever's on there, it's just silky smooth and I think I may actually pick some of that lube up, expensive as it is. The problem is, the contact either barely makes contact, or does not make contact at all. Seems that the metal disc inside is designed for a tube which is 2mm narrower for cr123 batteries, vs Solarforce's tube for 18650's. It usually works as soon as I screw it on. But when I come back to it, it usually doesn't work (either momentary or twisty). I know the spring is contacting, as I have to push on the tailcap just to thread it on. I found that if I untwist a bit, and retwist 'torquing' it at an angle, it will more reliably come back on... but that is not workable long-term, and requires 2 hands too. I wonder if I could find or mod a washer to enlarge the contact area for the larger 18650 tube?
Would be interesting to see the Lumens output on these switches versus the McGizmo McClicky. Old4570, do you have one, if I ask pretty please could you perhaps test it and report back? Would be good to know if McClicky makes a functional difference at least in terms of resistance, and how it affects lumens at high current.
There is also the so-called Zero Resistance brass piece from Oveready designed to address the resistance issues on these twisties. I never thought twisties would have their own set of problems but they do. Unknown at this point if the Oveready Zero Res thing would work or fit in an S7 but if so, buying both pieces can still be cheaper than buying one Surefire Z41 tailcap which doesn't even work properly on Solarforce flashlights anyway. I'm dreading more the installation than the purchase price. Instructions are woefully in adequate. I found Oveready's PDF for installing the McClicky on a Z41, which gives the jist of how to take apart the tailcap. He shows 2 ways, and neither looks easy. Both involve suggestions of boiling or baking the tailcap. Why isn't there anything in the flashlight world which does what you want, and doesn't require a "mod"?
Old4570, what drop-in was used for this test? I'm assuming the Manafont 3-mode Ultrafire XM-L?
Most of those Solarforce switches are rather huge, which is a turn-off. I think they claim it is for increased robustnest, but somehow I think you can make a reliable switch in a smaller package. Aside from personal preferences, I wonder aloud if there are any advantages to the forward versions of these over the McClicky assembly (aside from the fact they come fully assembled).
