Dual Mechanical Clicky Host?

I’m looking for an 18650 host with 2 mechanical clickies: both side and tailcap.

Preferably user replaceable clickies, reverse clickies.

Similar to a Solarforce L2D but NOT a P60 host but a regular host which holds a 17mm or 20mm driver.

Other wish list items would include a mini-USB charger port and hard anodized tailcap threads and a C8 sized reflector, extra thick body to bore out to 21mm.

Probably no such thing but just asking……

thanks.

Never seen such a light myself. I think your best bet is to by a dual switch light and replace the side switch. There could be issues with doing this on some lights though, like the L4. It’s side switch is actually mounted on the driver, so although the side switch hole is beg enough there might not be enough room for a clicky because of the driver.

Personally I think it’s an odd request. May I ask why you would want this?

Yes it seems like an odd request. E-switches can start to malfunction with age although they are rated for 10,000 on-off cycles. They also have some parasitic drain. Since e-switches are usually mounted with the driver, the e-switch itself cannot be replaced. For these reasons, I like mechanical switches.

I like the added flexibility of using either tail or side switch. I would use the tail switch to turn the light on and to adjust modes, then use the side switch if I needed to hold the light in a more comfortable position for longer runs and to turn it off. I think this is one reason the upcoming Olight M2R is going to be a hit as long as the parasitic drain is low. However, I prefer zero parasitic drain of mechanical switches of course.

I understand the dislike for parasitic drain, that’s why I converted the M6 to side mechanical switch (as mentioned in the L4 thread). However, I’ve since then switched MCU to the ATtiny1634 for my own drivers and have now reconsidered. The 1634 has some neat power down options. In sleep mode on a 1S light the total parasitic drain is 0.1uA. At that rate a fully charged 3000mAh cell is going to take over 3000 years to discharge (ignoring cell self-discharge of coarse). I dislike parasitic drain, but when it’s this low it really is negligible.

I’m not sure the regular mechanical switches in flashlights can stand up to 10,000 cycles either. I haven’t seen any tests though, so maybe it’s no issue for the common Omten switches. In any case I’ve come to really like the dual switch combination of one mechanical and one E-switch. It’s very flexible with a wide range of UI options.

Well, the closest thing I can find like that was a mod I’ve made (see the second half of the 1st post My first mods! An experience, for sure!).

It had only a mechanical side switch, with in-built charger, but not mini-USB! The tail was flat and had a huge spring on the inside; I drilled and filed and added a mechanical reverse switch and a rubber tailcap.
I would question: do the mechanical side switches have mini-USB entry? I’ve only seen them with other kind of entries for adapters.

Also, I think the best way to get a flashlight similar to what you’ve asked about is to get a tailcap with a mechanical side switch (like the ones of Solarforce of the C8) and trying to make it fit the light with the side switch.

Opting for this, I just don’t know if the charger will work properly…

Not sure of this helps, but here you have it :wink:

There are many lights which eswitch is mounted on a seperate board like Convoy L2 that are with tail switch for mechanical lockout

Is that the same as a mechanical switch?

No an e-switch on a separate board is a little PCB with the electronic switch that connects to the driver with wires.

Wellp, even e-switches are mechanical switches, in that they physically move up/down and make/break electrical contact. I think the distinction you’re making is that the side-switch physically break electrical contact completely as a tailswitch does, vs just sending information to the driver board (switch mode now!).

Problem is, if you wire the 2 switches in series, they both have to be on for the light to be on. If off, how do you know which switch to click to turn it on? If the side-switch is off, you can click the tailswitch from now ’til tomorrow and it’ll still stay off. If the tailswitch is off, you can do the same for the sideswitch and it’ll still stay off.

If you wire them in parallel, same deal, only both switches will have to be off to turn the light off. If the side is on, tailswitch does nothing. If the tail is on, side does nothing.

Probably why no one ever came out with such a beastie. Too confusing.

Technical it is possible to do it with switches that have a common contact and 2 alternating contacts
but you would need 2 connections from the tail to head and in flashlight size its pretty unusual to find fitting switches

on the other hand a light with physical tail switch and sideswitch has the same problem that you may have no function on one switch if the physical tail switch is open
but at lest you can do a SMD LED in the sideswitch to show if the tail switch is active

Klarus has made both tail switches to be e-switches and have the battery always connected to the driver

Unfortunately, I don’t know of any hosts like this, either. I’d buy them if they were available.

I don’t object to an e-switch in principle, it’s just that I want the e-switch to be a big, clunky Omten with a big clunky switch boot on it. That way, I might actually be able to find the thing in the dark whilst wearing heavy gloves.

Yup, this is what happens in the light I modded. The side switch (originally in the light) has to be ON so that the tailswitch lights up, and vice-versa.
The only thing in which the tailswitch helps is if I wanna use it in a “tactical” version, using the thumb at the side of the head…
As Lightbringer said, it becomes too much confuse to remember which switch you used to turn the light OFF.
As Lexel said, Klarus has nice lights with dual switches. Maybe those can be useful !

@ The Miller
Thank for the explanation! I need and want to know more about how to make e-switches for a mod I have in mind. Gonna search more of it!

There are lights with eswitch sticking a few mm outside the body

Skilhunt DS21
Nitenumen NE01
Klarus G20
Nitecore P16
Nitecore MH20
Nitecore Concept 1
Lumintop SD26
Convoy BD06
CRELANT V5CS
CRELANT V4A

for example

Thanks for that list, Lexel! Off to do some research now…

An update: I decided to buy a Convoy BD06 with the T6 3B LED. It’s a nice light and comes with Toykeeper’s Biscotti firmware. Quality is good, as normal with Convoy.

The switch surround protrudes by about 3mm, which is easy to find by touch in the dark with bare hands. It takes a little longer with gloves, but I can do it even with my heaviest gloves, so I’m a happy camper.

One bonus aspect of the 26650 design, compared to an 18650 light, is that the wider tube is comfortable to hold for longer wearing gloves, because you don’t have to close your hand as tightly against the resistance of the glove. It also accepts protected cells and can use 18650s with an adapter.

Thank you again, Lexel, for the list of lights to consider. It made the search much easier!

Just got a BD06 Biscotti too. Has some rings in the spill but overall a pretty cool light and great build quality.
There are some great deals on these right now too, <$20 but 1A tint, as mine was. Swapped a T6 4C and put a couple extra 7135s in it and still does really good for High mode heat dissipation. I may try an XP-L HI to see if the rings go away and it’s not going to be easy adjusting the reflector depth with that ring.